My newest finished modeling project: 5 in 1.
Finally!!! It has taken me almost 26 years (counting from the moment I purchased the first one of these 5 models) to accomplish it… but it’s DONE: The Galland Project - a tribute to a unique WW2 pilot.

Adolf Galland was born in Germany in 1912, he started his aviation career flying gliders when he was a teenager. After that he started flying for the newly formed airline Lufthansa from Germany to Spain among other destinations (flying airplanes that wouldn’t go faster than 150 mph or so). Eventually he went in the Luftwaffe (the German Air Force) and flew his first combat missions as an attack pilot in the Spanish Civil War between 1937 and 1938, as a part of the Condor Legion - the expeditionary force that THE MUSTACHE GUY sent to support the Spanish General Francisco Franco. At this point he was flying the Heinkel 51, the first model from the left in my pictures. This airplane was just a more powerful version (600 hp engine) of those flown in World War 1. He excelled as an attack pilot and created the “forefather” of what later would become known as Napalm.

When World War 2 officially started with the invasion of Poland, he was flying (still as an attack pilot) the Henschel 123 (second model from the left) equipped with an 800 hp engine, two light machine guns and 4 110 pound bombs.

After a little while, his request to be transferred to fighter planes was granted. This is when his name started to become a legend. During the battles of France and England he shot down most of his total account of 104 airplanes flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109 E and Bf 109 F (3rd and 4th models - the main differences between both variants of the same model were the engine and armament). During this period he went from the rank of lieutenant to major. After that, in November 1941, he was taken out of combat duty and became Inspector of Fighters Pilots. While being in this position, he raised to the rank of general - one of the youngest generals ever at 30 years old.

At the end of the war (March 1945) he was released from that position and became the leader of one of the first units flying the first jet fighter ever: The Messerschmitt Me 262 (my fifth model). As the new technology it was in 1944/1945, it was still in its infancy with many “teething” problems. Still, the last 7 victories of his roster were achieved with this airplane.

After the war he wrote his memoirs with the title “The First and the Last”. Quite accurate title for a career that went from flying biplanes to the first combat jets ever.

His first four airplanes include his personal logo: A Mickey Mouse with an axe, a cigar and a parachute harness.

I’ve included in the post a couple of pictures of him during his combat career and one of the print I have (signed by him) of him flying the Heinkel 51 during the Spanish Civil War.