| Storm Chasers by Nicolas Trudgian.
Even the most faithful of Messerschmitt Me 109 pilots that also flew the Focke-Wulf Fw190 grudgingly admitted the well-proportioned and aesthetically pleasing Fw190 was the finest single-seat fighter in the Luftwaffes armoury during World War II. Soon after its arrival on the Channel Front in 1941, when initial bugs were ironed out, this superb fighter came close to fighter design perfection by the standards of the day. Just as the Mk IX Spitfire held the mantle as Britains most outstanding combat fighter of the war, so was the Fw190 regarded by experienced Luftwaffe pilots. Within months of its operational debut the Fw190 was causing widespread consternation among RAF pilots, the new fighter equal to the Mk IX Spitfire in all but its ability in the tightest of turning circles. By 1944 the technically superb Fw190 came into its own in the great air battles against the USAAFs massed daylight raids. The defence of the Reichs western airspace rested on the shoulders of a few Jagdgschwarden who, against steadily increasing odds, were tasked with interception and destruction of the attacking American heavy bombers. Flying alongside the two established Channel fighter wings JG2 Richthofen and JG26 Schlageter, equipped with Fw190s and led by the great fighter ace Oberst Walter Oesau, JG1 joined the battle in defence of northern Germany. Nicolas Trudgians painting Storm Chasers depicts the Fw190As of I./JG1, distinguished by their distinctive black and white striped cowls, scrambling from the snow-covered Dortmund airfield on 10 February 1944 to intercept another inbound American daylight raid. Nicks dramatic view of this technically supreme fighter conveys its true class as it hurtles over the airfield, its undercarriage retracting as the Fw190 accelerates into the climb. Below, sharing the airfield with I./JGI, are the Fw190s of the newly formed Sturmstaffel 1, identified by their black-white-black tail bands, seen taxiing out to join in the interception. Despite bad weather conditions the Luftwaffes defending fighters scored heavily that day, inflicting severe losses on the Americans, claiming 29 bombers and 8 fighters shot down in the action. |
| AMAZING VALUE! - The value of the signatures on this item is in excess of the price of the print itself! | Item Code : DHM2658 | Storm Chasers by Nicolas Trudgian. - This Edition | Buy 1 Get 1 Half Price! |
| TYPE | EDITION DETAILS | SIZE | SIGNATURES | OFFERS | YOUR PRICE | PURCHASING | PRINT | Signed limited edition of 525 prints, with 4 signatures.
Last 5 prints remaining of this edition. Great value : Value of signatures exceeds price of item! | Paper size 29 inches x 16 inches (73cm x 41cm) | Scheufele, Ernst Reschke, Willi Broch, Hugo Drees, Gustav + Artist : Nicolas Trudgian
Signature(s) value alone : £215 | £70 Off! | Now : £140.00 |
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Other editions of this item : | Storm Chasers by Nicolas Trudgian. | DHM2658 |
| TYPE | EDITION DETAILS | SIZE | SIGNATURES | OFFERS | YOUR PRICE | PURCHASING | ARTIST PROOF | Limited edition of 25 artist proofs.
Only 3 copies available of this sold out edition. | Paper size 29 inches x 16 inches (73cm x 41cm) | Scheufele, Ernst Reschke, Willi Broch, Hugo Drees, Gustav + Artist : Nicolas Trudgian
Signature(s) value alone : £215 | £40 Off! | Now : £220.00 | VIEW EDITION... | FLYER | Nicolas Trudgian Promotional Flyer. | A4 Size Double Sheet 11.5 inches x 8 inches (30m x 21cm) | none | | £2.00 | VIEW EDITION... | REMARQUE | Limited edition of 40 remarques.
SOLD OUT | Paper size 29 inches x 16 inches (73cm x 41cm | Broch, Hugo Reschke, Willi Scheufele, Ernst Drees, Gustav + Artist : Nicolas Trudgian
Signature(s) value alone : £215 | | SOLD OUT | VIEW EDITION... | SLIGHT BORDER DAMAGE | Signed limited edition of 525 prints, with 4 signatures.
