Stan Stokes.
Full Collection of American World war two fighters in Aviation art Prints
by Aviation artist Stan Stokes
Stan
Stokes is a California native with more than 37 years as a full time
professional artist, who developed a passion for vintage cars, trains and
airplanes at an early age. Model building and RC planes filled the many hours of
the young enthusiasts free time. However, unlike most other young aviation
enthusiasts Stokes also displayed a great gift for artistic talent. After
studying art in College, Stan decided to pursue a career as a professional
artist. Stokes initially focused his great talents on depicting uniquely
realistic landscapes of the western desert and mountain scenes. More than thirty
years ago a good friend suggested that Stan combine his passion for aviation
history and flying with his artistic talents, and render an aircraft or two. The
rest is history. Stan has won many prestigious awards including the
Benedictine Art Award in 1975 and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museums
Golden Age of Flight award in 1985. In May of 2000, Stan was honored with the
National Museum of Naval Aviations R. G. Smith Award for Excellence in Naval
Aviation Art. Commissioned by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi
Valley, California, Stans 12 x 120 foot mural of the History of the Flying White
House is on permanent display in the Air Force One Pavilion. In addition Stans
painting of the USS Ronald Reagan is hanging in the Legacy Room of the library.
In 2005 Stan also completed a painting of our nations next aircraft carrier, the
USS George H. W. Bush, which is on permanent display at the George H. W. Bush
Presidential Library in College Station, Texas. Stan has also completed several
impressive murals for the Palm Springs Air Museum including: The Tuskegee Airmen
at 12 x 60 feet and contains 51 portraits of the original Tuskegee Airmen.
Dauntless at Midway at 12 x 34 feet and Corsair on Approach at 19 x 55 feet.
Stans work also hangs in the Air Force art collection, the Pentagon, San Diego
Aerospace Museum, and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in
Washington DC. Stan has had the pleasure of meeting and working with many of his
boyhood aviation heroes, including the late General Jimmy Doolittle, the late
Pappy Boyington, Chuck Yeager, and many many others. A true aviation history
buff, Stan often spends more time pouring over research materials for
his paintings to assure their accuracy to the smallest detail than he
does behind the canvas. Noted for his incredible detail and strikingly realistic
illustration, Stans canvases have a life-like three-dimensional effect that
often leaves viewers spellbound. Today his work encompasses not only aviation
and space but also portraits, landscapes, ships, classic cars and his new
collection of cat-related fine art paintings. Stan particularly enjoys the tough
assignment. During his 37 years as a professional artist, he has been asked to
produce literally hundreds of paintings documenting historical events, people
and places. Although Stan has logged many hours flying his own airplanes, in
recent years pleasure flying has had to take a backseat to the artistic demands
of his backlog. Stan was commissioned to paint more than twenty original
paintings for an aviation museum being in the Philippines. Since the mid-1980s
NASA has also tapped Stans talents from time to time and he has completed more
than fifteen paintings ranging from the space shuttles to the SR 71 Blackbird.
Stan has also painted numerous works for the cutting edge genius in aviation and
space design, Burt Rutan.
Too Little Too Late by Stan Stokes.
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.........
Curtiss had been the primary supplier of fighter aircraft to the U.S. Army Air Corps. since its inception, and the company was dismayed when the Army procured the Boeing P-26 Peashooter in 1932. Curtiss responded by hiring Mr. Donovan Berlin, a bright young engineer who was working for Northrop. Donovan developed the Hawk 75, a streamlined, low-wing, monoplane coastal defense fighter. With an enhanced Twin Wasp engine the Hawk 75 evolved into the P-36, which had a brief and fairly undistinguished career with the Air Corps. In 1938 a P-36 was retrofitted with the Allison in-line 12-cylinder, 1150 HP engine, and the P-40 was born. This was the beginning of what would eventually be a production run of more than 13,000 aircraft. Depending on its theater of operation and the particular model, the P-40 was alternatively known as the Tomahawk, the Kittyhawk, or the Warhawk. By mid-1942 P-40s were serving in every major conflict. The aircraft excelled in ground attack missions, but lacked the.........
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
Vintage Mustangs by Stan Stokes.
