Home Run

Description

Rare Limited Edition print by Robert Taylor, originally issued to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the first flight of the classic North American P-51 Mustang, Home Run is signed by four of the top USAAF P-51 Mustang Aces of World War II.
When the P-51 Mustangs first appeared over Berlin, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering announced that he knew then that the war was lost. The P-51s proved themselves to be the best all-round fighter of the Second World War, and their presence in the skies above the German Capital signified to the Luftwaffe High Command the death-knell of the Third Reich. It was fitting that this great fighter should have been the one that slammed the final nail into the coffin of Goering’s Air Force.
The great Luftwaffe Ace Johannes Steinhoff had plenty of experience at the receiving end of the P-51. He said “That Mustang was some fighter!” He was right. Soon after Hitler had invaded Poland the British government were shopping in the USA for a new fighter. Convinced that they could meet the stringent deadline, North American gave their chief designer, Edgar Schmued, the brief. Four months later, on 26th October 1940, with the distinguished test pilot Vance Breese at the controls, a sleek new fighter took to the air on its maiden flight. The remarkable P-51 Mustang had been conceived and born in a shorter period than any other significant aircraft in history. That it became one of the greatest fighters of all time is a lasting testimony to the thousands of people who contributed to the development and perfection of this great little fighter.
Robert Taylor’s excellent painting Home Run depicts a trio of Mustangs, a P-51B, and two P-51Ds hurtling through the Rhineland at low level. Returning from long range fighter escort they seek ‘targets of opportunity’ as they rush back to base in Eastern France. In a style unique to this great artist, the scene is set in the heart of the beautiful Rhineland, the P-51s shattering the tranquillity of a village, as yet untouched by the ravages of war.
Each print in Robert Taylor’s Limited Edition, Home Run, is signed by four leading World War Two P-51 Mustang Aces:
Colonel Don Blakeslee
Colonel ‘Kit’ Carson
Colonel James Goodson
Brigadier General Robin Olds.