earn (one's) wings

(redirected from earned their wings)

earn (one's) wings

To prove one's merit and skill. I never thought much of Stu, but he really earned his wings this week with how well he handled the merger.

See also: earn, wing

References in periodicals archive ?

Since Naval Aviation began in 1911, more than 180,000 pilots have earned their wings, but fewer than 360 pilots and 120 NFOs have reached the milestone of 1,000 traps.

Carl Vinson Aviators Complete 1,000th Trap

Moreover, a number of Kuwaits pilots have earned their wings at the Italian Air Forces M-346 Integrated Training Academy, using the training system provided by Leonardo.

Italy,Kuwait : Leonardo to Provide an Advanced Baggage Handling System for Kuwait International Airport's New Terminal 4

Over 50 gorgeous models will be hitting the catwalk for the (http://www.ibtimes.com/victorias-secret-fashion-show-2016-everything-you-need-know-about-paris-runway-show-2454723) 2016 Victoria's Secret Paris Fashion Show  Monday night on CBS, but only 12 of them have earned their wings to become official Victoria's Secret models (aka Angels).

Meet The 12 Victoria's Secret Angels Walking In 2016 Show

Models including Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Adriana Lima and more recently "It" girls Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid and Cara Delevingne have all earned their wings as Victoria's Secret Angels.

Victoria's Secret set to open store

Arakkonam (Tamil Nadu), June 20(ANI): The largest ever batch of helicopter pilots comprising 19 pilots earned their wings' (graduated) on Saturday at the helicopter training school, INS Rajali, at Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu.

Largest batch of helicopter pilots graduate from Arakkonam training school

Today we see air air hostesses who earned their wings after passing the Northeast Airlines air hostess course at Newcastle Airport Training Centre in February of which year?

Name the Year

There have also been charges of standards being lowered to let women into combat positions, such as at least one high-visibility aviation accident with a female pilot in 1994 who, critics charged, had been rushed into the cockpit to ensure that a politically motivated proportion of women earned their wings. But there were too few female pilots at the time for any meaningful studies to be conducted, and more recent reports from the air campaigns in Kosovo and Afghanistan indicate that women pilots performed as well as men, and, in some cases, even better.

War dames: if America invades Iraq, thousands of female U.S. soldiers will fight on the front lines

Of the 25,000 women who applied, 1,830 were accepted -- but only 916 who earned their wings were still serving when the program was inactivated.