|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Military-Art.com  Michael Rondot |
[UP] - Chris Collingwood - David Pentland - Ivan Berryman - Randall Wilson - Brian Palmer - Anthony Saunders - Nicolas Trudgian - Robert Taylor - Brian Wood - Graeme Lothian - Tim Fisher - Simon Smith - Gerald Coulson - Michael Rondot - Mark Churms - Geoff Lea - Stuart Liptrot - Jim Lancia - Alan Herriot - John Wynne Hopkins - Demoulin - Gordon Wilson - Robert Barbour - Richard Taylor - John D Shaw - Print List by Artist - Antique Military Art - Military Paperweights |
| Navigation | |
| Page 3 of 3 | Previous .. Page 3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Navigation | |
| Page 3 of 3 | Previous .. Page 3 |
| Text for the above items : |
Arctic Warrior by Michael Rondot. Bardufoss airbase, over 150 miles North of the Arctic circle in the far North of Norway, was for twenty years the deployment base for No.41(F) Squadron Jaguars. Flying in the ground attack and reconnaissance roles, the former Battle of Britain Squadron were Arctic operations specialists in a region noted for its dangerous winter weather and extreme flying conditions. This print portrays a Jaguar GR3, carrying Vinten JRP reconnaissance pod, in action during NATO exercises in the rugged and inhospitable area where military pilots enjoy some of the most challenging flying in the world. Michael Rondot has drawn on his own experiences of low flying in north Norway to create a stunning painting dominated by the camouflaged Jaguar and dramatically illustrating the bleak terrain and atmosphere of an Arctic Warrior! |
Atlantic Trail by Michael Rondot. To keep straight in the tankers wingtip vortices you have applied right spoiler and a bootfull of rudder, whilst your death-grip on the stick is inducing a violent porpoiseing motion. Over the radio a calm voice from the tanker clears you in, so with one engine in afterburner and with eyes like saucers you move forward to attempt a controlled mid-air collision. Welcome to the air-to-air refuelling club. Ever wondered what it is like learning to tank? Imagine a fragile basket trailing six feet up and down at the end of a fifty-foot hose as the tanker flexes its wings in turbulence. In your cockpit it feels like the throttles are connected to the engines with knicker elastic. Most military pilots use colourful language to describe their first stabs at air-to-air refuelling with phrases like: it was like a goat taking a running f##k at a rolling doughnut. With practice it gets easier, and phrases like rat up a drain pipe and in like a burglar become the norm, but it is a tricky business, especially at night or in turbulent cloud. |
In the Air Tonight by Michael Rondot. A Tornado GR-1 with JP 233 airfield denial weapons taking off at the start of a night low-level mission to attack an airfield target deep within Iraq. The television images of the Gulf War air campaign as a series of precision attacks with laser-guided bombs, dropped from the relative safety of medium altitude, takes no account of the fearsome price that was paid in delivering these early low-level attacks. During the opening nights of Operation Desert Storm hundreds of RAF, US and Coalition aircraft unleashed a tidal wave of low-level bombing attacks on airfield targets in Iraq and in occupied Kuwait. Spearheading the RAF attack were Tornado GR.1 units based at Tabuk and Dhahran in Saudi Arabia and Muharraq, Bahrain. These early missions, flown at low-altitude, often under cover of darkness, were strictly for the brave. Approaching their targets over featureless desert, the aircrews were faced with ferocious barrages of AAA gunfire and missiles defending the airfields. It took a special kind of determination to press home attacks in the face of the full fury of Iraqs air defenses flying straight and level through curtains of tracer fire to deliver JP 233 weapons. Afterwards, some of the pilots were icily matter-of-fact about these missions: You could see the AAA from over twenty miles away but from five miles out at 200 feet you could steer a path through the lines of tracer to the target. It was a bit scary, but we were more concerned about being forced off track and laying down our weapons a hundred yards right or left of the intended impact path, than we were about bullets going past the window. Others were more sombre about their experiences, perhaps realising that running a gauntlet of enemy fire and surviving unscathed owed more than a little to luck and the Iraqi gunners tactics of hosing the sky with unaimed fire |
747 Classic by Michael Rondot. Last copies of this otherwise sold out edition available. |
Jaguars Over Kilduff by Michael Rondot. A striking portrayal of a simulated low-level attack by four Jaguars from RAF Coltishall, over the beautiful pastoral landscape of Kilduff, in East Lothian, Scotland. Since its introduction in the 1970s to front-line service in the ground attack; nuclear strike and reconnaissance roles, the Jaguar has defied sceptics and proved itself to be one of the finest tactical aircraft in the history of the Royal Air Force. Battle-tested in the Gulf War, where 618 combat sorties were flown without loss by just 12 aircraft, the Jaguar now enjoys an enviable reputation as an effective, rugged and exceptionally reliable combat aircraft. |
