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Curtiss
P-36A Hawk
UNITED STATES ARMY AIR CORPS 18th PG "Gold Bug" Ken Walker Group Commander Wheeler Field Pearl Harbor Hawaii December 7th 1941
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$41.98
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General
Kenneth Walker was one of the men who prepared an under-equipped US Army
Air Corps for war during the 1930's and early 1940's. Walker enlisted in
1917 and gained his wings and a commission in 1918. He served in Texas,
Oklahoma, the Philippines, Virginia, Alabama, and Kansas before promotion
to major in 1933. As a bombardment instructor at the Air Corps Tactical
School at Maxwell Field, Alabama, Walker developed and articulated dynamic
bombing tactics and techniques that would be implemented in WW2 and
continue to influence the US Air Force in the 21st century. He was posted
to Hawaii in 1938, where he served as Commanding Officer of the 18th
Pursuit Group, based at Wheeler Field on the island of Oahu. As Group CO,
Walker trimmed his P-36 with metallic gold paint, and he dubbed the plane,
"Goldbug." The yellow, blue, and red stripes designated the
squadrons which constituted the group. He returned to Washington, D.C. in
January 1941 and participated in the creation of the HQ Army Air Force in
July 1941, with the rank of colonel. His plans for organizing wartime
bombing against Germany and Japan were approved and implemented by General
Hap Arnold and President Franklin Roosevelt. Walker's influence on Air
Force war planning was tremendous and completely out of proportion to his
rank. He was promoted to Brigadier General in June, 1942, before being
sent to the south Pacific to direct the 5th Bomber Command. Walker was the
kind of general who led from the front, experiencing the same risks as the
men he commanded. He flew the low altitude missions he had planned in
B-17's and B-25's. General George Kenney, Walker's commander, ordered him
to cease flying combat missions. But, on 5 January 1943 Walker disobeyed
orders to lead an unescorted formation of twelve B-17's in an low level
daylight attack on Japanese shipping at Rabaul-the most heavily defended
target in the Pacific. Some of the participants expressed the opinion that
this was a suicide mission, but only two planes failed return, one of them
Walker's. He and his crew were missing in action. His son Kenneth, Jr.,
received his father's Medal of Honor from President Roosevelt on 25 March
1943. Kenneth Walker's remains were never recovered, and there was no
memorial to him until one was dedicated to him at Arlington on 7 December
2006.
Shipping $8.95 in the Continental USA |
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UNITED
STATES
ARMY AIR CORPS 27TH PURSUIT SQUADRON 15TH PURSUIT GROUP P-36C HAWK CLEVELAND NATIONAL AIR RACES SEPTEMBER 1939 Major Willis TAYLOR Squadron Commander
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$41.98
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The
27th Fighter Squadron "Fighting Eagles" is the oldest in the US
Air Force, formed in 1917. It claims Frank Luke, who was posthumously
awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during WW1. During the 1930's,
the 27th Pursuit Squadron was the premier pursuit unit in the Army Air
Corps, serving the same sort of role as the modern
"Thunderbirds" alongside normal duties. Beginning in 1929, the
Cleveland National Air Races had become the most prestigious aviation
event in the world, with single-day crowds exceeding 100,000. In 1939, the
27th converted to the P-36, the hottest plane in the American arsenal, and
was selected to represent the Army Air Corps at Cleveland. Based at
Michigan's Selfridge Field, the squadron focused on preparation and
practice for this event. Major Willis Taylor, commanding officer of the
27th, is credited with the idea of painting the squadron's P-36's in a
variety of camouflage patterns without national insignia, using the new
water-based camouflage paint colors. Crew chiefs were encouraged to use
their imaginations devising patterns, and none of the squadron's P-36's
used the same scheme, although colors were shared. Colors included sand,
dark green, light gray, dark blue, dark olive drab, and neutral gray, most
aircraft using three or four colors. Faded or over-exposed color photos of
these planes have been published in which light gray looks white and sand
appears orange. The significance of the frog emblem on Taylor's left hand
wing "bucket" for shell casings is a mystery. At the time,
American military aircraft were painted in bright colors and the eighteen
camouflaged P-36's created a sensation at Cleveland. Major Taylor was less
familiar with the aerial routines, because he had been posted to Air Corps
Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Alabama during the summer. During the 1
September 1939 performance, he turned the wrong way at the bottom of a
dive over the grandstand, nearly causing a catastrophic collision. But
public attention was distracted by the much larger aviation demonstration
that the German Luftwaffe staged over Poland earlier that day. The
Cleveland Air Races were finished after 1949, when a P-51 stalled and
crashed into a nearby house, killing a mother and child-the first
non-participant fatalities. The 27th Fighter Squadron was the first to
convert to P-38's and served with distinction in the Mediterranean theater
during WW2. Recently, the 27th was the first squadron
to convert to the F-22.
