This month we’re celebrating the talents of that pulp stalwart—Joe Archibald. Joe had quite the string of jobs that led him to the pulps. Born in 1898, Joe began his writing career at the age of fifteen with a prize-winning contribution to the Boston Post. At the age of twelve he submitted and sold his first cartoon to the original JUDGE Magazine. He is a graduate of the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.

During World War I he served on a sub-chaser for the United States Navy and was staff cartoonist for a service publication. After the armistice, he was a police and sports reporter for Boston Newspapers, and then went to New York and became a sports and panel cartoonist for the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.

In 1928 he created his first comic strip syndicated by the New York Evening Graphic. Here he had characters, continuity and action. What he came up with was “Saga of Steve West,” a strip about a young man who leaves the farm and heads to the big city to find his way in life. The principle characters are: Steve West, the young man in question who appears to be in his late teens or early twenties; George Edwards who is Steve’s friend and benefactor and—a bootlegger; Edwards’ secretary and sometimes girlfriend, Helen Wyatt, who has a secret warm spot in her heart for Steve; Detective Gaffney who has matched wits with Edwards in gangland; and rounding out the main cast is Steve’s pal Pete Collins.

Beginning on November 12the 1928, the strip ran for almost a year according to Stripper’s Guide—ending its run in late September or early October 1929.

Here’s a taste of what was going on the first week of March 1929. As we join the action, Pete has been hi-jacked while driving one of George Edwards’ trucks. The truck stolen and shot through the shoulder, Pete has managed to make his way to not so nearby farmhouse three miles away where he was cared for and able to contact Edwards and Steve who have shown up to help hide him from “Red” and “The Greek.”

Strips courtesy of The Daily News of Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania.

To find out what happens next. . .

• Download “Saga of Steve West” (March 5 to April 2, 1929)

This month we’re celebrating the talents of that pulp stalwart—Joe Archibald. Archibald wrote hundreds of stories for the pulps, both dramatic and humorous. His bread and butter it would seem was the humorous tale. He had long running series in several pulp titles. In the detective titles there was Alvin Hinkey, the harness bull Hawkshaw, in 10 Story Detective; Scoops & Snooty, the Evening Star’s dizzy duo, in Ten Detective Aces; and the President of the Hawkeye Detective Agency himself—Willie Klump in Popular Detective. While in the aviation titles he had the pride of Booneville—Phineas Pinkham in Flying Aces; and the one-two punch of Ambrose Hooley & Muley Spinks in The Lone Eagle, The American Eagle, Sky Fighters and War Birds!; and Elmer Hubbard and Pokey Cook in Sky Birds!

Joe Archibald also supplied illustrations for his Elmer Hubbard stories
as he was doing with the Phineas Pinkham howls in Flying Aces.

Archibald wrote the Elmer Hubbard stories as if they were letters Elmer was writing home to his friend Pete back in Rumford Junction, Maine. In these Billy Doos he tells Pete all about his adventures as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Corpse—the hi-jinx he gets up to with his buddy Pokey Cook knocking around Paris and knocking down germans. All the usual Archibald humor abounds.

A listing of all the Elmer Hubbard stories.

title	magazine	date	vol	no
1931
Elmer of The Air Core	Sky Birds	Sep	07	6
Local Boy Makes Good	Sky Birds	Oct	07	7
Paree—And Busted	Sky Birds	Nov	07	8
Nitwit’s Nest	Sky Birds	Dec	07	9
1932
Elmer Knows His Groceries	Sky Birds	Jan	07	10
Assault and Flattery	Sky Birds	Feb	07	11
Chute The Works	Sky Birds	Mar	07	12
Elmer and His Tin Fish	Sky Birds	Apr	10	1
School Daze	Sky Birds	Jun	10	2
Duck Soup For Elmer	Sky Birds	Aug	10	3
Hedgehopper’s Heaven	Sky Birds	Sep	10	4
I.O.U.—One Ace	Sky Birds	Oct	11	1
Stick With Me, Elmer	Sky Birds	Nov	11	2
Sadder, But Not Wiser	Sky Birds	Dec	11	3
1933
Cook’s Detour	Sky Birds	Jan	11	4
Good Night, Nurse	Sky birds	Feb	12	1
To The Highest Kidder	Sky Birds	Mar	12	2
Kilt In Action	Sky Birds	Apr	12	3
Bullet Spoof	Sky Birds	May	12	4
Scent By Air	Sky Birds	Jul	13`	1
A Spree De Corpse	Sky Birds	Aug	13	2
I Cover The Western Front	Sky Birds	Sep	13	3
Spark Pugs	Sky Birds	Oct	13	4
Ain’t We Got hun	Sky Birds	Nov	14	1
Page Mr. Handley	Sky Birds	Dec	14	2
1934
Channel Skimmers	Sky Birds	Jan	14	3
The Vanishing Americans	Sky Birds	Feb	14	4
Uneasy Marks	Sky Birds	Mar	15	1
Three Flights Up	Sky Birds	Apr	15	2
By Hook or Cook	Sky Birds	May	15	3
The Tusk Patrol	Sky Birds	Jun	15	4
Hokus Focus	Sky Birds	Jul	16	1
Stormy Petrol	Sky Birds	Aug	16	2
Spy Crust	Sky Birds	Sep	16	3
France Formation	Sky Birds	Oct	16	4
Fudge Fight	Sky Birds	Nov	17	1
Yankee Boodle	Sky Birds	Dec	17	2
1935
The Oily Bird	Sky Birds	jan	17	3
Observation Bust	Sky Birds	Feb	17	4
Red Herrs	Sky Birds	Mar	18	1
Crash and Carrie	Sky Birds	Apr	18	2
Heir Attack	Sky Birds	Jun	18	3
Shoe Flyers	Sky Birds	Jul	18	4
Zoom With Bath	Sky Birds	Aug	19	1
Stars and Tripes	Sky Birds	Sep	19	2
Slip Screams	Sky Birds	Dec	19	3

We present as a bonus, Joe Archibald’s first tale of Elmer Hubbard. Elmer writes his first letter to Pete back in Rumford Junction telling him all about his first days in France as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force with Pokey Cook.

