Wings of The Great War WW13003
Nieuport Nieuport 28 Display Model
US Army 147th Aero Sqn, Ralph A. O'Neill, 1918 | |
| 1:72 Scale | | Length | | Width |
|---|
| Nieuport Nieuport 28 | | 3.25" | | 4.25" |
Ralph Ambrose O'Neill (December 7, 1896 - October 23, 1980) was a flying ace from World War I credited with five aerial victories. O'Neill was born in Durango, Durango, Mexico on 17 December 1896 to an American father and a Mexican mother. He was raised in the United States and entered the United States Air Service in August 1917. In March 1918, he was assigned to the 147th Aero Squadron, flying the Nieuport 28 and the SPAD S.XIII. From 2 July to 31 October 1918, teaming with such squadron mates as Kenneth Porter, James Meissner, Francis Simonds, and James Healy, he shot down five German airplanes. He won a Distinguished Service Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters and the Croix de Guerre with palm in the process. In August 1920, he signed a five-year contract to set up a functional Mexican Air Force and train Mexican pilots, as Mexico was undergoing numerous rebellions and coups. In 1923, he flew several combat missions against Adolfo de la Huerta's rebellion. He left Mexico in December 1925 with the rank of general, and began a career in civil aviation. He founded the New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line, flying the first airmail from Argentina to Miami in a Sikorsky S-38.
Designed as a replacement for the Neiuport 17, which was no longer competitive against contemporary German fighters, the Neiuport 28 was first flown on June 14, 1917. Designers wanted to combine the light airframe and maneuverability of the Neiuport 17 with updated features such as a new wing structure, twin synchronized machine guns and a more powerful engine. The Neiuport 28 was the first aircraft to serve with an American fighter squadron, but it claimed that distinction by default; by the time it entered service it was already outclassed by the SPAD S.XIII, which was in short supply and initially unavailable for export to the United States. © Copyright 2003-2024 The Flying Mule, Inc.
The Wings of The Great War range presents affordable, ready-made resin models of WWI aircraft. Each model is crafted and painted by hand and features a unique pivoting stand that allows the model to be displayed at a variety of different attitudes.
Wings of The Great War display airplanes feature:
- Molded resin construction with no assembly required.
- Fixed, non-rotating propellers and wheels.
- Poseable presention stand to display the aircraft "in flight".
Why Resin?
It's very expensive to produce die-casting molds, and manufacturers must sell a large number of models from each mold in order to recoup development costs. Some subjects are so obscure that it's difficult to sell large quantities of them. Resin-casting is a much simpler and less expensive process, and manufacturers can use it to make limited runs of models that can't be cost effectively manufactured in diecast metal. With resin-cast models, collectors can add fascinating and unusual subjects to their collections without the time and difficulty of assembling and painting a model kit.
© Copyright 2003-2024 The Flying Mule, Inc.
