Virginia Bader Fine Arts Gallery

19 January 1975: Major Roger J. Smith, United States Air Force, a test pilot assigned to the F-15 Joint Test Force at Edwards AFB, California, flew the McDonnell Douglas F-15 to its sixth Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and U.S. National Aeronautic Association time-to-altitude record. From brake release at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, at 913 feet above Sea Level, the F-15 reached 65,617 feet in 122.94 seconds. This was the sixth time-to-altitude rec...ord set by Streak Eagle in just three days. Yeager’s Last Military Flight by Roy Grinnell High over the windswept Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert on 14 October 1997, Brig. Gen. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager pushed his McDonnell Douglas F-15D fighter once again through the sounds barrier. Streaming a white contrail across the clear blue sky, Yeager radioed back to the ground, "I'm smoking along at about 1.35", by which he meant 1.35 times the speed of sound, or roughly 900-950 mph. Gen. Yeager had been supersonic hundreds of times before, but this particular flight was special, for it marked the 50th anniversary of his historic flight in the little orange painted Bell X-1 rocket-powered aircraft in which, on 14 October 1947, he became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound. It would also be Yeager's last flight as an Air Force test pilot and consultant, a job he had held since retiring from active duty in 1975. In an interview following the flight, Yeager commented, "I'll miss military flying. I've been doing it for 55 years. I've been very lucky...I might as well hang it up while I'm on top."

16 - 18 January 1957: Operation Power Flite. At 1:00 p.m. PST, five Boeing B-52B Stratofortress eight-engine jet bombers of the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command departed Castle Air Force Base, near Merced, California, on a non-stop around-the-world flight. 45 hours, 19 minutes later, three B-52s landed at March Air Force Base, Riverside, California, completing the 24,325 mile flight at an average speed of 534 miles per hour. The lead Stratofortress Lucky Lady ...III, was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Morris. Morris had been co-pilot aboard Lucky Lady II, a Boeing B-50A Superfortress that flew around the world in 1949. Mountain Fortress by Dru Blair

16 January 1975: USAF sets new climb-time records with a stripped and unpainted McDonnell Douglas F-15, operating from Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota. The F-15 reaches a height of: 9,843 ft in 27.57 s., 19,685 ft. in 39.33 s., 29,528 ft in 48.86 s., ... 39,370 ft in 59.38 s. and 42,2132 ft in 1 min. 17.02 s Advantage Eagle by Bill Phillips