When War broke out in Europe in 1939 the British Government decided to establish a second source for the Curtis P-40 fighter. The Brits approached North American Aviation of Inglewood, California. North Americans manufacturing division was headed by James Dutch Kindelberger, and the division already was involved with Britain in supplying its AT-6 trainers to the RAF. Kindelberger rejected the British proposal and instead offered a new aircraft to be built using the same engine as the P-40, but with an improved more aerodynamic design. In May of 1940 a contract was signed for 320 of the new aircraft, designated NA-73, and North American put Raymond Rice in charge of the design team. The chief designer was Edgar Schmued who had immigrated to America from Germany in 1930. Incorporating a laminar flow wing, and a streamlined design, the NA-73X took to the air in October of 1940 under the control of Vance Breese, the projects test pilot. As production commenced a pair of aircraft were prov.........
Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1916, Ken Walsh enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1933. He initially served as an aircraft mechanic and radioman, and was accepted for pilot training in 1936. He graduated in 1937 receiving his Wings of Gold at Pensacola, Florida. Walshs initial assignment was with VO-7M (later to be designated VMS-1) at Quantico, Virginia. He later served with various scouting and observation squadrons attached to the USS Yorktown, USS Wasp, and the USS Ranger. In mid- 1941 Kens ambition of becoming a fighter pilot was realized when he was transferred to VMF121. With more than 1600 hours of flying time, Walsh was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1942 and was assigned to VMF-124, the first Marine squadron to be equipped with the Chance Vought F4U-1 Corsair. He flew combat missions with VMF-124 from February to September 1943 in the campaign to retake the Solomon Islands. During this period he attained twenty confirmed aerial victories. He was awarded the Congressional.........
The ubiquitous North American P-51 Mustang, which many consider to be the best all-around fighter of WW II, owes its origins to the British Air Ministry. Following Britains entry into WW II in 1939, the RAF was interested in purchasing additional fighter aircraft from American sources, particularly the Curtiss P-40. Curtiss, which was busy, was unable to guarantee timely delivery so the British approached North American Aviation as a possible second source for the P-40. North American chose to propose its own fighter design which would use the same Allison engine as the P-40. Utilizing new laminar flow wings, the North American fighter was expected to have performance better than the P-40. Developed in record time the new aircraft was designated as a Mustang I by the Brits, whereas the USAAF ordered two for evaluation which were designated XP-51 Apaches. Intrigued with the possibility of using this aircraft also as a dive bomber, North American proposed this to the USAAF which decided.........
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 .........
On July 24, 1945, Air Group 87 on board the USS Ticonderoga was informed that the Hyuga, anchored off a small island near Kure, Japan, would be its target. The ship, a WW I vintage battleship which had been modernized in 1936, and later converted to part battleship and part sea plane tender, would be a formidable objective with its impressive firepower and the fact that its location would place the attackers in the line of fire of numerous shore batteries. The ship was 704 feet in length, displaced 39,000 tons, and carried a compliment of Aichi E16A1 Zuiun reconaissance aircraft which were code named Paul by the Allies. Lt Cdr. Kanaga would lead the squadrons Curtiss SB2C Helldivers on the attack. Each of the twelve Helldivers would carry a 1,000 pound bomb in the internal bomb bay, a 260 pound fragmentation bomb under one wing and a droppable wing tank under the other wing. The drop tank weighed substantially more than the 260 pounder so it was anticipated that the Helldivers might b.........
In 1936 the Lockheed Aircraft Company won a contract to produce a high altitude interceptor for the USAAC. This contract was won despite the fact that the company had been nearly bankrupt in 1932, and had never produced a fighter aircraft. Mr. Kelly Johnson, Lockheeds chief designer on the project, settled on a design incorporating a twin engine scheme utilizing twin booms to house the aircrafts supercharged engines, and a central nacelle which housed the pilot and all the armament. Despite an unfortunate crash of the prototype, the USAAC was impressed with the aircraft, and a production order was placed for the first P-38 Lightnings. The P-38 was to prove to be one of Americas top fighters of WW II. The Lightning was fast, very heavily armed, had excellent range, and a great rate of climb. The aircraft was capable of flying with only one engine, and this proved advantageous in improving long range reliability. The two most effective models were the J and the L, of which more than 6,.........
