Age of Aces » Willie the Ink

“Death’s Double” by Frederick C. Painton

David — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 11:00:06 +0000

SIX down, and six to go! For the seventh story from the Christmas 1931 issues of the Air pulps we have a story from the pen of a prolific pulp author and venerated newspaper manâ€”Frederick C. Painton. Paint known to our readers for his gritty Squadron of the Dead.

The War Department sends Jerry Gallens to the 92nd Pursuit Squadron with a film crew in tow to make a movie! Gallens is the American flapperâ€™s big crush, the swoon of old maids, the envy of every young American man, the sweetheart of the United States. He is Americaâ€™s outstanding musical-comedy star, a Broadway matinee idol. He is a great movie actor, the only one outside of Charley Chaplin whoâ€™s had his pictures translated into the Chinese. But he also longs to be a real Ace like he’s portraying on screen! From the December 1931 issue of War Birdsâ€”it’s Frederick C. Painton’s “Death’s Double!”

Into the hard skies of war-aged pilots came a movie idol under special orders. They hated his guts and called him yellow, until that red day when hell broke loose over their headsâ€”and a man was born.

Download “Death’s Double” (December 1931, War Birds)

Painton has once again named the squadron adjunct something along the lines of Willie-the-Ink. This time it’s Johnny-the-Ink, but it’s the same character. And not too dissimilar from Dugger Banks, the squadron leader in Painton’s “Aces Fly High” (Sky Fighters, November 1933), he’s named the squadron leader of the 92nd Pursuit “Digger” Banks!

“Sky Guilt” by Frederick C. Painton

David — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 10:00:10 +0000

THIS week we have a story from the pen of a prolific pulp author and venerated newspaper manâ€”Frederick C. Painton. Mike O’Connor returns from a four day stint of detached service with the Second Corps to find his kid brother in the brig facing a court martial for murdering a fellow pilot in a bar brawl. Mike draws on his pre-war experience as a detective to find the true culprit and takes to the sky to sweat out a confession from the guilty party! From the pages of the November 1933 The Lone Eagle, it’s Frederick C. Painton’s “Sky Guilt!”

A Gripping Story of Exciting Peril in the Air and a Pilot’s Grim Determination!

Download “Sky Guilt” (November 1933, The Lone Eagle)

As he has in previous stories we’ve posted, Painton has once again named the squadronâ€™s operations officer Willie the Inkâ€”Painton uses a similarly named characterâ€”Willie the Webâ€”as operations officer in his Squadron of the Dead tales.

“Aces Fly High” by Frederick C. Painton

David — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 11:00:41 +0000

THIS week we have a story from the pen of a prolific pulp author and venerated newspaper manâ€”Frederick C. Painton. In “Aces Fly High” Painton relates a tale of brothers in the same flight. The older, Blake Grenfell tasked with the duty of looking after his younger half brother, Pup. And that’s a task in itself as Pup is determined to become an Ace at the expense of all others. Good men are lost in Pup’s pursuit of becoming an Ace and things just go from bad to worse until drastic actions and sacrafice must be made to save the Grenfell’s name and social standing back home. From the November 1933 issue of Sky Fightersâ€”it’s Frederick C. Painton’s “Aces Fly High!”

Daring Rescues and Savage Strife in the Flaming Skies Above No Man’s Land!

Download “Aces Fly High” (November 1933, Sky Fighters)

As he would in “Flaming Death” (Sky Fighters, November 1934) Painton has once again named the squadron’s operations officer Willie the Inkâ€”Painton uses a similarly named characterâ€”Willie the Webâ€”as operations officer in his Squadron of the Dead tales.

“Flaming Death” by Frederick C. Painton

David — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 10:00:09 +0000

THIS week we have a story from the pen of a prolific pulp author and venerated newspaper manâ€”Frederick C. Painton. In “Flaming Death” Painton gives us a pulse-stirring war-air noveletteâ€””B” Flight’s mascot, Babe Norwood, the squadron’s youngest flyer, is shot down with incendiary bullets! All of the fighting nations had agreed to ban their useâ€”so rigidly were they banned that any flyer caught using them was instantly stood against the wall with barely the mockery of a drum-head court-martial. The squadron uses all avenues of the services to hunt down the culprit and bring him to justice! From the November 1934 Sky Fighters it’s Frederick C. Painton’s “Flaming Death!”

Follow a Mad Race Through Roaring Skies on the Trail of a Sinister Hun Whose Guns Spout Outlawed Bullets!

Download “Flaming Death” (November 1934, Sky Fighters)

And look for a brief appearance by the squadron’s operations officer named Willie the Ink, Painton uses a similarly named characterâ€”Willie the Webâ€”as operations officer in his Squadron of the Dead tales.