SPAD XIII – 23 Sqn RFC, William Fry, 1918 1/48

Corgi Aviation Archive AA37904 1/48 scale AA37904:  Spad XIII, as flown by Capt William M Fry of 23 Sqn Royal Flying Corps in 1918. Limited Edition of 1,100 pieces.

Length 5.25 inches Wingspan 6.75 inches

The Spad XIII was not widely used by the RFC and the only unit to be fully equipped with the aircraft was No 23 Sqn. The squadron received its first aeroplanes in December 1917 and by mid-February 1918 it was at full strength with 16 Spad XIIIs. Captain William Mayes Fry served in the infantry before transferring to the RFC in December 1915. By the time he joined 23 Sqn late in 1917 he was already a veteran with experience in Morane-Saulnier and Nieuport fighters. On 4th January 1918 he scored his first Spad XIII kill when he downed an Albatros DV and on 23rd January he was flying aircraft B6847 when he shot down another Albatros in flames over the Houthhulst Forest. Fry finished the war with eleven kills and went on to become a wing leader in the post-war RAF. After retiring he returned to wartime service for the duration of WWII from 1939 to 1945. Willy Fry died on 4th August 1992.

SPAD S.XIII
Designed by The French aircraft company Société pour l’Aviation et ses Dérives (SPAD) as a refinement of the highly-successful SPAD S.VII, the SPAD S.XIII was first flown on April 4th, 1917. Essentially a larger version of its predecessor with a more powerful V-8 Hispano-Suiza engine, the SPAD XIII was a strongly-built wood and fabric biplane. It could reach a top speed of 135 mph—making it 10 mph faster than the new German fighters. It carried two Vickers machine guns, each with 400 rounds of ammunition, and the pilot could fire the guns separately or together.