Interesting trivia question: When was WW1's last 5-victory air 'ace' declared?
The war was over in November 1918. Allowing for the 'dust to settle'...and considering the well-known efficiency of military bureaucracies...it might have taken a while for reports to be processed and paperwork to make its way through channels, right?. So, what, maybe 1919-1920? Maybe 1922 at the outside?
How about 1965? (A full World War, a 'police action' and several military 'interventions' later....)
Born in 1896, Charles d'Olive enlisted in the US Army Signal Corps in 1917 and became a member of the first class of US pilots trained for WW1, soloing at Chanute Field in May. After being sent to France for operational training, in August 1918 he was posted to the newly-formed 93rd Aero Squadron near Vaucouleurs to fly the SPAD XIII. He scored the new unit's first victory---a Fokker D.VII, near Vieville-en-Haye---on September 12, thus earning the right to decorate his aircraft #24 with the Squadron's newly-created 'Indian Head' unit emblem (which he'd actually had a hand in designing). He went on to score three more victories (two shared with another pilot) on the very next day, and another a month later. Toward the end of October, he was appointed to the 141st Aero Squadron as a flight commander.
For the three-victory engagement---in which d'Olive and another American pilot engaged and out-fought a formation of 5 enemy planes---he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in action. Unfortunately...due to a clerical error in recording his victories...Lt. d'Olive was only credited for two of his three September 13th kills. Thus he was 'officially' one victory short of the five required for 'ace' status.
While undoubtedly disappointed, he didn't dwell on it; the war was over and he had a life to get back to. He returned to the US, started a family, and went on to become a successful businessman. In whimsical moments, he would occasionally wonder what happened to the 'third Fokker' from the battle for which he won his DSC.
Fast-forward to the mid-1960s. Driving to work one day, d'Olive happened to hear a news story on his car radio regarding the upcoming deadline for the U.S. Government to close out service records for WWI veterans. He took the opportunity, and made arrangements to have his records reexamined.
During the official review of his personal records, it was noticed that Lieutenant d'Olive's DSC citation reflected three kills, but the official record from the engagement on September 13, 1918, tallied up only two. He petitioned the Air Force, and his record was integrated between the citation and the other records. In 1965...47 years after the fact...Lieutenant d'Olive was finally declared a WWI Ace.
Beloved by his friends and family, honored and well-respected in his community, and a proud member...at long last...of the American Fighter Aces Association, former 1st Lt. Charles Rudolph d'Olive died of cancer in July 1974.
Though not the most aesthetically beautiful of WW1 fighters---having once been famously described as looking like 'a cigar butt between two clap-boards flying in close formation'---the SPAD has always been my favorite of the era: partly because of its association with so many of the American squadrons and pilots, and partly for its reputation as a sturdy, 'get-the-job-done' machine. It has been reasonably well-represented in all modeling scales, dating back to Revell's ancient 1/28 kit (which is still available).
Hobbycraft's 1/32 SPAD XIII---now apparently (and sadly) out of production---is a little gem of a kit. Though not without a sinkhole or a bit of soft molding here and there, it is both well-detailed and well-engineered, with excellent fit overall. Though lacking any engine, the cockpit is reasonably complete, with separate intruments (and two-layer faces provided as decals), controls, and a convincing seat (but no belts) included. Exterior fuselage detail is particularly fine; and the main and interplane struts are among the most petite and 'scale' thickness I've ever encountered.
Having said all that...I scratchbuilt much of the cockpit detail, simply out of my love for this particular 'aeroplane'... and the fact that the Memorial Flight Organization in France has posted glorious color photos of their restored original Kellner-built SPAD XIII online, showing nearly every detail, inside and out. A true treasure-trove for the obsessive modeler!
Other than the interior---and the added camera/bomb compartment door, just aft of the cockpit on the port underside---my build was mostly OOB. I did add drains for the under-nose oil-cooler and beneath the cowling for the radiator, and the visible feed line from the reservoir built into the upper wing center section. I also added my favorite SPAD detail, the 'emergency fuel jettison' in case of an emergency landing: activated by a pull-ring on a cable extending back to a handle in the cockpit, it's simply a soft-soldered strip---looking very much like the 'pull tab' on a modern soda-can---on the underside main fuel tank, between the landing gear struts.