Coltishall - End of the Line by Michael Rondot. Life on the flightline at Royal Air Force Coltishall with the 41 Squadron engineering line building in the background. Coltishall was the last Royal Air Force station to operate three squadrons of aircraft from flightlines in front of squadron hangars and the last operational front-line former Battle of Britain fighter station. |
Rock and Roll by Michael Rondot. You dont have to be an aviator to know that low flying in mountain valleys is fun. Anyone who has ever seen high-performance jets rolling and pulling through mountain passes will have correctly guessed that it is challenging, and exciting adrenaline-pumping stuff. Artist Michael Rondot served as a fast-jet pilot in the RAF for 25 years and remembers his introduction to low flying in North Wales : My first encounter with the A5 pass at Ogwen came in 1969 when I was a student pilot flying the Folland Gnat trainer from RAF Valley. My instructor, a chap called Norrie Bell, took control of the aircraft towards the end of a training sortie and said Shut up and watch, I want to show you something. We descended through a break in the cloud cover to low level, very low level, closer to the ground than I had ever been except when landing and accelerated to 420 knots. This was my first experience of low flying in the Gnat and I sat mesmerised in the front cockpit with eyes like saucers as the ground rushed past. Trees, water, stone walls and roads flashed by as we continued to accelerate to 480 knots at very low level. Suddenly we were in a deep U-shaped valley with a cloud-covered rock wall at the far end and, as far as I could see, no means of escape except by climbing, and climbing very, very soon, like NOW ! Next thing, I saw the ground rotate and we were in a hard 5G turn pulling DOWN into the valley floor with about 135 degrees of right bank and descending below the level of the road which I could see above my head. We raced out of the valley, still in the weeds until reaching Bethesda village when with a long sigh he handed over control to me and announced: That, young Michael, was the A5 pass. I never forgot that experience and during the next 23 years I took every opportunity to revisit the A5 pass in whatever aircraft I happened to be flying. In 1977 I flew it in a Canberra PR9 on a windy day in poor weather but would not care to repeat that frightening experience. I flew it many times in Hawk and Jaguar aircraft. For me it has a mystique unlike any other place in the UK low flying system. The best students at RAF Valley got the chance to fly the A5 pass in fighting wing formation just like these two in my painting, but I dare say the instructors in the back seats are doing the flying. |
Vampire Sunset by Michael Rondot. The popular and versatile Vampire served with front line RAF fighter squadrons until 1955 and continued in use as a trainer until 1966. This edition portrays Vampire FB9s over their Lincolnshire base at sunset pulling up into a formation loop. |
Lightning Legend by Michael Rondot. 226 OCU / 145 Sqn RAF Coltishall EE Lightning T5 XS420 226 OCU / 145 Sqn RAF Coltishall, taking off in full reheat for a max performance rotation and climb. No other jet fighter has been sorely missed since the Lightning retired from RAF service and the Counter Aviation Authority (CAA) set about keeping surviving examples grounded. However, not all fighters die, and some Lightnings did not fade away either. They lived on because there were people willing to spend time and fortunes lavishing TLC on them until 1999, against all odds and officialdom, Lightnings are back in the sky. The return of the Lightning is celebrated in Michael Rondots brilliant portrayal of a Lightning T5 in the markings of 226 OCU/145 Squadron taking off in full re-heat for a maximum rotation climbout. This outrageous, extravagant display of scorching performance is just one of the heady delights of the gloriously overpowered Lightning. It is an aircraft of which legends are made. Stories abound this special aircraft and the pilots who flew it but none were more deserving of legendary status than the test pilots who first flew the Lighting. |
Panavia Tornado GR1 by Michael Rondot. A 14 Squadron Tornado GR1 based at RAF Bruggen Germany carrying a full JP233 war fit roars into the sky as a Jaguar overshoots to the right of the runway to go around to land. Of all the television and press images of the Gulf War, few were as dramatic as the pictures of the first waves of aircraft taking off to attack Iraqi airfields under cover of darkness. Yet when this print of a Tornado taking off carrying a full warload of JP 233 airfield denial weapons was published, such a scenario was unthinkable. The events of 1991 are foretold in this powerful portrayal of a Tornado taking off in a blast of steam from a rain drenched runway, with a Jaguar strike/attack aircraft breaking into the circuit in the background. |
