Wings of The Great War WW15001
SPAD S.XIII Display Model
US Army 94th Aero Sqn, Eddie Rickenbacker, France, 1918 | |
| 1:72 Scale | | Length | | Width |
|---|
| SPAD S.XIII | | 3.5" | | 4.5" |
Eddie Rickenbacker is the most famous US pilot of WWI and a recipient of the Medal of Honour. Following the death of his father in the early 1900s he supported his mother by working in an automobile company. He moved into motor racing and became hugely successful, racing three times in the Indianapolis 500. When the US entered WWI he suggested a flying squadron of racing drivers. His idea was rejected but he was posted to France as an army driver. With his mechanical abilities he soon obtained a position as engineering officer at a flight training school at Issoudun from where he learnt to fly. In March 1918 he was assigned to the newly formed 94th Pursuit Squadron. Initially equipped with rather outdated Nieuports Rickenbacker nevertheless proved his abilities and on May 30th he become an Ace. By August 1918 the squadron was re-equipped with newer, faster Spads and Rickenbacker continued his success. He became commander of the 94th "Hat in the Ring" squadron and went onto amass twenty-six aerial victories, earning him the title of America's "Ace of Aces".
Designed by The French aircraft company Societe pour l'Aviation et ses Derives (SPAD) as a refinement of the highly-successful SPAD S.VII, the SPAD S.XIII was first flown on April 4th, 1917. Essentially a larger version of its predecessor with a more powerful V-8 Hispano-Suiza engine, the SPAD XIII was a strongly-built wood and fabric biplane. It could reach a top speed of 135 mph-making it 10 mph faster than the new German fighters. It carried two Vickers machine guns, each with 400 rounds of ammunition, and the pilot could fire the guns separately or together. © Copyright 2003-2024 The Flying Mule, Inc.
The Wings of The Great War range presents affordable, ready-made resin models of WWI aircraft. Each model is crafted and painted by hand and features a unique pivoting stand that allows the model to be displayed at a variety of different attitudes.
Wings of The Great War display airplanes feature:
- Molded resin construction with no assembly required.
- Fixed, non-rotating propellers and wheels.
- Poseable presention stand to display the aircraft "in flight".
Why Resin?
It's very expensive to produce die-casting molds, and manufacturers must sell a large number of models from each mold in order to recoup development costs. Some subjects are so obscure that it's difficult to sell large quantities of them. Resin-casting is a much simpler and less expensive process, and manufacturers can use it to make limited runs of models that can't be cost effectively manufactured in diecast metal. With resin-cast models, collectors can add fascinating and unusual subjects to their collections without the time and difficulty of assembling and painting a model kit.
© Copyright 2003-2024 The Flying Mule, Inc.