Elmer Hubbard, second looie in the U.S. Air Force, hadn’t done what he did, he’d have been just a gold star in the window of Perkins & Biggers, Tires and Accessories, Rumford Junction, Maine. But let Elmer tell it himself—and don’t ask us how it got passed by the censor!

• Download “Elmer of The Air Corpse” (September 1931, Sky Birds)

And check out these previously posted letters home from Elmer Hubbard of his exploits on the Western Front with Pokey Cook.

Duck Soup For Elmer

Rittmeister von Gluck was making things so tough on the tarmac where Elmer of the Air Corps parked his Spad that G.H.Q. threatened to move the whole drome back. But there was a very special reason why Elmer didn’t want that to happen—a reason named Gwendolyn. Now don’t get us wrong—Gwendolyn was no lady!

• Download “Duck Soup for Elmer” (August 1932, Sky Birds)

Channel Skimmers

There’s no stopping a pair of daring explorers like Elmer of the Air Corpse and Pokey Cook. This time they find themselves in England—but Pokey wants a bridge built across the Channel before he’ll go back. No stopping them? Well, not much!

• Download “Channel Skimmers” (January 1934, Sky Birds)

The Varnishing Americans

If you thought Elmer Hubbard and Pokey Cook were a couple of wild Indians before, just wait until you see them with their war paint and feathers on! Even C.O. Mulligan had to listen to their war whoops with a smile.

• Download “The Varnishing Americans” (February 1934, Sky Birds)

This month we’re celebrating the talents of that pulp stalwart—Joe Archibald. Archibald was not only a prolific author, but a decent artist as well illustrating many of his stories. His Phineas Pinkham tales from Flying Aces are an excellent example. So it’s no surprise that he had a past as a cartoonist working primarily with the McClure Syndicate.

During his time with McClure Syndicate, Joe Archibald produced a number of strips. We saw his “Champions Past and Present” from 1925 yesterday. Today we have a sports panel he produced that covered any topic related to sports under the sun—and they were varied.

Here are a few examples from February 1928 from the pages of the Lebanon Daily News, Lebanon Pensylvania.

This month we’re celebrating the talents of that pulp stalwart—Joe Archibald. He had a varied career even before he sold his first story to the pulps. Born in 1898, Joe began his writing career at the age of fifteen with a prize-winning contribution to the Boston Post. At the age of twelve he submitted and sold his first cartoon to the original JUDGE Magazine. He is a graduate of the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.

During World War I he served on a sub-chaser for the United States Navy and was staff cartoonist for a service publication. After the armistice, he was a police and sports reporter for Boston Newspapers, and then went to New York and became a sports and panel cartoonist for the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.

Here are a few examples of one of his early strips for the McClure Syndicate—from the yellowing pages of the Bridgeport Telegram out of Bridgeport, Connecticut. From 1925, it’s “Champions Past and Present.”

Frederick Blakeslee painted all the covers for the entire run of Dare-Devil Aces. And each of those covers had a story behind it. Although this looks like it should be in his new series of scrambled time covers, instead we get Robert H. Rankin, formerly a draughtsman for Fokker Aircraft Corp, telling the story of the last of the Sopwith war-time machines—The Sopwith Salamander—from the cover of the November 1935 number of Dare-Devil Aces!

THE SALAMANDER, the last of the Sopwith war-time machines, was one of the most interesting and efficient types used in the World War. Although the design of the Salamander followed that of the earlier developed Sopwith Snipe, the plane was not intended for use as a scout or fighter—as were the Camel, Pup, Dolphin, and Snipe. It was designed primarily as a trench fighter, and in official circles it was known as the T.F.2.

The rudder of the Salamander was larger than those on the majority of the Sopwith designs. The pilot’s head, owing to the extremely deep fuselage and comparatively small wing gap, was on a level with the top plane, the center of which was partly slotted and partly cut away, to insure a better vision.

Due to the rather large diameter of the engine used, a B.R.2., the rectangularity of the fuselage was apparent toward the tail only, with the result that the fuselage was of a more circular cross-section than was the case in the other Sopwith ships.

Perhaps the mast interesting feature of the Salamander was the manner in which it was armored. Light steel plating formed the front of the fuselage from a point immediately in the rear of the engine, and extended to a point slightly to the rear of the cockpit. This armor, instead of being added to an existing fuselage frame, was a definite structual part of the frame work, and in itself formed the front portion of the fuselage. Thus, the armor plating served a structual, as well as a protective function.

Another variation from the usual Sopwith designs was incorporated in a tapering spine which served to taper off the pilot’s head and at the same time act as a head rest. This spine, being bulletproof, gave the pilot considerable protection against a rear attack.

The total weight of the armor in the Salamander totaled to some 650 pounds, and in addition to this weight, more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition was carried. In all, the ship weighed 2,945 pounds, as compared to the 1,959 pounds of the Dolphin, which was considered a rather heavy plane.

The following figures will give some idea of the performance and construction of the Salamander:




With the weights carried, the machine had a loading of 11 pounds per horse power, or 9.4 pounds per square foot.

