When a beautiful woman drops out of the swirling mists of fog looking for directions at the Oakland airport, she accidentally leaves behind a purse whose contents may or may not be linked to at least one murder and who knows what else—and it sends Dave Flint on a mission to find the girl and return the bag—even if it means his life! From the pages of the February 1930 issue of Flyers, it’s Erle Stanley Gardner’s “Above the Fog!”

There may be no adventure left on the ground these days, but above the fog. . . .

• Download “Above the Fog” (February 1930, Flyers)

AS A bonus, here’s a brief article about Erle Stanley Gardner that appeared in the pages of the newspaper magazine This Week, the week prior to the supplement serializing his latest novel Fugitive Gold!

An Adventure Every Day
That’s the life of Erle Stanley Garner, whose new serial,
“Fugitive Gold,” begins next week

A STRANGE apparition of squat, chain-like things slowly crawls across a cacti-dotted section of our Southwestern desert and finally takes shape—a string of automobiles and trailers.

A depression riddled clan seeking new life and some small fortune in a change of scene? A new health-movement idea? Or perhaps a gold-seeking expedition hunting a lost mine? No, none of these—though the last is warm. It is merely the home and office of one of America’s most popular authors, whose latest serial, “Fugitive Gold.” begins next week in these pages.

The fiction train on location.

At a glance, it is evident that Erle Stanley Gardner is not the drawing-room, cocktail-drinking type, but a virile, nature-loving man who lives the same sort of vigorous and adventurous life as the heroes of his stories. He is medium height and stocky and wears a wide sombrero and the look of one who has spent much time in the outdoors.

Mr. Gardner’s early life was spent on the Pacific coast. He was admitted to the California Bar when he was twenty-one and found his first clients among those who made their livings from underworld activities. With prohibition, organised crime increased and so did his work and its accompanying dangers.

Once Mr. Gardner, lest he should talk too much, was kidnapped by gangsters and held prisoner in a hideout house, the gangsters expecting a pitched battle with the police. The events of those hours remained indelibly seared upon his memory.

The skill which Mr. Gardner exhibited in the trial of jury cases, however, gradually led to his dropping of criminal cases, and he became widely known as a trial attorney specializing in cases tried before juries. Some ten years ago he wrote his first magazine stories and in 1933 his first book, “The Case of the Velvet Claws.” He has given up the law, of course, and today devotes all his time to writing.

Lunch time on the road.

Erle Gardner has traveled all over the world, but he loves and belongs to the Southwest of which be writes so colorfully and fascinatingly—and so convincingly. Convincingly, because he relies only partly upon imagination for plots, preferring to supplement his stories from first-hand contact. It is not surprising, therefore, that he has found himself in more positions of personal danger than the average man would in two lifetimes.

Upon one occasion, seeking a lost gold mine (much the same as the lost mine that plays so important a part in “Fugitive Gold”) he was challenged by two horsemen, one of whom “cut down” on him with a six-shooter. Gardner finally outdistanced them in his car, felt chagrined when safe, and returned, rifle in hand, “to see what it was all about.” The horsemen stared at him, both fingering their guns; he stared at them. At last a wordless truce was declared and they went their own ways. Such a type of man is Erle Stanley Gardner, the author.

An author? But how does he live in this house on wheels? How does he get any work done? The interviewer stands a little abashed as Mr. Gardner gently explains: “There are three trailers, all self-contained living units. There are double beds; closets; water tanks; stoves; windows; awnings; screens; ice-boxes and radios.

“As to getting work done, I use dictating machines for first drafts of stories and I can dictate fast enough to keep all three of my secretaries busy transcribing. These secretaries, incidentally, have been with me since I began writing eleven years ago and travel everywhere with Mrs. Gardner and me. Two years ago we went to China and left the secretaries behind, but I won’t do that again. There were lots of times I was punching the portable when there were priceless experiences to be had.”

Mr. Gardner is at home in the Southwest.

This, then, is how the man lives whose latest and best novel begins next week in these pages. A novel of the modern bad men of the Southwest. The story of a lost gold mine. A story of adventure, of crime and love. A story packed with thrills and fast-moving action, with breathless suspense and a romance as tender and as strong as the rugged land in which it takes place. Watch for “Fugitive Gold” by Erie Stanley Gardner—in our next issue.

• Download “An Adventure Every Day” (May 19, 1935, This Week)

Humpy & Tex find themselves in the brig, busted down for their shenanigans. They volunteer to dive down and unfoul the anchor seeing it as a chance to retrieve the cognac they had dropped in the harbor the night before, but end up abandoned without air on the ocean floor—definitely not the place for two airman! “Jawbone of an Ace” by the Navy’s own Allan R. Bosworth is one of the duo’s later adventures from the pages of the January 1935 War Birds.

Humpy And Tex, Flying Fish Of The Azores, In A Mad Scramble From Ocean Floor To Sky-Top For Cognac And Krauts!

• Download “Jawbone of an Ace” (January 1935, War Birds)

THE October 1933 issue of WAR BIRDS hit the stands with Belarski’s Eagles of the Black Cross cover and a wealth of stories within lead off by William E. Barrett’s factual article that goes with the cover. There were also stories by Hogan, Myers, MacDowell and Brownestone. And in the back was a new feature for the readers—The Cockpit. This was the place where the WAR BIRDS gang and the editor could get together every month to spin the vocal prop.