The print has slight damage to the border area, mostly on a corner. Not noticeable once framed. Great value : Value of signatures exceeds price of item! | Paper size 29 inches x 16 inches (73cm x 41cm) | Scheufele, Ernst Reschke, Willi Broch, Hugo Drees, Gustav + Artist : Nicolas Trudgian
Signature(s) value alone : £215 | £85 Off! | Now : £125.00 | VIEW EDITION... | EX-DISPLAY PRINT | ** (Ex Display) Signed limited edition of 525 prints, with 4 signatures. (Two copies reduced to clear)
Ex display prints in near perfect condition. Great value : Value of signatures exceeds price of item! | Paper size 29 inches x 16 inches (73cm x 41cm) | Scheufele, Ernst Reschke, Willi Broch, Hugo Drees, Gustav + Artist : Nicolas Trudgian
Signature(s) value alone : £215 | Half Price! | Now : £110.00 | VIEW EDITION... |
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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 |
Leutnant Hugo Broch *Signature Value : £55
| Vital to all fighter units are the pilots who make such superb wingmen that their leaders are loath to part with them. Hugo Broch was one such wingman. Having joined VI./JG54 in January he flew first with Horst Adameit (166 victories), and later with Bazi Sterr (130 victories), but soon demonstrated his own skill in combat. By the end of 1944 he had lifted his personal score to 71 victories. One of JG54s great Fw190 Aces, Hugo Broch saw combat on the Eastern and Baltic Fronts, and completed the war having flown 324 combat missions, and claiming 81 victories. He was awarded the Knights Cross. |
Oberfeldwebel Willi Reschke (deceased) *Signature Value : £40
| One of the outstanding younger Luftwaffe pilots, Willi Reschke was one of the leading members of JG300 Wilde Sau flying the Fw190A in the 'Defence of the Reich'. Towards the latter months of the war he transferred to the Stabsschwarm of JG301, still flying the Fw190A. Awarded the Knight's Crossin April 1945, he was credited with 26 victories - all in the west - including 18 four engined bombers. He died on 5th July 2017. |
Oberleutnant Ernst Scheufele (deceased) *Signature Value : £65
| Joining the Luftwaffe in October 1940, Ernst Scheufele was posted to Norway in June 1942, to join 4./JG5. There, flying Me109s he carried out a total of 67 escort missions for the German battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz. In October 1943 he joined II./JG5 flying over Arctic waters, in Finland, and on the Russian Front, before transferring to the defence of the Reich in June 1944. On 3 December 1944 he was shot down by an American flak battery near Saxony, wounded and taken prisoner. He had a total of 18 victories. Sadly, Ernst Scheufele died on 18th February 2010. |
Unteroffizier Gustav Drees *Signature Value : £55
| Born in 1923, Gustav Drees was called up for military service in 1942, and with a passion for flying joined the Luftwaffe. After training as a fighter pilot he was immediately posted to the Eastern Front with his first front-line unit - JG54 Green Hearts, where he flew the Me 109. In very early 1943 he became one of the first of the JG54 pilots to fly the Fw190A in combat. With four air victories to his credit with JG54 in Russia, towards the end of the war he was posted to join JG 108 in Austria, where he stayed until the end. |
The Aircraft : | Name | Info | Fw190 | The Focke-Wulf 190 development project began in 1937. Conceived as a hedge against total dependence on the Messerchmitt 109, the 190 was designed by Kurt Tank utilizing a radial engine. This was against generally accepted design criteria in Germany, and many historians believe that the decision to produce a radial engine fighter was largely due to the limited manufacturing capacity for in-line, water-cooled engines which were widely used on all other Luftwaffe aircraft. Despite these concerns, Tanks design was brilliant, and the 190 would become one of the top fighter aircraft of WWII. The first prototype flew in mid-1939. The aircraft had excellent flying characteristics, a wonderful rate of acceleration, and was heavily armed. By late 1940 the new fighter was ordered into production. Nicknamed the butcher bird, by Luftwaffe pilots, early 190s were quite successful in the bomber interceptor role, but at this stage of the war many Allied bombing raids lacked fighter escort. As the war dragged on, Allied bombers were increasingly accompanied by fighters, including the very effective P-51 Mustang. The Allies learned from experience that the 190s performance fell off sharply at altitudes above 20,000 feet. As a result, most Allied bombing missions were shifted to higher altitudes when fighter opposition was likely. Kurt Tank had recognized this shortcoming and began working on a high-altitude version of the 190 utilizing an in-line, water-cooled engine. Utilizing a Jumo 12-cylinder engine rated at 1770-HP, and capable of 2,240-HP for short bursts with its methanol injection system, the 190D, or Long Nose or Dora as it was called, had a top speed of 426-MPH at 22,000 feet. Armament was improved with two fuselage and two wing mounted 20mm cannon. To accommodate the changes in power plants the Dora had a longer, more streamlined fuselage, with 24 inches added to the nose, and an additional 19 inches added aft of the cockpit to compensate for the altered center of gravity. By mid 1944 the Dora began to reach fighter squadrons in quantity. Although the aircraft had all the right attributes to serve admirably in the high altitude interceptor role, it was not generally focused on such missions. Instead many 190Ds were assigned to protect airfields where Me-262 jet fighters were based. This was due to the latter aircrafts extreme vulnerability to Allied attack during takeoff and landing. The 190Ds also played a major role in Operation Bodenplatte, the New Years Day raid in 1945 which destroyed approximately 500 Allied aircraft on the ground. The High Command was impressed with the 190Ds record on this raid, and ordered most future production of the Doras to be equipped as fighter-bombers. In retrospect this was a strategic error, and this capable aircraft was not fully utilized in the role for which it was intended. |
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