As originally designed, the Salamander was armed with two fixed machine guns, but with its development into a general ground strafer, and later into a contact-patrol ship, the armament was increased, first to four guns, and later to six guns. In this later type there were two Lewis guns mounted on the top wing in such a manner that they could be easily drawn back and reloaded by the pilot from the cockpit.

Then, two Vickers were fixed on the top of the cowling, synchronized to fire through the propeller arc, while two Lewis guns, intended for trench strafing work were mounted on the bottom of the cockpit in such a way as to fire through the floor of the fuselage at an angle of about forty-five degrees.

The Salamander was passed by the experimental board of the Sopwith concern in April, 1918, but it was not until considerably later on in the year that the plane reached a production stage. Consequently few of them were in service over the lines.

In the short time that they were in action they showed such a performance record that it is quite probable, had the conflict lasted longer, the Salamander would have been one of the outstanding planes.

It is interesting to note, in connection with the Salamander, that the armored airplane has always been generally accepted as a logical step in the evolution of military planes by aeronautical engineers and designers. In actuality, however, there have been very few armored ships produced, and in fact, it was not until late in the war that any machines of the armored classification appeared.

For the most part, the greater number of the so-called armored planes produced were most inefficient, and in most instances the protective plating was added to the fuselage frame work of a regular pursuit or observation ship, with the result that the total weight of the machine was increased to a point where, powered with the engines then in use, they were sadly underpowered.

The Salamander, however, was designed from the first as an armored fighter, and inasmuch as the armor plating was made an integral part of the structural framework, the weight problem was done away with. This particular Sopwith offered a definite advance over the designs then in use, and it will be interesting to note in just what ways the modern armored pursuits will follow this pioneer model.

“The Sopwith Salamander: The Story Behind The Cover” by Frederick Blakeslee
(November 1935, Dare-Devil Aces)

This month we’re celebrating the talents of that pulp stalwart—Joe Archibald. Archibald wrote hundreds of stories for the pulps, both dramatic and humorous. His bread and butter it would seem was the humorous tale. He had long running series in several pulp titles. In the detective titles there was Alvin Hinkey, the harness bull Hawkshaw, in 10 Story Detective; Scoops & Snooty, the Evening Star’s dizzy duo, in Ten Detective Aces; and the President of the Hawkeye Detective Agency himself—Willie Klump in Popular Detective. While in the aviation titles he had Elmer Hubbard and Pokey Cook in Sky Birds; the pride of Booneville—Phineas Pinkham in Flying Aces; and the one-two punch of Ambrose Hooley & Muley Spinks in The Lone Eagle, The American Eagle, Sky Fighters and War Birds!

Here the incomparable Dunc Coburn handles the illustration duties for
“They Had To Flee Paris” (April 1942, The American Eagle)

The Ambrose Hooley stories are written as if Muley Spinks were telling us the tale, describing Hooley as a sawed off little tomato who is a demon in a Spad and dynamite with his fists on the ground. Hooley is frequently working some angle at the 93 Pursuit Squadron and getting their C.O. Major Bertram Bagby’s Hackels up.

A listing of all Joe Archibald’s Ambrose Hooley & Muley Spinks tales.

title	magazine	date	vol	no
1936
A Fuel There Was	War Birds	aug	32	1
Hun and Dearie	War Birds	oct	32	2
1937
Doubling in Brass Hats	Sky Fighters	Jan	16	1
A Flyer in Cauliflowers	Sky Fighters	Jul	17	2
Jennies From Heaven	The Lone Eagle	oct	15	2
1938
Pfalz Teeth	The Lone Eagle	feb	16	1
Flying Fishy	The Lone Eagle	apr	16	2
Rumpler Stakes	The Lone Eagle	jun	16	3
Just Plane Nuts	The Lone Eagle	aug	17	1
Spandau Re Mi	The Lone Eagle	oct	17	2
1939
Goose Stepbrothers	The Lone Eagle	jun	18	3
Cockpit Cuckoos	The Lone Eagle	aug	19	1
Observation Bus Boys	The Lone Eagle	oct	19	2
1940
Filet of Solos	The Lone Eagle	jun	20	3
From Spad to Worse	The Lone Eagle	aug	21	1
Plane Jane	The Lone Eagle	oct	21	2
Chocks and Blondes	The Lone Eagle	dec	21	3
1941
Spook Spad	The Lone Eagle	feb	22	1
Reel Heroes	The Lone Eagle	apr	22	2
Flight Manager	The Lone Eagle	jun	22	3
Pastry Doughboys	The American Eagle	aug	23	1
1942
Dawn Patrol Wagon	The American Eagle	feb	24	1
They Had to Flee Paris	The American Eagle	apr	24	2
Prussian Patsies	The American Eagle	sum	24	3
A Bargain For Blois	The American Eagle	fal	25	1
1943
Sea Slick	The American Eagle	win	25	2
Francs and Sauerkraut	American Eagles	spr	25	3
Messup––1918	Sky Fighters	Sep	29	3
1944
Cualiflower Alley	Sky Fighters	jan	30	2
Dough Dough Birds	Sky Fighters	sum	31	1
Uneasy Aces	Sky Fighters	fal	31	2
1945
Ambrose Hooley, C.O.	Sky Fighters	spr	32	1
Forever Ambrose	Sky Fighters	sum	32	2
1946
At ‘Em, Bums	Sky Fighters	sum	33	3
Errornautics	Sky Fighters	fal	34	1
Spy Crust	Sky Fighters	win	34	2
1948
Operation Hooley	Sky Fighters	win	35	3

We present as a bonus, Joe Archibald’s first tale of Ambrose Hooley. No Muley Spinks as yet, but all the other elements are there—the 93 Pursuit Squadron, Major Bagby and Ambrose shooting krauts out of the sky like ducks in a barrel while simultaneously working all the angles. The tale of assumed identity is illustrated by our old friend Frederick Blakeslee using a more cartoonish style! So, without further Adoo, “A Fuel There Was”—

He was washing out ships at fifteen thousand dollars a washout—but Ambrose was determined to win the war along with the heart of a girl in Kansas.