The Cockpit brought with it The War Birds Club! Run by “The Adjutant” and overseen by the Editor and C.O. of War Birds, Carson Mowre, The Cockpit became a lively column where readers could voice their opinions, swap and trade stuff, find a like-minded reader to become pen pals with, as well as boast about their squadron’s achievements, see who’s received a promotion or citation and general club banter.

The first column from the October 1933 issue sets up the club, it’s particulars and how to join:

HERE is the most important announcement of the year. Sixteen years ago, the youth of America climbed out of civvies and into khaki. Overnight, we learned to substitute the bugle for the alarm clock. Our ears caught the distant thunder of the guns. We rode to them, we marched to them—and we flew to them.

We have captured much of the wild thrill in the stories that have appeared in WAR BIRDS’ stories written by veterans who lived the epic and who remember. But it isn’t enough.

The readers of WAR BIRDS are of the breed that, in another day, would have ridden flaming skies. Their selection of reading matter demonstrates it. The electric something that called their blood brothers to war calls them to the re-living of it.

And it is to their hands that the torch of ‘17 is flung. To them falls the responsibility of closing up the gaps. That flaming spirit that America took into the skies of ‘17 and ‘18 must not be allowed to die. We won’t let it.

This month a new organization comes into being—an organization with a name that was born of ‘17 and that has been preserved on the masthead of the oldest air-war magazine—WAR BIRDS.

A man must qualify for War Birds. His membership is not a gift. The war bird of yesterday won his wings. It is but fair that the war bird of 1933 do the same.

There were ships and guns that shared the glory of those by-gone years as well as men. A man who has the spirit that made the air service will know about those ships and those guns and those men. In knowing of them and remembering them, he makes them immortal; he preserves the spirit of the thing for which they stood.

No one will wear the War Birds wings or carry the War Birds card who does not know of, and respect, the things that make up the life of a sky warrior. There is an examination to be passed before you qualify—and it is not an easy examination. But, when you have passed it, you will know the glory of really “belonging.” Your wings will not be a mockery—they will stand for something tangible and you will have won the right to wear them.

APPLY FOR YOUR WAR BIRDS MEMBERSHIP NOW

Memberships in War Birds are neither sold nor given away; they must be earned!

(1) Clip the coupon from this issue and mail it to Wing Commander, War Birds, 100 Fifth Avenue, New York City, N.Y., properly and completely filled out.

(2) If you want the free booklets described below enclose five cents in coin or stamps to cover postage and handling. You do not have to order these booklets if you do not want them, but they will be helpful in passing the tests.

THE ENVELOPE the booklets and exam questions arrive in with only a 1½¢ stamp on it.

(3) The Adjutant will mail you your examination questions and problems. They will be based on information contained in the previously mentioned booklets and in current issues of WAR BIRDS. Your answers to the questions and the problems should be mailed back promptly to Headquarters.

THE EXAM. Please answer on a separate sheet of paper.

(4) If your grade in the examination is satisfactory, the Wing Commander’s adjutant will mail you a handsome card of membership certifying to the fact that you have qualified for “War Birds” and are entitled to the privileges of membership.

(5) You will be assigned to a squadron and your squadron designation will appear upon your card.

That is all there is to it but we want to emphasize the fact that War Birds is a patriotic organization solely. We have nothing to sell. For all purposes of the organization, the War Birds card is sufficient. It is the member’s identification and obtains for him all of the privileges allowed to members.

As a convenience, however, to those members who would like silver lapel wings we are making arrangements with a manufacturer to supply the War Birds emblem at a nominal price. Future issues of WAR BIRDS will contain further details on such insignia as well as on the various other plans now being formulated.

A membership in War Birds is going to mean something. Get in on the ground floor now and be one of the originals. Mail your application TODAY.

A FREE LIBRARY FOR YOU

You may have the following booklets free by mailing your request promptly to the Wing Commander, War Birds, 100 Fifth Ave., New York City, N.Y., with five cents to cover postage and packing. (The material in the booklets had previously appeared in the pages of War Birds or War Aces.)

WAR PLANES OF ALL NATIONS—a booklet containing the full dope on 135 war time planes; speed, horse-power, performance. (originally published in the May 1931 War Birds (v14n42))

MORE PLANE FACTS—a war pilot’s frank discussion of little known phases of flying in France. (originally published in the January 1932 War Aces (v8n22))

SYNTHETIC ACES—an expose of the fakers who pose as war flyers with tips on how to unmask them. (originally published in the January 1932 War Aces (v8n22))

ARCHIE—the complete story of anti-aircraft; its successes and its failures, with extracts from anarchy gunner’s dope book. (originally published in the March 1932 War Birds (v18n52))

These booklets will help you to pass your examination for admission to War Birds. Don’t delay in placing your order. Send your request today on the coupon form provided below.

They even laid out future plans for the club:

In the days ahead, qualified War Birds will share in many good things; free copies of genuine war photographs, discounts and special prices on aeronautical equipment, special rates on flying courses and a hundred and one other privileges that will cause the War Birds card to grow in value with the passing months.

There is in prospect at present a FREE distribution to members of:
(1) Genuine war pictures
(2) A special discount price list on planes and equipment
(3) A discount price on flying instruction
(4) Conventions for members
(5) Special services of a research bureau.

a WAR BIRDS CLUB timeline

OCTOBER 1933

• A new “The Cockpit” feature begins. It is the place where the WAR BIRDS gang and the editor get together every month to spin the vocal prop.
• Run by the “Wing Commander,” the Cockpit announces the Formation of the WAR BIRDS, a club for readers and lays out everything you need to know to apply to join (see above).
• Also lists future plans for the club: they want to offer members genuine war pictures, a discount price list on planes and equipment as well as a discount on flying instructions, services of a research bureau and conventions for members!