The Grumman F4F Wildcat was the third monoplane to see carrier service with the Navy. It was also the fighter aircraft which would carry the brunt of the fighting in the Pacific until 1943 when the F6F Hellcat would enter service. The Wildcat was flow by both USN and USMC aviators. The Wildcat lacked the range and maneuverability of the Mitsubishi Zeros it often faced, but the Wildcat was more heavily armed and able to take a lot more punishment than the Mitsubishis. Most of the pilots which obtained ace status while flying the F4F obtained most of their victories against Japanese bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Eight individuals were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor while displaying valor while in command of an F4F. The pilots of no other aircraft during WW II were as highly decorated. One of the most outstanding of this elite group was USMC Captain Joseph Jacob Foss. Foss, a South Dakota native, had been accepted as a naval aviation cadet following his graduation from t.........
A new U.S. Navy fighter squadron designated VF-11 was organized in August 1942. The new squadron received several combat tested pilots, and many newcomers, including Vernon E. Graham, a Colorado native. After two months of training in San Diego the new squadron deployed to Maui, where, under the command of Charles Fenton, the squadron commenced a comprehensive training program. While in Hawaii several of VF-11s pilots came up with a squadron insignia which depicted two Grumman F4F Wildcats blasting a rising sun into the Pacific. Thus VF- 11 became known as the Sun Downers. The Sun Downers first combat tour would be land-based, flying out of Guadacanal with the Marines. This was a bit upsetting to some member of the squadron as the Marines were flying the state-of-the-art F4U Corsair, while VF-11 was equipped with the older Grumman F4F Wildcat, an aircraft somewhat inferior in dog fighting capability to the Japanese Zero. During the first several weeks of its first combat tour the Sun .........
At the time of World War II there was still a great deal of prejudice in America, and this extended to all the branches of the military. Although black soldiers and seaman fought with dignity and bravery during WW I, many thought that blacks were incapable of handling difficult assignments. It was therefore with great uncertainty and trepidation that the Army Air Corps authorized the training of black pilots in 1941. The Air Corps proposed that a segregated training program be established. Judge William Hastie, Dean of the Howard University Law School, who was serving as a Civilian Assistant for Negro Affairs to the Secretary of War, protested about the segregated training, but his complaints were ignored. Hastie also proposed that the Army consider affiliating with the Tuskegee Institute which had already established a pilot training program. The Army allocated $1 million for the construction of the Tuskegee Army Air Field. The men sent to Tuskegee had to pass rigorous physical tests.........
Claire Chennault retired from the USAAF in 1937. Chennault had been an outspoken supporter of advanced fighter aircraft, but was at odds with many of his superiors who favored development of bombers. Chennault went to China to assist Chiang-Kai-shek in resurrecting the Chinese Air Force. In 1941 President Roosevelt authorized a plan to allow American servicemen to volunteer for a one-year duty assignment in China as members of Chennaults American Volunteer Group. 100 Curtis P-40s were rerouted from the UK to Burma. A like number of pilots and a few hundred support personnel filtered into the group from various branches of the service. The AVG engaged the Japanese in combat from late 1941 through mid-1942. Despite being greatly outnumbered, and facing critical shortages of supplies and spare parts, the AVGs official victory tally included 299 aircraft shot down and another 240 destroyed on the ground. The Flying Tigers have a special place in the hearts of aviation history enthusiasts..........
Flying Tigers by Stan Stokes. - Editions Available
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Signed limited edition of 1500 prints, signed by 24 AVG Flying Tiger pilots, and the artist. Full Item Details
Size 27 inches x 20 inches (69cm x 51cm)
Artist : Stan Stokes
£414.00
Fallen Comrades by Stan Stokes.
Fallen Comrades by Stan Stokes is a tribute to all the young men of the 357th Fighter Group, Yoxford Boys,` who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country in training for and during WWII combat. The 357th scored an impressive 595 aerial victories in only 15 months of combat. The group also downed 18.5 Me-262s, the highest of any fighter group during the War. Bud Anderson and Bill Overstreet, the two co-signers of this limited edition, wanted to especially remember two of their friends and fallen squadronmates from the 363rd Fighter Squadron, Jim Browning and Eddie Simpson. Jim Browning was born in Syracuse, Kansas in 1917. In joined the 363rd FS while in training in Tonopah, Nevada in 1943. Browning was officially credited with 7 aerial victories. His regular aircraft was named Gentleman Jim. Jim completed his first tour of duty and was only two missions shy of completing his second when he was reported missing while flying Glen Zarnkes P-5 1, Junior Miss on February 9, 1945. Brow.........