• Download “A Fuel There Was” (August 1936, War Birds)

For Ambrose and Muley in action together, check out “Rumpler Stakes” previously posted on AgeofAces.net.

When this pair of wild aces get started, they ruin anybody’s old war!

• Download “Rumpler Stakes” (June 1938, Lone Eagle)

Starting in the May 1932 issue of Flying Aces and running almost 4 years, Eugene Frandzen’s “Lives of the Aces in Pictures” was a staple of the magazine. Each month Frandzen would feature a different Ace that rose to fame during the Great War. This time around we have the third installment featuring France’s greatest flying Ace—Georges Guynemer!

That name may sound familiar to you if your a frequent visitor to this site. He’s been mentioned a few times in the past in conjunction with the lives of other Aces, and his demise was the subject of Frederick Blakeslee’s cover for the July 1933 issue of Dare-Devil Aces. Guynemer was France’s most beloved ace. He entered the French Air Service in November 1914 and served as a mechanic before receiving a Pilot’s Brevet in April 1915. Assigned to Spa3—Les Cigognes or Storks Squadron—Guynemer used his skills as an excellent pilot and marksman to quickly pile up the victories eventually being promoted to captain and commander of the Storks squadron.

By the time of his disappearance he had accrued 53 victories.

On 11 September 1917, Guynemer was last seen attacking a two-seater Aviatik near Poelcapelle, northwest of Ypres. Almost a week later, it was publicly announced in a London paper that he was missing in action. Shortly thereafter, a German newspaper reported Guynemer had been shot down by Kurt Wissemann of Jasta 3. For many months, the French population refused to believe he was dead. Guynemer’s body was never found.

• Download “Lives of the Aces in Pictures – Part 3: Georges Guynemer” (July 1932, Flying Aces)

(Editor’s Note: These early installments of Frandzen’s “Lives of the Aces in Pictures” that were published in the pulp-sized issues have been reformatted from a two page spread into a one page feature.)

Since we’re celebrating the man behind the mirthquakes this month, a little introduction is in order. Here is a brief bio that ran in the back of the September 1935 issue of Sky Birds as part of Magazine Publisher’s The M-P News Flash—a one page newsletter of sorts getting readers interested in and informed about what’s in the other titles they publish. The prolific Archibald ran stories in all their titles.

JOE ARCHIBALD is one of the veterans of the Magazine-Publishers group. Since its conception, the words he has pounded out are beyond computation. The short chunky little writer who is never seen without a cigar has had a diversified career to put it mildly. In 1917 be was selected as one of a small group from the Chicago Academy of Arts to draw pictures of mother earth from the air. Joe arrived at Kelly Field and was about to climb in a plane when a telegram arrived from his fond parents. He was under age and they clipped his wings! A year later he joined the Navy and chased up and down the New England coast looking for German subs. After the fuss was over he became a police reporter on the “Boston Telegram” and “Post.” Joe can also swing a pencil. He stopped haunting Beantown’s underworld and signed up to draw two or three features for the McClure Newspaper Syndicate. From there he went to the United Press to draw sport cartoons and write a column.

“The New York Graphic” drew Joe next. He claims to have been the pioneer in detective strips. But the yen to write fiction was strong and he quit newspaper work to devote his entire time to turning out flying, detective. western and adventure stories for WESTERN ACES—WESTERN TRAILS—TEN DETECTIVE ACES—FLYING ACES and SKY BIRDS.

The majority of his readers do not have to be told that Joe prefers to dish out humor more than anything else. He assures us that a man has to possess an abnormal funny bone to have been a hotel man, a wrestler, a bookkeeper, an artist, a writer and a newspaper reporter during a period of seventeen years. Life has not begun for Joe as yet. He’s nowhere near forty. There’s no telling what he’ll try his hand at next.

This month we’re celebrating the talents of that pulp stalwart—Joe Archibald. Archibald wrote hundreds of stories for the pulps, both dramatic and humorous. His bread and butter it would seem was the humorous tale. He had long running series in several pulp titles. In the detective titles there was Alvin Hinkey, the harness bull Hawkshaw, in 10 Story Detective; Scoops & Snooty, the Evening Star’s dizzy duo, in Ten Detective Aces; and the President of the Hawkeye Detective Agency himself—Willie Klump in Popular Detective. While in the aviation titles he had Elmer Hubbard and Pokey Cook in Sky Birds; the one-two punch of Ambrose Hooley & Muley Spinks in The Lone Eagle, The American Eagle, Sky Fighters and War Birds; and last, but by no means least, the pride of Booneville—Phineas Pinkham in Flying Aces!

Joe Archibald’s Phineas Pinkham was the longest continuously running aviation character in the pulps. Running in the pages of Flying Aces from November 1930 until the magazine dropped it’s Fiction section in November 1943. In 151 stories, Pinkham bedevils the men of the 9th Pursuit Squadron, all the Hauptmanns and vons the Boche send his way and his hapless C.O. Major Rufus Garrity with his pranks, jokes and insane inventions that seem only to amuse Phineas.

