Col. Douglas King
August 9th, 2005, 22:00
S!
Hi there!
I´m new here, so will spend a couple of words about myself...
Scale modeller (WW2 stuff in 1:72 scale), addicted to aviation and flight sims.
Skinner (hope to post some here for download..) and writer.
My preferred aircrafts: Biplanes of the early "Thirties", (Curtiss Hawk II and III, I-15 Chato) First monoplanes (I-16 Mosca or Rata), Spitfire Mk.I and Mk.VIII, Curtiss P-40B/C and E, P-38 all marks, but expecially the L-5 version.
Other planes I like: Corsair, Mustang, Tempest, Ki-43 Hayabusa, Ki-84 Hayate.
Actually I´m writing a book about a pilot (Douglas King) depicting his life and adventures, but strictly respecting the historical side of the tale, situated in the first half of the 20 Century.
The title most likely will be `Wing of Fire´.
Who is Douglas King?
It is my virtual name, not the real name, and I use it for my virtual pilot life in the Net.
Who is the Douglas King of my book?
First of all, this is a fictional character. He never existed in real life. But here is a brief history about him, as depicted in the book I´m writing:
Born in 1906, his father flew in WW1 in the American Expeditionary Force, and the young Douglas started to be interested in planes and flyng early in his childhood time.
When he was 18 he enlisted in the U.S.A.A.C. (1924), but was honorably discharged following the military budget cuts caused by the 1929 crisis. He at first managed to gain his money as a stunt movie pilot, and then as mercenary, participating in the Chaco War (1932-1935), where he flew for the Bolivians, and later in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), for the Republicans. Next he flew for the Chinese Air Force (1939-May 1940), where he met Col. Claire Chennault. After a year he asked for discharge to participate in the Battle of Britain (summer 1940), this time as a real volunteer for the Royal Air Force.
In 1941 he returned to China (Summer 1941), again as a mercenary, with the A.V.G.
After the Flyng Tigers were disbanded (July 1942) and absorbed in the regular U.S.A.A.F., Douglas King was transferred to the 39th FS, 35th FG, an outfit that was flyng the P-38 Lightning in New Guinea. Later he was transferred to the newly formed 475th FG (May 1943), and ended the war flyng in this elite unit.
Clear, there will be also a love story in the book, not only air duels and awesome drinkings, so I hope everybody will be satisfied.
(It is not meanless that after the A.V.G. period the "Grinning Death Skull" will leave its place for a more romantic smiling young Lady as a nose art for Douglas King´s planes) ;) http://forums.netwings.org/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif .
Following the book, I´m working on a big campaign for Il2 stuff (more than 250 missions in it). Here some pictures about the planes he flew.
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6821/001kingvickers4tw.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/7018/002kinghawkii6bj.jpg
Hi there!
I´m new here, so will spend a couple of words about myself...
Scale modeller (WW2 stuff in 1:72 scale), addicted to aviation and flight sims.
Skinner (hope to post some here for download..) and writer.
My preferred aircrafts: Biplanes of the early "Thirties", (Curtiss Hawk II and III, I-15 Chato) First monoplanes (I-16 Mosca or Rata), Spitfire Mk.I and Mk.VIII, Curtiss P-40B/C and E, P-38 all marks, but expecially the L-5 version.
Other planes I like: Corsair, Mustang, Tempest, Ki-43 Hayabusa, Ki-84 Hayate.
Actually I´m writing a book about a pilot (Douglas King) depicting his life and adventures, but strictly respecting the historical side of the tale, situated in the first half of the 20 Century.
The title most likely will be `Wing of Fire´.
Who is Douglas King?
It is my virtual name, not the real name, and I use it for my virtual pilot life in the Net.
Who is the Douglas King of my book?
First of all, this is a fictional character. He never existed in real life. But here is a brief history about him, as depicted in the book I´m writing:
Born in 1906, his father flew in WW1 in the American Expeditionary Force, and the young Douglas started to be interested in planes and flyng early in his childhood time.
When he was 18 he enlisted in the U.S.A.A.C. (1924), but was honorably discharged following the military budget cuts caused by the 1929 crisis. He at first managed to gain his money as a stunt movie pilot, and then as mercenary, participating in the Chaco War (1932-1935), where he flew for the Bolivians, and later in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), for the Republicans. Next he flew for the Chinese Air Force (1939-May 1940), where he met Col. Claire Chennault. After a year he asked for discharge to participate in the Battle of Britain (summer 1940), this time as a real volunteer for the Royal Air Force.
In 1941 he returned to China (Summer 1941), again as a mercenary, with the A.V.G.
After the Flyng Tigers were disbanded (July 1942) and absorbed in the regular U.S.A.A.F., Douglas King was transferred to the 39th FS, 35th FG, an outfit that was flyng the P-38 Lightning in New Guinea. Later he was transferred to the newly formed 475th FG (May 1943), and ended the war flyng in this elite unit.
Clear, there will be also a love story in the book, not only air duels and awesome drinkings, so I hope everybody will be satisfied.
(It is not meanless that after the A.V.G. period the "Grinning Death Skull" will leave its place for a more romantic smiling young Lady as a nose art for Douglas King´s planes) ;) http://forums.netwings.org/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif .
Following the book, I´m working on a big campaign for Il2 stuff (more than 250 missions in it). Here some pictures about the planes he flew.
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6821/001kingvickers4tw.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/7018/002kinghawkii6bj.jpg