Magpies Over Baghdad by Michael Rondot (AP) During February 2003, fourteen RAAF F/A-18 Hornets flew to Al Udeid airbase in Qatar for air operations over Iraq as part of Operation Falconer. This was the first overseas deployment of Australian fighter aircraft for combat operations since July 1953 when RAAF Meteor F8s flew their last ground attack missions of the Korean War. The Australians were airborne from the start of the airstrikes on 20th March and continued in the thick of the action of the air campaign until the end of combat operations on 27th April, by which time they had flown 350 combat missions and dropped 122 laser guided bombs. Their missions ranged from air defence to interdiction and close air support and included operations with Australian SAS and Commando forces, as well as numerous missions flown in support of US Marines involved in fierce street fighting around Baghdad and Tikrit. The Hornets returned to Australia in May after one of the most successful combat deployments in the history of the RAAF. |
Phantom Farewell by Michael Rondot. Old fighters never die and they dont fade away either. They live on in the hearts and minds of aircrews, groundcrews and enthusiasts alike. The F-4 Phantom may have reached the end of its front-line service with the RAF but the legend will live on for the big, powerful, beautifully ugly fighter. Revered by its aircrew for both its performance and firepower, the Phantom may be the last fighter-pilots fighter to have seen service with the RAF. Whether flying low-level combat air patrols over Germany, defending the Falkland Islands, or just simply chewing up the Tornado F3s and spitting out the remains over the North Sea, the Phantom has seen it all and done it all. |
Typhoon Legacy by Michael Rondot. (AP) Battle of Britain Spitfire Mk 1a, P7350 from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, flies in tight formation with the first production Eurofighter single seater F2. |
Whirlwind by Michael Rondot. In a typical scene that many will remember from the 1950s and 60s, a Royal Navy Westland Whirlwind flies a low patrol along the shoreline. The Whirlwind is depicted over Eccles on Sea, Norfolk. It is a typical peaceful summers day and the crew have time to sit and wave at the holidaymakers below. |
Mirage III First and Last by Michael Rondot. In this classic study of 2 v 2 air combat, two Mirage II fighters of the Royal Australian Air Force turn at the merge to engage a pair of evading A4 skyhawks over the Pacific. The painting features the first and last Australian built Mirages in the colours of nos. 75 and 77 squadrons. |
Second to None by Michael Rondot. (AP) The unofficial motto of Number 2 Squadron Royal Air Force. It features, in typical Rondot style (and typical British weather!) Two No II (AC) Sqn Tornado GR-1As landing on a rain soaked runway on a typically filthy and wet Friday afternoon just minutes before the bar opens, and their home base at RAF Marham in Norfolk, closes in cross winds and driving rain. (Just in time to get to the mess for a quick one!) The main aircraft illustrated, is ZA400 (T) which was the personal aircraft of Wg Cdr R F Garwood DFC during the Gulf War in which he flew 19 low level night reconnaissance missions over Iraq. Notice the spray shooting off the main and nose wheel undercarriage legs, the distorted reflections of red and green bouncing up from the runway from the Port and Starboard navigation lights, you can almost feel the pressure and the whole weight of the awesome Tornado bearing down on that nose wheel as the aircraft decelerates down from its initial 150kts landing speed to the subtle gentle momentum of taxi. But what makes it for me is the second ship just behind and to the left of Zulu Alpha 400 bringing up the rear, braking hard, landing lights full on in an naive attempt to try to carve out a tunnel of vision for the Pilot in an absolute impossible wall of spray behind the leader. (Try this one, Michael Schumacher?) |
Operation TELIC by Michael Rondot. (AP) During 2003 RAF Tornado GR4s from RAF Marham and Lossiemouth Wings deployed to the Gulf region as part of Operation TELIC (the UK codename for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM) As the deadline for war in Iraq approached, the detachments al Ali al Salem AB, Kuwait, and Al Udeld AB, Qatar, prepared for action 12 years after the end of the first Gulf War in 1991. This time however, the RAF was much better prepared, with new weapons systems and tactics developed after long years of operational combat experience on Operation SOUTHERN WATCH over Iraq and in the skies over the Balkans. Operation TELIC was a high tech war for the Tornado GR4 uing long range reconnaissance systems and medium altitude attacks. It was exclusively a precison guided weapons conflct in which the ornad GR4 Force, its aircrews, groundcrews and support teams performed with distiction. This striking new painting by artist Michael Rondot depicts a pair of Tornado GR4s on station over the Baghdad killbox. The aircraft are powerfully set against the ominous background of central Baghdad sprawling beneath the dark smoke of oil fires deliberately lit in an effort to mask the city from airborne targeting pods. Many RAF aircraft received colourful nose art during th conflict and these Tornados were no exception; ZA542 DM and ZA560 BC became Danger Mouse and Brave Coq, and both carried tribtes to favourite Scottish Whiskies alongside their mission markings. With their paint finish battered and weather beaten by the scars of battle, the aircraft are portrayed in the typical interdiction/Close Air Support fit, armed with Paveway II GPS/laser guided bombs, TIALD pod and RBL-755 cluster bomb to represent all Tornado GR4 Op TELIC operations |
|
Contact Details |
|
Sign Up To Our Newsletter!
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 |
 |