NOVEMBER 1933

• The Adjutant says applications are flooding in. News of exciting offers next month.
• A commissioned member of the WAR BIRDS can win a citation by exceptional service. This includes but is not limited to making a suggestion that will make the magazine more interesting, or a constructive criticism, or an idea for club activity, or a scheme for enrolling more members, or a plan for squadron mates in the same city getting together.
• Only a few commissions have been earned so far, and some have failed to qualify. They will provide a way for re-examination in the future, but it will be tougher.
• Every state and the District of Columbia and Canada have been give their own squadron number. These are listed.
• The four booklets—War Planes of All Nations, Plane Facts, Synthetic Aces, and Archie—are now available for 5¢ in stamps or coins.

DECEMBER 1933

• The Adjutant’s office has been snowed under and he’s been slow in mailing out the commissions.
• You qualify for the wings you wear and you can neither buy nor finagle them. To get them you must pass rigid tests that will prove or disprove the genuineness of your interest in flying and in the traditions of wartime service.
• Every qualified member of the WAR BIRDS whose commission is in good standing by midnight of December 20, the C.O. is going to send out a personal Christmas present which may be a package of genuine war photographs: aces, ships, etc., that have never been distributed before.
• Members are getting together and starting to organize their own flights with names.
• Additional Squadron numbers for foreign readers are listed: Alasks (51), England (52), Hawaii (53), Irish Free State (54), Mexico (55), Panama Canal Zone (56), Cuba (57), Philippines (58), Belgium (59)
• In the process of making arrangements with a manufacturer to supply silver wings at a nominal price

JANUARY 1934

• The Adjutant says that any notice of the change in rank will appear in the Honors List. And suggests you clip it and paste it on the back of your commission card.
• That’s the key to promotions and honors—service to the rest of the WAR BIRDS.
• The question of having a German squadron is raised. They have 2 applications. One from Berlin, the other from Hamburg.
• Australia becomes the 60th squadron. (Squadron numbers for the original 50 squadrons and Mexico (mislabled as 69) are listed.
• The lapel wings have just been designed—a beautiful set of silver wings. In the center of the wings in blue is “War Birds.” They won’t cost much—less than a quarter.

FEBRUARY 1934

• Offices have moved from 100 Fifth Avenue to 149 Madison Avenue.
• Many inquiries about the wings—all the dope on the next issue.
• A few of you are asking about the free pictures. They’ll be along. Just watch the sheet.
• H.Q. will grant a Captain’s commission to the organizer of any club reaching a membership of twenty. The qualifications are: (a) The organizer must be himself a commissioned officer in the WAR BIRDS; (b) He must turn in a list of his members when the membership reaches twenty; (c) All members must be officers in the WAR BIRDS or must have their applications in for commissions; (d) In cases where the member’s town is small, the club will be recognized with less than twenty members. Just convince us that you have done the best possible with the town or the neighborhood that is yours.
• To every WAR BIRD post so organized, we will give a WAR BIRD Charter to be hung in the club house, plus certain concessions which will enable them to buy club equipment, etc., at cost.
• News on the various posts being formed: Shelbyville, Indiana. Brooklyn. Long Island Traverse City, Michigan.
• Germany is established as 70 Squadron. Comments from other stateside WAR BIRDS are noted.
• Should there be a women’s auxiliary squadron?

MARCH 1934

• The COCKPIT gets a new header.
• The WINGS are here! Any commissioned member can have theirs for 15¢.
• The Adjutant suggests every squadron deign their own insignia if they haven’t already.
• Members who wish to correspond with one another will be listed in the next issue.
• Any group commander will rate promotion who can report six commissioned members of WAR BIRDS as assembled in one post provided the post is regularly organized, has a regular meeting schedule, an insignia and a name. His rank for a six to ten member post will be “Captain” provided that he sends in a notice of his election as Post Commander signed by each of the post members. For an eleven to twenty member post, the commander’s rank will be “Major” and he will be entitled to one Captain under his command. Lest this seem to make the higher rank available only to men in the larger towns, we wish to add that a six member post can qualify by special service as an A-l post, giving it the same rank privileges as the larger post.
• suggestions from members
• promotions from 2nd Lieutenant 1st listed for 4 officers.

APRIL 1934

• your WAR BIRDS commission earns you a salute at one of the finest air colleges in this man’s country—THE CASEY JONES SCHOOL OF AERONAUTICS at Newark, N.J. The staff will be glad to answer his questions and take him on a tour of inspection upon presentation of his WAR BIRDS card.
• Supply of the 4 booklets is nearly exhausted.
• WORDS A-WING column starts.

MAY 1934

• THE PITTSBURGH-BUTLER AIRPORT INC., at Butler, Pa. will be glad to extend courtesy of the drome to commissioned officers of WAR BIRDS who present their identification cards. Pittsburgh-Butler operate an A-l flying school at their airport.
• Likewise for THE RYAN SCHOOL OF AERONAUTICS, LTD., at Lindbergh Field, San Diego, Calif.,
• The C.O. goes over all the club aspects
• List of new posts and their organizers.
• Long list of people for WORDS A-WING
• Honor citations listed.