15 January 2009 Miracle on the Hudson DCVR transcript 15:27:07 Sullenberger: After takeoff checklist complete. 15:27:10.4 Sullenberger: Birds.... 15:27:11 Skiles: Whoa. 15:27:11:4 (Sound of thump/thud(s), followed by shuddering sound.) 15:27:12 Skiles: Oh (expletive deleted). 15:27:13 Sullenberger: Oh yeah. (Sound similar to decrease in engine noise/frequency begins.) 15:27:14 Skiles: Uh oh. 15:27:15 Sullenberger: We got one rol both of ’em rolling back. 15:27:18 (Rumbling sound begins and continues until approximately 15:28:08.) 15:27:18.5 Sullenberger: Ignition, start. 15:27:32.9 Sullenberger: MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY. Uh this is uh Cactus Fifteen-Thirty-Nine [sic] hit birds, we’ve lost thrust (in/on) both engines we’re turning back towards LaGuardia. 15:27:42 LaGuardia Departure Control: OK uh, you need to return to LaGuardia? Turn left heading of uh Two Two Zero. 15:27:43 (sound similar to electrical noise from engine igniters begins.) 15:28:02 Skiles: Airspeed optimum relight. Three hundred knots. We don’t have that. 15:28:03 Flight Warning Computer: Sound of single chime. 15:28:05 Sullenberger: We don’t. 15:28:05 LGA Departure Control: Cactus Fifteen-Twenty-Nine [sic], if we can get it for you do you want to try to land Runway One Three? 15:28:05 Skiles: If three nineteen. . . 15:28:10.6 Sullenberger: We’re unable. We may end up in the Hudson. 15:29:28 Sullenberger: We’re gonna be in the Hudson. 15:29:33 LGA Departure Control: I’m sorry say again Cactus? 15:29:53 LGA Departure Control: Cactus Fifteen-Forty-Nine radar contact is lost you also got Newark Airport off your two o’clock in about seven miles. 15:29:55 Ground Proximity Warning System: PULL UP. PULL UP. PULL UP. PULL UP. PULL UP. PULL UP. 15:30:01 Skiles: Got flaps out. 15:30:03 Skiles: Two hundred fifty feet in the air. 15:30:04 Ground Proximity Warning System: TOO LOW. TERRAIN. 15:30:06 Ground Proximity Warning System: TOO LOW. GEAR. 15:30:06 Skiles: Hundred and seventy knots. 15:30:09 Skiles: Got no power on either one? Try the other one. 15:30:09 Radio from another flight: Two One Zero uh Forty-Seven-Eighteen. I think he said he’s going in the Hudson. 15:30:15 Ground Proximity Warning System: CAUTION TERRAIN. 15:30:16 Skiles: Hundred and fifty knots. 15:30:17 Skiles: Got flaps two, you want more? 15:30:19 Sullenberger: No let’s stay at two. 15:30:21 Sullenberger: Got any ideas? 15:30:22 LGA Departure Control: Cactus Fifteen-Twenty-Nine [sic] if you can uh. . . you got uh Runway uh Two Nine available at Newark it’ll be two o’clock and seven miles. 15:30:23 Ground Proximity Warning System: CAUTION TERRAIN. 15:30:23 Skiles: Actually not. 15:30:24 Ground Proximity Warning System: TERRAIN TERRAIN. PULL UP. PULL UP. (Pull Up repeats until the end of the recording.) 15:30:38 Sullenberger: We’re gonna brace.

14 January 1973: A McDonnell Phantom flown by Lieutenant Victor T. Kovaleski and Ensign D.H. Plautz of VF-161 Chargers, from the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CVA-41), was hit by 85 mm anti-aircraft artillery approximately 10 miles south of Thanh Hóa, North Vietnam. The aircraft began leaking fuel and after flying offshore, the crew ejected. Both men were rescued. This was the very last United States aircraft lost to enemy action during the Vietnam War. Phantom Thunder by Bill Phillips

9 November 1967: Call Sign AWOL1, an F4 Phantom, entered a steep climb, reaching approximately 10,000 feet, then nosed over and plunged straight into the ground. (Sources vary, stating that they had been hit by ground fire, a surface-to-air-missile, or that its bombs had detonated prematurely immediately after release.) AWOL 01 was the lead ship of a two-aircraft strike against the Ho Chi Minh Trail where it crossed a small river at Ban Loboy, Laos. The flight departed Da Na...Continue reading

We had just completed a strafing run on Sinuiju antiaircraft positions and were climbing when we got word that enemy jets were in the area. Then we saw them across the Yalu, doing acrobatics. Suddenly they came over at about 400 miles an hour. We were doing about 300. They broke formation right in front of us at about 18,000 or 20,000 feet. They were good looking planesshiny and brand, spanking new.... 8 November 1950: First Lieutenant Russell J. Brown, United States Air Force, 16th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing, is credited with shooting down a Russian-built Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 15 jet fighter near the Yalu River while flying a Lockheed F-80C-10-LO Shooting Star. This may have been the very first time that a jet fighter had been shot down by another jet fighter. 1st Lieutenant Russell Brown’s Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star as he shot down an enemy Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 15 over Korea, 8 November 1950 by Keith Ferris

6 November 1958: NASA Research Test Pilot John B. (Jack) McKay made the final flight of the X-1 rocketplane program, which had begun twelve years earlier. Bell X-1E 46-063 made its 26th and final flight after being dropped from a Boeing B-29 Superfortress over Edwards Air Force Base on a flight to test a new rocket fuel. The Bell X-1 was best known for BG Chuck Yeager's historic flight on October 14, 1947 when he broke the sound barrier.... Yeager's Conquest - Mach 1 by Roy Grinnell