Stan Stokes painting depicts a P-38 mission flown by 10 Fighter Group pilots Milton B. Adams, Joe Gunder, and Bill Harris in early February 1945. The 18th Fighter Group, part of the Thirteenth Air Force, moved its base of operations to Lingayen Gulf from Mindoro in early 1945. The group participated in numerous daylight strafing missions of Japanese targets on Northern Luzon. The missions were largely very successful and the Japanese had a high chance of getting hit hard by the 18 h whenever they attempted to move men or supplies. In response to the punishment being inflicted by these missions, the Japanese switched to nighttime truck convoys. Typically accompanied by numerous trucks with either 50 caliber or 20min quad machineguns, the nighttime convoys became the principal means for moving both arms and supplies south. Although the P-38 Lightnings flown by the group were not equipped for night fighting, and the pilots lacked any training for such missions, the pilots felt that under.........
Col. John D. Landers, the pilot of the Big Beautiful Doll, was born in 1920 in Wilson, Oklahoma. He attended Texas A & M and Arkansas State University before joining the Army Air Corp. In March of 1941 Landers graduated from aviation cadet training and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. With America thrust into WWII following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Landers was assigned to the 49th Fighter Group and set forth to Australia. Flying a Curtis P-40 out of bases in Darwin and Port Moresby, Landers became an ace by downing two Betty bombers and four Mitsubishi Zeros. When his first combat tour ended, Landers returned to the States as a P-38 Lightning instructor. During a second combat tour Landers was assigned to the European Theatre as Commander of the 38th Fighter Squadron of the 55th Fighter Group. On June 25th 1944 Landers downed his first German aircraft, an Fw190. Several days later he would bag three Me110s on a single day. Later in 1944 Landers was made acting Comman.........
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning, called the Fork-Tailed Devil by Luftwaffe pilots in Africa, was one of the largest fighter aircraft to see service during WW II. Flight-testing of the YP-38 prototype was completed in 1941. The first P-38s put into service were dedicated to the defense of the West Coast following the attack on Pearl Harbor. In the spring of 1942 plans were laid to deploy P-38s in Europe. By adding drop tanks the maximum range of the Lightnings were increased to a whopping 2200 miles, making ferry trips to Europe possible. All three P-38-equipped fighter groups in Europe (82nd FG, 1st FG, and 14th FG) were transferred to North Africa in late 1942. These P-38 fighter groups were soon seeing serious combat action in the Mediterranean & North African theaters. The experienced Luftwaffe pilots learned that the P-38s should be attacked at altitudes below 15,000 feet, where they had difficulty maneuvering with the Bf-109s they frequently encountered. Despite these limitations the.........
Claire Chennaults American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) continue to capture the imagination and interest of aviation history buffs more than fifty years after they flew combat missions for the Chinese Air Force. Composed of about ninety pilots and another 200 ground support personnel, the Tigers arrived in China in mid-1941. Flying Curtiss P-40s which had been rerouted from Britain to China, the Tigers flew from December of 1941 until mid-1942. Engaging a numerically superior Japanese force over a very wide front, the AVG was officially credited with downing 299 Japanese aircraft in aerial combat, and an additional 240 aircraft destroyed during ground attack missions. The Flying Tigers slowed the Japanese conquest in China, and caused Japan to focus more resources on this theater of operations than they had planned. Charles R. Bond was Vice Squadron Leader for the AVGs 1 Pursuit Squadron, the Adam and Eves. Bond was born in Dallas, Texas in 1915. He joined the Texas National Guard.........
