John Davy Crockett was trained as a navigator by Pan Am in mid-1941 because the USAAF did not have its navigator school in operation. Davy was assigned to the 36th Bomb Squadron of the 19th Bomb Group flying the new B-17C Flying Fortress. Davy found that most Air Corps pilots were used to doing their own navigating, so his job would be easy. Davy experienced a crash in a B-17 while training, but the crew walked away from the wreck. In late 1941 his crew was informed that they would be flying to Clark Field in the Philippines. On December they left Albuquerque and flew to Hamilton Field in California. They received a briefing on expected weather and left on the evening of December 6 for their first stop at Hickham Field, Oahu Hawaii. Flying into the darkness over the vast Pacific, the pilot for the first time in Crocketts career turned the navigation over to Davy. Realizing that the Hawaiian Islands were only small dots on the charts of the vast Pacific, and that his aircraft would hav.........
On April 18, 1942, Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle led a group of 16 B-25 bombers on a carrier-launched raid on industrial and military targets in Japan. The raid was one of the most daring missions of WW II. Planning for this secret mission began several months earlier, and Jimmy Doolittle, one of the most outstanding pilots and leaders in the United States Army Air Corps was chosen to plan, organize and lead the raid. The plan was to get within 300 or 400 miles of Japan, attack military and industrial targets in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kobe shortly after nightfall, and then fly on to a dawn landing at secret airfields on the coast of China. The twin engine B-25 Mitchell bomber was selected by Doolittle for the mission and practice indicated that it should be possible to launch these aircraft from a carrier deck with less than 500 feet of runway. On April 2, 1942 the USS Hornet and a number of escorts set sail from Alameda, California with the 16 B-25s strapped to its deck. This task force ren.........
October 23, 1942 was a typical day for American troops at Esprito Santo, but for the crew of a B-17 Flying Fortress it would become a most memorable day. Early that morning the Japanese began shelling the field. Lt. Ed Loberg, a former farm boy from Wisconsin, was ordered to take his B-17 up for a reconnaissance mission to determine where the Japanese guns may be located. Not finding anything they returned to the field. The brakes failed on the B-17 upon landing, and they hit several parked Navy aircraft. Fortunately for Lobergs crew a 100 pound bomb dislodged in the crash did not explode. Later that day the crew boarded another B-17 and went hunting out to sea. Around mid-day the crew noticed a PBY being attacked by a Kawanishi H6K Mavis flying boat. Diving the B-17 straight down, the Mavis and the Flying Fortress soon entered a rain squall. The windows were black with clouds and rain, and the plane was buffeted by strong winds. Emerging from the squall at low altitude into blinding .........
Colin P. Kelly, Americas first hero of WW II, was born in Florida in 1915. He was accepted to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and following graduation Kelly married the former Marian Wick. Kelly received his primary flight instruction at Randolph Field in San Antonio, and after earning his wings he moved across town to Kelly Field for advanced pilot training. Unlike many would-be fighter pilots, Kelly was not disappointed with being assigned as a bomber pilot. Kelly received a letter of commendation from The Secretary of War when he crash landed a Northrop A-17A he was ferrying to Mitchel field in a vacant street in Brooklyn. In September of 1940 Kelly was promoted to Captain, and was assigned to the 42nd Bomb Squadron as commander of a B-17. Kelly trained in Hawaii, and was later made Operations Officer for the 14th Bomb Squadron. In September of 1941 Kelly and his crew flew from Hawaii to Clark Field in the Philippines. The B-17s were an important addition to the woefully i.........
The B-26 Marauder, dubbed the widow maker by its detractors, was developed by the Glen L. Martin Company beginning in 1939. The first B-26 was completed in November of 1940. The early models had very high wing loading, and were tricky to fly. Added armament increased weight even further leading to an alarming rate of accidents during training. Increasing engine power, wingspan and rudder height solved many of the problems. The B-26 was capable of speeds in excess of 320-MPH, and with a normal crew compliment of six and a bomb load of 4,000 pounds the aircraft, had a range in excess of 1100 miles. Despite the controversy surrounding the B-26, the aircraft served admirably during WW II, and in fact had the lowest loss ratio of any American aircraft. The 386th Bomb Group was organized on December 1, 1942 under the command of Lt. Col. Lester J. Maitland. The 386th, known as The Crusaders, trained at MacDill Field near Tampa Florida. The accident rate during training of earlier B-26 units.........
