P47 Thunderbolt US Air Force fighter in aviation art prints
This superb range of aviation art prints by leading Aviation artists , Simon
Smith, Robert Taylor, Ivan Berryman and David Pentland, include the Thunderbolt
P-47 of the US Ninth Air Force and Thunderbolt fighter aircraft of Colonel
Herbert Zemke shown in aviation prints by Robert Taylor, Stan Stokes, Nicholas
Trudgian and David Pentland.
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.
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.
Item Code : DHM2613
Days of Thunder by Richard Taylor. - Editions Available
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Signed limited edition of 250 prints, with 1 signature. Full Item Details
Print paper size 30.5 inches x 22 inches (77cm x 56cm)
With orders to destroy, delay or disrupt enemy forces en-route to the Normandy battle area, P-47 Thunderbolts from the 78th Fighter Group launch a blistering high-speed, low-level attack, on a German freight train in occupied northern France, June 1944. Desperately attempting to transport vital supplies to the front by daylight, it has fallen prey to the cannons and bombs of the eagle eyed Thunderbolt pilots.
Item Code : DHM1844
Bridge Busters by Anthony Saunders. - Editions Available
Flying his Messerschmitt Me109G6, Major Günther Rall, Group Commander of II./JG11 with over 200 air victories already to his credit, clashes with a P-47 Thunderbolt of the 63rd Sqn, 56th Fighter Group high over the Rhine south of Koblenz, May 12, 1944. Led by Colonel Hub Zemke, the 56th Fighter Group played advance guard to a deep penetration bomber raid to central Germany. As his forty eight P-47 Thunderbolts arrived to sweep the sky around the Koblenz –Frankfurt area, the Me109s of II./JG11 pounced from a 5000 feet height advantage. Simon Atacks high-impact painting shows Major Günther Rall bringing down Hub Zemkes wingman, the first of two victories he claimed before himself being brought down by 56th Fighter Group P-47s later in the combat. Günther Rall returned to combat flying, commanding JG300 until the end of hostilities by which time, with 275 air victories, he became the third highest scoring Ace in history.
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 leading ace of the mighty Eighth Air Force, Gabby Gabreski. He finished the war with a total of 28 air victories and 2 1/2 enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground by strafing airfields. Gabreski also scored 6 1/2 air victories in the Korean war.
Item Code : DHM1463
Return From Bremen by Simon Smith. - Editions Available
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.........
Thunderbolts of the 78th Fighter Group based at Duxford (station 357) engage Me109s during the August 17th raid on Schweinfurt. The 78th Fighter Group were assigned the duty of escorting the B-17s from Antwerp to Eupen between the hours of 1353-1410, and the group claimed two confirmed kills and no losses during their engagement.
Item Code : B0400
Schweinfurt Thunderbolts by Jason Askew. (P) - Editions Available
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ORIGINAL DRAWING
Original pencil drawing by Jason Askew, with original signatures. Full Item Details
Pencil drawing image area size 25.5 inches x 17 inches (65cm x 43cm) Surrounded by coloured border, making the total paper size 35 inches x 23.5 inches (89cm x 63cm)
On the 12th May 1944, Col. Hubert Zemke tried his new fan tactic, designed to engage Luftwaffe fighters. Unfortunately on this occasion his aircraft was bounced by German ace Major Gunther Rall in his ME109 G-6AS, and escaped only by sending his P47-D Thunderbolt into a gut wrenching dive.
Item Code : DHM0795
Zemkes First Fan by David Pentland. - Editions Available
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Limited edition of 750 prints signed by Gunther Rall from the signed limited edition of 1000 prints. Full Item Details
The first successful daylight raid on Berlin. Nicolas Trudgians painting relives the fearsome aerial combat on March 6, 1944, as B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 100th B.G. are attacked. Screaming in head-on, Fw190s of II./JG I charge into the bomber stream. With throttles wide open, 56th Fighter Group P-47 Thunderbolts come hurtling down to intercept. B-17 gunners are working overtime, the air is full of cordite, smoke, jagged pieces of flying metal and hot lead. We are in the midst of one of the fiercest aerial battles of the war.
Item Code : DHM2057
First Strike on Berlin by Nicolas Trudgian. - Editions Available
The 56th Fighter Group was led by some of Americas greatest fighter leaders of World War II and was home to many of its leading fighter Aces. Under successive commanders Hub Zemke, Robert Landry and David Schilling, the 56th destroyed more enemy aircraft in combat than any other fighter group in the Eighth Air Force. Arriving in England in January 1943 under the command of Colonel Hub Zemke, a master tactician and fearless leader, the 56th quickly emerged as an outstanding fighting unit. The only Eighth Air Force Group to fly P-47 Thunderbolts throughout the war, the 56th spawned more fighter Aces than any other USAAF group - legends such as Gabby Gabreski, Robert Johnson and the colourful Ace Walker Bud Mahurin. Under Hub Zemkes mercurial leadership they became known and feared as Zemkes Wolfpack. On 26 November, 1943, the P-47s of the 56th Fighter Group were tasked to escort B-24 Liberators of the 392nd Bomb Group on a dangerous mission to attack the heavily defended industrial.........