6 November 1935: The prototype Hawker Monoplane first flew at the Brooklands Aerodrome, Weybridge. The airplane would be named Hurricane and become one of the most successful fighter aircraft of World War II. The Hurricane was built in the traditional means of a light but strong framework covered by doped linen fabric. Rather than wood, however, the Hurricane’s framework used high strength steel tubing for the aft fuselage. A girder structure covered in sheet metal made up ...the forward fuselage. A primary consideration of the fighter’s designer was to provide good visibility for the pilot. The cockpit sits high in the fuselage and gives the airplane its characteristic hump back profile. The cockpit was enclosed by a sliding canopy. The landing gear was retractable. The engine was progressively improved and by the time the Hurricane prototype first flew, it was equipped with a supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin C. The prototype was able to take off in as little as 795 feet and to climb to 15,000 feet in just 5 minutes, 42 seconds. It reached 20,000 feet in 8 minutes, 24 seconds. The peak altitude reached was 30,000 feet. The prototype’s estimated service ceiling was 34,500 feet and the estimated absolute ceiling was 35,400 feet. In May 1939 Hawker Monoplane F.36/34 K5083 was classified as a ground instruction airframe, with serial number 1112M. Reportedly, it remained in airworthy condition until 1942. Its status after that is not known. Peter Townsend described the Hurricane in his book, Duel of Eagles: . . . By December [1938] we had our full initial equipment of sixteen aircraft. The Fury had been a delightful play-thing; the Hurricane was a thoroughly war-like machine, rock solid as a platform for eight Browning machine-guns, highly manoeuvrable despite its large proportions and with an excellent view from the cockpit. The Hurricane lacked the speed and glamour of the Spitfire and was slower than the Me. 109, whose pilots were to develop contempt for it and a snobbish preference for being shot down by Spitfires. But figures were to prove that during the Battle of Britain, machine for machine, the Hurricane would acquit itself every bit as well as the Spitfire and in the aggregate (there were more than three Hurricanes to two Spitfires) do greater damage among the Luftwaffe. Duel of Eagles, Group Captain Peter Wooldridge Townsend, CVO, DSO, DFC and Bar, RAF. Cassell Publishers Limited, London, Chapter 13 at Pages 153154. Hurricane Attack by Robert Taylor

4 November 1954: The Strategic Air Command retired its last B-29 Superfortress four-engine heavy bomber to the aircraft storage facility at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona. The Men Who Brought the Dawn - Lonely Flight to Destiny by Craig Kodera

"The Hump" was the nickname Allied pilots gave the airlift operation that crossed the Himalayan foothills into China. It was the Army Air Force's most dangerous airlift route; it was the only way to supply Chinese forces fighting Japan. By the time the United States began running supplies to the Chinese forces fighting Japan, the Western part of the country was firmly controlled by the invading Japanese. The Japanese also controlled Burma, on India's Eastern border, cutting ...Continue reading

3 November 1926: Charles Augustus Lindbergh, chief pilot of the Robertson Aircraft Corporation, St. Louis, Missouri, was flying a night air mail route between St. Louis and Chicago, Illinois. His airplane was a modified De Havilland DH-4B, U.S. Postal Service Airmail Plane Number 109. Lindbergh was flying Contract Air Mail Route 2, or C.A.M. No. 2. He departed St. Louis at 4:20 p.m. and made his first stop at Springfield, Illinois, at 5:15 p.m. He then continued on the seco...nd stage, Springfield to Peoria, Illinois. Visibility was poor, about a half-mile in fog. Lindbergh flew at 600 feet but was unable to see the ground. Near the air field at Peoria, he could see lights from 200 feet altitude, but was unable to land. After circling for 30 minutes, he continued toward Chicago. Lindbergh occasionally saw lights on the ground through the fog, but with his fuel running low, he decided that he was going to have to abandon his airplane. He headed out over more open country and climbed to 14,000 feet. At 8:10 p.m., the de Havilland’s fuel supply was exhausted and the engine stopped. Lindbergh switched off the battery and magnetos, then stepped over the side. He immediately pulled the ripcord of his parachute and safely descended to the ground. Airmail Plane Number 109 crashed on the farm of Charles and Lillie Thompson, near Covell, a small town southwest of Bloomington, Illinois. Lindbergh had been unable to find the wreck in the darkness, but in daylight, it was clearly visible just 500 feet from the Thompson’s house. This was the fourth time that Charles Lindbergh has used a parachute to escape from an airplane. The last time was just six weeks earlier. He resigned from Robertson Aircraft and formed a group to finance and build the Spirit of St. Louis. Charles Augustus Lindbergh flew his new airplane across the Atlantic Ocean, non-stop, solo, 2021 May 1927. Afternoon Mail by Bill Phillips

