Age of Aces » Second Balloon Company http://www.ageofaces.net The Best in Air-War Fiction Fri, 27 Mar 2026 10:00:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.1 en hourly 1 “Famous Firsts” June 1932 by William E. Barrett http://www.ageofaces.net/2019/11/famous-firsts-june-1932-by-william-e-barrett/ http://www.ageofaces.net/2019/11/famous-firsts-june-1932-by-william-e-barrett/#comments Wed, 20 Nov 2019 10:00:11 +0000 David http://www.ageofaces.net/?p=8730 THIS November we’re celebrating William E. Barrett’s Birthday. Before he became renown for such classics as The Left Hand of God and Lilies of The Field, Barrett honed his craft across the pages of the pulp magazines—and nowhere more so than in War Birds and it’s companion magazine War Aces where he contributed smashing novels and novelettes, True tales of the Aces of the Great War, encyclopedic articles on the great war planes as well as other factual features. Here at Age of Aces Books he’s best known for his nine Iron Ace stories which ran in Sky Birds in the mid ’30s!

Among those factual features was “Famous Firsts” which ran frequently in the pages of War Aces. “Famous Firsts” was an illustrated feature much along the lines of Barrett’s “Is That a Fact?” that was running in War Birds, only here the facts were all statements of firsts. And like “Is That a Fact?” in War Birds, this feature was also taken over by noted cartoonist Victor “Vic Vac” Vaccarezza in 1932.

The June 1932 installment, from the pages of War Aces, features George Washington (who witnessed the first Air Journey in America—really!), The 94th Squadron, the 185th Pursuit Squadron and The Second Balloon Company!

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