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Please note that our logo is used on our website images only and does not appear on our products. Sayonara Sally by Stan Stokes. 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 were strung out and without the benefit of escort. None-the-less the determined Japanese pilots forged ahead. The AVG Flying Tigers were alerted at 10:00 AM with the alert message clear the field! Chuck Older and Ed Overend had been released from duty for some R&R, however when they hear the commotion created by the alert they returned to Mingladon Airfield and located two unused P40s, hopped in and went flying. Reaching an altitude of 8,000 feet they began to catch up with some other aircraft from the Hells Angels Squadron. They then spotted the huge conglomeration of Japanese bombers above them. I aimed at one of the wing planes on the left side of the formation and after my first attack, smoke began streaming from the port engine. I rolled out to the side and came back.... I aimed again at the same plane and closed to about seventy-five yards. I gave it a long burst, and the bomber suddenly nosed down out of the formation with smoke streaming behind. I saw it roll over into an almost vertical dive and disappear below me. As Older further recalled I continued making attacks from below, this time aiming at the leader of the formation.... I saw the bomber explode.... and flame and smoke seemed to pour out from the bottom of the fuselage. I saw debris falling from this plane immediately after the explosion. The bomber nosed straight down with flames and smoke pouring from it. Two days later the AVG would decimate an even larger formation of Japanese bombers, forcing the Japanese to adopt a policy of bombing only at night. VIEW ALL STAN STOKES AVIATION ART VIEW ALL TOMAHAWK AIRCRAFT ART VIEW ALL SALLY AIRCRAFT ART Item Code : STK0168 Sayonara Sally by Stan Stokes. - This Edition TYPE EDITION DETAILS SIZE SIGNATURES OFFERS YOUR PRICE PURCHASING PRINT Signed limited edition of 500 prints, signed by all the surviving AVG pilots of the 3rd Pursuit Sqn; Charles Older, Ken Jernstedt, Paul Greene, Robert Raine, Erik Shilling and the artist. Only two prints of this edition remain. Image Size 22 inches x 18 inches (56cm x 46cm) Older, Charles Jernstedt, Kenneth A + Artist : Stan Stokes Signature(s) value alone : £105 £340.00 All prices on our website 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.
Name	Info
Colonel Charles Older (deceased) *Signature Value : £70	Charles Herman Older, born on 29 September 1917 in Hanford, California, graduated from the University of California in 1939 with a degree in political science. No the 1st April 1940 Charles Herman Older joined the Marine Corps for flight training, he received his wings and commission at Pensacola. Resigning from the Marine Corps in 1941 to join the A.V.G., Chuck Older took part in the great 'Christmas' air battles over Rangoon shooting down 5 Japanese aircraft. With 10.25 victories to his credit he joined the 23rd F G when the A.V.G. was disbanded, flying P-51s. He led the first strike against Shanghai resulting in the destruction of 77 Japanese aircraft. He completed the war with 18.25 air victories. After leaving the Air Force Colonel Chuck Older obtained a law degree from the University of Southern California and subsequently became a superior court judge in Los Angeles, California. He gained prominence as the presiding judge in the Charles Manson mass murder trial in 1970-71. Charles Older died on the 17th June 2006.
Flight Leader Erik Shilling (deceased) *Signature Value : £50 (matted)	Erik Shilling was amongst the first volunteer pilots with the A.V.G. Although credited with only one air victory, Erik flew many dangerous photo missions in his P-40 modified for vital camera work, which included the removal of 4 of his machine guns. In 1942 he joined the China National Airways flying 700 round trips over the Hump. He died 19th March 2002.
Kenneth A Jernstedt (deceased) *Signature Value : £35	Ken Jernstedt was born in 1917 in Carlton, Oregon. He entered the Marine Air Corps Reserve in 1939 and served with the 1st Marine Air Group In Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during which time he became carrier-qualified, and learned to fly front-line Marine fighter of the day, the Grumman F4F Wildcat. In mld-1941, Jernstedts squadron was visited by a recruiter for the AVG. Joined by his friends and fellow Marine pilots Chuck Older and Tom Haywood, he volunteered for duty in China. Arriving in Burma, he was assigned to the Hells Angels squadron, and was soon promoted to flight leader. He was credited with his first aerial victory on December 23,1941. On his most memorable mission, Ken and pilot Bill Reed discovered an airfield near Moulmein crowded with 20 to 30 enemy fighters and bombers, which they repeatedly strafed, destroying or disabling many before breaking off the attack. By July 1942, Ken was credited with 10.5 victories, and was celebrated as the first Oregonian to become a fighter ace. After his AVG days, he became a test pilot with Republic Aviation, and worked with nearly every model of the P-47 Thunderbolt as well as dozens of aircraft types in the U.S. inventory. After the service, Ken embarked on an extremely successful business and polztical career, including twenty years as a State Senator in Oregon. He died on 4th February 2013.

ARTIST

Stan Stokes

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