Frank Glasgow Tinker

Frank Glasgow Tinker (July 14, 1909 – June 13, 1939) was an American volunteer fighter pilot for the Fuerzas Aéreas de la República Española ("Air Forces of the Spanish Republic"; FARE), during the Spanish Civil War.

Tinker was credited officially with shooting down eight enemy aircraft and was the highest-scoring American air ace of the war. However, Tinker's logbook suggests that he claimed 19 victories, which would make him the sixth-highest scoring pilot in FARE. That relatively few of his claims were officially recognized was due to the complex system of verifying air kills used by FARE and the financial incentive paid to mercenaries: many victories were not verifiable because the downed aircraft crashed in an enemy-held area and/or an incentive would not have to be paid. In addition, Tinker and other pilots from Escuadrilla La Calle ("La Calle's Squadron"), also known as 1ª Escuadrilla de Chatos (1st Chato Squadron"), shared a number of joint kills against Junkers Ju 52 bombers. He reported narrowly avoiding death at both the hands of enemy aviators and malfunctioning equipment.

He left a detailed record of his experiences as a fighter pilot for the Republicans in his memoir Some Still Live, published by Funk & Wagnalls Co in New York, 1938 and republished by The Clapton Press, London, in 2019.

Early years

Frank Tinker was born in Kaplan, Louisiana, and grew up in DeWitt, Arkansas. In 1926, he joined the US Navy hoping to gain an appointment to the US Naval Academy, which he did three years later. Graduating with the Class of '33, he did not receive a commission, along with the other lower half of the class, due to the Great Depression. He and other classmates then enrolled in the United States Army Air Corps, and received flight training at Randolph Field. In 1934, he received his naval commission, flight training at Pensacola, Florida, and assigned as a reconnaissance floatplane pilot on the USS San Francisco cruiser. Lasting only six months as an ensign in the navy, due to a brawl in Long Beach, and another in Honolulu, the navy dissolved his commission. Tinker then became a third mate on a Standard Oil tanker.

Spanish Civil War The I-15 Polikarpov No. 56 flown by F.G. Tinker in the 1st Sq Lacalle. He scored four victories in this aircraft. Occasionally he flew No. 58 as well. The I-16 Polikarpov No. CM-023 flown by F.G. Tinker in the 1st Sq Moscas with which he shot down two German Bf 109Bs. After the start of the Spanish Civil War, Tinker offered his service to the Loyalist Government. Tinker disliked Benito Mussolini after Ethiopia, and Mussolini's support of the Rebels. After signing a contract with the Spanish Embassy in Mexico City, he received a Spanish passport with the nom de guerre of Francisco Gómez Trejo. His contract included $1500 per month, and an additional $1000 for each enemy plane he downed. Tinker then traveled by train to New York City, boarded the SS Normandie for France, then traveled by train to Barcelona. At the San Xavier field in Los Alcázares, he checked out as a combat pilot, joining Harold Edward Dahl, Albert Baumler, and other American pilots and English pilots at Manises Air Base.

From 7 January 1937, Tinker along with Dahl and Charlie Koch, joined three British and one Irish pilot in Walter Kantz's 19 Bomber Squadron, flying Breguet 19 bombers.

On July 11, 2009, the centennial of his birth, his niece and the Grand Prairie Historical Society honored his memory in a DeWitt, Arkansas ceremony.