At the time of the attack of Pearl Harbor the Japanese had superior aircraft and plenty of experienced pilots fresh from combat in China. By 1944 the roles were reversed. Anxious to commence B-29 bombing missions against the Japanese homeland Rear Admiral Marc Mitschers Task Force 58 was given the assignment of supporting the recapture of the Marianas. This proved to be the last major carrier battle of World War II. On June 11, 1944 large formations of Hellcats were dispatched to lure Japanese land-based fighters into combat. Enough Japanese fighters were destroyed to allow the Fifth Fleet to land 140,000 troops on Saipan and Guam on June 15th. Also on June 15th the Japanese main fleet joined up with its mobile fleet about 300-400 miles from Task Force 58. Vice Admiral Ozawa detached a force to use as bait to lure the Americans within range of the main fleet. His bait not taken, on June 19th Ozawa launched three air strikes with about 250 aircraft. The relatively inexperienced Japanes.........
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.........
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.........
There were tens of thousands of aerial combat encounters during World War II. One of the most unusual was a dogfight that took place between Captain Arthur C. Fiedler, Jr. and an unidentified German Bf-109 pilot on June 28, 1944. Fiedler was an Illinois native who received his wings in July 1943. He was assigned as a flight instructor in Dover, Delaware, but in May 1944 he was assigned to the 317th Fighter Squadron of the 325th Fighter Group. Flying P-51B Mustangs the 317th was based in Lesina, Italy. Fiedler named his Mustang after his wife Helen. On a combat mission on June 24th Fiedler claimed a probable. Four days later the eventual ace was flying near Polesti, Rumania when a Bf-109 crossed directly in front of his aircraft. Slamming his P-51 into a near vertical bank he trailed the 109 for a few seconds attaining several hits before his guns jammed. As Fiedler rolled out of his bank he found himself flying in formation parallel to the 109, and headed towards Russia. Fiedler was n.........
On September 18, 1944 P-51 pilots of the 375th Fighter Squadron of the 361st Fighter Group, based at Little Walden in Essex, were assigned the mission of escorting B-17s on a shuttle mission to Russia. The Mustangs would accompany the bombers to the south of Sweden where they would be picked up by an escort of Russian fighters. Urban Drew, flying a 51-D named Detroit Miss, was one of the USAAF pilots on this mission. Just before breaking off the escort Drew spotted a twin-engine German aircraft flying very low to the water. He broke off with two wingman and went down after the German plane. It turned out to be an He-111, most likely a courier plane from Scandinavia. He opened fire hitting the top gun position, circled around, and with his second burst set the aircraft afire. It tumbled into the Baltic. As Drew and his two wingman climbed back to altitude to rejoin their flight, he looked off to the right and spotted an enormous flying boat moored at a sea plane base on a lake. Drew c.........
The Axis attack on the British controlled island of Malta commenced in 1940 only one day after Mussolini committed Italy's forces on the side of the Germans during WW II. This strategically located island was a thorn in the side of Axis plans to dominate the Mediterranean and win control of North Africa. Malta would be attacked thousands of times by waves of both Italian and German bombers during the course of the War. On a per acre basis it may be one of the most bombed targets of WW II. In the early phases of the defense of the island a handful of Gloster Gladiators which were supplemented eventually by RAF Hurricanes carried on the brunt of the islands defense. Spitfires were sorely needed. The first Fifteen Spitfires arrived in Malta on March 7, 1942, and a second group of Spits arrived on March 29. In both cases they were launched from the HMS Eagle, and had to fly more than 600 miles over the Mediterranean to reach the island. In April of 1942, Churchill asked Roosevelt for.........
The painting depicts a P-51D Mustang (flown by William Bailey of the 353rd Fighter Group) flying escort for B-17 Flying Fortresses of the U.S. Armys Eighth Air Force. The scene is over the French countryside during late 1944, and several more hours of high altitude flying lies ahead of these pilots before the days work is over. Bombing played a major role in the Allies victory in Europe. The RAF relied primarily on night bombing which was also called strategic bombing. Day time bombing was a necessity for hitting specific targets such as munition plants, dams, and submarine pens. The Mighty Eighth took on responsibility for most of the day time bombing missions. The hazards and discomforts of high altitude flying, the perils of enemy flak batteries, and the threat of enemy fighters made these missions exceedingly dangerous until only very late in the war. Fighter escort was critically important in improving the odds of a successful mission, and the P-51 became arguably the premier air.........
