Pilots Demobilized (Buck Danny) - Characters

Characters

• Buck Danny: the lead character, formerly a Major in the Flying Tigers. Before Pearl Harbor, he was employed as an engineer, but he has not kept current with the technological advances made during the war and his skills are no longer marketable.
• Jerry "Tumb" Tumbler: formerly one of the best men in Danny's squadron, he is also unable to find work after the war.
• Sonny Tuckson: another one of the aces in Danny's old squadron. Sonny enlisted at a very young age, and did not have any job skills after the war. Before signing on with the Arabian Airways, he is seen working for an Italian restaurant in New York, where he regales the guests with tales of his exploits and often breaks the dishware while reenacting them.
• Samuel Bronstein: the villain. A ruthless businessman and arms dealer, he represents a powerful oil company, which created the Arabian Airways as a cover for their activities in the area. Bronstein leads the failed attempt to take over the Oulaï capital, where he is shot down by Buck Danny.
• Major Pemberton: the local British commander, who does what he can to help the American pilots. He is a competent soldier, but his ability to act is limited by jurisdictional rules as well as the sheer size of the Arabian desert.
• Muriel Hawthorne (aka Agent XB16): a female agent working for MI5 and investigating the illegal arms trafficking in the Arabian peninsula. Resourceful, fluent in Arabic and a crack shot with a handgun.
• Myriam el-Maahdi: the princess of the Oulaï, who helps and is helped by Danny, Tumbler and Tuckson throughout the story. She was educated in the United States and is equally comfortable in Western and Arab worlds; she goes from wearing a business suit when the three pilots meet her in Port Said, to a niqab and abaya in the royal palace, to ordinary workman's clothes when she helps set up the Ghost Squadron.
• Sheikh Chekri el-Maahdi: the ruler of the independent Oulaï tribe, in the Arabian peninsula. A fair minded man, he is open to Western ways and friendly towards the three Americans, but refuses to allow the use of his oil lands, whether by the British Empire or more unsavory types like Bronstein, for fear of exposing his people to exploitation.
• Emir Hussein: a powerful ruler in the region. He once controlled the Oulaï territory, but was ousted by el-Maahdi, and swore to reconquer his land. To this end, he passes an alliance with Bronstein, promising him full access to the region's oil in exchange for the throne.
• Sid Mohammed il-Feral: a powerful, power-hungry and xenophobic member of el-Maahdi's court. For years he has tried to court Myriam as a means to the throne, since the Sheikh has no male children. When Bronstein offers him a faster and more guaranteed alternative, he doesn't hesitate to take the offer.
• Jake: the chief pilot of the company. An alcoholic with a short temper and very little in the way of brains or scruples, he is representative of the people employed by the Arabian Airways.
• Achmet: a massive Arab guard whom Bronstein orders to make sure the American pilots stay put. Unable to take him on physically, Sonny is forced to find several creative ways to incapacitate or distract him.