Aviation Art Prints .com Home Page
Order Helpline (UK) : 01436 820269

You currently have no items in your basket

Join us on Facebook!

Payment Options Display
Buy with confidence and security!
Publishing historical art since 1985

Follow us on Twitter!
Don't Miss Any Special Deals - Sign Up To Our Newsletter!
Aircraft
Search
Squadron
Search
Artist
Search
Signature
Search
Air Force
Search

Product Search         
Click Here For Full Artist Print Indexes Aviation History Archive
ALWAYS GREAT OFFERS :
20% FURTHER PRICE REDUCTIONS ON HUNDREDS OF LIMITED EDITION ART PRINTS
BUY ONE GET ONE HALF PRICE ON THOUSANDS OF PAINTINGS AND PRINTS
FOR MORE OFFERS SIGN UP TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

Pilot Signed P-47 Thunderbolt Prints by Richard Taylor and Stan Stokes. - Aviation Art Prints
DHM2613AP. Days of Thunder by Richard Taylor. <p> Duxford became home to the 78th Fighter Group when they arrived in England with their P-47B Thunderbolts in 1943. The objective of the American fighter units was to gain air superiority over the Luftwaffe in support of their daylight bombing campaign. By 1944 they achieved their objective. Richard Taylor commemorates the valiant contribution of the 78th Fighter Group with a fine new rendition showing P-47D Thunderbolts departing Duxford en route for the north coast of France, and a low-level strafing mission. It is the spring of 1944, and with the Normandy invasion just days away, the Thunderbolts are already painted with invasion markings. <b><p> Signatories: Colonel Robert J Shorty Rankin (deceased), <br>Colonel Walker Bud Mahurin (deceased), <br>Colonel Steve The Greek Pisanos<br>and<br>First Lieutenant Samuel Buzzard Lutz. <p> Limited edition of 25 artist proofs, with 4 signatures.  <p>Print paper size 30.5 inches x 22 inches (77cm x 56cm)
STK0028B. Bridge Busting Jugs by Stan Stokes. <p> Alexander Kartveli was a engineer with Seversky Aircraft who designed the P-35, which first flew in 1937. With Republic Aviation Kartveli supervised the development of the P-43 Lancer. Neither of these aircraft were produced in large numbers, and neither was quite successful. However, the Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt, also nicknamed the Jug, was quite a different story. The Jug was the jewel in Kartvelis design crown, and went on to become one of the most produced fighter aircraft of all time with 15,683 being manufactured. The P-47 was the largest and heaviest single seat fighter of WW II. The P-47 immediately demonstrated its excellent combat qualities, including speed, rate of climb, maneuverability, heavy fire power, and the ability to take a lot of punishment. With a wingspan of more than 40 feet and a weight of 19,400 pounds, this large aircraft was designed around the powerful 2000 HP Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine. The first P-47 prototype flew in May of 1941, and the primary variant the P-47D went into service in 1943 with units of the U.S. Armys Eighth Air Force. The Jug had a maximum speed in excess of 400 MPH, a service ceiling in excess of 42,000 feet, and was heavily armed with either six or eight heavy caliber machine guns. With its ability to carry up to a 2,500 pound bomb load, the Jug saw lots of use in ground attack roles. Until the introduction of the N model, the P-47 lacked the long range required for fighter escort missions which were most often relegated to P-51 Mustangs or P-38 Lightnings. In his outstanding painting entitled Bridge Busting Jugs, noted aviation artist Stan Stokes depicts Eighth Air Force Jugs in a ground attack mission in the Alps in June of 1944. The top P-47 ace was Francis Gabreski who had flown with the 56th Fighter Group, the first unit to be equipped with the P-47. In August of 1943 Gabreski attained his first aerial combat victory (over an Fw-190) and by years end he had reached ace status with 8 confirmed victories. As Commander of the 61st Squadron, Gabreski continued to chalk up victory after victory, and on seven different occasions he achieved two victories during the same mission. However, in July of 1944 Gabreski damaged the prop on his Jug during a low level attack on an airfield near Coblenz. Forced to make a crash landing, he was captured and remained a prisoner of war until Wars end in 1945. Following the War Gabreski returned to military service with the Air Forces 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in Korea. Flying the F-86 Sabre Jet, Gabreski attained 6.5 more aerial victories in 1951 and 1952 becoming an ace in two different wars. <b><p>Signed by Double War Ace USAF Col. Francis Gabby Gabreski (deceased). <p> 225 prints from the signed limited edition of 4750 prints, with signature of Stan Stokes and pilot, and a remarque.<p>Image size 16 inches x 11.5 inches (41cm x 30cm)