2 Nov 1950: In a ceremony at The White House, Washington, D.C., President Harry S. Truman presented the Harmon International Trophies for the period 19401949. The Harmon aviator’s trophy was awarded to Lieutenant General James Harold (Jimmy) Doolittle, United States Air Force (Retired), the wartime commanding general of the Eighth Air Force. General Doolittle had previously been awarded the Harmon U.S. national aviator’s trophy in 1929, for his work on instrument flying. I Could Never Be So Lucky Again by Bill Phillips

31 October 1940. All Clear. The Battle of Britain, which began on 10 July 1940, came to an end. It was a decisive victory for the Royal Air Force. The German Luftwaffe began its bombing campaign against Britain with the intention of forcing the R.A.F. to defend the cities. The German leaders believed that they could destroy the Royal Air Force in air-to-air combat. It was necessary to eliminate the British air service in order to proceed with the cross-Channel invasion of t...he British Isles, Operation Sea Lion. Commander of Fighter Command, Air Chief Marshall Hugh Dowding, understood that he needed to choose when and where to fight. Using the secret Chain Home system of radar stations, he was able to place his fighter squadrons above the German bomber formations. Though Germany started the Battle with a 3:2 advantage in numbers of airplanes (and most of them more modern and superior to the majority of aircraft Britain had available for its defense), the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters took a heavy toll on Luftwaffe crews. At the beginning of the Battle of Britain, the R.A.F. and Royal Naval Air Service had a total of 1,963 airplanes, most of them obsolete. Germany had 2,550 fighters and bombers, most of them very modern. By the end, however, Britain had lost 554 men killed, 422 wounded and 1,547 airplanes destroyed. Germany lost 2,698 killed, 967 captured and 638 missing, with 1,887 airplanes destroyed. Because the Luftwaffe directed most of its attacks against the civilian population, a concept of Total War which Germany had first used when its airships bombed London during World War I, 23,002 men, women and children were killed and 32,138 wounded. Because of a system of dispersed manufacture, Britain was able to replace the losses in aircraft. Many pilots parachuted to safety and were able to return to combat immediately. Germany’s industrial output could not keep up with its combat losses, and the Luftwaffe could not replace the lost airmen. Operation Sea Lion was cancelled. Hitler looked to the East. Fear Nothing andThe Merlin Chorus by Anthony Saunders

28 October 1925: The court martial of Colonel William (Billy) Mitchell, Air Service, United States Army, began at Washington, D.C. For his criticism of the U.S. Navy’s leadership in regard to a number of deadly aviation accidents, he was charged with eight counts of insubordination. (Mitchell had been returned to his permanent rank of colonel after completing his term as Assistant Chief of the Air Service, during which he retained the temporary rank of brigadier general tha...t he had held during World War I.) Billy Mitchell had been the senior American air officer in France during World War I. He was a determined advocate for the advancement of military air power and encouraged his officers to compete in air races and attempt to set aviation records to raise the Air Service’ public profile. He gained great notoriety when he bombed and sank several captured German warships to demonstrate the effectiveness of airplanes against ships. His outspoken advocacy resulted in the famous Court Martial of Billy Mitchell, in which a military court consisting of twelve senior Army officers found Mitchell guilty of insubordination. He was reduced in rank and suspended for five years without pay. Major General Douglas MacArthur (later, General of the Army, a five-star rank) said that the order to serve on the court was, . . . one of the most distasteful orders I ever received. Mitchell resigned from the Army and continued to advocate for air power. He died in 1936. After his death, President Franklin D. Roosevelt elevated Billy Mitchell to the rank of Major General on the retired officers list. The North American Aviation B-25 twin-engine medium bomber was named Mitchell in recognition of General Mitchell’s efforts to build up the military air capabilities of the United States.