The B-32 Dominator was produced by Consolidated Aircraft in parallel with Boeings development of the B-29 Superfortress. While both of these long-range heavy strategic bomber development programs encountered some difficulties, the B-29 was completed sooner, and was ordered in far larger quantities than the B-32. About one hundred Dominators were ultimately built and the aircraft saw some service very late in WW II. Powered by the same engines as the B-29, the B-32 had a distinctive very tall stabilizer. Four B-32s from the 386th BS of the 312th BG based at Yontan, Okinawa were given a three-day photoreconnaissance mission near the end of the War. On the third day of the mission, August 18, 1945, two aircraft were forced to turn back and only two aircraft, the Hobo Queen and the Hobo Queen II made it to Japan. The mission involved photographing an area north and east of Tokyo. The aircraft were unescorted, as the War was for all practical purposes over. As the two aircraft prepared to.........
In 1936, under the supervision of Jack Northrop and Ed Heinemann, Douglas Aircraft began work on a new twin-engine light attack/observation aircraft designated the Model 7A. Powered by two R985 Wasp radials mounted in wing nacelles, the A-20 also utilized a tricycle landing gear configuration. The aircrafts fuselage was quite narrow and there was room for only 1 pilot and 1 crewmember. As the project proceeded it became clear that the 7A was not going to meet the Armys objectives. In early 1938, Northrop left Douglas to form his own company, and Heinemann began work on upgrading their design. One interesting feature was the use of interchangeable nose sections. A clear nose could be fitted with a bombardiers compartment, or alternatively a solid nose section could be fitted with an impressive total of 8 machine guns. More powerful Pratt and Whitney radials were incorporated into the design. Now designated the DB-7 by Douglas, a prototype aircraft was completed by October 1938. The ne.........
Print size 16 inches x 11.5 inches (41cm x 30cm) Supplied with signed and numbered certificate of authenticity.
Artist : Stan Stokes
£10 Off!
Now : £28.00
Triple Dates With Destiny by Stan Stokes.
Chuck Older was born in California in 1914. He graduated from UCLA and entered the U.S. Marine Corps. in 1940. He earned his wings as an aviation cadet, and was assigned to VNIF-1. In mid-1941, anxious to see some action, Chuck resigned his USNIC commission and joined Claire Chennaults American Volunteer Group. He was assigned to the 3rd Pursuit Squadron Hells Angels and experienced his first combat in December of 1941. In the first two combat missions he flew on December 23 and December 25, 1941, Older would be credited with downing five Japanese aircraft becoming one of the first two AVG aces. He bagged four more enemy aircraft prior to mid-1942 when the AVG was disbanded. In mid-1942 Older returned to the States and accepted a commission with the USAAF. He commanded a P-38 squadron for a time, and in 1944, having been promoted to Major, he was sent back to China to serve once again with General Claire Chennault, this time with the 14th Air Force. Chuck served as Deputy Commander and.........
The A-26 Invader was one of the most effective attack bombers to see action late in the War, and the aircraft, when fitted with eight .5 caliber machine guns in its nose, was an incredibly effective ground or surface ship attack aircraft. Douglas Aircraft developed the aircraft. The team of Edward Heinemann and Jack Northrop worked on the initial design of what would become the A-20 Havoc. Northrop then left Douglas to form his own company. Heinemenn and project engineer Robert Donovan began work on the A-26 project in 1941. It would incorporate several of the A-20s features yet it would be as advanced as possible with many state-of-the-art concepts. A mid-mounted, laminar-flow airfoil wing was utilized with double slotted electrically controlled flaps. Defensive armament was limited to remotely controlled dorsal and ventral turrets both under the control of a gunner located in the rear of the fuselage. Approval to develop prototypes was received from the Army in June of 1941. Three w.........
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is the subject of Stans painting. B-17s were produced in large numbers and along with the B-24 Liberator carried out the brunt of the Eighth Air Forces long range strategic daylight bombing campaign. These missions were very dangerous, especially early in the War when long range fighter escort was unavailable. The sacrifice made by these bomber crews hastened the end of the War.
Item Code : STK0096
Portrait of a Queen by Stan Stokes. - Editions Available
Claire L. Chennault retired in 1937 and began a second career in China where he set up a number of flying schools and airfields. A personal friend of Chiang Kai-shek Chennault was asked to organize a unit of experienced American combat pilots to help fight the Japanese. Chennault sent recruiters to American military installations and was able to organize the American Volunteer Group or AVG by late 1941. The group later became better known as the Flying Tigers, and their distinctive shark-mouthed P-40s became a well-recognized symbol. There were three AVG squadron; the Adam and Eves, the Panda Bears, and the Hells Angels. On December 23, 1941 sixty Sally heavy bombers of the 60th , 62nd , and 68th Sentai based at Bangkok and Phnom Penh were supposed to rendezvous over Bangkok and head to Rangoon for a bombing raid. The three units failed to join up as planned and they also failed to rendezvous with their fighter escorts for the mission. As the sixty aircraft approached Rangoon they wer.........
