The Kid
©1998 W.J. Lambert

This picture is of a North American P-51B Mustang with the markings of Lt. Ralph "Kid" Hofer, another fighter pilot of the Second World War with a story that intrigues me. Hofer was a teenage "Ace." A maverick who broke the rules and was always on the wrong side of authority, he was a brilliant pilot. He died, some say, while dogfighting, one-on-one, with Erich Hartmann, the legendary top-scoring German fighter ace of all time.

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