JUNE 1934

• Adjutant says: “Exactly 3,148 lads who have made application for membership, in WAR BIRDS, have not returned their examination papers.”
• The Adjutant plans to start a NON-COM’S MESS for those air-minded lads they are, who want to get the feel of things before going after commissions.
• Girls will be Lady Birds and their squadron numeral—no matter where they live—is “80.”
• Suggestions under consideration by the C.O.: including model plans in the magazine; covers without text all over them.
• Working on getting various airport to extend courtesies to members; discounts on equipment; and, free pictures which had become harder with the flood of members.
• a lengthy WORDS A-WING listing
• Citations and/or Promotions for 19 members.
• Coupon now included each month for signing up for the NON-COM’S MESS

JULY 1934

• The C.O. takes over the meetings while the Adjutant handles the NON-COM’S MESS which starts this issue.
• C.O. asks members to send in a postcard listing their two favorite authors (including ones not in WAR BIRDS) and they will feature the ones who get the votes.
• NON-COMS can use the Swap and Words A-Wing columns and can offer suggestions. They are also afforded the right to join a Flight, but not organize one.
• Citations and/or Promotions for 17 members.
• SWAP COLUMN starts up
• 10 more people listed in WORDS A-WING

AUGUST 1934

• C.O. measures readers that all letters are read. But it takes a while. And please print your name.
• C.O. plans on offering $5 for the best picture of a model plane sent in.
• FLIGHT PARADE. A listing of flights who have sent in their information. Listing of members and location.
• Full page on Galveston’s LUCKY SEVEN FLIGHT with member’s picture.
• Citations and/or Promotions for 10 members.
• SPARE PARTS HANGER takes the place of the SWAP column.
• more WORDS A-WING pen pals listed.

SEPTEMBER 1934

• BETTIS FIELD, located on the McKeesport-Pittsburgh Road, extends an invitation to the War Birds
• Start of PROP WASH section, a sort of grunt and growl and talk it over department.
• It’s suggested that every War Bird Flight should have a specific interest in addition to our common interest in aviation. Set a specific time to hold meetings, organize a treasury.
• General events and course of a meeting are discussed.
• Citations and/or Promotions for 11 members.
• The FLIGHT PARADE lists 9 more flights.
• more WORDS A-WING pen pals listed
• more items on offer in the SPARE PARTS HANGER.

OCTOBER 1934

• Flight insignias continue to pour in.
• That offer of Five Dollars for the best photograph of a model plane—either flying or scale model—built by a member is still open. Five dollars every month.
• Someone suggests there be a special WAR BIRDS code for members to communicate with.
• Citations and/or Promotions for 18 members and 4 non-commissioned officers
• The FLIGHT PARADE lists 13 more flights.
• more WORDS A-WING pen pals listed
• more items on offer in the SPARE PARTS HANGER.

NOVEMBER 1934

• Many members have still not adopted the military form of address yet.
• The FLIGHT PARADE lists 15 more flights.
• Citations and/or Promotions for 18 members.
• Insignias will be printed in next month’s issue.
• two flights of non-coms have been formed and several non-coms have received citations.
• A report of the SONS OF SATAN FLIGHT’s special meeting.
• no WORDS A-WING pen pals listed
• more items on offer in the SPARE PARTS HANGER.

DECEMBER 1934

• There is talk of a uniforms, stationary and honorary members.
• a page of Flight Insignias.
• Citations and/or Promotions for 18 members and 11 non-commissioned officers
• Charters have been mailed to all Flights
• The FLIGHT PARADE lists 6 more flights.
• A letter from the LUCKY SEVEN FLIGHT reports their Meeting Routine.
• more WORDS A-WING pen pals listed
• more items on offer in the SPARE PARTS HANGER.

JANUARY 1935

• The FLIGHT PARADE lists 6 more flights and updates the BATTLE ACES FLIGHT OF San Francisco.
• FLIGHT NEWS updates the latest with 8 flights and provides a letter from the MYSTERY FLIGHT.
• Citations and/or Promotions for 11 members
• more WORDS A-WING pen pals listed
• more items on offer in the SPARE PARTS HANGER.

FEBRUARY 1935

• Six new flights are listed and updates on 4 previously announced flights.
• Citations and/or Promotions for 28 members and 7 non-coms.
• A report by Dorothy Kohn on a visit to Davenport Airport, Cram Field, Iowa.
• Bouse Resolution No. 7413
• more WORDS A-WING pen pals listed
• more items on offer in the SPARE PARTS HANGER.

WITH the March Issue, WAR BIRDS changes it’s name to TERENCE X. O’LEARY’S WAR BIRDS and it’s focus. The lead story will now feature the exploits of Arthur Guy Empey’s Terence X. O’Leary, but the stories are more science-fictiony that O’Leary’s previous exploits in the magazine which were set in WWI. THE COCKPIT column continues with all it’s previous sections. And the coupon to join is still included. The Booklets can still be obtained for 5¢ and the wings are a bargain at 15¢.

MARCH 1935

• Title change due to popular demand of the readers.
• Actual Vickers machine guns on offer (rendered inoperable)
• Citations for 9 2nd Lt’s and 11 Corporals
• more items on offer in the SPARE PARTS HANGER.

APRIL 1935

• It is possible to become a Major. Two have so far. Majors can recommend three men a year for promotion.
• Still publishing coupons to join club. The wings and booklets still on offer.
• someone wrote to another magazine for the answers to the exam questions.
• strange but true aviation facts
• The FLIGHT PARADE lists 6 more flights and 10 non-com flight.
• Updates on three flights—LUCKY SEVEN FLIGHT, W.E. BARRETT AND GRIN FLIGHT, and COBRA PATROL Flight.
• many Citations and Promotions
• more WORDS A-WING pen pals listed
• more items on offer in the SPARE PARTS HANGER.

