Back with another of Eugene Frandzen’s “Lives of the Aces in Pictures” from the pages of Flying Aces Magazine. The series ran for almost four years with a different Ace featured each month. This time around we have the February 1935 installment featuring the illustrated biography of that famous Canadian Ace—Captain William Wendell Rogers!

RFC Captain Rogers is credited with nine aerial victories. All these accomplished while flying Nieuports. His most famous victory was singlehandedly shooting down an enormous Gotha G bomber piloted by Blue Max winner Hauptmann Rudolf Kleine—the two crew members, the Pilot Lt von der Nahmar and rear gunner, Lt.Werner Bulowius chose to jump out while Hauptmann Klein remained aboard and went down with the ship.

Canada Veterans Hall of Valour sketches out his later life:

    For his achievement, Rogers was awarded the Military Cross (MC) and a special commendation from General Trenchard, Head of the RFC. Shortly afterwards he took up instructional duties with the RAF in Canada for the rest of the war.
    Coming to Saint John N.B. in 1924, Rogers was soon active in promoting a Flying Club and the city’s first airport, constructed at Millidgeville.
    Rogers first operated a General Motors agency in Saint John N.B. In 1933 he joined the Irving Oil Company in charge of their trucking operations. In 1934 management of the Saint John Motor Line was added to his duties and in 1940 he became President of SMT (Eastern) Ltd.
    In October 1938 he was appointed Commanding Officer of No. 117 RCAF Fighter Squadron (non permanent) with the rank of Squadron Leader and there was a rush of applications to join the unit, which had been established in Saint John.
    He married Sally Head of Charlottown PEI and they had two sons; Frederick and Lloyd. In 1949, with his two sons, he established a plastic manufacturing business under the firm name of Rogers Bros., Ltd. On January 11, 1967 he died in Saint John hospital after a long illness.

• Download “Lives of the Aces in Pictures – Part 32: Wendell W. Rogers (February 1935, Flying Aces)

THROUGH the dark night sky, streaking swiftly with their Hisso engines thundering, is the greatest trio of aces on the Western Front—the famous and inseparable “Three Mosquitoes,” the mightiest flying combination that had ever blazed its way through overwhelming odds and laughed to tell of it! Flying in a V formation—at point was Captain Kirby, impetuous young leader of the great trio; on his right was little Lieutenant “Shorty” Carn, the mild-eyed, corpulent little Mosquito and lanky Lieutenant Travis, eldest and wisest of the Mosquitoes on his left!

Yes! The Three Mosquitoes, and to help get through the cold winter months, at Age of Aces dot net it’s Mosquito Month! We’ll be featuring that wiley trio in three early tales from the Western Front. This week we have the classic “Two Aces ~ and a Joker” in which Kirby takes on a lone enemy plane while returning from a mission. The two crash and Kirby and the Boche flyer strike up an uneasy truce until they find out which side of the lines they are on and who is whose prisoner!

Kirby, leader of the famous “Three Mosquitoes,” knew that he was too worn out to jump into another fight. He must get his plane back to the drome. But that lone Fokker that appeared suddenly below him looked too easy to miss—it was a cinch! He dived, with motor roaring, but it wasn’t such a cinch——

• Download “Two Aces ~ and a Joker” (June 1928, War Birds)

If you enjoyed this tale of our intrepid trio, check out some of the other stories of The Three Mosquitoes we have posted by clicking the Three Mosquitoes tag or check out one of the three volumes we’ve published on our books page! And come back next Friday or another exciting tale.

Back with another of Eugene Frandzen’s “Lives of the Aces in Pictures” from the pages of Flying Aces Magazine. The series ran for almost four years with a different Ace featured each month. This time around we have the January 1935 installment featuring the illustrated biography of Hauptmann Oswald Boelcke!

Boelcke is regarded by many as the father of air combat—he developed a series of rules known as the Dicta Boelcke that espoused fighter tactics based upon aircraft formation rather than upon the characteristics of any individual machine. By 1916 Boelcke had amassed more ‘kills’ than any other German pilot—40, many above the Verdun battlefield. And had a chest full of awards and honors. Sadly, it his death is a result of not following his own rules of engagement—which mandated never to close in on a single combatant when others are also pursuing it—as he crashed into one of his fellow ships while trying to avoid a French pilot.

