Yes, these are very hard to find, usually they are not unaffordable, but worse - unavailable. As for the pilot, I knew him from before, all is known, they were only a few men, so it's quite easy to follow their story. He did not become any famous or a big commander, but after all any of these early pilots had a big contribution for the AF. Now, about the pre-1918 - post-1918. This is a tough question and I do no know the answer, just will try to guess. First of all, the cpuntry was out of the war in late 1918. The first postwar class of a few pilots got its starting order on November 15th 1923. So, in my opinion, they were the first men to get pilot badges after the 1918, and this must have happened in 1924, the spring or the summer. Back to the badges. All the matherial available for comparison are the original 1928 badge and a photo of a /supposedly/ original WW1 badge. My theory is this: the WW1 badges were imported from.... somewhere /does it have the touch of a German or other known maker? What about the decorated backing??/. And the post-WW1 badges were local made copies. Looking at the higher detail of the WW1 badge and the lower detail and the thick top ending of the 1928 badge, it seems to me that the 1918 is the original, fine make, while the 1928 badge is a silver cast copy of such a badge, local made, with a simple flat backing. The <> pin attachments look original to the badge, no clue for repair/later adding.