JUNE 1935

• For the first time, non-coms outnumber commissioned officers.
• One member wants to start Zeppelin Division of the War Birds. And another is into rocket propulsion.
• There is no coupon to join the club as an officer or non-com in this issue.
• Numerous Citations and Promotions listed.
• more WORDS A-WING pen pals listed

The WAR BIRDS CLUB does not continue when the magazine returns to being called WAR BIRDS again in October.

The Crew were through! Armitage had been reassigned to a Camel unit that was to counter whatever it was that was downing troopships in the channel and leaving no one alive on board. But when even Armitage goes missing—that’s all the Crew can take. Thankfully Armitage is not dead, he’s merely put his foot in the middle of the whole diabolical mystery! From the pages of the August 1935 number of the British Air Stories, Arch Whitehouse’s Coffin Crew and the “Black Camels!”

A Black Plague stalked the Channel turning Troopships into Transports of the Dead. And, in France, five Black Camels were Detailed for a Secret Mission that was Destined to give that Crazy Band of Warriors, the Coffin Crew, the Adventure of their Lives!

• Download “Black Camels” (August 1935, Air Stories)

Be sure to drop by next week for another mad cap romp through hell skies with the Coffin Crew!

For more than a week old No.11 had been welcoming her new neighbours with T.N.T. and fulminite. For seven days they had been dealing out nightly headaches to Baron Harald von Wusthoff and his Gotha Griffons. Fed up with the nightly barrage and inability to get his Gothas in the air, the Baron engineers the capture of the Crew’s pilot and leader Graham Townsend and subsequent use as a hostage to keep the Coffin Crew at bay.

To the Coffin Crew:
      This should stop you from bombing our field any more. Your pilot will be held as hostage to ensure that fact. He will be staked out on the ground everytime your ’planes come across—so drop your bombs at your own risk, gentlemen. Perhaps now we can contend in the air on terms that are more equal.
                                          (Signed) The Golhas 33rd,
                                          Von Wusthoff, Commanding.

From the pages of the June 1935 number of the British Air Stories, it’s Arch Whitehouse’s Coffin Crew in “Hostage of the Gothas!”

When Treachery robbed the Coffin Crew of their Dare-devil Leader, that Crazy Band of Bombers carried their Hate through the Valley of Death into the very Lair of the Gotha Griffons. And in the Air, a Handley clashed with a Gotha in a Duel for which the Forfeit was a Flaming Death!

• Download “Hostage of the Gothas” (June 1935, Air Stories)

Be sure to drop by next week for another mad cap romp through hell skies with the Coffin Crew!

Whitehouse had seven stories in the pages of the British Air Stories magazine—six of them were Coffin Crew adventures. This month we’ll be featuring those six tales as Age of Aces Books brings you “Christmas with the Coffin Crew!”

The Coffin Crew man a Handley Page bomber for one of the squadrons that makes up the Independent Air Force during the First World War. The Independent Air Force was chiefly brought about by the intensive Gotha raids on England during the first six months of 1917. The public demanded reprisals, so three squadrons were banded together with the purpose of giving back to the Germans what they had been doling out to the British.

The Handley Page 0/400 was generally crewed by five people. You had your front gunner, tail gunner, pilot, reserve pilot/bombing officer, and bomber. In the Coffin Crew stories, there is generally a sixth man whose job is to relay the info from the bomb sighter to the bomber so he knows when to pull the toggles and drop the bombs. Characters come and go, but the core members of the Coffin Crew are Lieutenant Graham Townsend, the mad Englishman, is the pilot of the bus with Lieutenant Phil Armitage, equally mad Canadian, the reserve pilot and bombing officer with Private Andy McGregor, still wearing his Black Watch kilts, rounding out the front end crew in the forward gun turret. Silent fighting Irishman Sergeant Michael Ryan, dragging on his short clay pipe, frequently worked the toggle board dropping the bombs and Horsey Horlick manning the rear gun turret.

The Casket Crew started with two stories in Airplane Stories (November 1930 & March 1931) before flying into the pages of Aces for 7 adventures in 1931 and 1932; followed by an additional 7 adventures in the pages of Wings in 1934 and 1935; and wrapping up in the final two issues of War Birds in 1937. These adventures of The Coffin Crew would slot in between the Wings and War Birds issues.

The Coffin Crew starts off with a bang—even being on the cover of the first issue of Air Stories by S. Drigin. In this first story, the Crew is joined by one Meridith Lovelace who makes quite the entrance.

Mr. Meridith Lovelace was ready for the air. And how! His beaming countenance was encased in a fur-lined leather helmet, for which about three hundred Swiss yodellers must have hunted the elusive chamoix for years to get such priceless skins. On top of this rested the finest pair of Triplex glass goggles money could buy. Their lenses were bound in silver bands and the mask-pad was downy with sleek beaver. Beneath the turned-up leather collar of a gaudy flying-coat was wrapped a scarf that would have made Joseph and his Biblical coat go out and take the veil—evidently Meridith’s school colours. The coat in question was a natty garment cut for a musical-comedy aviator, but which must have put a heavy crimp in Mr. Lovelace’s Pay and Mess Book No.54. Beneath that glistened the most polished pair of knee-length, fur-lined flying-boots ever turned out of Bond Street. And then, as if this were not enough for one evening, Mr. Lovelace sported a pair of flying gauntlets, fur-lined, of course, and a long ebony cigarette-holder that glowed at its tip like the gleam of a rapier that is just about to puncture someone’s mess department.

