Colonel Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, USMC, (December 4, 1912 - January 11, 1988) was an American fighter ace who flew with the American Volunteer Group in China and later was the Commanding Officer of the VMF-214 (The Black Sheep Squadron) during World War II. He also became a prisoner of war later in the war. For his U.S. Marine Corps service he was awarded the Navy Cross and the Medal of Honor. Boyington is best known for his exploits flying the Vought F4U Corsair in VMF-214. During periods of intense activity in the Russell Islands-New Georgia and Bougainville-New Britain-New Ireland areas, Boyington added to his total almost daily. During his squadron's first tour of combat duty, the major shot down 14 enemy fighter planes in 32 days. On 17 December 1943, he headed the first Allied fighter sweep over impregnable Rabaul. By 27 December, his record was 25. The Corsair is popularly known as 'The Sweetheart of the Marianas' and sometimes also as 'The Sweetheart of Okinawa' for its roles in these campaigns respectively - the names were given by ground troops rather than by Naval and Marine personnel. Among pilots, however, the aircraft was nicknamed "Ensign Eliminator" and 'Bent-Wing Eliminator' because it required many more hours of flight training to master than other Navy carrierborne aircraft. This beautiful handmade authentic De Havilland Beaver Wood Model Airplane is made entirely by hand, from the hand crafting of the fuselage, wings and tail section - to the sanding of the aircraft's contours. Every part of the De Havilland Beaver Wood Model Airplane is assembled precisely into place using the highest quality material available. After shaping and sanding, the model passes through several stages of priming and sanding before the De Havilland Beaver Wood Model Airplane is hand painted to duplicate the actual colors of a selected historical aircraft. Artisans detail from researched reference materials, including all the insignias, squadron badges, nose art, emblems and serial numbers to replicate the original aircraft to scale. Our De Havilland Beaver Wood Model Airplane comes with base stand ready for display.