“They Had What It Takes – Part 11: Richard E. Byrd” by Alden McWilliams
This week we bring you Part 11 of Alden McWilliams’ illustrated tribute to the pioneer fliers of the early days of aviation. He called it “They Had What it Takes” and this installment appeared in the December 1937 Flying Aces. It features Richard E. Byrd, the conqueror of the North and South Poles.
We won’t have a new one for you next week as we will be in Columbus, Ohio for PulpFest. If you plan to be there stop by the Age of Aces table and say hello.
Download “They Had What It Takes – Part 11: Richard E. Byrd” December 1937, Flying Aces
More Amazing Blakeslee Covers!
This week we have more great Dare-Devil Aces covers by Frederick Blakeslee. Popular Publications published some dynamite aviation art on the cover of Dare-Devil Aces! Sadly, we don’t use more than a sliver of it for our books. But that’s a design choice — We’re not trying to keep anything from you. And now we’ve added two more years of great Blakeslee covers to our growing gallery––1936 and 1937!
The June and December covers of 1936 are probably the two most recognizable Dare-Devil Aces covers and we have featured both of them now on back covers of our books. Our very first publication, Steve Fisher’s Captain Babyface, featured the June cover on the back. Captain Babyface and Mr Death matched wits through ten of the twelve issues that year––their last scrap appearing in the November issue. William Hartley’s The Adventures of Molloy & McNamara started running in the July 1936 issue with the adventure we choose to use as the title for the volume, Satan’s Playmates, in the December issue allowing us to utilize it’s cover in the cover design of that book.
As 1936 gave way to 1937, Blakeslee’s covers move further away from depictions of planes in use during the late great hate and start to feature more contemporary planes in the frenetic melees depicted on the covers. Robert J. Hogan’s The Red Falcon was also printing it last stories in 1937 with the last Dare-Devil Aces Red Falcon story being published in the January 1938 issue. The June 1937 cover seemed to work best with the crimson cover of the Red Falcon’s fourth and final volume. This is the latest cover we’ve used, but fear not, this is not the last update to our covers gallery. There are more covers to come.
You can enjoy these as well as covers from 1932 through 1935 in our Dare-Devil Aces Cover Gallery!
“They Had What It Takes – Part 10: Major Al Williams” by Alden McWilliams
In the late thirties Flying Aces ran Alden McWilliams’ monthly illustrated tribute to the pioneer fliers of the early days of aviation which was called “They Had What it Takes”. In the November 1937 issue they featured the aerobatic genius, Major Al Williams.
Next week McWilliams looks at Richard E. Byrd, the conqueror of the poles.
“They Had What It Takes – Part 9: Ernst Lehmann” by Alden McWilliams
Alden McWilliams’ illustrated tribute to the pioneer fliers of the early days of aviation was called “They Had What it Takes”, and this week we bring you the 9th installment, which appeared in the October 1937 Flying Aces. It features the German zeppelin ace Captain Ernst Lehmann, whose last command was the ill-fated Hindenburg.
Next week, in Part 10, we will feature Major Al Williams who was considered the greatest aerobatic flier of his time.
“They Had What It Takes – Part 8: Igor Sikorsky” by Alden McWilliams
This week we bring you Part 8 of Alden McWilliams’ illustrated tribute to the pioneer fliers of the early days of aviation. He called it “They Had What it Takes” and this installment appeared in the September 1937 Flying Aces. It features aircraft developer Igor Sikorsky. Among Sikorsky’s many innovations was the first multi-motored plane.
Next week look for McWilliams’ feature on zeppelin ace Captain Ernst Lehmann, whose last command was the ill-fated Hindenburg.
“They Had What It Takes – Part 7: Amelia Earhart” by Alden McWilliams
This week we bring you the seventh installment of Alden McWilliams’ illustrated tribute to the pioneer fliers of the early days of aviation. He called it “They Had What it Takes” and this one appeared in the August 1937 Flying Aces. It features Amelia Earhart, “The First Lady of the Air”.