Despite this, the boy knows his stuff and comes through in a pinch and they soon wonder whose war their fighting. From the pages of the May 1935 number of the British Air Stories, it’s Arch Whitehouse’s Coffin Crew in “One Man’s War!”

When the exquisite Mr. Meridith Lovelace was appointed to the toggle-board of Handley-Page bomber No. II, there were doleful prophecies of the fate that would befall the Coffin Crew—that happy band of R.F.C. warriors whose exploits were known from end to end of the Allied lines. But Mr. Lovelace had his own ideas about winning the war—and the Coffin Crew soon found themselves embarked on the craziest adventure in all their mad-cap career.

• Download “One Man’s War” (May 1935, Air Stories)

Be sure to drop by next week for another mad cap romp through hell skies with the Coffin Crew!

Sky Skirmish Over the Suez Canal

A BLOODY war that will draw in all the nations of the world—a conflict that will drain civilization of its youth—a conflagration that will make the World War seem like a series of practice maneuvers! All that, and more, is what many experts insist is now in store for us.

There is no doubt but what the Italo-Ethiopian situation is the gravest impasse that has confronted Europe’s statesmen since 1914. Proposals and counter-proposals have devolved into quibbling and bickering. As this is written, peace moves have been of no avail, and instead of the positions of the various nations becoming clearer and more easy to define, they have now been tightened in a web of confusion. It is extremely difficult for even those “on the inside” to make an open-minded analysis of the situation. Indeed, most reports are colored so that they overly favor either one faction or another. It is clear that it would be ridiculous for us to attempt to predict success for either side. Moreover, it is not our purpose to pass judgment as to right or wrong in this imminent war or even to vouchsafe an opinion as to the outcome. We seek to offer only a purely fictional viewpoint dealing with possibilities.

Newspapers are replete with news of the British Fleet maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea. There is not one iota of a doubt in anyone’s mind as to the purpose of the operations. As a matter of fact, the British Government finally acknowledged the fact that the operations were other than routine. During the summer, the Italian Government has transported hundreds of thousands of troops and millions of dollars worth of war materials through the Suez Canal to the territory adjacent to Ethiopia.

The Suez Canal is controlled by the British, and one might think they would be happy at the thought of the increased traffic and the correspondingly increased revenue. That, however, is a much too simple conclusion. The problem that the Suez Canal offers is much more involved than that, for this thin strip of water is the key to the widespread British Empire.

As a matter of fact, the British are so adverse to an African conflict that there has even been talk of closing the Suez Canal. Should things come to a head, it is very likely that the Canal will be closed. Certainly the repercussions of such an act would be far reaching, and it was this thought that gave birth to the idea for our cover this month.

Assuming that the British have denied the Italians access to the Suez Canal, we can likewise assume that the Italians will retaliate. Let us suppose that a flight of flying boats has been dispatched from a base in Italy to proceed to the Canal region to force access, or gain it by intimidation. But a British aircraft carrier is found lying in the mouth of the canal, and with the first appearance of the Italian planes, orders are issued for flight preparations of several British two-seaters. As they take the air, the Italians veer off. Perhaps they did not expect any stiff opposition. However, the British are determined. The orders read that the aircraft carrier must remain in the mouth of the Canal and deny the entrance of any ship flying the Italian flag. Nor is the British Naval commander taking any chances on being bombed by the persistent Italians.

Sensing the fact that they must beat down the British two-seaters before they can accomplish their purpose, the Italians swing into action with a vengeance. Attacking in an echelon formation, they sweep in upon the British with all guns roaring. The leading Italian ship is the first one to become entangled, and the two-seaters pounce upon it with the vigor of tigers.

Banking and climbing with everything they’ve got, the British ships finally manage to attain a position of advantage. But the Italian flying boats are fast and easy to maneuver, and the two gunners in the bows of the twin hulls spray their opponents with lead. The bomber officer inside the Italian ship is also on the job and several bombs are released. As shown on our cover, these projectiles have caused a conflagration among buildings on the shore, but thus far the aircraft carrier has not been touched.

But how long can the British planes protect their mother ship—or, on the other hand, how long can II Duce’s machines be effective? Will some of those bombs blow the carrier to smithereens? All that is only a matter of conjecture. In an air battle, anything can happen. Nor does victory always go the strongest.

THE armaments of Italy and Great Britain present a truly interesting picture. England is admittedly the strongest on the sea, but the question of strength in the air is something that requires careful analysis. Italy possesses approximately 1,600 service planes and the home flying fields of most of the Italian squadrons are within easier striking distance of most of the areas where hostility is likely to occur than are the air forces of Great Britain, which is naturally forced to keep a good part of her air strength at home. Most likely the only British planes which would see any real action are those carried by King George’s aircraft carriers and by his other naval vessels.

At the present writing, it would seem that a war between England and Italy would be a war involving ships and airplanes. There is nothing which would be indicative of the outcome of such a conflict. Certainly. Italy’s submarines would supplement the fight of the Italian airplanes and surface craft, but on the other hand England’s ability to blockade Italy and thus inflict severe damage on Italian commerce must be taken into consideration.

Such a set-to, however, may never come to pass at all. The League of Nations is making a concerted effort to preserve the peace of Europe—and of the whole world. There is always a chance that the various overtures which are being made will finally be successful, and it is our devout hope that this will be the case. Yet, if worst comes to worst, it is likely that the conflict will be of short duration.