The Northrop P-61 Black Widow was the USAAFs first modern fighter aircraft which was specifically designed from the start to serve in the night fighter capacity. Designed by Jack Knudson Northrop, this aircraft was quite innovative. The Armys initial requirements for this night interceptor made no mention of radar, but stated that the aircraft would carry a device which would locate enemy aircraft in the dark. The P-61 indeed utilized radar, and about seven hundred of these large twin-engine aircraft were built. The recommendation to pursue development of an aircraft of this type came about from the recommendations of a special commission which visited Great Britain during the Battle of Britain. The commission identified the need for an effective night fighter capability to deter enemy night bombing raids. Although the first prototype flew in May of 1942, the Black Widow did not enter front-line service until 1944. The P-61 was the largest and most powerful fighter aircraft of WW II. .........
In 1938 Vought won a contract for what was to become one of the last of the great propeller driven fighter aircraft, the F4U Corsair. Designed to incorporate the most powerful air-cooled radial engine available at the time, the Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp, the Corsair was powerful, heavily armed, ruggedly built, and designed from the onset as a carrier based fighter. The Corsair was fast, and became the first military aircraft to obtain 400 MPH in level flight. The Corsair incorporated the largest three-bladed propeller ever utilized on a single engine aircraft, a unique distinctive gull wing design, and its 2804 cubic inch engine developed a whopping 1800 HP, more than twice the horsepower of the Japanese fighters which dominated the early years of the War in the Pacific. Despite its design emphasis the USN was reluctant to utilize the Corsair for carrier-based operations because of the aircrafts poor pilot visibility during landings. As a result, the Corsair initially entered serv.........
James Elms Swett was born in Seattle, Washington on June 15, 1920. He attended San Mateo Junior College in California, and entered the Navys flight training program during his second year of college. In April of 1942 Jim received his wings and was commission as a second lieutenant in the USMC at Corpus Christi, Texas. Swett arrived at Guadacanal for his first combat duty tour in March of 1943. Assigned to VMF-221 Swett flew the older F4F Wildcat, whereas the more experienced pilots in his squadron flew the newer and more advanced F41J Corsair. On April 7, 1943 Swett would get his first taste of aerial combat, and it would be a day for the record books. More than 150 Japanese bombers attacked Guadacanal on April 7 h . Hurling his four plane division into a formation of fifteen enemy aircraft, Swett personally splashed three Japanese Val bombers before his aircraft was hit with antiaircraft fire, and he became separated from his division. While proceeding alone to Florida Island, Swett .........
Pappy Boyingtons VMF-214 Black Sheep squadron continues to fascinate aviation and military enthusiasts to this day. VMF-214 flew three combat tours starting from September 1943 and chalked up a total of 153 aerial victories with more than another 100 Japanese aircraft destroyed on the ground. Rabaul Harbor, more than 200 miles distant from their airfields, was a stronghold for the Japanese and a frequent target for the Black Sheep of VM17-214. Most missions to Rabaul involved the escort of SBD Dauntless dive-bombers, TBF Avenger torpedo bombers, or B-24s. The Black Sheep usually provided high cover at 20,000 to 24,000 feet, and on some occasions Japanese fighters would be waiting in the clouds above them. The Zekes would use their altitude advantage and dive at great speeds to penetrate the top cover and get at the attacking American bombers. The Black Sheep utilized the Thatch Weave to protect their own flights from tail-end attacks by the Zekes. Rabaul Harbor was not an easy target .........
Claire Chennaults American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) continues to capture the imagination and interest of aviation history buffs more than fifty years after they flew combat missions for the Chinese Air Force. Composed of about ninety pilots and another 200 ground support personnel, the Tigers arrived in China in mid-1941. Flying Curtiss P-40s that had been rerouted from Britain to China, the Tigers flew from December of 1941 until mid-1942. Engaging a numerically superior Japanese force over a very wide front, the AVG was officially credited with downing 299 Japanese aircraft in aerial combat, and an additional 240 aircraft destroyed during ground attack missions. The Flying Tigers slowed the Japanese conquest in China, and caused Japan to focus more resources on this theater of operations than they had planned. Stan Stokes painting depicts a three-plane raid of a Japanese airstrip near Tak, Thailand. Early in the morning of January 3, 1942, three 2 d Pursuit Squadron (Panda Be.........