The five-color French camouflage scheme was painted with 'home' mixes of Tamiya acrylics, based largely on color photos of the Smithsonian's carefully-restored Kellner-built 'Smith IV' from the 22nd Aero. After experimenting with several techniques to try and replicate the peculiar 'sheen' of the WW1 French fabric pigments---which contained as much as 25% aluminum 'flake' powder, to offer protection against degradation from sunlight---I finally found a method that produced a convincing-looking finish. I added a bit of Tamiya Aluminum to Future/Kleer at a ratio of about 1 part acrylic paint to 20 parts floor finish, and hand-brushed it on, mixing the solution frequently as I worked. It gave the same sort of faintly-pearlescent sheen as seen in photos, without the aluminum tint being obvious or even visible except at super-close range. (I later oversprayed the 'fabric' areas with a mix of Future and Vallejo Matt to get the right satiny near-matte appearance.) 'Metal' panels on the original aircraft were painted in oil-based Ripolin paints, rather than the dope of the fabric areas; these colors were close to, but not an exact match, for the respective dope colors, so I 'fiddled' my Tamiya mixes accordingly.
Roundels and rudder stripes were from the kit's old-but-good decal sheet, though with the pronounced 'French blue' (blue-grey) portions overpainted in a sort of artist's-oil glaze to a more 'insignia' blue. Numbers, stencils, and the 93rd Aero unit insignia were made up based on online images, home-printed on my faithful HP inkjet, and sealed with Testors Decal Bonder; printed on white decal stock, they required some careful trimming (and a touch-up here and there), but went on mostly without issue. The green portion of the squadron wing stripes was masked and painted, with thin red strips from decal stock.
The complex rigging is a combination of fine music-wire for the cross-bracing between struts, and EZ-Line for the (double) flying- and (single) landing-wires. 'Wrapped' portions are sections of polyimide tubing threaded onto the EZ-Line. Hardware came from several Eduard etch sheets---for the Roden SPAD VII, and their generic 1/32 'turnbuckles' set---super-glued to the pre-measured lengths of EZ-Line, with the brackets carefully 'snagged' and 'pinned' in place as struts were installed. It all took a bit of forethought and planning...but went fairly straightforwardly...and proved surprisingly strong.
[The last was tested...entirely unintentionally...when I managed to accidentally drop the model when it was about 90% complete. Fortunately, it was a 'low altitude' and relatively low-impact crash; even more fortunately, I somehow managed to resist the impulse to a) weep, or b) hurl the 'wreckage' against the nearest wall. (And I came very close to both.) After about ten minutes...and a few deep breaths...the damage proved to be daunting, but not devastating. No damage at all to the fuselage, since it 'hit' nose-first (cowl not yet on). One wheel snapped off at the axle, and the gear legs on one side a bit askew---all easily fixable. More challengingly, the top wing snapped off...but all but one of the EZ-Lines were still attached. Most struts broken in half...and a few unaccountably vanished into the ether, never to be found again. I made new struts, and slowly and methodically super-glued everything else back into place. It's not quite as 'clean' as the first version...but almost everything managed to end up more-or-less square and properly aligned once again---a testament to the kit's design, I think---so I can't much complain.]
Between the five-color camouflage scheme and the red-white-and-blue markings, it's one of the most colorful big-scale pieces I've ever done...and I must confess I'm hopelessly in love with it. The moreso since it survived a near-miss due to my own relentless incompetence. Also, as a longtime admirer of Charles d'Olive's remarkable story, I hope it's a fitting small tribute to the 'moral' of that story: never give up.
Not sure if Wingnut Wings will ever do the SPAD up 'right,' but even if they don't, I have one more of these in the stash, to ultimately do as Ray Brooks' 'Smith IV.' (I did 'doubles' of all my scratchbuilt interior parts when I built this one, so the interior is ready to roll.) 'Smith IV' will require a bit of modification to replicate the 'pocketed' lower wingtips on that NASM machine, and replace the Vickers guns with Marlin m.g.'s. I already have the Tom's Modelworks etched set for the wing pockets, but I'll have to scratch the Marlin guns, which is a relatively easy task.
I also have an idea for what I hope will be a cool little display base for this a/c...which I will share separately, if it comes out at all as I envision.
Thanks for looking in, and I hope you enjoy the pics.