Age of Aces » August 1936

“Aces of Destiny” by Ralph Oppenheim

David — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 11:00:24 +0000

TO ROUND off Mosquito Month we have a non-Mosquitoes story from the pen of Ralph Oppenheim. In the mid thirties, Oppenheim wrote a half dozen stories for Sky Fighters featuring Lt. “Streak” Davis. Davis—ace and hellion of the 25th United States Pursuit Squadron—was a fighter, and the speed with which he hurled his plane to the attack, straight and true as an arrow, had won him his soubriquet. Once more it’s a battle against time—B Flight is sent out on a perilous mission to destroy the new Boche anti-tank gun munitions factory by noon in hopes of preventing a massacre when the Allies push forward in their new Whippet tanks. However, after B flight has taken off, Streak learns a spy may have fouled their mission somehow and flies off like a streak to stop them before it’s too late! From the August 1936 issue of Sky Fighters it’s Ralph Oppenheim’s steak Davis in “Aces of Destiny!”

“Streak” Davis, Lone-handed, Braves Enemy Air Against a Menacing Hun Swarm! Death-Dealing Fokkers Form a Ring of Havoc Around a Hellbent Yank Ace! A Complete Novel of Sky-High War-Air Action!

Download “Aces of Destiny” (August 1936, Sky Fighters)

“Sky Writers, August 1936″ by Terry Gilkison

David — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 10:00:50 +0000

FREQUENT visitors to this site know that we’ve been featuring Terry Gilkison’s Famous Sky Fighters feature from the pages of Sky Fighters. Gilkison had a number of these features in various pulp magazinesâ€”Clues, Thrilling Adventures, Texas Rangers, Thrilling Mystery, Thrilling Western, and Popular Western. Starting in the February 1936 issue of Lone Eagle, Gilkison started the war-air quiz feature Sky Writers. Each month there would be four questions based on the Aces and events of The Great War. If you’ve been following his Famous Sky Fighters, these questions should be a snap!

Here’s the quiz from the August 1936 issue of Lone Eagle.

If you get stumped or just want to check your answers, click here!

“Famous Sky Fighters, August 1936″ by Terry Gilkison

David — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 10:00:22 +0000

STARTING in the October 1933 issue of Sky Fighters and running almost 5 years, Terry Gilkisonâ€™s â€œFamous Sky Fightersâ€ was a staple of the magazine. Each month Gilkison would illustrate in a two page spread different Aces that rose to fame during the Great War.

Although Gilkison was probably better known for his syndicated newspaper work, he also provided black and white story interior illustrations for pulp magazines. His work appeared in Clues, Thrilling Adventures, Texas Rangers, Thrilling Mystery, Thrilling Western, and Popular Western. Gilkison provided similar features in a few other Thrilling Publicationsâ€”there was “Famous Soldiers of Fortune” and later “Adventure Thrills” in Thrilling Adventures, Famous Crimes” in Thrilling Detective, and the fully illustrated air adventure stories of Buck Barton “The Flying Devil” in The Lone Eagle! He signed most of this work with only his initials “T.G.” to maintain a low profile and preserve his reputation as a syndicated newspaper cartoon artist.

The August 1936 installment, from the pages of Sky Fighters, features Captain Frederick Libby, Lt. Joseph Wehner, Lt. Wilhelm Frankl, and Tommy Hitchcock!

Next time in “Famous Sky Fighters”, Terry Gilkison features Captain John Blair, Lt. Paul Neibling, and French sky fighter Lt. M. Navarre! Don’t miss it!

“The Hun Hunter” by Arch Whitehouse

David — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 10:00:46 +0000

THIS week we have a short, but gripping tale from the prolific pen of Arch Whitehouse! Whitehouse gives us Len Stallard, a natural pilot and a keen hunter. He had a one-track mind and, once mounted in an active service squadron, he went to work with inevitable resultsâ€”Four Huns the first week, a citation and a Croix de Guerre. Unfortunately, as good as he was in the air, he was equally poor on the groundâ€”and found himself unable to mix with the rest of the gang at No.76. He discovers how his fellow pilots feel about him when his plane goes down behind enemy lines! From the August 1936 issue of Sky Fighters, it’s Arch Whitehouse’s “The Hun Hunter!”

Hated alike by friend and foe, Len Stallard lights out for Boche territory to end it all!

Download “The Hun Hunter” (August 1936, Sky Fighters)

“Blois, Blois, Black Sheep” by Joe Archibald

David — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 10:00:24 +0000

â€œHAW-W-W-W-W!â€ You heard right! That marvel from Boonetown, Iowa is back! This time the skull-duggerian of the Ninth Pursuit Squadron, U.S. Air Force runs afoul of some brass hats and gets busted and sent to Bloisâ€”provided they can find him! It’s another sky-high Phineas mirthquake! From the August 1936 Flying Aces, it’s “Blois, Blois, Black Sheep.”

Phineas hadn’t figured on a flight from the back of a mule instead of from the drome of the 9th. And the gallant Garrity hadn’t figured on getting stuck when he put adhesive tape on his francs. Anyhow, they called out the guard. But what’s the good of jailing a Jekyll if you haven’t hamstrung the Hyde?

Download “Blois, Blois, Black Sheep” (August 1936, Flying Aces)

My Most Thrilling Sky Fight: Sergeant Kiffin Rockwell

David — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 11:00:23 +0000

AMIDST all the great pulp thrills and features in Sky Fighters, they ran a true story feature collected by Ace Williams wherein famous War Aces would tell actual true accounts of thrilling moments in their fighting lives! This time we have member of the LaFayette Escadrilleâ€”Sergeant Kiffin Rockwell!