The Italian ship shown on this month’s cover is a Savoia-Marchetti S-55. It is a long range bomber and one of the most airworthy—and seaworthy—of the Italian flying boats. The British planes are Hawker Ospreys. They are two-seater, fleet reconnaissance ships and possess the fine features of performance that are to be found in all Hawker aircraft.

Flying Aces, December 1935 by C.B. Mayshark
Sky Skirmish Over the Suez Canal: Thrilling Story Behind This Month’s Cover

Action Test of the Boeing Bomber

OVER the distant horizon, a speck suddenly becomes visible from the housetops of a teeming industrial city. As if by magic, the speck grows in size, finally taking on gigantic proportions. Crowds in the streets are attracted, all eyes are turned heavenward. And now the aerial monster—the new Boeing Bomber—hurtles over the city at more than 250 miles per hour! This giant, powered by four Pratt & Whitney engines, is the newest thing in the air—the latest marvel of an age which already boasts innumerable mechanical wonders.

Suddenly, the local airport is alive with activity. Three brand new Navy Northrops are speedily rolled from a hangar. Commands are curtly barked, starters whine, and the deafening roar of three powerful engines pervades the air. The single-seaters are off the ground with a leap; and once in the air, they head in Vee formation toward the circling bomber. Their job is a test attack on the immense ship before them. They must attempt, theoretically, to send it to destruction.
Will they be returned the victors? Will the Boeing Bomber, in supposition, go “down in flames?” Will the years of research and toil be written off as short of the goal?

In short, were the designers fully warranted in making this new swing in military aviation? At this writing, the answer seems to be an emphatic “Yes!” To begin with, the argument is advanced that the days of the single-seater hero pilot are gone forever. Already there are indications that present day single-seater squadrons may become somewhat outmoded before the advance of fast and powerful two- and three-seater attack jobs. This fact gives credence to the growing acceptance, in military circles, of the large capacity, long-range bomber, of which the new Boeing is the acme.

Of course, we all know of the romance and spirit of adventure which characterized the fighting of the daring war-time pilots. In those days it was generally a case of man against man. But today things are different.

There are those who declare that single-seaters have little chance against a four-engined giant with five gun platforms—a ship which cruises at better than 250 m.p.h. The present day fighters of less speed would, of course, have difficulty in getting within range. As for the faster fighters, it may be pointed out that it takes plenty of skill to hit a fast moving ship; and when you are forced to zig-zag and literally throw yourself all over the sky in order to escape burst after burst of withering fire from such a formidable flying fortress—it requires more than skill!

However, in spite of what the experts think, and in spite of what the consensus is among those who think they are experts, the new Boeing Bomber must be put to test. A violent encounter must be simulated.

And so, the Northrops appear on the scene. One of the finest single-seater types in the world, they are fast, powerful, highly maneuverable. If anything can get near the Boeing Bomber, the Northrop can.

Coming upon the bomber from behind, they spread out fan-wise as soon as the first warning burst of tracer sprays the air about them. One Northrop climbs, another maintains its position, and the other dives. Attack the ship from more than one angle! Close in on it! Throw tracer from all directions! Those are the accepted tactics.

But the Northrop pilots soon find their task difficult. The Boeing Bomber cannot safely be approached from any angle. It is protected from above by a turret along the top of the fuselage. A “bird cage” gun emplacement protects the nose of the ship. Moreover, guns bristle from “blister” turrets on both sides and belly of the bomber’s fuselage. There are no blind spots!
The gunners aboard the Boeing are wide awake to every movement of the Northrops. But even so, their task, too, is not the simplest one in the world. The shifty little Northrops are giving them the fight of their lives. But finally, the hugh bomber prevails.

AND so, the Boeing theoretically is successful in bombing the industrial center it has attacked. True, the city is also protected by anti-aircraft defences. But the speed at which the Boeing flies makes one sceptical as to the success of such fire. And this brings up an interesting question: Have anti-aircraft developments kept pace with plane developments? A city is a huge target for a bomber speeding at high altitudes—but to gunners on the ground the bomber is, of course, a very small and highly-elusive object. While we’ve heard rumors of super-effective anti-aircraft pieces, the powers that be have thus far kept such inventions well veiled.

As for our Northrops, they now land, and the pilots climb wearily from their cockpits, haggard, exhausted. They have been through an ordeal. The tight turns and steep power dives have told upon them; for the tricky maneuvering in the hurtling fighters of the present day exerts a terrific strain upon the body.

Of course, the air battle pictured on our cover is entirely fictitious. Our purpose has simply been to help you visualize the new Boeing Bomber in a real air scrap. If such a test takes place, there will be a board of judges to render a verdict as to the outcome. Blank cartridges or camera guns will be substituted for bullets.

Performance figures of the new Boeing have not been released. At this writing, its top speed is a matter of conjecture. Your guess is as good as ours.

Flying Aces, November 1935 by C.B. Mayshark
Action Test of the Boeing Bomber: Thrilling Story Behind This Month’s Cover

If France and Italy Fought

DEATH in the Alps! Smashing tracer that severs control wires and snuffs out human lives with equal ease! Pursuit ships tearing across frigid skies with reckless abandon, primed for the kill! A powerful reconnaissance flying-boat winging its way belligerently towards a French objective! All this and more could happen on the mountainous Franco-Italian border.

Let us suppose that an Italian flying-boat is ordered to fly over French territory on a secret reconnaissance job. The resultant information is to be used by a fleet of bombers which are to wipe out certain industrial centers in the south of France. Munition manufacturing plants are to be the prime objective, most of which are within easy range of Italian flying fields. But everything depends upon the success of the reconnaissance expedition.

The Cant flying-boat has almost reached the border when two French single-seaters tear into view. Something has leaked out! The French are aware of the impending danger, and they are determined to avert disaster. But the three Italian airmen must carry out their orders, and they prepare for the imminent encounter.

Flying a ship in the Alps Mountains is at best no simple task. There are towering snow-capped peaks which mask themselves in the surrounding hazy atmosphere, and they are a constant menace. Treacherous air currents are also particularly dangerous, so that a pilot never knows when his ship is going to be sucked down and smashed. Then, too, the wind reaches such a high velocity at times that it is almost impossible to turn the controls against it.

Having learned of all these dangers through painful experience, the French and Italian airmen proceed warily. Circling at a safe altitude above the Italian ship, the French fighters wait for a chance to strike. But the Italians do not deviate from their course. They, too, are waiting.

Suddenly, without warning, one of the Frenchmen drops. Like a plummet he falls, seemingly out of control. But quickly, as if he had hit something solid, he pulls out of the dive. Now the Italians are directly in the Frenchman’s line of flight, and as the pilot of the fighter turns on the heat, two murderous streams of machine-gun tracer splatter upon the wings of the flying-boat.

Now the Frenchman is forced to pull up and retreat to safety. The rear gunner in the Italian ship has entered into the picture and is returning the fire with a zest. In the meantime, the second Frenchman has projected himself into the fray. The Hisso motor screams as the single-seater lunges down, but again the Italians are successful in beating off the speedy enemy.

And so back and forth across the sky weave the three planes, the French ships possessing the greater speed, and the Italians the greater fighting power.

It is difficult to predict the outcome of such an air battle. Although the flying-boat does not possess great speed or maneuverability, its two gunnery should be able to protect it against any reasonable attack. On the other hand, the speed and the fighting fury displayed by the French single-seaters give rise to the belief that nothing could withstand the power of their vicious onslaught.

The Italian ship taking part in this air battle is a Cant 21 bis two-seater reconnaissance flying-boat. It is powered with a 500-horsepower Isotto Fraschini “Asso” engine. Gunners’ cockpits are situated in the rear and in the nose of the fuselage, the one in the nose being directly connected with the pilot’s cockpit. The ship’s speed is 134 miles per hour, and its range is ten hours.

The two French ships are Bleriot-Spad 510’s. This ship is designated as a single-seater high-altitude fighter. Its speed is 231 miles per hour, which places it among the fastest military planes in the world. Its power plant consists of one 500-horsepower Hispano-Suiza twelve-cylinder supercharged engine.

In view of the present fictitious description, it would be interesting to note the difference in the make-up of the French and Italian air forces. The Italians have a particularly difficult problem to face because of their geographical surroundings. Bounded on the south, east, and west by water as they are, the need for flying-boats and seaplanes can be readily seen.

On the other hand, an entirely different kind of aircraft is needed for work in the mountainous regions which bound the peninsula on the north. Italy leans more towards large, long-range ships than it does toward fast intercepter fighters. Very strenuous training must be undergone by all Italian military pilots, and once they have accomplished their training, their duties are varied and often hazardous. As a result, Italian military airmen rank among the best in the world. Proof of this fact was exhibited when General Balbo led the Italian Air Armada to America and back again to Italy in 1933.

When we look at the air arm of France, we see an entirely different picture. France has always been regarded as the nation which possesses greater strength than any other nation, in so far as fast pursuit jobs are concerned. Ever since the war, France has concentrated upon efficiency and speed in single-seater fighters. A great many different makes of pursuit and intercepter fighters are now in the French service, and their performance is indeed enviable. An example of this fact is to be found in the performance figures for the Bleriot-Spad. However, France is not lacking in reconnaissance and bomber types. Farman has been world-famous since the days of the war for the production of high-efficiency bombers.

The idea of anyone’s entertaining seriously the thought that the air battle pictured on our cover could actually take place is, in the light of present-day diplomatic developments, quite inconceivable. Our only aim has been to show our readers how representative ships of France and Italy would appear and what would be the advantages of each, if they were to engage in combat.

Flying Aces, May 1935 by C.B. Mayshark
If France and Italy Fought: Thrilling Story Behind This Month’s Cover

99 Squadron was in desperate need of replacements, but all the good ones were being attached to other squadrons and Monty was left with Percy H. Yapp—”the queerest specimen he’d ever seen wearing the uniform of the R.F.C. Percy was short, and so slightly built that the small tunic he wore hung in folds on his frame. His face was devoid of colour, except for a faint yellowish tinge. But Monty was instantly attracted by the fellow’s eyes, which looked so intently into his. For all his affectation of languor, he was a shrewd judge of character, and decided that the frail figure before him possessed those resolute and determined qualities for which he was ever searching—or so he hoped. From the December 1935 issue of the British Air Stories, it’s Captain John E. Doyle’s “Three Months to Live!”

Major Montgomery Montmorency Hardcastle was not Ordinarily a Fightin’ Man but his Great Idea for “Huntin’ the Hun” involved him in a Considerable “Spot of Shootin’” and Nearly Ruined his Record of “One Bird—One Barrel!”

• Download “Three Months to Live” December 1935, Air Stories UK)