i like doing stuff like that... glad you liked. ..... by the way, that's Sapele, with purple heart wood- braced by white ash... somewhat symbolic.
i did these two as well- one for a family into horses, kinda obviously, and the other who restores planes and flies them all over the great white north (which is what i call it, but it isn't always 'white'- it's the UP of Michigan where I have property/cabin, and they take care of it for me because i'm rarely there.. this was a 'thanks')...
[img width=500 height=495.98]https://www.drewswoodcraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/osterlund.jpg[/img]
[img width=497.983 height=500]https://www.drewswoodcraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/gervae-1.jpg[/img]
the pony is inset an inch and three quarters deep into a bowl... the plane was a PITA, but... i got close enough i think... the inset is an inch and three quarters and the tip of the tail is flush with the overall piece... i did it from this pic which is his actual bird (a restored military training bird, and i think they flew them as late as Vietnam as spotter/observation birds too) :
[img width=500 height=332.983]https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/16836260_10154991181127270_6864772555542831233_o.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_ohc=LuWytVPSwDIAX8s-nIh&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-1.xx&oh=b230dbe731c8b961fb61bcf467f4d3ac&oe=5EC95C12[/img]
That's beautiful work, Drew.
The airplane appears to be a Piper J-3 Cub, which served--with slight modification--in the U.S. Army as first an O-59 then (starting in 1942) the L-4 "Grasshopper." The Navy version was the NE. Its service in the Army was the official beginning of U.S. Army Aviation (as opposed to the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps, the Air Corps, or the U.S. Army Air Forces, the ancestors of the USAF), which is now as you know its own branch. Per the Font of All Wisdom and Knowledge, "The L-4 was used extensively in World War II for reconnaissance, transporting supplies, artillery spotting duties and medical evacuation of wounded soldiers." I don't think it was used as a trainer.
It served again in much the same roles in Korea, although I don't think it was used there in a Medevac role, that having been taken over by Bell H-13s of MASH fame.
To the best of my knowledge, it did not serve in Vietnam, having been replaced by the Cessna 170-based L-19/O-1 "Bird Dog," which was in the Air Force and Marines in addition to the Army.