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9781612510545

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Frank Tinker, had an odd background for an ace in the Spanish Republican Air Force: a product of the U.S. Naval Academy (class of 1933), the Army Aviation Cadet program and Navy flight training, he resigned his commission when off-duty indiscretions made his future in the Navy problematic. Utterly apolitical, he found employment with the Spanish Republic where he put his flying skills to good use, racking up eight kills against the best the Nationalists had to offer. Richard Smith and R. Cargill Hall relate Tinker's colorful-some would say bizarre-story with panache, using it as to illuminate the Spanish Civil War and the history of aerial warfare during a period of portentous change. The story is filled with larger than life characters, including Ernest Hemingway, American aviators Whitey Dahl and Ajax Baumler, and Soviet pilots who went on to general officer rank in the Red Air Force... or death in the Gulag. It is also packed with informed commentary on the aircraft Tinker flew and fought against. This is aviation history at its best, and with a human touch! * John F. Guilmartin, Jr., author of A Very Short War: The Mayaguez and the Battle of Koh Tang * Smith and Hall deliver a fascinating account of a little known aviator who combined a deft touch in the cockpit with affable social skills that brought him into contact with some of the most influential people of his day. Written in clear prose, the authors illuminate the life and contributions of a Renaissance man and ace, and show his influence on aerial tactics. * John F. Wukovits, author of Black Sheep: The Life of Pappy Boyington *

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Richard K. Smith received his undergraduate degrees from the University of Illinois and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He is the author of The Airships Akron and Macon: Flying Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy, the award-winning First Across! The U.S. Navy's Transatlantic Flight of 1919 and numerous articles on the history of aeronautics. He died before completing the manuscript of Five Down, No Glory.

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