• Download “Lives of the Aces in Pictures – Part 31: Oswald Boelcke (January 1935, Flying Aces)

“Haw-w-w-w-w!” That sound can only mean one thing—that Bachelor of Artifice, Knight of Calamity and an alumnus of Doctor Merlin’s Camelot College for Conjurors is back to vex not only the Germans, but the Americans—the Ninth Pursuit Squadron in particular—as well. Yes it’s the marvel from Boonetown, Iowa himself—Lieutenant Phineas Pinkham!

Phineas Pinkham was so pleased with his particular prisoner that he even offered him a cigar that wasn’t loaded. Yes, they call that fraternizing with the enemy!

• Download “Intelligence Pest” (August 1934, Flying Aces)

Here’s another of Eugene Frandzen’s “Lives of the Aces in Pictures” from the pages of Flying Aces Magazine. The series ran for almost four years with a different Ace featured each month. This week we have his illustrated biography from the December 1934 issue featuring that famous Canadian Ace—Captain Frederick McCall!

By the end of the great war, McCall had become Canda’s fifth most successful flying aces with 35 confirmed and two unconfirmed victories. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, Military Cross & Bar and the Distinguished Flying Cross!

After the war he went into civil aviation, trying his hand at Barnstorming and stunt flying as well as founding a pair of aviation companies. In 1920 he founded McCall Aero Corporation Limited which flew commercial freight and passengers and opened up regions of Canada that had previously been hard to reach. He later founded Great Western Airways in the late ’20’s once again flying cargo hither and yon. Including flying 200 quarts of nitroglycerin from Shelby, Montana to Calgary! On another occasion, he ignored all bad weather reports to fly a much needed doctor to the Skiff oil fields to treat two seriously injured workers. All the while, McCall worked to encourage the formation of Canadian flying clubs!

With the arrival of the Second World War McCall was recalled to service with the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Squadron Leader, based at numerous western Canadian bases.

McCall passed away in Calgary, Alberta on the 22nd of January 1949. He was 52.

• Download “Lives of the Aces in Pictures – Part 30: Captain Frederick McCall (December 1934, Flying Aces)

Here’s another of Eugene Frandzen’s “Lives of the Aces in Pictures” from the pages of Flying Aces Magazine. The series ran for almost four years with a different Ace featured each month. This week we have his illustrated biography from the November 1934 issue featuring Der Adler von Lille—The Eagle of Lille—Oberleutnant Max Immelmann!

Max Immelman was the first German World War I flying Ace. He was a pioneer in fighter aviation and the first aviator to win the Pour le Mérite awarded by Kaiser Wilhelm II—Prussia’s higest order of merit. His name has become synonymous with with a common flying tactic—the Immelmann turn—in which the plane performs a simultaneous loop and roll thus allowing him to dive back at a pursuing plane!

Credited with seventeen (although some would dispute this and say fifteen) kills to his name, Immelmann met his fate on the 18th of June 1916 when he was shot down by British pilot George McCubbin.

• Download “Lives of the Aces in Pictures – Part 29: Oberleutnant Max Immelmann (November 1934, Flying Aces)

Continuing with Donald E. Keyhoe’s The Sky Raider, a serialized novel from 1929. A lot has happened. In the last installment . . .

    With Carmichael’s help, Dick manages to catch Perez, but the line-chief refuses to talk. In an effort to loosen his lips, Dick takes Perez up in his plane and puts it through every heart-stopping trick he can think of. In the end Perez begs to be put down saying he will talk. He admits to sabotaging Lawson’s gas-gauge, but will not name any of his co-conspirators. Dick does get Perez to sign a confession that he hopes will be enough to free Old Man Rand. Dick dashes off to Starkville with the confession…

Will Dick get there in time with Perez’s confession? Who helped Perez kill Lawson and steal the Federal Reserve money? Find out who really killed Lawson and masterminded the plan to steal the money in the final installment of Donald E. Keyhoe’s The Sky Raider!

• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapters 29&30 (1929)

or

• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapter 29 (The Ottawa Journal, April 25th, 1929)
• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapter 30 (The Ottawa Journal, April 26th, 1929)

“Haw-w-w-w-w!” You heard right! That marvel from Boonetown, Iowa is back to square off against the Mad Butcher of the German Air Corps—Hauptmann Heinz, but not before getting even with the guys at the Ninth for all the razzing he’s been getting lately.