Sayonara Sally by Stan Stokes. - Editions Available
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Signed limited edition of 500 prints, signed by all the surviving AVG pilots of the 3rd Pursuit Sqn, and the artist. Full Item Details
Size 22 inches x 18 inches (56cm x 46cm)
Artist : Stan Stokes
£124.00
Final Assault by Stan Stokes.
The largest and most powerful bomber of WW II, the Boeing B-29 Super Fortress, played a major role in bringing about the defeat of Japan. In addition to accelerating Japans surrender following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs, thousands of B-29 crews flew tens of thousands of bombing missions against Japan from bases in China, India, and later in the War from recaptured islands in the Pacific. B-29s entered service in 1943 following a lengthy, problem-filled, development process of three years in response to the governments request for a long range strategic bomber. Only Boeing and Douglas (the B-32 Dominator) responded to the governments requests, and the B-32 had even greater development problems than the B-29. Powered by four giant Wright R-3350-23 radial engines generating a total horsepower of 8,924, the Super Fortresses typically carried crews of ten. They were capable of a top speed of 357-MPH, and at slower cruising speeds had a range of more than 3,200 .........
In the mid-1930s engineers at Boeing suggested the possibility of designing a modern long-range monoplane bomber to the U.S. Army Air Corps. In 1934 the USAAC issued Circular 35-26 that outlined specifications for a new bomber that was to have a minimum payload of 2000 pounds, a cruising speed in excess of 200-MPH, and a range of at least 2000 miles. Boeing produced a prototype at its own expense, the model 299, which first flew in July of 1935. The 299 was a long-range bomber based largely on the Model 247 airliner. The Model 299 had several advanced features including an all-metal wing, an enclosed cockpit, retractable landing gear, a fully enclosed bomb bay with electrically operated doors, and cowled engines. With gun blisters glistening everywhere, a newsman covering the unveiling coined the term Flying Fortress to describe the new aircraft. After a few initial test flights the 299 flew off to Wright Field setting a speed record with an average speed of 232-mph. At Wright Field t.........
One of only fourteen B-17s that still fly, the Collings Foundation is the proud owner and operator of B-17G serial no. 44-83575. This aircraft was built on April 7, 1945 in Long Beach, CA by Douglas Aircraft under license from Boeing. She served as part of the Air/Sea 1st Rescue Squadron and in the Air Transport Service. She was subject to three separate nuclear explosions. After a thirteen-year cool down period the aircraft was sold for scrap. The Aircraft Specialties Company began a restoration of the aircraft. Named Yucca Lady the aircrafts skin was fabricated and replaced on site; engines and props were stripped, cleaned, repaired and tested. For the next twenty years 44-83575 served without incident as a fire bomber dropping water and borate on wild fires throughout the West. In 1986 the Collings Foundation of Stow Massachusetts purchased the aircraft and had her restored to her wartime configuration by Tom Reilly Vintage Aircraft. She was considered one of the finest B-17 restor.........
Heinz Bar joined JG 51 in 1939 as a non-officer pilot. By August of 1940 he had become the highest scoring non-officer pilot in the Luftwaffe. Although shot down once during the Battle of Britain, Bar survived, and was later transferred to the Eastern Front. He received his commission and by the end of 1941 had chalked up 91 victories. By mid-1942, with 113 victories, he was promoted to Hauptman and made Group Commander of I/JG 77. Flying out of Sicily he participated in the siege of Malta, and later was shifted to North Africa where he obtained another 61 victories. With his health suffering, Heinz was reassigned to Germany, where he flew interception missions against the steady onslaught of Eighth Air Force bombers. With his victory total at 202, Bar was put in command of JG 3 and later III/EJG2, a unit equipped with the Me-262 jet fighter. He obtained 16 victories in March and April of 1945 while piloting the 262, making him the top jet ace of WW II. His record for victories in a j.........
On April 18, 1943, in one of the more interesting, daring, and ultimately controversial missions of WW II, a flight of P-38s under the command of Major John Mitchell, intercepted and destroyed the aircraft carrying Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander in Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, and the mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor. American code breakers had intercepted and translated a message indicating that Adm. Yamamoto would fly from Rabaul to an airfield on the southern tip of Bouganville on the morning of April 18, 1943. Because of the great distances to be covered during this intercept mission the P-38s would have very limited time over the rendezvous area. Fortunately for the Army Air Force pilots, Yamamoto was noted for his punctuality, and if he departed Rabaul on time the mission might just work. Major Mitchell led his flight of 16 P-38s to the rendezvous, with twelve of his fighters acting as high cover to fend off escorting fighters, while four pilots were design.........
