Wings of war ww1 newsletter (1 Viewer)

[wayne556517]

 

[wayne556517]

Dear All

Welcome to our WW1 release for October 2016 which features 3 new wooden 1/30
scale aircraft. All our aircraft are handmade and take over 60 hours to
manufacture. As such they are very limited in number and not likely to be
repeated again. All our aircraft can be paid for in installments or upfront,
please email me for details or visit our website www.tomgunn.co.uk.

The Sopwith Strutter was a 2 seat multi-role biplane that saw service with
the British, American, Belgian and French air forces during WW1. Built by
the Sopwith aviation company it was the first British aircraft with a
synchronized forward-firing machine gun. A later variant of the Strutter
removed the rear gunners position and had an internal bomb bay fitted in his
place, this enabled more bombs and fuel to be carried. A total of 6000
Strutters were built by British and French factories during the course of
the war.
Our Strutter WOW057 is one flown by Canadian Raymond Collishaw, an ace with
over 60 kills to his name.
Collishaw joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1916 after paying for his
own pilots license in Toronto. The Strutter was one of Collishaw's first
aircraft and it was in this aircraft that Collishaw scored his first aerial
victory, whilst engaged in a bombing raid on the Mauser factory in Germany.
Over the next 2 years his score tallied up to some 60 aircraft although some
sources state it could have been more. After the war Collishaw remained with
the RAF and during WW2 went on to command the Desert air force. He retired
from active service in 1943 and died in Canada in 1976 at the grand old age
of 82.
This version of the Strutter is only available through Aikens Airplanes
(www.aikensairplanes.com) and is limited to 8 pieces worldwide.

The Spad V11 has been considered one of the most successful aircraft of WW2
noted for its speed and sturdiness. It was flown by many notable aces
including Georges Guynemer and Alexander Pentland. Our Spad WOW085 is one
flown by Italy's highest scoring ace Francesco Baracca. Baracca was the son
of a wealthy landowner and was educated in Florence at a private school. He
was commissioned in 1910 into a cavalry regiment but transferred into the
fledgling Italian air force just in time for the outbreak of the war.
Baracca scored his first aerial victory in 1915 whilst flying a Nieuport 11
and it was around this time he adopted the prancing horse emblem, a tribute
to his earlier days in the cavalry. He switched over to the Spad V11 and his
score rose rapidly. By 1918 he had notched up a tally of 34 kills before he
was killed in June 1918 by either ground fire or a Phonix flown by the
Austro Hungarians. His mother later presented the prancing horse emblem to
Enzo Ferrari and to this day it has been the symbol which has adorned all
Ferrari cars since 1929. We have made an initial batch of 16 Baracca Spad's
which have all sold on pre-order, a further 4 are in production and will be
available later. Price for this model is $499 which includes free postage
worldwide and pilot figure climbing into the aircraft.

The Pfalz D 111 was one of the most aesthetically pleasing aircraft of WW1
and although considered inferior to the Fokker and Albatros fighters, its
strength lay in its diving capabilities which made it ideal as a balloon
buster. Over 100 Pfalz were still in front line service by the time the
armistice was signed, some of the final production batch being sent to
Turkey.
Our Pfalz D 111A WOW097 is one flown by Carl Bucker, a pilot with the German
Naval air service. Bucker was born in 1895 and joined the German Navy in
1912, he transferred to the Naval air service in 1915. His Pfalz D111A was
one of the most recognisable of the war with a green serpent adorning the
fuselage. After the war Bucker moved to Sweden where he helped establish
Svenska Aero AB. In the 1930's he relocated back to Germany just as the Nazi
party was coming to power. The newly formed Luftwaffe albeit still a secret
formation was looking for a new training aircraft. Bucker submitted a design
called the Bucker Jungmann, a 2 seat biplane with extraordinary acrobatic
capabilities which was immediately accepted by the Luftwaffe. Virtually all
the Luftwaffe's future aces commenced their pilot training in this aircraft.
As a testament to the sturdiness of the aircraft design over 200 Jungmann's
are still in operational service today, some 70 years after they first flew!
A big thank you to Al Coleman (Lancer) who helped with some of the research
on this project.
We have made a limited edition of 12 Pfalz fighters to commemorate Bucker,
which are priced at $499 (includes free postage worldwide) and come with
ground crew figure 'The Tailor' also included free with our compliments.

That's all for now folks

Our main figure release for November should be on the 4th of November,
however we are waiting on a shipment to come in and therefore the release
may be delayed by a one or two days please note.

Best Wishes
The Gunn Team

 

[lancer]

More brilliant aircraft from TGM. The Baracca Spad 7 is an inspired choice. The Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter of Collishaw is another unique piece and the aircraft itself was a real workhorse for the Allies. It would make a terrific display paired with the recent JJD Collishaw Sopwith triplane release. The Pfalz is always welcome as a German workhorse, albeit a very elegant one with it's lines and finish. As always, TGM leads the way in it's aircraft type choices and personality choices. Wonderful work. -- Al

 

[lancer]

A note on Baracca's aircraft markings: Many know that 34 victory ace Francesco Baracca carried the famous prancing horse insignia as his personal marking on his aircraft. He started carrying this marking in the spring of 1917 on his Nieuport fighter and then his Spad 7 when it replaced the Nieuport. The insignia was a nod to his previous regiment, the Piemonte Reale Cavalleria, which he had joined in 1910. By May, 1917, Baracca and several other Italian aces had been gathered together in 91 Squadriglia, an elite unit, of which Baracca eventually took command. By the spring of 1918, the decision had been made to adopt a Griffin insignia as the squadron marking, to be displayed with any personal marking the pilot preferred. At this point Baracca started to display his prancing horse on the port side of the fuselage and the Griffon on the starboard side. You will note that the TGM Spad 7 carries the prancing horse on both sides of the fuselage. This is quite correct as the aircraft depicts one of the many Spads flown by Baracca and would date the aircraft in the time period of May, 1917, to early spring, 1918, prior to the Griffon insignia being adopted. You will also note that the TGM Spad carries no serial number as not all of Baracca's aircraft have been identified with one. The 'X' marking is the Roman Numeral 10, another of Baracca's markings that was not universal to all his aircraft. The wing and fuselage roundels are also correct, red outer ring, white middle ring, green center, although there exist roundels in the opposite color configuration, there is no known reason for the differences. The Spads were all imported aircraft from France, so there exists the distinct possibility that the Italians simply adapted the French roundel to an Italian roundel by simply painting the French blue center with Italian green.
Baracca is still a famous and respected name in Italy and his fame lives on in the Ferrari prancing horse emblem, as well as being carried on the aircraft of the Italian Air Force Groups IX and X. -- Al