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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. 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 (signed in person) Jernstedt, Kenneth A (signed in person) + Artist : Stan Stokes Signature(s) value alone : £105 £340.00 SPECIAL OFFER : ADD A CLIPPED SIGNATURE TO THE ABOVE PRINT AT A VERY SPECIAL RATE! Add Signature : Lawrence Powell. for £30.00 Buy One Get One Half Price Add Signature : Fred Cherry. for £40.00 Add Signature : Leonard B Smith. for £50.00 Buy One Get One Half Price Add Signature : Cole Windham. for £30.00 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 Details : Stan Stokes

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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. More about Stan Stokes

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