The model is scaled on one flown by Edward "Eddie" Rickenbacker who was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1890. His father died when he was twelve, and he began working at a garage repairing automobiles. In 1910 he started racing cars.For the next six years, he was one of the nation's top racecar drivers. He raced in the Indianapolis 500 and established the world record of 134 miles per hour (216 kilometers per hour) at a race at Daytona Beach, Florida.
In April 1917, Rickenbacker decided to apply for flight school with the U.S. Army Air Service. He was rejected because he was too old and did not have a college education. Instead, he joined the Army and because of his fame as a driver, he was assigned to the post of personal driver to General John Pershing. In this position he met many influential people one which was Billy Mitchell Combat Air Commander of The Expeditionary Forces and was able to convince him to transfer him to flight school. Rickenbacker received his wings after 17 days of training and was assigned to the 94th Aero Squadron based outside of Toule, France. After coaching by ace Raoul Lufbery, he had his first shared victory on April 29, 1918, and his first solo on May 7. Flying Nieuport 28 and Spad XIII aircraft, Rickenbacker scored 24 more victories before the war ended