Central Air Club -- Mechanic's Badge

[Chuck In Oregon]

I previously posted a Central Air Club badge, at http://www.soviet-awards.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=4503 . It was awarded to a pilot member or graduate of the Tbilisi Central Air Club, which actually trained mostly bomber pilots.

My wife just returned from a visit to Georgia on behalf of our charity. She brought back a number of Soviet and Imperial collectibles for me, including this one.

I believe that this is a badge for a mechanic member or graduate of the Central Air Club. Other than the obvious design differences, it differs from my other badge in that a) this one has an MD mint mark, and b) it is numbered.

I know that the first badge is specifically from the Tbilisi Central Air Club. I speculate that it was crafted locally, thus accounting for the lack of a mint mark. Tbilisi has been an art and jewelry center for centuries and many of the greatest jewelry craftsmen, including Eduard, had shops there. As for the number on one and not the other, I can't even guess, except simply that maybe the Tbilisi badges just weren't numbered.

If you have an example of this or similar Central Air Club badges, please post them. I would like to compare.

Chuck