Here is a checklist of his adventures:

title	magazine	date	vol	no
1930
Sneeze That Off	Flying Aces	Nov	6	6
1931
The Hardware Ace	Flying Aces	Feb	6	9
Rock-A-Bye Jerry	Flying Aces	Jun	9	1
Bargains For Blois	Flying Aces	Jul	9	2
Tell It To The King	Flying Aces	Aug	9	3
For Dear Old G.H.Q.	Flying Aces	Sep	9	4
Crazy Like a Fox	Flying Aces	Oct	9	5
Junkers—C.O.D.	Flying Aces	Nov	9	6
Please Omit Flowers	Flying Aces	Dec	9	7
1932
Half-Shot at Chaumont	Flying Aces	Jan	9	8
A Flyer In Tin	Flying Aces	Feb	11	1
Too Good for Hanging	Flying Aces	Mar	11	2
From Spad to Worse	Flying Aces	Apr	11	3
Pride of the Pinkhams	Flying Aces	May	11	4
No Money, No Flyee	Flying Aces	Jun	12	1
Herr Tonic	Flying Aces	Jul	12	2
Sky A LA Mode	Flying Aces	Aug	12	3
The Reel Hero	Flying Aces	Sep	12	4
The Bat’s Whiskers	Flying Aces	Oct	13	1
Good To The First Drop	Flying Aces	Nov	13	2
Shower Kraut	Flying Aces	Dec	13	3
1933
The Bull Flight	Flying Aces	Jan	13	4
Sleuthing Syrup	Flying Aces	Feb	14	1
Nothing But The Tooth	Flying Aces	Mar	14	2
The Fryin’ Dutchman	Flying Aces	Apr	14	3
The Grim Reaper	Flying Aces	May	14	4
Spin Feathers	Flying Aces	Jul	15	1
Take The Heir	Flying Aces	Aug	15	2
Stage Flight	Flying Aces	Sep	15	3
Herr Net	Flying Aces	Oct	15	4
Bomb Voyage	Flying Aces	Nov	16	1
The Frying Suit	Flying Aces	Dec	16	2
1934
Smell-Shocked	Flying Aces	Jan	16	3
String ‘Em Back Alive	Flying Aces	Feb	16	4
Hans Up	Flying Aces	Mar	17	1
Hose De Combat	Flying Aces	May	17	2
No Fuelin’	Flying Aces	Jun	17	3
Hunbugs	Flying Aces	Jul	17	4
Intelligence Pest	Flying Aces	Aug	18	1
Scrappy birthday	Flying Aces	Sep	18	2
Tattle Tailwinds	Flying Aces	Oct	18	3
Parlez Voodoo	Flying Aces	Nov	18	4
Good Haunting	Flying Aces	Dec	19	1
1935
An Itch In Time	Flying Aces	Jan	19	2
Crepe Hangers	Flying Aces	Feb	19	3
Horse Flyers	Flying Aces	Mar	19	4
Geese Monkeys	Flying Aces	Apr	20	1
Cinema bums	Flying Aces	May	20	2
Prop Eyes	Flying Aces	Jun	20	3
Rice and Shine	Flying Aces	Jul	20	4
Dog Flight	Flying Aces	Aug	21	1
Pfalz Teeth	Flying Aces	Sep	21	2
One Hun, One Hit, Three Errors	Flying Aces	Oct	21	3
Sea Gullible	Flying Aces	Nov	21	4
Fallen Archies	Flying Aces	Dec	22	1
1936
Spy Larking	Flying Aces	Jan	22	2
T.N.T. Party	Flying Aces	Feb	22	3
Doin’s In The Dunes	Flying Aces	Mar	22	4
The Batty Patrol	Flying Aces	Apr	23	1
Smells, Spells, And Shells	Flying Aces	May	23	2
Sky Finance	Flying Aces	Jun	23	3
Scratch-as-Scratch Can	Flying Aces	Jul	23	4
Blois, Blois, Blacksheep	Flying Aces	Aug	24	1
Fish and Gyps	Flying Aces	Sep	24	2
Watch Your Steppes	Flying Aces	Oct	24	3
C’est La Ear	Flying Aces	Nov	24	4
Scrappy Birthday	Flying Aces	Dec	25	1
1937
Flight Opera	Flying Aces	Jan	25	2
P.D.Q.—Boat	Flying Aces	Feb	25	3
Smoke Scream	Flying Aces	Mar	25	4
Poosh ‘Em Up, Pinkham	Flying Aces	Apr	26	1
Wrong About Face	Flying Aces	May	26	2
Bagger In Bagdad	Flying Aces	Jun	26	3
Spree With Lemon	Flying Aces	Jul	26	4
Swiss Wheeze	Flying Aces	Aug	27	1
Peck’s Spad Boys	Flying Aces	Sep	27	2
Scott Free-For-All	Flying Aces	Oct	27	3
Crash or Delivery	Flying Aces	Nov	27	4
Yankee Doodling	Flying Aces	Dec	28	1
1938
Flight Team Flight	Flying Aces	Jan	28	2
Cat’s Spad-Jamas	Flying Aces	Feb	28	3
Eclipse of The Hun	Flying Aces	Mar	28	4
Hoots and Headlights	Flying Aces	Apr	29	1
Kraut Fishing	Flying Aces	May	29	2
The Spider and The Flyer	Flying Aces	Jun	29	3
Zuyder Zee Zooming	Flying Aces	Jul	29	4
Tripe of Peace	Flying Aces	Aug	30	1
Cocarde Sharpers	Flying Aces	Sep	30	2
Heir-O-Bats	Flying Aces	Oct	30	3
Skyway Robbery	Flying Aces	Nov	30	4
Happy Hunning Ground	Flying Aces	Dec	31	1
1939
A Haunting We Will Go	Flying Aces	Jan	31	2
Don Patrol	Flying Aces	Feb	31	3
Kaiser Bilious	Flying Aces	Mar	31	4
Slaked Limeys	Flying Aces	Apr	32	1
Spin Money	Flying Aces	May	32	2
Flight Headed	Flying Aces	Jun	32	3
The Airy Ape	Flying Aces	Jul	32	4
Herr Dresser	Flying Aces	Aug	33	1
Duc Soup	Flying Aces	Sep	33	2
C’est La Goat	Flying Aces	Oct	33	3
Nippon Tuck	Flying Aces	Nov	33	4
Ye Ould Emerald Oil	Flying Aces	Dec	34	1
1940
Impropa Ganda	Flying Aces	Jan	34	2
Fright Leader	Flying Aces	Feb	34	3
Take It or Leafet	Flying Aces	Mar	34	4
Briny Deep Stuff	Flying Aces	Apr	35	1
Flight to the Finish	Flying Aces	May	35	2
Pharaoh and Warmer	Flying Aces	Jun	35	3
Dawn Parole	Flying Aces	Jul	35	4
Horse of Another Cocarde	Flying Aces	Aug	36	1
Air or Nautical	Flying Aces	Sep	36	2
The Foil Guy	Flying Aces	Oct	36	3
Bull Flight	Flying Aces	Nov	36	4
Leave La Frawnce	Flying Aces	Dec	37	1
1941
Crow de Guerre	Flying Aces	Jan	37	2
I Knew De Gaulle	Flying Aces	Feb	37	3
Daze In Dunkirk	Flying Aces	Mar	37	4
Zooming Zombies	Flying Aces	Apr	38	1
Dawn Petrol	Flying Aces	May	38	2
Jerry Prison Scamp	Flying Aces	Jun	38	3
The Eyes Have It	Flying Aces	Jul	38	4
Nieuport News	Flying Aces	Aug	39	1
Chuting Star	Flying Aces	Sep	39	2
Zoom Like It Hot	Flying Aces	Oct	39	3
Gleech of Promise	Flying Aces	Nov	39	4
Gas Me No Questions	Flying Aces	Dec	40	1
1942
Tanks For The Memory	Flying Aces	Jan	40	2
The Moor The Merrier	Flying Aces	Feb	40	3
Hot Francs	Flying Aces	Mar	40	4
Contact Bridge	Flying Aces	Apr	41	1
The Crate Impersonation	Flying Aces	May	41	2
Grim Ferry Tale	Flying Aces	Jun	41	3
Maltese Doublecross	Flying Aces	Jul	41	4
Spy and Ice Cream	Flying Aces	Aug	42	1
Air Screwball	Flying Aces	Sep	42	2
Glider Than Air	Flying Aces	Oct	42	3
Flight Headed	Flying Aces	Nov	42	4
Pot Luck	Flying Aces	Dec	43	1
1943
Heir Minded	Flying Aces	Jan	43	2
Chateau Theory	Flying Aces	Feb	43	3
Pinkham’s Pixies	Flying Aces	Mar	43	4
Laughing Gas Model	Flying Aces	Apr	44	1
Hide and Go Sheik	Flying Aces	May	44	2
Jappy Landing	Flying Aces	Jun	44	3
Three Aces Feast	Flying Aces	Jul	44	4
Italian Vamoose	Flying Aces	Aug	45	1
Czech Mates	Flying Aces	Sep	45	2
Gamboling With Goebbels	Flying Aces	Oct	45	3
Sounds Vichy	Flying Aces	Nov	45	4

