This official U.S. Army Air Corps photograph captures a head-on view of an early 1930s pursuit biplane, its lower wing boldly marked 'U.S. ARMY' beneath the pre-1943 white star national insignia. Behind it, a row of sister aircraft lines the grass airfield, representing a pursuit squadron of the interwar Air Corps. Fighters of this type - fabric-covered, radial-engine biplanes with fixed landing gear - formed the backbone of American pursuit aviation before the transition to all-metal monoplanes in the late 1930s. Project: 218216