01 March, 2013

Profile 76: BEGINNING/UPDATE: "XR K" as flown by Steve Pisanos, 334th FS

HA!

Sometimes a blind squirrel gets a nut!

And that blind squirrel is ME.  Being frank, I thought my last WW2 bird was done.  Two weeks ago, someone asked me what "new WW2 airplanes I was working on?" and the answer came out like a cough of sorry dust, "None."

But.  Never taunt Fate.  Circumstances can turn in the damnedest ways...

Behold, Steve Pisanos' Spitfire Mk.Vb.  The one he flew with the famed "Eagle Squadron*" in WW2.  In case you don't know who the Eagle Squadrons were, they were a group of American pilots who enlisted in the RAF to fly against the Germans BEFORE the United States declared war.

In case you don't know who Steve Pisanos is, well, suffice it to state, he was a Greek who fought for the British against the Germans and later became an American.

Confused?  Don't be.  I'll explain it all later.  But for those of us who want a REAL American success story, bookmark this one.

Stay tuned...and this one will move REALLY fast!  My apologies to "Sweet Marlene" below but something tells me, Marlene can play Patience tuned like a finely tuned instrument...



*A sharp-eyed reader informed me there were three Eagle Squadrons flying with the Brits in the early days of WW2 and he is correct (of course, too as he's a PhD in history).  Thank you, Jerry!