RFC cloth wings - any good?

[ravrick]

Hi,
I would appreciate any opinions on these wings, I'm not 100% convinced they are the real thing.

cheers,
Rick

[LtDan]

Rick,
I have been watching those wings as well, and have I'm not totally convinced either.
I posted them on 6-13-20 under "Opinions on these RFC embroidered wings" and had no replies. There is another very similar wing listed on a dealers site. I posted pictures in my original post. However, are they both copies or originals?? I'll probably pass on them.

Dan

[ravrick]

Hi,
what puts me off is the sheen on the rear and the cotton looks to new. I've seen similar on the back of some other repro badges, that said I'm no expert on cloth badges so i may well be totally wrong.
Rick

[LtDan]

I'm certainly no expert either. I agree with the "too new" look.
I have been collecting WW1 US wings, and recently became interested in RFC wings. Got a couple of the bronze RFC wings, but the cloth wings are much more difficult for me to evaluate.

Thanks,
Dan

[Home Guard]

I don't consider myself an expert by any means, but back in the 90's I heavily collected RFC and had a dozen very nice wings. I will share with you that I would not consider these at all because they are too bogus looking to me. Even unworn wings would still show age, and these look like they were made yesterday. Would be good if you could black light them as I suspect they might glow neon for sure. I wanted to add a couple of pictures of some of the wings I had, but photobucket is down right now.

Anyway, my two cents. And, please understand this is just my personal feelings.

Terry

[LtDan]

Originally Posted by Home Guard

I don't consider myself an expert by any means, but back in the 90's I heavily collected RFC and had a dozen very nice wings. I will share with you that I would not consider these at all because they are too bogus looking to me. Even unworn wings would still show age, and these look like they were made yesterday. Would be good if you could black light them as I suspect they might glow neon for sure. I wanted to add a couple of pictures of some of the wings I had, but photobucket is down right now.

Anyway, my two cents. And, please understand this is just my personal feelings.

Terry

Terry,
Thanks. I appreciate your opinion.....
I would like to see your photos some time. There are so many variations with the cloth wings, and some of the copies look good to me. Still learning what to look for with original wings.

Thanks,
Dan

[Home Guard]

Dan, Photobucket seems ot be working so here are some pictures of part of my collection. The framed pictures of the men are all signed to me. Not all of my wings and insignia re shown. Two of the wings I had were use din the book of he RFC and RAF wings (forget the title).

















Hope this is helpful and of interest.

Terry

[LtDan]

Terry,
That's quite a collection of RFC/RAF militaria. Thanks for sharing those photographs of your collection.

Dan

[Home Guard]

Dan, you're very welcome. That is only part of what I had. My wing collection was more like 100+ wings (WWI and WWII). I disposed of most of it right after I retried 20 years ago, but still have a few bits, although all my wings went first.

Terry

[Jackhr]

Very nice collection , if I may ask are the wavy line and cross in frame of a plane and if so what was it?

Rob

[Home Guard]

Rob, That piece of German fabric came from a vintage Fokker D.VII that was being recovered back in he 20's. They removed it and had planned ot burn it afterwards, but Charles Donald asked if he could have it all and so he saved it. I got it form him back in the early 90's. I can't say for sure if it's wartime vintage fabric, but it is old enough.

Terry

[Jackhr]

Originally Posted by Home Guard

Rob, That piece of German fabric came from a vintage Fokker D.VII that was being recovered back in he 20's. They removed it and had planned ot burn it afterwards, but Charles Donald asked if he could have it all and so he saved it. I got it form him back in the early 90's. I can't say for sure if it's wartime vintage fabric, but it is old enough.

Terry

Thanks for the info , I have a small piece that was cut of a plane and kept by a AFC chap as a souvenir.

Rob

[Home Guard]

Rob, I have collected, and still do, pieces of aircraft for nearly 35 years now. Sadly, It has become terribly expensive and that arena too is being faked. Some of my best pieces are two small pieces from Howard Hughes Spruce Goose, a piece from the first German plane shot down by the British over British soil (one of the channel islands), pieces from the only Horsa glider to crash in England on the way to Arnhem (the tail came off, or blew off), pieces from the last 617 Sqd Lancaster to be shot down during the war, and a very rare tiny piece of skinning from the Hindenburg. Plus lots of other bits from pre-WWI, WWI WWII and the post war era.

I have pieces from a Ju-88 that was shot down, with a piece of the parachute burned on the edges. Along with it came two trouser cuffs that were burned and soaked in oil. I could not keep those and passed them on.

Aircraft relics is a fun area to collect. I don't go much for engine parts, but some do. I prefer the skinning, and especially if it still has the camo paint still on it. A good bit of WWII fabric is just in red dope because the weather over time has worn off the paint. But I do have a small piece of an Me-109e fabric from the Battle of Britain, and from a Spitfire later in the war with camo paint. Plus some WWI allied and of course German lozenge as it was printed into the fabric. A small piece of a WWI observation balloon, and a piece of gas bag from one of the Zeppelins, L49 if memory serves (I have it all documented).

Terry

[Jackhr]

Would love to see some photo's , you must start a new thread and post some photo's. And if you are going to part with any thing WW1 I would like to have a crack at it As you dont see much if any of that stuff over here in OZ .

Cheers