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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 |
David Lockspeiser (deceased) *Signature Value : £50 | Joining the RAF in 1949 he flew with various fighter squadrons on many aircraft including Vampires and Meteors. After leaving the RAF in 1955 he joined Hawker Aircraft Ltd as a test pilot where he was instrumental in the development and production testing of the Hunter and also the Sea Fury and Buccaneer. On leaving Hawker in 1976 he joined BAC as a communications and test pilot and in 1977 was under contract to Lockheed, running all aspects of the fighter testing department for specific weapons, navigation and reconnaissance development. Whilst still test flying he formed Lockspeiser Aircraft Ltd serving as Managing Director, to develop his own design, the Land Development Aircraft (G-AVOR). The prototype was first flown in 1971 and he oversaw development to production configuration until 1989. In all he flew 7100 hours and 90 types of aircraft. He died on 23rd March 2014. |
Duncan Simpson OBE (deceased) *Signature Value : £50 | Educated at the De Havilland Aeronautical Technical School he joined the RAF in 1949 and completed a tour with 222 Squadron. He then served with the Central Fighter Establishment flying Vampires, Meteors, Venoms, Swifts, Sabres and Hunters. Joining Hawker Aircraft Ltd as a test pilot in 1954 he became involved in development and production test flying of the Hunter. From 1964 he was part of the P.1127 Kestrel - Harrier Squadron and became responsible for the conversion of the Kestrel Tripartite Evaluation Programme pilots. In 1969 he repeated this with the first RAF Harrier training team. Awarded the Queens Commendation in 1969 he became Hawker Chief Test Pilot in 1970 and continued on the Harrier dvelopment, making the first flight in the Hawk aircraft in 1974. Retiring from flying in 1978 he became Deputy Director of the Society of British Aerospace Companies until he finally retired in 1992. He died on 7th December 2017. |
Hugh Merewether OBE (deceased) *Signature Value : £50 | Born in South Africa, he joined the South African Navy during WWII and after secondment to the Royal Navy was taught to fly by the US Navy in 1944. From 1948 to 1953 he worked under Sir Barnes Wallis at Vickers Armstrong in research and development and during this time flew with 615 Squadron on Meteors. After spending a year as a freelance pilot he joined Hawker as a test pilot in 1954 where his aeronautical engineering background led to development flying of the Hunter. He had a deep involvement in a comprehensive inverted spinning programme and all aspects of the Hunter development. In 1967 he became Chief Test Pilot at Hawker and worked extensively on the P.1127 and its derivatives, the Kestrel and the Harrier. While test flying the P.1127 on 30th October 1962 the P.1127 suffered a catastrophic engine failure and fire over West Sussex. Rather than eject, he managed a high-speed glide landing at RAF Tangmere thereby allowing engineers to investigate the cause. In recognition of this feat, Merewether was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air. and later a OBE in 1965. He retired in 1970. sadly Hugh Merewether past away on 13th September 2006. |
Squadron Leader Neville Duke, DSO, OBE, DFC*, AFC, CzMC (deceased) *Signature Value : £75 | Neville Duke flew Spitfires as wingman to Sailor Malan in 92 Squadron. In November 1941 he was posted to 112 Squadron in the Middle East. After a second tour in the Desert, he flew a third tour, with 145 Squadron in Italy. He was the top scoring Allied Ace in the Mediterranean with 28 victories. After the war, in 1953, he captured the World Air Speed record. He died 7th April 2007. |
The Aircraft : | |
Name | Info |
Hunter | Hawker Hunter F-1 to Fr-10 jet fighter and fighter reconnaissance aircraft first flew with No43 squadron Royal Air Force in July 1954. The Hawker Hunter continued service until 1971. The Hunters were used by two RAF display units, the "Black Arrows" of No. 111 Squadron who set a record by looping and barrel rolling in formation 22 Hunters, and later the "Blue Diamonds" of 92 Squadron that used 16 Hunters. A total of 1,972 Hunters were produced by Hawker Siddeley and under licence. |
Artist Details : Gerald Coulson |
Click here for a full list of all artwork by Gerald Coulson |
Gerald Coulson Gerald Coulson has been painting professionally for over 47 years and has a reputation that is second to none. Entirely self taught, he developed his technique to such a high standard that his work was published as fine art prints, enabling him to begin a full time painting career in 1969. Since that time his work, covering many different subjects, has been published and marketed worldwide as both open and limited edition prints. Gerald has had many one-man shows both in the UK and the USA and his work has been extensively exhibited throughout the world. A recent one man show of his in the UK attracted more than 3000 people in two days. The Fine Art Trade Guild have placed him in the top ten best selling artists no less than fifteen times - three times at number one. Coulson's passion for aircraft stems from childhood. This passion led to an apprenticeship as an aircraft engineer after which he served in the RAF as a technician and with British Airways as an engineer at Heathrow. His knowledge of aircraft engineering, combined with his drawing ability, led to him becoming a Technical Illustrator of service manuals for Civil and Military aircraft. These experiences and technical background have allowed him an insight and intimate knowledge of the aircraft he paints. Along with a unique ability to capture these aircraft on canvas this naturally led to a painting career which he has developed to successfully cover a wide variety of subjects. Following a trip to the 1991 British Grand Prix his interest in Motor racing was fuelled. His ability to capture the technical detail and a talent for painting subjects at speed meant that this was a perfect natural progression alongside his aviation work and he is now also firmly established as one of the worlds leading motor racing artists. A Vice President and founder member of the Guild of Aviation Artists he is a four times winner of the Flight International Trophy for outstanding aviation painting. He qualified for his pilots licence in 1960 and is still actively flying today - mostly vintage aircraft, and can often be seen buzzing over the Fens of Cambridgeshire in a Tiger Moth. Whatever the subject he paints, whether aviation, landscape or portrait, his unique ability to capture the realism and 'mood'of the scene is unsurpassed, making him one of the most widely collected and highly regarded artists in the world today. Between 2003 and 2008 Cranston Fine Arts purchased the remaining back catalogue prints from Gerald Coulson's previous publishers. His early prints are now very sought after and many items which we purchased are now at very low stock levels with many sold out already. At the time of writing, many are down to the last 20 or even as low as the last few prints. We only sell direct to our customers and not through other outlets, which means nearly all these prints are exclusively available direct from us. More about Gerald Coulson |
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This website is owned by Cranston Fine Arts. Torwood House, Torwoodhill Road, Rhu, Helensburgh, Scotland, G848LE Contact: Tel: (+44) (0) 1436 820269. Email: cranstonorders -at- outlook.com |
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