Please note that our logo (below) only appears on the images on our website and is not on the actual art prints.


When you are ready to add this item to your basket, click the button below.

 

 

  Website Price: £ 250.00  

Quantity:
 

 

Pilot Signed P-47 Thunderbolt Prints by Richard Taylor and Stan Stokes.

PCK2218. Pilot Signed P-47 Thunderbolt Prints by Richard Taylor and Stan Stokes.

Aviation Print Pack.

Items in this pack :

Item #1 - Click to view individual item

DHM2613AP. Days of Thunder by Richard Taylor.

Duxford became home to the 78th Fighter Group when they arrived in England with their P-47B Thunderbolts in 1943. The objective of the American fighter units was to gain air superiority over the Luftwaffe in support of their daylight bombing campaign. By 1944 they achieved their objective. Richard Taylor commemorates the valiant contribution of the 78th Fighter Group with a fine new rendition showing P-47D Thunderbolts departing Duxford en route for the north coast of France, and a low-level strafing mission. It is the spring of 1944, and with the Normandy invasion just days away, the Thunderbolts are already painted with invasion markings.

Signatories: Colonel Robert J Shorty Rankin (deceased),
Colonel Walker Bud Mahurin (deceased),
Colonel Steve The Greek Pisanos
and
First Lieutenant Samuel Buzzard Lutz.

Limited edition of 25 artist proofs, with 4 signatures.

Print paper size 30.5 inches x 22 inches (77cm x 56cm)


Item #2 - Click to view individual item

STK0028B. Bridge Busting Jugs by Stan Stokes.

Alexander Kartveli was a engineer with Seversky Aircraft who designed the P-35, which first flew in 1937. With Republic Aviation Kartveli supervised the development of the P-43 Lancer. Neither of these aircraft were produced in large numbers, and neither was quite successful. However, the Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt, also nicknamed the Jug, was quite a different story. The Jug was the jewel in Kartvelis design crown, and went on to become one of the most produced fighter aircraft of all time with 15,683 being manufactured. The P-47 was the largest and heaviest single seat fighter of WW II. The P-47 immediately demonstrated its excellent combat qualities, including speed, rate of climb, maneuverability, heavy fire power, and the ability to take a lot of punishment. With a wingspan of more than 40 feet and a weight of 19,400 pounds, this large aircraft was designed around the powerful 2000 HP Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine. The first P-47 prototype flew in May of 1941, and the primary variant the P-47D went into service in 1943 with units of the U.S. Armys Eighth Air Force. The Jug had a maximum speed in excess of 400 MPH, a service ceiling in excess of 42,000 feet, and was heavily armed with either six or eight heavy caliber machine guns. With its ability to carry up to a 2,500 pound bomb load, the Jug saw lots of use in ground attack roles. Until the introduction of the N model, the P-47 lacked the long range required for fighter escort missions which were most often relegated to P-51 Mustangs or P-38 Lightnings. In his outstanding painting entitled Bridge Busting Jugs, noted aviation artist Stan Stokes depicts Eighth Air Force Jugs in a ground attack mission in the Alps in June of 1944. The top P-47 ace was Francis Gabreski who had flown with the 56th Fighter Group, the first unit to be equipped with the P-47. In August of 1943 Gabreski attained his first aerial combat victory (over an Fw-190) and by years end he had reached ace status with 8 confirmed victories. As Commander of the 61st Squadron, Gabreski continued to chalk up victory after victory, and on seven different occasions he achieved two victories during the same mission. However, in July of 1944 Gabreski damaged the prop on his Jug during a low level attack on an airfield near Coblenz. Forced to make a crash landing, he was captured and remained a prisoner of war until Wars end in 1945. Following the War Gabreski returned to military service with the Air Forces 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in Korea. Flying the F-86 Sabre Jet, Gabreski attained 6.5 more aerial victories in 1951 and 1952 becoming an ace in two different wars.