“Haw-w-w-w-w!” As a bonus, here’s Phineas Pinkham mirthquake from 1934. From the February number of Flying Aces Phineas goes to some inventive extremes to get a captured flyer back in “String ‘Em Back Alive!”

Major Garrity had an idea. It involved sending Phineas Pinkham back to training school in his stolen Fokker to teach rookies to fight. Phineas had an idea, too. It involved taking that stolen Fokker across the lines to teach the Mad Butcher not to fight. Lay your bets, gentlemen!

• Download “String ‘Em Back Alive” (February 1934, Flying Aces)

Editor’s Note: This story was posted a number of years ago, but this is an update PDF with Archibald’s illustrations included to add to the merriment!

Frederick Blakeslee painted all the covers for the entire run of Dare-Devil Aces. And each of those covers had a story behind it. Last time Mr. Blakeslee gave us the first in a new series of mismatched time images with planes from the Great War along side present day planes from 1935! This time he returns with he second in the series, from the cover of the October 1935 number of Dare-Devil Aces—”The Yellow Monsters!”

ABOVE is the drawing of a Pterodactyl, a pre-historic flying reptile that lived thousands of years ago. Today the Pterodactyl flies again, but this time it is man-made—in short, a modern fighting airplane. Before we go ahead with our story, let us explain why you find a modern ship in combat with a wartime airplane.

The World War is long past, yet many are still interested in the war-time ship; but an equal number are interested in the modern craft too. In thinking it over we wondered what a war-time pilot would do, had he in war days, met a ship of today. The problem was solved. Why not mix time? Take 1918 and 1935 and just scramble them?

The result certainly isn’t the World War, in fact it isn’t any war; it isn’t even real and not being real we can let our imagination roam. By scrambling time this way we can not only show you a war-time ship, but a modern one as well both on the same cover thus giving you an easy way of comparing the fighting ship of today with the fighting ship of yesterday.

So now, let us enter the realms of imagination. Let us see what Otto, a German pilot of 1918 would do had he met the Pterodactyl.

