THE WARBIRD'S FORUM

New & improved for September

Shantih (peace) to Morgan Vaux, AVG radioman, who died August 3 at the age of 92. He joined the American Volunteer Group from the Army Air Corps, and afterward served as a Marine in the Pacific theater (photo at left). Postwar he worked for the U.S. Navy, Air Force Materiel Command, and Delco Electronics, from which he retired in 1980 as a production engineer. His death leaves ten or eleven survivors of the original Flying Tigers, including three who flew the P-40 for the combat squadrons.

Bob Bergin, who often writes about the Flying Tigers past and present, spent some time in Kunming recently. He brought back photos--shown here--of "Hostel Number One" that from December 1941 to June 1942 housed Chennault's headquarters group and one combat squadron. New this month: more of Bob's photos, including the lady who helped save Hostel Number One, a granite roller that helped smooth a Chinese runway, and other mementos of the Flying Tigers, broadly defined.

Speaking of broad definitions, Chinese film producer John Woo seems to be forging ahead with his Flying Tigers epic, with shooting supposedly beginning this fall. It is to cost $90 million. Liam Neeson is the most recent star whose name has been floated as playing the role of Claire Chennault, and "Chinese actor Liu Ye is likely to star opposite Neeson as a trainee pilot in the film." Given that China is providing the director, the money, and the scenery, I reckon that what we have here is a mosh-up of the American Volunteer Group, the Chinese-American Composite Wing, and the 14th Air Force, all of which at one time or another have claimed the "Flying Tigers" name. Perhaps we shall see Liam Neeson and Liu Ye flying wing to wing, exchanging jests in flawless Mandarin while they hack down Zeros left and right.

Among the reasons the Brewster Buffalo seldom fared well in air-to-air combat, I've always wondered about that Wright Cyclone engine. Elsewhere I've written: "Cyclone-powered planes included the Douglas SBD dive bomber and the Lockheed Hudson light bomber--but not one important fighter. The engine wasn't suited to the high-g stress of fighter combat, probably because of the way lubricating oil reached the cylinders in the early models." Recently this argument was challenged by Gorka Martinez Mezo of Malaga, Spain. See his argument here. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford