  frank glasgow tinker (july 14, 1909 &ndash; june 13, 1939) was an american mercenary fighter pilot for the spanish republican air force, during the spanish civil war. he was the top american ace during the spanish civil war. ==early years== frank "salty" tinker was born in kaplan, louisiana, and grew up in dewitt, arkansas. in 1926, he joined the us navy hoping to become a naval aviator. in 1933, he graduated from the us naval academy. in 1934, he was assigned to us navy aviation and became a pilot of a reconnaissance floatplane of the uss san francisco cruiser. because of problems with alcohol and brawls, he was dismissed from the navy. later in 1935, tinker joined the crew of a standard oil tanker running from new york to baton rouge, louisiana, as a third mate. by july 1936, he left his job with standard oil, and looked for a job as a pilot. thumb|right|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. thumb|right|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. ==spanish civil war== after the start of the spanish civil war, tinker offered his service to a republican side, reportedly because of his aversion to fascist regime of benito mussolini, who was helping the spanish nationalists. he negotiated a high salary of $1,500 monthly, and a premium of $1,000 for any aircraft he shot down. under nom de guerre francisco gÃ³mez trejo, he went to spain via france. for a short time, from january 6, 1937, tinker served in a light bomber squadron, flying obsolete breguet 19 bombers. from january 23, he, along with some other american pilots, was assigned to a fighter unit, 1st escuadrilla de chatos commanded by andrÃ©s garcÃ­a la calle, flying soviet polikarpov i-15 "chato" biplanes. in 1937, he flew many combat missions against the fascist falange air forces, generally duelling germ
1909_births 1939_deaths American_mercenaries American_military_personnel_who_committed_suicide American_people_of_the_Spanish_Civil_War Aviators_who_committed_suicide People_from_De_Witt,_Arkansas People_from_Kaplan,_Louisiana Spanish_Civil_War_flying_aces Suicides_by_firearm_in_Arkansas