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 Focke-Wulf 190 development project began in 1937. Conceived as a hedge against total dependence on the Messerchmitt 109, the 190 was designed by Kurt Tank utilizing a radial engine. This was against generally accepted design criteria in Germany, and many historians believe that the decision to produce a radial engine fighter was largely due to the limited manufacturing capacity for in-line, water-cooled engines which were widely used on all other Luftwaffe aircraft. Despite these concerns, Tanks design was brilliant, and the 190 would become one of the top fighter aircraft of WW II. The first prototype flew in mid-1939. The aircraft had excellent flying characteristics, a wonderful rate of acceleration, and was heavily armed. By late 1940 the new fighter was ordered into production. Nicknamed the butcher bird, by Luftwaffe pilots, early 190s were quite successful in the bomber interceptor role, but at this stage of the War many Allied bombing raids lacked fighter escort. As the W.........
The Vought SB2U Vindicator represents one of those many 1930s era aircraft designs, that despite incorporating advanced aerodynamic design features when compared to earlier models, was technically obsolete at the start of WW II, and hence gets few favorable comments from a historical aviation combat perspective. The first production deliveries of the SB2U-1 dive-bomber took place in 1937. Powered by an 825-HP Pratt and Whitney radial, this aircraft carried a crew of two, and was capable of a maximum speed of 249-MPH and a maximum range of 1,300 miles. The Vindicators service ceiling was 27,500 feet. In early 1938 the Navy ordered 58 more Vindicators, designating this variant the SB2U-2. In 1939 Vought received a contract to supply the USMC with 57 additional Vindicators. These variants, designated the SB2U-3 would have greater fuel capacity and longer range. The 3s also were fitted with 4 forward firing machine guns instead of only one. Having advance knowledge of the Japanese plans t.........
The Chance-Vought F4U Corsair was arguably the finest naval aviation fighter of its era. Work on this design dates to 1938 and was headed-up by Voughts Chief Engineer, Rex Biesel. The initial prototype was powered by an 1800-HP Pratt & Whitney double Wasp radial engine. This was the third Vought aircraft to carry the Corsair name. The graceful and highly recognizable gull-wing design of the F4U permitted the aircraft to utilize a 13-foot, three-blade, Hamilton Standard propeller, while not having to lengthen the landing gear. Because of the rigors of carrier landings, this was a very important design consideration. Folding wings were also required for carrier operations. The F4U was thirty feet long, had a wingspan of 41 feet and an empty weight of approximately 7,500 pounds. Another interesting feature was the way the F4Us gear rotated 90 degrees, so it would lay flush within the wing when in the up position. In 1939 the Navy approved the design, and production commenced. The Corsair.........
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.........
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
Hobo Queens by Stan Stokes.
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.........
The P-38 Lightning was the only twin engine day time fighter produced in America during WWII. It was also one of the most effective American fighters of the War, and was the mount for our two top-scoring aces of the war.
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, or Jug7 as it was more popularly called, was the mount of many of the American aces of WW 11. The P-47 represented the crowning achievement from two aircraft designers, Alexander Kartvelli and Alexander De Seversky, both immigrants from Russia. It came on the heels of two other aircraft, the P-35 and P-43, which were satisfactory pre-war designs, but not up to the new standards required to compete against Bf-109 fighters in Europe or Mitsbushi Zeroes in the Pacific. The P-47 was the largest and heaviest single seat American fighter of the War. Powered by a huge 2000-HP radial engine, more than 15,000 Jugs were produced. The first production variant was the P-47B which had a razorback fuselage. During tests the aircraft attained a speed of 429-MPH with a maximum range at 10,000 feet of 835 miles. Later variants included a C and D model with the razorback fuselage. Belly tanks and wing tanks became standard equipment as the range of this fighter was stretc.........
The Lady Lex, (CV-2) as she was popularly called, was one of only a handful of carriers available when the U.S. was plunged into WW II. Although the Lex would be lost during the War, she played an important combat role early in the War. In Stans painting, of the 2nd USS Lexington (CV-16) F6F Hellcats pass over the Lady.
Item Code : STK0071
USS Lexington by Stan Stokes. - Editions Available
