Richard Bong remains the top-scoring American fighter pilot of all time — 40 confirmed victories, every one in a Lockheed P-38 Lightning over the Southwest Pacific. A Wisconsin farm boy who admitted he was a poor deflection shot, he solved the problem by closing to point-blank range before firing; one kill came so close he flew through the wreckage. He named his Lightning "Marge" and taped his fiancée's photograph to the nose. Pulled from combat as too valuable to lose and awarded the Medal of Honor by MacArthur in December 1944, Bong died on 6 August 1945 — the day of Hiroshima — testing a P-80 jet over California.

The figure shows Bong in a relaxed stance, hands on his hips, in a khaki tropical service uniform and overseas cap with an M1911 holstered on his belt — the everyday look of a Pacific-based flyer off the flightline. Set him with the man who pinned on his Medal of Honor, General Douglas MacArthur, add a U.S.A.A.F. Fighter Pilot as a wingman, and anchor the group under General "Hap" Arnold for a Southwest Pacific airstrip diorama.

W. Britain model 10210. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single foot figure on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.