Signed by Double War Ace USAF Col. Francis Gabby Gabreski (deceased).

225 prints from the signed limited edition of 4750 prints, with signature of Stan Stokes and pilot, and a remarque.

Image size 16 inches x 11.5 inches (41cm x 30cm)


Website Price: £ 250.00  

To purchase these prints individually at their normal retail price would cost £304.00 . By buying them together in this special pack, you save £54




All prices are displayed in British Pounds Sterling

 

Signatures on this item
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare.
NameInfo


Colonel Robert J Shorty Rankin (deceased)
*Signature Value : £30 (matted)

Robert James Rankin was born on 23rd October 1918 in Washington, D.C. Joining the Army Air Corps on 6th March 1941, he served in the enlisted ranks until he became an aviation cadet on 15th July 1942. He graduated from pilot training at Luke Field, Arizona on 11 April 1943. Posted to join the 56th Fighter Group, he arrived in based at Halesworth, England in April 1943 and was allocated to the 61st Fighter Squadron. His victories steadily mounted and by the end of the war his tally stood at 10 aerial victories. Rankin's record day came on 12th May 1944, flying in bomber formation to deceive the enemy into mistaking them for the bomber force, at a predetermined point the 56th fanned out into flights of four to encounter enemy fighters forming up to intercept the 'bombers'. Rankin led his flight to an attack on 25 plus Me-109s, claiming two kills. A short time later, he and his wingman joined with the Group Commander who was circling with 50 plus enemy fighters. Providing cover for the Group Commander, Rankin destroyed three Me-109s. He became the European Theater of Operations first P-47 pilot to score five victories on one mission. Rankin served in the Korean War, serving as director of operations for the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing. During the next 11 years, he commanded six fighter-Interceptor squadrons. On the 9th November 1963 Rankin was promoted to Colonel , he retired as Vice-Commander of the 20th Air Division on 1 April 1973. Shorty Rankin passed away on 14th March 2013.


The signature of Colonel Steve Pisanos (deceased)

Colonel Steve Pisanos (deceased)
*Signature Value : £40 (matted)

Born Nov. 10, 1919, in the Athens suburb of Kolonos, Spiros Nicholas 'Steve' Pisanos, the son of a subway motorman, arrived in America in April 1938 as a crew member on a Greek merchant tramp steamer. Arriving in Baltimore speaking no English, he worked in a bakery and hotels to earn money for flying lessons at Floyd Bennett Field. In August 1940, he settled in Plainfield, New Jersey, and continued flying lessons at Westfield Airport. He earned a private pilot's license and, though still a Greek national, in October 1941 he joined the British Royal Air Force sponsored by the Clayton Knight Committee in New York City. Pisanos began his military flight training at Polaris Flight Academy in Glendale. Upon graduation, Pilot Officer Pisanos was transferred to England where he completed RAF Officers Training School at Cosford, England, and OTU (Operational Training Unit) at Old Sarum Aerodrome in Salisbury. Pisanos was posted to the 268 Fighter Squadron at Snailwell Aerodrome in Newmarket flying P-51A's. He later transferred to the 71 Eagle Squadron, one of three Eagle squadrons in the RAF, comprised of just 244 American volunteers flying Spitfires at Debden RAF Aerodrome. When the USAAF 4th Fighter Group absorbed the American members of the Eagle Squadrons in September and October 1942, Pisanos was commissioned a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Forces. Flying his first mission in his P-47 'Miss Plainfield' out of Debden Aerodrome with the 334th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group, Lt. Pisanos, 'The Flying Greek,' scored his first shootdown on May 21, 1943, when he targeted a German FW-190 over Ghent, Belgium. By Jan. 1, 1944, he had become an ace with five confirmed downings. On March 5, 1944, he obtained his 10th shootdown and while returning from that B-17 escort mission to Limoges and Bordeaux, France, Pisanos experienced engine failure in his P-51B and crash-landed south of Le Havre. For six months he evaded the Germans and fought with the French Resistance and the American OSS, sabotaging the German war machine in occupied France. Lt. Pisanos returned to England on Sept. 2, 1944, following the liberation of Paris. Because of his exposure and knowledge of the French Resistance operations, Pisanos was prohibited from flying additional combat missions because the Air Force could not risk him being captured. Upon returning to the United States, Capt. Pisanos was assigned to the Flight Test Division at Wright Field, Ohio. He attended the USAF Test Pilot School and served as a test pilot at Wright Field and Muroc Lake, California, testing the YP-80 jet aircraft, America's first operational jet. During his Air Force career, Pisanos graduated from the University of Maryland, attended the Air Command and Staff College and the Air War College. Pisanos also served tours of duty in Vietnam (1967-68) and with NORAD before retiring from the USAF with the rank of colonel in in December 1973. Colonel Steve Pisanos died on 6th June 2016.


The signature of Colonel Walker Bud Mahurin (deceased)

Colonel Walker Bud Mahurin (deceased)
*Signature Value : £60 (matted)

Walker Melville 'Bud' Mahurin was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan on 5th December 1918. He joined the Army reserves on 29th September 1941 and entered flight training, being commissioned as a pilot on the 29th of April 1942 at Ellington Field Texas. 'Bud' Mahurin gained a reputation as one of the USAAF's most colourful fighter Aces. Arriving in the European theatre, flying with the 56th Fighter Group at Boxted, England, on the 17th of August the 56th Fighter group flew escort for the Eighth Air Force Bombers whose mission was to bomb Schweinfurt and Regensburg. They encountered a large force of German fighters and Bud Mahurin shot down two Fw190s. He went on to become an Ace on the 4th of October, and by the end of November he had achieved 10 kills. Bud Mahurin was promoted to Major on the 21st of March 1944. On the 27th of March he shared a victory of a Do217 but was hit by the bomber and was forced to bail out of his Thunderbolt, when his aircraft was set ablaze by the gunfire. Mahurin evaded the Germans with help of the French resistance and returned to Britian. He had by this time shot down 20 German aircraft. He then transferred to the south west Pacific Commanding the 3rd Air Commando Squadron where he added a Japanese aircraft to his score, shooting down a KI-46 Dinah, making hinm one of very few American pilots to shoot down German and Japanese aircraft. Mahurin saw combat from New Guinea to Okinawa. After this tour he returned to the US and was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. After the war he spent two tours at the Pentagon and went on to obtain an aeronautical engineering degree. During the Korean War 'Bud' Mahurin commanded the 4th Fighter Interceptor Group in Korea where he added 3.5 MiG-15s to his tally before being shot down in his Sabre. He was shot down by ground fire on the 13th of May 1952, and bailed out for the last time, to spend a gruelling sixteen months as a POW in North Korea undergoing extensive torture. Mahurin returned to the US and stayed in the USAF until 1956 when he worked for the aerospace industry. Sadly, Bud Mahurin passed away on 11th May 2010.
First Lieutenant Samuel Buzzard Lutz
*Signature Value : £20 (matted)

