Details
ONE MIG DOWN
by Robert Taylor
Overall Print Size: 31;" x 24½;"
Edition Size: 400
On Saturday 29 May 1948, four Avia S-199s (second-hand Czechoslovak built Messerschmitt Bf109s), climbed out from a dusty airstrip a few miles outside Tel Aviv. They belonged to the nation's tiny Air Force, quickly assembled from a motley collection of surplus World War II equipment, and been in existence for less than twenty-four hours. Now, with the combined armies of seven Arab countries punching their way into the fledgling state, the new air force was going into action for the first time. As the four pilots peeled away south to intercept the Egyptian army advancing out of Gaza, little did they, or anyone else, realize that this was just the beginning, the first of many conflicts in which the pilots of the IAF would be called upon to defend Israel's very existence.
Over the next three decades almost endless aerial engagements would be fought against the air forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan. They included Suez in 1956, the Six Day War in 1967 during which over 450 Arab aircraft were destroyed, the War of Attrition in 1970 when the IAF claimed 111 aerial kills against four losses, and the Yom Kippur War in 1973 when the Israeli Air Force shot down 334 enemy aircraft for the loss of five of their own. By now the battle-hardened Israeli Air Force had become - and remains - one of the most expert and deadly air fighting machines the world has ever seen.
> Robert Taylor's exciting painting "ONE MIG DOWN" depicts a typical mission during the War of Attrition and was specially commissioned to honor the memory of one such pilot - Lt Colonel Avraham 'Avi' Lanir - Commander of 101 Squadron and one of the most respected pilots to fly with the IAF. The dramatic portrayal depicts the moment when, on 9 November 1972, a formation of four IAF Mirages led by Lanir intercepts four Syrian Mig-21s high over the Syrian Desert. In the ensuing dog-fight two MiGs were shot down, one by a missile fired by Lanir.
Created with the direct input of one of the greatest Jet Aces of the Supersonic age, Giora Epstein, the spectacular "ONE MIG DOWN" is a tribute to one of the greatest fighter leaders of the Israeli Air Force, Lt Colonel Avraham Lanir and depicts an arena of aviation combat that is seldom depicted. This historic print is endorsed by some of the most legendary Jet Aces in history and the edition in addition to the artist is individually signed in pencil by a staggering TWENTY-SIX Israeli Aces that flew the Mirage in combat, amassing a total of more than 207 victories between them:
- Col. Giora Even EPSTEIN - The highest scoring Jet to Jet Ace in history with 17 confirmed victories
- Lt. Col. Avraham SOLOMON - a Double Ace with at least 14½ victories
- Brig. Gen. Israel BAHARAV - a Double Ace with a minimum of 12 confirmed victories
- Col. Yehuda KOREN - a Double Ace credited with at least 10½ victories
- Lt. Col. Shlomo LEVI - a Double Ace with a minimum of 10 confirmed victories
- Colonel Oded MAROM - a Double Ace with at least 11 victories
- Brig. Gen. Iftach SPECTOR - a Double Ace with a minimum of 12 victories
- Major General Giora ROM - the Israeli Air Force's first ever jet Ace with at least 5 confirmed victories
- Major Eitan KARMI - an Ace with at least 9 victories
- Major Dror HARISH - an Ace with at least 9 confirmed victories
- Brig. Gen. Amos AMIR - an Ace with a minimum of 9 victories
- Lt. Col. Menahem SHMUL - an Ace with at least 5 confirmed victories
- Major Reuven ROZEN - an Ace with a minimum of 5 victories
- Col. Ilan GONEN - an Ace with at least 8 confirmed victories
- Brig. Gen. Ran Ronen PEKER - an ace with at least 7 victories
- Lt. Col. Moshe HERTZ - an Ace with at least 6½ confirmed victories
- Captain Avrahm GILAD - an Ace with a minimum of 5 victories
- Brig. Gen. Menachem SHARON- an Ace with a minimum of 6 confirmed victories
- Major Gidon DROR - an Ace with a minimum of 5 confirmed victories
- Col. Uri Even NIR - an Ace with at least 6 confirmed victories
- Col. Gidon LIVNI - an Ace with a minimum of 5½ confirmed victories
- Lt. Col. Yoram GEAV - an Ace with a minimum of 5 confirmed victories
- Brig. Gen. URIGIL - an Ace with a minimum of 7½ victories, the world's oldest fighter pilot who was still flying operationally at 60
- Major Ithamar NEUNER - an Ace with at least 5 victories
- Lt. Col. Ariel COHEN - an Ace with at least 5 confirmed victories
- Lt. Col. Yermi KEEIDAR - an ace with at least 7 victories
Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity
