Details
PHANTOM FURY
by Robert Taylor
Overall Print Size: 3 1/2" x 23 1/2"
Edition Size: 750
Not since Robert Taylor's "PHANTOM STRIKE" (which is long sold out and sells for upwards to $2500.00 on the secondary market) has there been such an amazing print of the F-4 Phantom. All editions of this new release are selling very quickly and will likely sell out at the publisher soon. Be one of the first to own this remarkable print!
The biggest, fastest, most powerful fighter of its day, the McDonnell Phantom was an awesome war machine that came to dominate aerial combat for over two decades. It may have been the size of many World War II bombers but it could outperform anything that crossed its path; it was quicker, could turn faster, was better equipped with electronics, carried more ordnance than anything comparable, and it had an unbelievable rate of climb. The F-4 Phantom was the benchmark against which every fighter in the world came to be judged; it was simply the best. And when it saw combat for the first time, in Vietnam in 1961, it was the lucky Navy and Marine Corps pilots who were the first to fly it. Whether it was carrier-based attack with the Navy, land-based bombing missions with the Marines, air combat sorties, or Forward Air Control missions, it was unbeatable. So impressed were the Air Force that they bought it too, and three years later, in 1964, the USAF received their Phantoms. The Air Force pilots just couldn't wait to get their hands on it. And one of those just itching to take it into combat was a young, then Captain, Steve Ritchie. Flying with the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, the illustrious 'Triple Nickel', Ritchie would, in the space of a few weeks during Operation Linebacker in the summer of 1972 become a legend - the ONLY USAF fighter pilot Ace of the Vietnam War.
Robert Taylor's powerful "PHANTOM FURY" shows Steve Ritchie, first into action, flying his lead F-4D Phantom through a hail of deadly enemy flak as he exits the target area after a typical FAST FAC mission on enemy installations in North Vietnam, 1972. Behind him a vast trail of devastation marks the mission's progress, as his fellow Phantom crews continue to wreak havoc with their heavy ordnance, the target area exploding in a series of mighty detonations.
Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
In addition to the artist this individually hand-numbered print was signed by personally autographed by the highly decorated Vietnam USAF fighter pilot and last American Ace:
Brigadier General RICHARD 'STEVE' RITCHIE
In tribute to the outstanding achievements of Steve Ritchie and the 555th TFS this print is additionally signed by his SPECIAL GUEST SIGNER and fellow highly distinguished 'Triple Nickel' combat pilot, who flew on many of the units most dangerous missions:
Colonel JOHN MADDEN