Kiffin Rockwell was a true soldier of fortune. Born and raised In Aaheville, N. Carolina, young Rockwell got the wanderlust soon after graduating from the University of Virginia. When the Germans made their surprise move on the forts of Liege, Rockwell was serving in the ranks of the Foreign Legion. For a heroic exploit in hand to hand bayonet fighting, he was awarded the Medaille Militaire. For a whole year he served with the Foreign Legion in the trenches, then transferred to the aviation and went into training at Avord. When Norman Prince formed the first American Flying Squadron in Paris, Rockwell was one of those invited to join. He proved out to be one of the best and most daring pilots of that original band. His career was cut short by his untimely death on September 23rd, 1916.

Rockwell ran up a score of three official victories before being killed in action and was awarded the Croix de Guerre with additional citation for his Medaille Militaire. The following is taken from a letter to his brother in Asheville.

WHY WE CALL THEM LES BOCHES

by Sergeant Kiffin Rockwell â€¢ Sky Fighters, August 1936

YOU asked why we call the Germans les Boches, or butchers, in our language. There are many reasons. I shall relate a recent experience so you can determine for yourself.

Captain Thenault, Prince and I had taken young Balsley out for his second trip over the front. We were cruising along behind the Boche lines when we suddenly found ourselves face to face with about 40 Boches. They were grouped together in a close formation but at different altitudes. On our level there were about 12 or 15 Aviatiks.

These Aviatiks had about the same speed as our Nieuports, but they carried a gunner behind the pilot. The pilot shoots as we do, but the gunner has a movable gun which enables him to fire in all directions.

A MÃªlÃ©e of Battle

We were but four and on the German side of the lines, but none of us turned and ran away. For ten or fifteen minutes we flew over and around the Aviatiks, being fired at constantly, some of their bursts being at very close range. Finally we saw an opening. One of their machines raced toward our lines. The rest were behind us.

We plunged after this isolated Boche. A general mÃªlÃ©e resulted, for the whole swarm of Boches pounced on us, coming from above and all sides.

One of our planes dived and fell as though streaking to death. I wondered if it were Prince or Balsley. Tough in either case, I thought. Then in the mÃªlÃ©e I lost sight of another of our little Nieuports. Now both Prince and Balsley were gone. Only Captain Thenault and myself remained and the Boches were giving us plenty.

Thenault signalled to draw away and we ran for our lines, confident that both Balsley and Prince had been shot down.

An Exploding Bullet

We managed to run the gauntlet. Later Prince showed up. He had followed down after Balsley when he saw the youngster falling. It appeared that poor Balsley had darted in on a Boche and just as he pressed his Bowden to fire his gun, it jammed.

He swerved off to clear and just at that instant a bullet struck him in the stomach and exploded against his backbone!

Balsley’s machine went into a dive as he fainted over the stick. But the rush of air in the dive revived him. And as he had kept his feet on the rudder he was enabled to redress and land right side up. The machine, however, smashed to bits. Prince got Balsley out. Twelve pieces of the exploded bullet were removed from Balsley’s interior. Balsley will live but he will never fly again.

So, you see why they are called les Boches? This is the second time we have run into explosive bullets. First it was me, and I am not entirely recovered yet, now it is poor Balsley.

“The Fairey Hendon Night Bomber” by Frederick Blakeslee

David — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 10:00:38 +0000

Frederick Blakeslee painted all the covers for the entire run of Dare-Devil Aces. And each of those covers had a story behind it. On Dare-Devil Aces’ August 1936 cover, Mr. Blakeslee has painted a squadron of Fairey Hendon Night Bombers doing what they do best!

THE fortunate folk who’ve had a look at this month’s cover before the regular customers, keep reminding me that it looks like a bombing of the docks along the Hudson River, New York City. Far be it from me to bring such disaster to the fair City of New York, so you may be sure that the resemblance is quite accidental. As a matter of fact, the scene is laid nowhere in particularâ€”my idea being to give you as interesting a cover with as much detail as possible. It looks alright to me. What do you think?

However, the bombers are the real McCoy. Should one ever chance to drop an egg on your peaceful residence, I’m sure all hands will agree that they are genuine. These are Fairey Hendon night bombers, designed for long distance maneuvers. It’s a low-winged cantilever monoplane with two Rolls-Royce Kestral Engines, capable of carrying a crew of five. The gunner, who has all the fun of releasing the bombs, is located in the bow, while the pilot sits comfortably, just forward of the leading edge of the wing. There’s another bomber amidship and one in the tail. This ship can also be employed as a troop transport, being capable of carrying up to twenty fully equipped men. Its span is 101 by 9 feet; its length, 69 by 9. All in all it’s quite a crate, weighing some 20,000 pounds, fully loaded. This is definitely the wrong package to be hit with, since it can travel at a terrific rate of speed. Just how fast, however, has not been divulged by the people who hold the secret. Hope you like it. Fred Blakeslee.

“The Fairey Hendon Night Bomber: The Story Behind The Cover” by Frederick Blakeslee
(August 1936, Dare-Devil Aces)

“Death Spans the Pacific” by Arch Whitehouse

Bill — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:44:27 +0000

A Buzz Benson Mystery!
When the Japanese Foreign Minister addressed that closed session of the Diet at Tokyo on July 27th, stringent measures were exercised to keep his words secret. In fact, so thorough were those measures that the world at large never learned the exact content of that speech until 1940 when Baron Okia Kawamura finally set it down in print in his noted history of the Japanese-American conflict…

Download “Death Spans the Pacific” (August 1936, Flying Aces)