Otto was a crack pilot; he was leader of his staffel and was in the habit of going off on bis own occasionally to look for trouble. He was on one of these trips when he saw a speck way off on his right. Being over the French lines he guessed it was an Allied plane. His big Mercedes engine soon had him high above the other ship. As he crossed its path he looked down and saw the British insignia on the wing-tips. Something about the plane seemed queer, but not giving it a second thought he dove.

He suddenly pulled out of his dive and rubbed his eyes. He looked again. His first impression had been right after all. Something was definately queer about the British ship. Mein Gott, what was it? Was it an airplane? If so it was like nothing he had ever seen.

But he could see the flash of propellers and the crew—that was real anyway, so it must be an airplane. Dunner und blit-sen, what a crazy thing it was! Why it looked as though it would fall apart if a wind hit it. Where was the tail? Well, thought Otto, this will be cold turkey.

He was about to dive again when the strange ship put on a burst of speed. To Otto’s surprise he discovered that he had had his throttle wide open to keep up with the yellow monster.

Well it certainly could fly, he decided, as the Britisher pulled rapidly away from him. Then he saw several others of the strange ships join the first and turn toward him. Otto thought he better return to his drome and get help.

Otto assembled his pilots and recounted what he had seen. The assembled pilots looked at each other but said nothing. Otto was their superior officer so what could they say? A tailless ship indeed, bosh!

Otto led his staffel back and soon spotted the strange ships.

He made a wide circle and gave the signal to dive. The scene on the cover shows the beginning of the fight.

Here we might consider what chance Otto and his men flying Fokker DVII’s would have against the Pterodactyl. We do not hesitate to say that they don’t stand a ghost of a chance.

At the time of writing this, no data on the performance of the Pterodactyl is available. The speed is very high; the exact figure we do not know. Note the wonderful unobstructed field of fire of the rear gunner. It would be impossible for an attacker to hide under the tail. It can deliver a steady stream of lead from its fixed guns and as it dives on an enemy another dose from the free gun as it zooms away. The rear gunner by the way is fully protected from the wind. The pilot can look either under or over the center section too.

Some think that the Pterodactyl may prove to be the most formidable fighter yet produced. Others wonder if it will not become extinct as the bird-lizard from which the new ship gets its name.

“The Yellow Monsters: The Story Behind The Cover” by Frederick Blakeslee
(October 1935, Dare-Devil Aces)

The Pterodactyl is manufactured by Westland Aircraft Co., England, and was first produced last year.

 
Editor’s Note: The Westland Pterodactyl was featured much more prominently earlier in 1935 on the January cover of Street & Smith’s Bill Barnes Air Adventurer. Here Frank Tinsley has place the Pterodactyl front and center with the tailless tailgunner blasting away at the pursuing biplanes!

“Haw-w-w-w-w!” You heard right! That marvel from Boonetown, Iowa is back and in hotter water than usual, but as is the case—what’s sauce for the goose is gravy for Phineas!

Trouble had been coming to Phineas in bunches, like bananas. At last, the Ninth Pursuit thought they had got him down. But don’t let that fool you. A Pinkham at bay is worse than an army of leopards with brass knuckles.

• Download “Geese Monkeys” (April 1935, Flying Aces)

Starting in the May 1932 issue of Flying Aces and running almost 4 years, Eugene Frandzen’s “Lives of the Aces in Pictures” was a staple of the magazine. Each month Frandzen would feature a different Ace that rose to fame during the Great War. This time around we have the second installment featuring America’s Flying Soldier of Fortune—Bert Hall!

Weston Birch “Bert” Hall was one of the seven original members of the Lafayette Escadrille. And was probably America’s most colorful Soldier of Fortune. Born in 1885, he began his storied carrer in the early 1900’s in the Balkan war. Later, he is reported to have dropped rocks on the sultan of Turkey’s enemies while flying for the Turks. He was a four-flusher, a liar, a deserter and a damn good poker player who was good at reading his opponents.

Hall wrote two books about his exploits in the Lafayette Escadrille, En L’air (1918) and One Man’s War (1929). The former was the basis of the 1918 film A Romance of the Air, in which he starred as himself.

He assisted the Chinese in the 1920’s when he headed the Chinese air force. However he was sentenced to 30 months in jail when a money for arms deal fell through and was accused of receiving money under false pretenses.

When he was released in 1936, he ended up moving around alot—to Seattle for a while and Hollywood where he worked for 20th Century Fox Studios. By 1940 he found himself in Dayton, Ohio—finally settling in Castalia, Ohio and starting the Sturdy Toy Factory.

He died of a massive heart attack while driving down the highway in 1948.

• Download “Lives of the Aces in Pictures – Part 2: Bert Hall” (June 1932, Flying Aces)

(Editor’s Note: These early installments of Frandzen’s “Lives of the Aces in Pictures” that were published in the pulp-sized issues have been reformatted from a two page spread into a one page feature.)

This week we have a story by another of our favorite authors—Harold F. Cruickshank! Cruickshank is popular in these parts for the thrilling exploits of The Sky Devil from the pages of Dare-Devil Aces, as well as those of The Sky Wolf in Battle Aces and The Red Eagle in Battle Birds. He wrote innumerable stories of war both on the ground and in the air. Here we have a tale of “Mud” Collier, a flyer who likes to go it alone and is as comfortable in the trenches where he started out as he is in the air. From the February 1935 Flying Aces we bring you “The Solo Skipper”—

His own squadron called him “Mud” because he spent his leave up front with the infantry and his air hours patrolling their death-infested forward zone to protect them. But to those doughboys who every day defied the fury of the enemy barrage—his name was not mud.