Wilson found a green snake in his bed. Bump Gillis had an unhappy visit from a snapping turtle. And Captain Howell sat up until three a.m. digging iron filings out of the soles of his feet. The boys had been picking on Phineas—and the Pinkham revenge had begun. No foolin’!

• Download “No Fuelin’!” (June 1934, Flying Aces)

Continuing with Donald E. Keyhoe’s The Sky Raider, a serialized novel from 1929. A lot has happened. In the last installment . . .

    With Wilson’s help, Dick manages to make his night-time sky-writing device a reality. Trying it out on a run to Henshaw Field, Dick finds he needs to work out the releasing interval. The news of Dick’s success does little to lighten Mary’s heavy heart. She makes Dick promiss that he will somehow free her father before his execution.
    The wreck of Lawson’s plane is released from the locked hanger it’s been stored in and Dick finds evidence of sabotage while inspecting it—the gas-gauge was crimped with pliers to give a false reading. Asking Wilson who checked over Lawson’s plane before his fateful run, Dick finds out it was the line-chief Perez…

Was it really Perez who killed Lawson? Was he working alone? And can Dick get the bottom of all this before Old Man Rand faces death that night? Find out in the fourteenth installment of Donald E. Keyhoe’s The Sky Raider!

• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapters 27&28 (1929)

or

• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapter 27&28 (The Ottawa Journal, April 24th, 1929)

And come back on Wednesday for the exciting conclusion!

Continuing with Donald E. Keyhoe’s The Sky Raider, a serialized novel from 1929. A lot has happened. On Wednesday . . .

    With all hopes exhausted, the trial of Old Man Rand gets under way. Old Man Rand’s innocence is little comfort when the jury returns with a guilty verdict and the judge sentences him to death. A distraught Mary exhausts all her financial resources in trying any and every lawyer in hopes of finding an appeal that might free her father. Dick, in trying to raise some money for Mary, discusses making his night-time sky-writing invention a reality with Wilson, a mechanic at Rand Field. Excitedly he tries to tell Mary about it, but her thoughts are miles away in a tiny cell with her father…

Can Dick get his invention working? And if he does, will it prove helpful? Find out in the thirteenth installment of Donald E. Keyhoe’s The Sky Raider!

• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapters 25&26 (1929)

or

• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapter 25&26 (The Ottawa Journal, April 23rd, 1929)

And come back on Monday for the penultimate installment!

Continuing with Donald E. Keyhoe’s The Sky Raider, a serialized novel from 1929. A lot has happened. On Monday . . .

    With some hesitation, Lois Hamilton provides an alibi for Tommy Rand, saying he was with her the night before the murder leaving late the next day. After some thought on the matter, Tommy realizes where his father was the morning in question and why he won’t tell anyone. Tommy believes his father was at von Siechner’s gambling establishment on the edge of town looking for him. Dick, Tommy and Mary head there. Von Siechner describes their father as having been there, but when he’s questioned by the police, he doesn’t recognize Old Man Rand!

Is there any hope for Old Man Rand? And what is the cruel fate that follows him? Find out in the twelfth installment of Donald E. Keyhoe’s The Sky Raider!

• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapters 23&24 (1929)

or

• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapter 23 (The Ottawa Journal, April 20th, 1929)
• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapter 24 (The Ottawa Journal, April 22nd, 1929)

And come back on Friday for the next installment!

“Haw-w-w-w-w!” You can almost hear his insane gaffaw echo through your skull while you read it. Yes, we’re back with another of Joe Archibald’s Phineas “Carbuncle” Pinkham mirthquakes to lighten your holidays. This time from the May 1934 issue of Flying Aces. As always, Phineas gets himself in a tight pickle and once again manages to get out of it and get the upper hand on the “Vons.”

Lieutenant Phineas Pinkham was in a sling. Oh, yes, we know that’s nothing new—but wait a minute. This time he’d dropped a couple of bombs right on the domes of the A.E.F. on his own side of the lines—and it didn’t look like an accident.

• Download “Hose de Combat” (May 1934, Flying Aces)

Continuing with Donald E. Keyhoe’s The Sky Raider, a serialized novel from 1929. A lot has happened. The story so far . . .

