I read recently of a pilot who took up a couple of small kids, and who lamented that he didn't have wing pins to hand to them, like the airlines used to do for young passengers. This got me to thinking about it, and I started looking. What I've found was a variety of themed pins on pilotshop.com and pilotmall.com (Cessna, Piper, Mile High (ahem), Daddy's Copilot, various Boeing 7X7 numbers, etc.), then a couple varieties of kids pins, like these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I2DVWXK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
And then the eyebrow-raising option: Alibaba (your marketplace for cheap Chinese crap) features a pin maker who will, if I'm reading the slightly confusing listings right, make up a set of metal wing pins to a custom design for as little as 22 cents apiece, or as much as $2.50 apiece (it's confusing). The minimum order quantity ranges from 100 to 500, but if the order is for 100 pieces of a 22 cent pin, that's only $22 plus whatever shipping costs. However, it could also be that you have to order 500 pieces of a $2.50 pin, which is $1250, obviously a slightly different proposition. This is the intriguing listing:
http://asnypin.en.alibaba.com/product/306275343-212910081/airlines_wings_flight_pilot_hat_badge.html
Anyway, I'm wondering if you guys have a source for these (to hand out to new passengers, kids, etc.) that you could share, something where it's only a dollar or two per pin, since it's a give-away. If you don't, is there any interest in getting a set of custom biplane wing pins made?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I2DVWXK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
And then the eyebrow-raising option: Alibaba (your marketplace for cheap Chinese crap) features a pin maker who will, if I'm reading the slightly confusing listings right, make up a set of metal wing pins to a custom design for as little as 22 cents apiece, or as much as $2.50 apiece (it's confusing). The minimum order quantity ranges from 100 to 500, but if the order is for 100 pieces of a 22 cent pin, that's only $22 plus whatever shipping costs. However, it could also be that you have to order 500 pieces of a $2.50 pin, which is $1250, obviously a slightly different proposition. This is the intriguing listing:
http://asnypin.en.alibaba.com/product/306275343-212910081/airlines_wings_flight_pilot_hat_badge.html
Anyway, I'm wondering if you guys have a source for these (to hand out to new passengers, kids, etc.) that you could share, something where it's only a dollar or two per pin, since it's a give-away. If you don't, is there any interest in getting a set of custom biplane wing pins made?
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