Fast Company
Fw 190 D-9 of IV./JG 26 in aerial combat with P-51D Mustangs
Fast Company © Nicolas Trudgian
Fast Company © Nicolas Trudgian
Description
Limited Edition:
* * Each print has a unique original pencil drawing inscribed on it by the Artist. Drawing size usually is approximately 5" x 2".
Nicolas Trudgian's aviation art print 'Fast Company' is portraying the threat posed by the Luftwaffe during the closing weeks of the war and depicts Focke-Wulf 190 D-9 of IV./JG 26 in aerial combat with P-51D Mustangs of the 78th Fighter Group.
In the closing months of the war, the Allies on the Western and Eastern Fronts forced the Germans back towards their homeland. The Luftwaffe, despite dreadful odds, continued to fight with great tenacity. The fighter pilots were mostly young and barely trained, but were led by the few surviving more experienced 'experten' pilots and were often fortunate in the quality of the aircraft they flew. Most numerous and feared by the Allies was Fw190 D-9, or 'Dora' as it became known. It was more than a match for all Allied fighters including the magnificent P51D Mustang. This fact was pressed home on the 19th March 1945 when Mustangs of the illustrious 78th Fighter Group lost four of their aircraft to the Doras of IV/JG26.
The Mustang pilots had been flying a patrol over Germany from their base at Duxford in England and had first encountered Me109K fighters of IV/JG27. In the frenzied dogfight that ensued, the Mustangs downed twelve of the Messerschmitts. However, they then had the misfortune to run into the path of the Doras of JG26 led by the formidable Oberleutant Hans Dortenmann in his distinctive yellow-tailed 'Black 1'. Dortenmann shot down two of the four Mustangs and a further two were also lost before the 78th could make for home. It was a stark reminder of the supremacy of the D-9 and the threat the Luftwaffe still posed.
Dortenmann continued to lead his young pilots to the end of the war by which time his total of victories in the D-9 had risen to eighteen thereby making him the top scoring 'Dora' Ace of the war.
The art print 'Fast Company' is printed with lightfast inks on acid-free archival paper.
The art print 'Fast Company' is printed with lightfast inks on acid-free archival paper.
Limited Edition:
- 100 Artist's Special Reserve Edition, signiert and numbered by the Artist Nicolas Trudgian.
- 370 numbered Warrior Edition, signed by the Artist and Erich Rudorffer KCOS, Hugo Broch KC, Heribert Koller, DKiG.
- 10 Warrior Remarque Edition, signed as above, plus Remarque* by the Artist on the print border.
- 255 Dora Edition, signed by the Artist and eighteen outstanding Luftwaffe Fw 190D-9 Aces, all Knights Cross holders:
Hans-Ekkehard Bob KC, Hugo Broch KC, Hugo Dahmer KC, Adolf Dickfeld KCO, Hajo Herrmann KCOS, Heinz Lange KC, Walther Loos KC, Maximilian Mayerl KC, Hermann Neuhoff KC, Günther Rall KCOS, Willi Reschke KC, Edmund Rossmann KC, Erich Rudorffer KCO, Walter Schuck KCO, Otto Schultz KC, Günter Seeger KC, Fritz Seyffardt KC and Walter Wolfrum KC. - 10 Dora Remarque Edition, signed as above, plus Remarque* by the Artist on the print border.
- 5 Nowotny and Oesau Tribute Edition, signed by the artist and the eighteen Luftwaffe fighter pilots of the Dora edition plus the rare clipped wartime signatures of Walter Nowotny KCOSD and Walter Oesau KCOS. Both these outstanding Aces were killed in action during the war. The Tribute Edition comes with laser copy signatures matted in the mount and the wartime signatures separate in a protective folder.
- 30 Canvas Giclee Edition. A full-size canvas reproduction of the painting, individually signed in paint by the artist. Size approximately 91 cm x 61 cm (38" x 24")
Published 2014
Overall Height ca.
61,5
cm
Overall Width ca.
87
cm