Anniversary Edition Hornchurch Scramble, Bader’s Bus Company, Sigh of the Merlin, and bonus Wings of Glory 2021 Calendar (because-enough of 2020). All included in our Robert Taylor Spitfire Package, 30% off on our Bay Store (discount shown in your shopping cart). https://www.ebay.com/itm/224212570900

The Eagles Divide a New Release by Robert Taylor (please email or call about ordering - we can’t list this on our website right now due to some issues with Yahoo’s server/power outages. We will list this on our website as soon as we can. Email:[email protected]) The Third Reich was crumbling. As the long nights of winter grew increasingly shorter, by February 1945 the Allied forces on the ground were advancing ever deeper into German territory, tightening the noose on Hitler’s... failing armies. In the air, the Luftwaffe was fighting a losing battle. Having lost control of the skies they were increasingly powerless to stop the Allied Air Forces degrading what little was left of the German war machine. Yet, short of fuel, aircraft, spare parts and pilots, the survivors fought on in a dogged but determined daylight struggle to stop the US Eighth Air Force bombers from reaching their targets. From the moment the first long-range P-51 Mustangs had appeared in German skies, the Luftwaffe was, however, facing an uphill struggle. No longer did the American bombers have to fend for themselves as they ventured deep into enemy territory. With the introduction of the P-51 probably the finest long-range piston-engine fighter of all time they now had close escorts at all times and although it had taken months of grim and bitter encounters, the Allies had finally established total control of the skies. It was still no easy task for the Mustang pilots who had to remain ever vigilant, as battle-weary pilots of the Luftwaffe refused to surrender. Robert Taylor’s bold masterwork The Eagles Divide portrays one of the many increasingly desperate Luftwaffe attacks on the big daylight raids undertaken by the heavy bombers of the Eighth Air Force to pound strategic targets still in German hands, as Bf109Gs from JG4 are once again thwarted in their attempt to attack a large force of American bombers over northern Germany in February 1945. Luckily for the bomber crews, eagle-eyed P-51 escort pilots from the 339th Fighter Group have quickly spotted the danger and dive to break up the enemy formation with a perilous head-on pass whilst, in the distance, their colleagues race to join the action and disperse the Luftwaffe attack. The Limited Edition : Along with artist Robert Taylor, every print carries the original signature of one of the Luftwaffe’s most prominent Aces who flew in combat during the Defense of the Reich: Major ERICH RUDORFFER Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves & Swords / 222 victories Overall Print Size: 32 wide x 24 high Image Size: 25 wide x 16 high The limited edition print is $295

26 October 1962: The United States Air Force received the 116th and last Convair B-58 Hustler. It was assigned to the 305th Bombardment Wing at Bunker Hill Air Force Base, Indiana. After just over seven years in service, this airplane was retired to The Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, 6 January 1970. It is on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum, nearby. (If you haven’t been to Pima Air & Space, it’s a great visit!) The B-58 Hustler was a high-al...titude Mach 2 strategic bomber which served with the United States Air Force from 1960 to 1970. It was crewed by a pilot, navigator/bombardier and a defensive systems operator, located in individual cockpits. The aircraft is a delta-winged configuration similar to the Convair F-102A Delta Dagger and F-106 Delta Dart supersonic interceptors. Faster Than a Speeding Bullet by Mike Machat