Update 08/05/25: Welcome to FLYING TIGER ANTIQUES!!
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If you would like to PAY for a $100.00 or MORE Artifact with a CREDIT CARD, please email and I will get an invoice emailed to you as Soon as Possible!
We will be OUT OF THE OFFICE from TUESDAY 08/05 until MONDAY 08/18/25, Returning to the Office on TUESDAY 08/19/25!!
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We will be UNABLE TO SHIP as of 08/05, and REGULAR SHIPPING will resume on TUESDAY, AUGUST 19th, 2025!
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That DISCOUNT also applies to PayPal GIFT (Fee-Free), Check, and Money Order payments!!
Thank you for visiting. We hope you will find some vintage artifacts here on our site to add to your collection.
We look forward to serving your collecting needs! Happy Summer, Ron & Kanae.
ARTIFACT:
Great circa 1951 United States Navy VC-61 Pilot and Commanding Officer Louis L. Bangs personal lighter. Made in Japan by Wellington. Born in 1919, Bangs served from 1940 to 1964 on the USS Enterprise, USS Bennington, and USS Ticonderoga. Among many achievements, his highest personal decoration is the Navy Cross presented “for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Dive Bomber in Bombing Squadron TEN (VB-10), attached to the U.S.S. ENTERPRISE (CV-6), while participating in aerial combat against the Japanese Fleet in the Marianas Islands, during the First Battle of the Philippine Sea, on 20 June 1944." - Military Times - Hall of Valor. The lighter features an enameled disc portraying a naval observer wing soaring along the skyline above an aircraft carrier. The reverse of the lighter is engraved with painted details of a Grumman F9F Panther and reads: "LOUIS L. BANGS VC-61 THE EYES OF THE FLEET"
VINTAGE:
Circa 1951
SIZE:
Approximately 2 ¼" x 1 ½"
MATERIALS / CONSTRUCTION:
Chrome plated brass, enamel, brass, felt.
ATTACHMENT:
None.
MARKINGS:
WELLINGTON "WINDPROOF" JAPAN.
ITEM NOTES:
This is from a naval aviators collection which we will be listing more of over the next few months. MEJX15 LCDEX1/15 SCJJX8/16
CONDITION:
8+ (Excellent): The lighter shows some wear mostly surface and at edges, nearly all of the enamel details remain intact.
GUARANTEE: As with all my artifacts, this piece is guaranteed to be original, as described.