• Download “The Solo Skipper” (February 1935, Flying Aces)

Frederick Blakeslee painted all the covers for the entire run of Dare-Devil Aces. And each of those covers had a story behind it. This time Mr. Blakeslee gives the first in a new series of mismatched time images with planes from the Great War along side present day planes from 1935! Without further Ado, Mr. Blakeslee gives us the story of “The Tailless Ship!”

AFTER looking at the cover this month you have probably turned to this story quickly to find out what it is all about. You probably think you have missed something in German war-time ships. But you haven’t. Its this way.

Recently we were wondering what a war-time pilot would think and do, had he, in 1918, met a ship of today. So we took 1918 and 1935, mixed them thoroughly and what have we? Well, the result certainly isn’t the World War. As a matter of fact it isn’t any war. It isn’t even real, and that is just the result we were after. Not being real we can let our imaginations roam. Therefore, this cover is No. 1 of a brand-new series. To
keep them in order we will number them. You will find the number in the lower left-hand corner on the blue band.

Now let us suppose that a French pilot, in 1918 meets a ship of 1935. This opens a fascinating field. We can keep abreast with the very latest in modern fighting aircraft design on these covers as well as present the war-time ship. And more, you will then have an easy way of comparing the fighting ship of today with the fighting ship of yesterday.

To start off, we have selected a tailless ship. It is not strictly speaking, a fighter. It was designed by a young German inventor in 1933 and he startled the aeronautical world by actually flying it.

It was, therefore, the forerunner of the modern tailless type. Designers seized on the tailless idea and a recent ship of this type, produced by Great Britain, may prove to be the most formidable fighting craft yet made. That ship is the Pterodactyl, which we shall show next month.

As we said above, the tailless ship was not designed as a fighter. But for the purposes of this cover and to give the Spad a break, we have made it into a fighter by merely making the passenger cockpit into a gun nacelle.

Granted it is a fighter, let us see what Pierre, our French pilot of 1918, would think of it. When he first sighted it he probably thought it was a bat, but as it approached and grew in size, and although it still looked to him like a bat, he knew it for what it was, for he caught the flash of propellers.

And then he sat fascinated as the strange ship circled him. His eyes told him it zvas an airplane, but his mind refused to accept it as such. He probably said to himself, in French of course, “There ain’t no such animal, there couldn’t be! Why, it hasn’t even got a tail and where the tail should be is a propeller! There’s a propeller at the bow too. Good grief, it’s a pusher and a tractor at the same time, impossible! And what are those green things at the end of the wings, if they are wings?”

Just then the bat-like ship banked. “Are they rudders? How could rudders be there? No, I’m seeing things, no more cognac for me!”

Of course we must assume all this went through Pierre’s head in a flash. As the ship banked, Pierre was startled to see smoking white tracers flash past. He then saw what had escaped him at first, the bat ship carried German crosses. Pierre looped and although he didn’t think the thing was really there, went to work.

Now what chance would Pierre have against this ship? A very good chance indeed. Pierre, with his 300 h.p. Hispano could do 130 m.p.h. on the straight-away. The tailless ship with only 150 h.p. could do 160, no use trying to run for it. Maybe he could out-climb it? No, the German could climb a thousand feet a minute. Well maybe he could out-dive it? Not that either, the German ship could dive like a bat out of hell.

He could out-maneuver it however, but what good would that do? The gunner had an unrestricted field of fire, back, ahead, up and to the sides. Well, maybe the thing has a blind spot. Ah! There we have him; underneath Pierre was as safe as a church. Now just tip up and let him have it.

Yes, we’re sure Pierre would win this fight, but next month the tailless ship tells a different story.

“The Tailless Ship: The Story Behind The Cover” by Frederick Blakeslee
(September 1935, Dare-Devil Aces)

Starting in the May 1932 issue of Flying Aces and running almost 4 years, Eugene Frandzen’s “Lives of the Aces in Pictures” was a staple of the magazine. Each month Frandzen would feature a different Ace that rose to fame during the Great War. This time around we have the inaugral installment featuring America’s Ace of Aces—Eddie Rickenbacker!

Rickenbacker is credited with 26 victories—the most of any American flyer. He was awarded the Medal of Honor, Legion of Honor, Croix de Guerre and the Distinguished Service Cross with 8 oak leaf clusters (1 silver & 3 bronze).

Before the war, Rickenbacker had become one of the most successful race car drivers, and, with the war’s end, Rickenbacker went back to what he knew. He elected to leave the air service and established his own automotive company that ultimately went out of business. Not detoured, he bought the Indianapolis Speedway—turning it around and making it profitable. From there he went into General Motors. When GM aquired North American Aviation in 1935, RIckenbacker was asked to manage one of their holdongs—Eastern Air Transport which Rickenbacker merged with Florida Airways to form Eastern Air Lines—taking a little airline flying a few thousand miles a week to major airline!

(Somehow during all this he found the time to also script two popular comic strip from 1935 to 1940—Ace Drummond and Hall of Fame of the Air.)

The advent of World War II brought Rickenbacker back to service—but as a civilian Representative to the Secretary of War in the survey of aircraft installations. Resuming his role at Eastern Air Lines after the war. With Eastern’s financial losses in the 1950’s, Rickenbacker was forced out of his position as CEO in 1959 and resigned as Chairman of the Board on December 31st, 1963.

Rickenbacker spent his remaining years lecturing, writing his autobiography and traveling with his wife. He suffered a stroke while in Switzerland and contracted pneumonia—dying on July 23rd, 1972.

• Download “Lives of the Aces in Pictures – Part 1: Eddie Rickenbacker (May 1932, Flying Aces)

(Editor’s Note: These early installments of Frandzen’s “Lives of the Aces in Pictures” that were published in the pulp-sized issues have been reformatted from a two page spread into a one page feature.)