80 Years Later, the Legacy of the Flying Tigers Endures

Monday, December 20, 2021 at 01:10 PM ET

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Captain Claire Chennault at the Air Corps Tactical School, Maxwell Field, Montgomery, AL, in 1932. [Courtesy: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force]

Key Takeaways:

The Flying Tigers (American Volunteer Group) were U.S. volunteer mercenary pilots who successfully defended China against Japanese expansion prior to America's official entry into WWII.
Led by strategist Claire Chennault, they achieved a remarkable 20-to-1 kill ratio by employing innovative "defensive pursuit" tactics that leveraged the P-40's strengths against more agile Japanese aircraft.
Operating for only seven months starting December 1941, their victories boosted Allied morale and validated Chennault's unconventional air combat theories, leaving a legacy of military cunning and grit, marked by their iconic shark-mouth planes.

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On December 20, 1941, an all-volunteer group of American mercenary pilots took on Japanese bombers in their first air combat mission to protect China.

By day’s end, the American Volunteer Group (AVG)—better known as the “Flying Tigers”—would go on to down nine out of 10 Japanese bombers in the first of many air battles in a seven-month campaign that helped block Japanese expansion into China.