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Fokker
Dr.1 Triplane
Luftstreitkrafte JG 1 The Red Baron Somme France 1918
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$41.98 |
Von
Richthofen was slow to learn to fly, crashing on his first solo flight and
only mastering the plane at last by sheer force of will. A Prussian, son
of a Junker family, Von Richthofen was imbued with the usual ideas of a
young nobleman. He flew spectacularly in his series of all-red planes
which became an excellent flyer and a fine shot. But whereas many pilots
flew with a kind of innocent courage which had its special kind of
magnificence, Von Richthofen flew with his brains and made his ability
serve him. Analyzing every problem of aerial combat, he reduced chance to
the minimum. After his 57th victory, on July 6, 1917, Von Richthofen was
shot in the head and nearly killed. It was less than a month before he was
back in the air again, but never as his old self. Now he knew that death
could reach him as well as the others. The Richthofen ‘circus’ or
Jagdgeschwader, was composed of four staffels of five planes each. They
moved back and forth along the lines, wherever the fighting was the
thickest. One of the reasons Von Richthofen survived so long was his
ability to keep guarding himself while he attacked. He was an excellent
teacher, and young pilots who showed exceptional skill and courage were
sent to his staffel to gain experience. After each battle , Von Richthofen
would gather his officers for conference and discussion of tactics. He
would censure pilots too aggressive, or too willing to pull away. He was
not so much liked as admired. When he was around, parties were never wild,
for the pilots felt constrained in his presence. Baron Von Richthofen met
his death in action April 21,1918, at the hand of Captain Roy Brown of the
Royal Air Force. Brown flew a Sopwith Camel, Richthofen a Fokker Triplane.
Richthofen, all eyes on another Camel he was about to bring down, never
knew what hit him. When his plane rolled to a stop near the Allied
trenches in the Somme valley, he was dead from single bullet. The next day
Richthofen was buried with full military honors.
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Fokker
Dr.1 Triplane
Luftstreitkrafte Jasta 4 Ernst Udet,Somme France 1918
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Ernst
Udet enlisted in the German army as a motorcyclist in 1914 at age
eighteen, and transferred to the air service after breaking a shoulder. He
served as an enlisted man on ground service, while his father paid for
private flying lessons. Udet talked his way into piloting first
two-seaters, then fighters, despite difficulties and crashes. He froze on
his first combat encounter as a fighter pilot in January 1916, but escaped
with minor injuries. Udet's first victory came on 18 March 1916. He was
commissioned in January 1917, and by the end of 1917 his tally stood at
21. He commanded Jagstaffel or Jasta (Hunting Flight) 37 before being
selected to fly with Manfred von Richthofen in Jasta 11 of Jagd Geschwader
(Hunting Group) 1. Four Jastas-4, 6, 10, and 11-made up the Group. The
place of greatest honor was Jasta 11, alongside the Red Baron. Here Udet
scored number 23 on 6 April 1918, before taking leave with a serious ear
infection requiring treatment. While at home in Munich, he became engaged,
received notice via telegram of being awarded the Pour le Mérite (Blue
Max), and read the shocking news that Richthofen had been killed.
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Nieuport
Nieuport 11 Bebe
Squadrigilia Francesco Baracca Udine Italy 1916
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$41.98 |
This
Fine Replica of the Nieuport 11 series captures the elegant styling
of this sesquiplane (one-and-a-half-wings) biplane with a full size top
wing and narrower cord lower wing. Both wings feature simulated stretched
fabric covering. Fine gauge wire is used to recreate the structurally
significant bracing wires found between the wings and landing gear, and an
exceptional amount of this wire is also used for the control surface
rigging. Additional details include a beautifully simulated wood propeller
and engine with cylinder head detail, which spin freely and in unison. A
detailed Lewis machine gun and simulated braced wooden “Vee”
interplane struts and tail skid complete the replica.
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Nieuport
Nieuport 11 Bebe
Escadrille Americaine N.124 Norman Prince Verdun France 1916
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$41.98 |
Shipping $8.95 in the Continental USA |
| Flyboys Movie | Diecast Airplanes | ||
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French
NIEUPORT 17
Eugene Skinner Lafayette Escadrille Flyboys Movie
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$26.98
Limited Edition of 600 Movie Pilot Eugene Skinner is based on real American hero Eugene Bullard, originally a boxer, the first black aviator and a successful French Combat Pilot. Skinner's personal insignia is a pair of boxing gloves. |
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$8.95 in the Continental USA
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Nieuport
Nieuport 17
Lafayette Escadrille Blaine Rawlings Flyboys Movie
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$26.98
Limited Edition of 600 The real Lafayette Escadrille flew silver Nieuport 17's with a Seminole chief insignia, as portrayed in the movie. In France, Rawlings, and Eugene Skinner, and other American volunteers are trained to fly before being sent into combat for the Lafayette Escadrille under veteran Reed Cassidy during World War One. Their chief adversaries are German pilots flying Fokker Triplanes, led by the black airplane of the BLACK FALCON and the red CROSSED SWORDS. |
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$8.95 in the Continental USA
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