The historic enthusiasts of WW1 can make of Eddy Rickenbacker what they will. His 22 aerial victories and 4 balloons downed are not the numbers that rival other aces, but he survived till the 1970’s and that was a definite win for him.
The SPAD appears from other accounts not to have had quite the adulation from the USAAS that popular legend might suggest – some of the pilots found it sluggish. Yet, unlike the Nieuport 28 they also flew, the SPAD XIII did not shed it’s wing covering in a dive. Certainly the French air force absorbed all the spare SPAD fighters it could for its own squadrons.
I cannot fault the Revell kit of this aircraft in the end – it went together with gaps, but the gaps were filled, and the final result is certainly evocative of the real machine. The wings went on easily, the landing gear is straight, and even the old decals are not as bad as they seemed on the paper sheet.
I did baulk at the pilot figure as the cockpit was small enough to a dark hole and the moulding of the little guy was too crude for me.
I wonder how many Coomonwealth builders understand the squadron insignia?
The Little World 
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