HAYDEN - Sagle artist Bryan Ross said his 8 1/2-foot-tall and 1,200-pound bronze sculpture of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington will soon be greeting visitors at Pappy Boyington Field.

"I'd like to get it done in a month," Ross said. "There are a lot of retired military who are going to love this."

The statue was four years in the making for Ross, and cost tens of thousands of dollars in materials alone to construct.

Ross brought the sculpture to the air field on Wednesday. It will be placed in front of Resort Aviation's Jet Center.

He said he's now raising money for landscaping and a 4-foot-high concrete pad for the statue. It will be lighted and stand in front of two flags.

"Pappy was a very colorful figure - to say the least," Ross said. "He was able to connect with a lot of the Black Sheep Squadron, which was his squadron."

Originally, it was called "Boyington's Bastards," because it was made up of a group of un-attached pilots.

"He took them under his wing, and they loved him," Ross said. "He was a good leader for that group."

Fred Miller, owner of Resort Aviation, said it will be great for the community.

Miller said, "It's at a gateway to Coeur d'Alene, and people will see it when they come in and get off airplanes."

Born in Coeur d'Alene in December 1912, Boyington grew up in St. Maries and Tacoma. He graduated from the University of Washington with an aeronautical engineering degree in 1934.

He's known for being a World War II fighter ace, and credited with shooting down 26 enemy planes on Jan. 3, 1944, before getting shot down himself. He spent 20 months in a Japanese prison camp.

He received the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.

He died in January 1988 in Fresno, Calif., and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Funds for the landscaping and concrete pad development for the statue can be donated to the Boyington Memorial Fund, Ross said. The donation account is at Idaho Trust Bank, at 622 E. Sherman Ave.