Joining the service in December 1942, Samuel Lutz flew his first combat mission with the 365th Fighter Group in October 1944, strafing targets in the Rhineland. A few days later he almost forced to ditch after an ammunition dump he was strafing exploded. Later that year he was involved in heavy combat throughout the Battle of the Bulge. When he left the Air Force at the end of the war, he had flown 73 combat missions, all in the P-47.
Signatures on item 2
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare.
NameInfo


The signature of Colonel Gabby Gabreski (deceased)

Colonel Gabby Gabreski (deceased)
*Signature Value : £90 (matted)

Gabby Gabreski was the top scoring 8th Air Force fighter Ace in Europe with 28.5 victories in World War II, plus further 6.5 in Korea. Flying P47s with the 56th Fighter Group, his illustrious career in Europe came to a spectacular end, when, strafing an airfield his aircraft touched the ground. He crash landed and was taken prisoner. The story of this American hero from Oil City, Pennsylvania begins in 1942. Gabreski dropped out of his pre-med studies at the University of Notre Dame to become a flyer. Anxious to get into action quickly Francis Gabreski got himself assigned to the 3-1-5 Polish fighter squadron of the RAF in 1942. Although Gabreski flew many combat missions with the Polish fighter squadron he attained no victories. In February of 1943 he was reassigned to the U.S. Army's Eighth Air Force. On August 24, 1943 he got his first victory (a Focke-Wulf 190) over France. Flying the P-47 Thunderbolt or 'Jug', Gabreski continued to achieve victory after victory. He was officially credited with 28 confirmed aerial victories, and that excludes the scores of aircraft, tanks, and other vehicles destroyed by Gabreski during ground attack missions. For many weeks leading up to and following D-Day in June of 1944 Gabby had been on numerous missions involving the dive bombing and strafing of German trains, bridges, armored convoys, and gun emplacements. On July 20,1944 Gabby was scheduled to depart for a much-deserved leave, during which he planned to marry his girl, Kay Lochran. Shortly before his scheduled departure Gabreski was given the opportunity of leading the 61st Squadron of the 56th Fighter Group on an important mission. This was a challenge this ace could not resist. Near Cologne, Gabby spotted an airdrome and began a high-speed low-level attack. Defying his own axiom to 'hit them hard, hit them fast, hit them low, but never come around for a second pass,' Gabby made an ill-fated second pass over the field. On this second pass his propeller hit the tarmac, and Gabreski was forced to make a crash landing in a wheat field adjacent to the German airfield. For five days he was able to elude the German army, but he was finally captured and sent to Stalag Luft 1 in Barth Germany. In 1945 with the end of the War Gabby was released and he married Kay Cochran on June 11. Not long after the Korean War broke out, Gabby found himself in command of the 51st Fighter Wing, where he flew the F-86 Sabre jet. In Korea Gabreski attained 6.5 more confirmed aerial victories in engagements with Migs, earning the unique distinction of ace status in two different wars. Following his retirement from military service in 1967, Gabby worked for several years for Grumman Aircraft on Long Island. Later he was to become the President and General Manager of the Long Island Railroad. Two of his nine children are Air Force Academy graduates and pilots with the U.S. Air Force. At the time of his retirement from military service in 1967 Gabby is believed to have flown more combat missions than any other American fighter pilot. Gabreski lived in Long Island New York where the American flag proudly flew each day atop the Gabreski family flagpole. Colonel Francis 'Gabby' Gabreski passed away on 31st January 2002.

Contact Details
Shipping Info
Terms and Conditions
Cookie Policy
Privacy Policy
Classifieds

Join us on Facebook!

Sign Up To Our Newsletter!

Stay up to date with all our latest offers, deals and events as well as new releases and exclusive subscriber content!

This website is owned by Cranston Fine Arts.  Torwood House, Torwoodhill Road, Rhu, Helensburgh, Scotland, G848LE

Contact: Tel: (+44) (0) 1436 820269.  Email: cranstonorders -at- outlook.com

Follow us on Twitter!

Return to Home Page