    Dick Trent, novice in the Air Mail Service, incurs the displeasure of Carmichael, Superintendent of Rand Field, when he flies through the Rocky Mountains in a blinding snowstorm to bring back young Tommy Rand, who is stranded in a drinking in gambling haunt. Old Man Rand, owner of the field, beloved by his men, thanks Dick. Mary Rand, his beautiful daughter, is also greatful to Trent.
    The next day in a spectacular flight, Dick sweeps alongside Mary’s disabled machine in midair and saves her from a fatal crash. They express their Love and Dick is happily thinking of the future as Lawson, his buddy in the service, tells him he is leaving to marry a beautiful blonde. On his last flight Lawson’s plane goes missing. Dick, in searching the country, comes across the burned plane and Lawson’s dead body. A package containing $25O,OOO in government gold is missing. The only clue to the crime is a heavy Luger pistol used to club Lawson’s skull. Mary recognizes the pistol as her father’s.
    Old Man Rand, questioned, admitted giving the pistol to Lawson. He refuses, however, after talking tto his son, Tommy, who has been missing again, to account for his actions during the ealy morning hours when the crime was comitted. When the charred money bag is found in his own furnace Rand is arrested for murder. Dick, along with the other men of the service, is dejected. They all love the old man and know he is innocent. Mary, in hysterics, turns away from Dick, attributing her father’s arrest to the pistol he found.
    After his next run, Dick sets out to visit the old man in jail, but Rand insists he is willing to pay the penalty. Returning, Dick meets Mary, who asks his forgiveness. Dick takes her in his arms and the two vow to solve the murder mystery to clear her father.
    Suspicious of Carmichael, Field Superintendent, who knew of the gold shipment, Dick is later convinced of his innocence, when he intimates Lawson’s connivance. Dick recalls Lawson’s blonde fiancee. With her initials for a clue they learn she left for Hawaii. Jumping into a plane Mary and Dick come to greif in a field. Continuing by train they locate the girl, Dorothy Curtis, who angrily accuses Mary as the daughter of her fiancee’s murderer. Mary assures her of her father’s innocence. Asked to help solve the mystery the blonde mentions a mysterious man who talked of money and left a flask in Lawson’s room. It belonged to Tommy Rand. Accused by Mary he denies guilt of Lawson’s murder, giving Mrs Hamilton as his alibi. Mary calls her up…

Will Mrs. Hamilton give Tommy an alibi? How will this help Dick and Mary in their efforts to clear Old Man Rand? Find out in the eleventh installment of Donald E. Keyhoe’s The Sky Raider!

• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapters 21&22 (1929)

or

• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapter 21 (The Ottawa Journal, April 19th, 1929)
• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapter 22 (The Ottawa Journal, April 20th, 1929)

And come back on Wednesday for the next installment!

Continuing with Donald E. Keyhoe’s The Sky Raider, a serialized novel from 1929. A lot has happened. In Wednesday’s installment . . .

    Dick and Mary are looking for Lawson’s fiancee. With her initials for a clue they learn she left for Hawaii. Jumping into a plane, Mary and Dick come to greif in a field. Continuing by train they locate the girl, Dorothy Curtis, who angrily accuses Mary as the daughter of her fiance’s murderer!

Will Dorothy help Dick and Mary in the efforts to clear Old Man Rand? And what does Tommy have to say for himself and his missing time that fateful morning? Find out in the tenth installment of Donald E. Keyhoe’s The Sky Raider!

• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapters 19&20 (1929)

or

• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapter 19 (The Ottawa Journal, April 17th, 1929)
• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapter 20 (The Ottawa Journal, April 18th, 1929)

And come back on Monday for the next installment!

Continuing with Donald E. Keyhoe’s The Sky Raider, a serialized novel from 1929. A lot has happened. In Monday’s installment . . .

    Dick and Mary have vowed to solve the murder mystery and clear her father. Suspecting Carmichael because he knew of the gold shipment, Dick and Mary are searching his house when he appears. He nonchalantly shows them they are on the wrong track, and convinces them he too is anxious to apprehend the guilty party. He mentions Lawson. Dick remembers the flyer’s blonde. . . .

Can Dick and Mary track down Lawson’s fiancee? If so, will she have any valuable information towards clearing Mary’s father? Find out in the ninth installment of Donald E. Keyhoe’s The Sky Raider!

• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapters 17&18 (1929)

or

• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapter 17 (The Ottawa Journal, April 15th, 1929)
• Download “The Sky Raider” Chapter 18 (The Ottawa Journal, April 16th, 1929)

And come back on Friday for the next installment!