“They Had What It Takes – Part 6: Jimmy Doolittle” by Alden McWilliams
In the late thirties Flying Aces ran Alden McWilliams’ monthly illustrated tribute to the pioneer fliers of the early days of aviation which was called “They Had What it Takes”. In the July 1937 issue they featured Jimmy Doolittle who, between WWI and WWII, was considered to be America’s greatest airman.
“They Had What It Takes – Part 5: Howard Hughes” by Alden McWilliams
This week we bring you the fifth installment of Alden McWilliams’ illustrated tribute to the pioneer fliers of the early days of aviation which he called “They Had What it Takes”. Appearing in the June 1937 Flying Aces, it features Howard Hughes, who McWilliams called “The Scientist of Speed”. Next week we bring you Part Six, which tells the story of Jimmy Doolittle, who between WWI and WWII was generally considered to be America’s best pilot.
“They Had What It Takes – Part 4: Captain Frank Hawks” by Alden McWilliams
Alden McWilliams’ illustrated tribute to the pioneer fliers of the early days of aviation was called “They Had What it Takes”, and this week we bring you the fourth installment, which appeared in the May 1937 Flying Aces. It features the record smashing exploits of Captain Frank Hawks. Next week’s part five is McWilliams’ piece on Howard Hughes, who he called “The Scientist of Speed”.
“They Had What It Takes – Part 3: Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith” by Alden McWilliams
This week we bring you the third installment of Alden McWilliams’ illustrated tribute to the pioneer fliers of the early days of aviation. He called it “They Had What it Takes” and this one appeared in the April 1937 Flying Aces. It features Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, the Australian pilot renowned for his trans-Pacific exploits. Look for part 4 next week which chronicles the record smashing speed flying of Captain Frank Hawks.
“They Had What It Takes – Part 2: Wiley Post” by Alden McWilliams
Starting with the February 1937 issue of Flying Aces, Alden McWilliams began his illustrated tribute to the pioneer aviators of that era. He called it “They Had What it Takes”. It appeared in each issue of Flying Aces until June 1940. Each week we will make a new installment available for download.
From March ‘37, part 2 features Wiley Post, who flew around the world solo.
“They Had What It Takes – Part 1: Charles Lindbergh” by Alden McWilliams
Starting with the February 1937 issue of Flying Aces, Alden McWilliams began his illustrated tribute to the pioneer aviators of that era. He called it “They Had What it Takes”. It appeared in each issue of Flying Aces until June 1940. Each week we will make a new installment available for download.
Part 1 features the greatest legend of them all, Charles Lindbergh.
“Shanghai Snare” by Arch Whitehouse
In December 1937 Arch Whitehouse introduced a new character to the readers of Flying Aces. His name was Tug Hardwick. Tug was a fighter ace and test pilot for the US Air Service until a plane he had certified crashed and killed his brother. He gave up flying and became a correspondent for the Amalgamated News Service. His first assignment was in war torn Shanghai. It was there that he met portly “Beansie” Bishop, who also worked in China for Amalgamated. The two of them became fast friends and stuck together through all kinds of spine tingling adventures, starting with “Shanghai Snare”:
Just why had he got mixed up in that maddening war-correspondent game in bloody, shell-racked Shanghai? Tug Hardwick pondered over that question. But before he had time to answer it, Fate sent that hardy young newsman to cover an amazing story which wasn’t listed in his assignment book. The stage was set for that story when Tug dropped into the Astor House—and the bang-up action began when a bomb dropped in after him.
“Vulture’s Vortex” by Arch Whitehouse
In this, the first of six Coffin Kirk adventures by the prolific Arch Whitehouse, we meet Brian “Coffin” Kirk and his sidekick, a trained ape named Tank. As a boy Kirk witnessed the brutal murder of his father at the hands of a secret criminal organization called “The Circle of Death”. He swore he would have his revenge, and after years of training, he was ready to fulfill his pledge. In “Vulture’s Vortex” he must infiltrate Nazi Germay to find the headquarters of “the Circle of Death”.
