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US Flying Tigers leave unforgettable legacy
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Dear Yong,
I read with interest the story in Friday’s paper (“Flying Tigers’ interpreter keeps memory of legendary aces alive,” July 31, Shanghai Daily) about the last surviving member of the famous “Flying Tigers.”
I first heard about them as a very young boy (I was born in May of 1943) and found their famous shark-teeth painted noses wonderful.
Shortly after retiring in 2004 I resumed assembling and painting model planes, something that I had so enjoyed doing from my late pre-teen through my middle teen years.
Enclosed are some photos of the P-40 aircraft that was flown by the Flying Tigers. It was a good plane, but its design dated to the early- to mid-30s, meaning it was outclassed in speed and handling by the newer Japanese fighters.
Great value
Although it had six machine-guns in its wings, they were the lighter 30 caliber as opposed to the newer 50 caliber weapons more modern warplanes carried. Nonetheless, it was a well-built, tough little bird and was of great value to the Chinese during those dark days in ground support missions and in downing attacking Japanese bombers.
These photos are from a model of the P-40 that I made several years ago, but it remains one of my favorites (of the 50 plus planes I have put together over the past 11 years).
The second photo is a close-up of the fuselage showing the Flying Tiger symbol, painted slightly below and behind the cockpit on the side of the airplane. The fourth and fifth photos show how these models come with highly detailed cockpits which I find it challenging — but fun — to paint as realistically as possible in order to bring out the details.
I am glad that the United States was able to provide at least some help to the Chinese people fighting the Japanese invaders.
By the way, one of the books I’m currently reading is a detailed account of the relationship between President Roosevelt and Marshall Stalin.
It is fascinating. One of the many interesting details I’ve learned so far is that it was because of Roosevelt that China was given equal status in planning for a post-war world along with Russia, Great Britain, and the US.
Neither Churchill nor Stalin thought it that important, but Roosevelt not only foresaw China’s rise to world-power status but also wanted to acknowledge the key role Chinese resistance to Japan played in keeping hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops from being turned against the American fleets in the Pacific during World War II.
Peace and best wishes!
Greg Cusack
US
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