Messerschmitt Bf-109 "Erich Hartmann "Ace of Aces" Art Prints by Willie Jones Jr

Description: "Erich Hartmann - Ace of Aces" by artist Willie Jones Jr. Erich Hartmann was the world’s greatest fighter pilot. He amassed an incredible combat record with 352 enemy aircraft shot down. He scored his first victories on 5 November 1942. This came on his 19th combat sortie and his last victory came on 8 May 1945. Hartmann flew 1404 combat sorties and was involved in 825 dogfights in which he was the victor in 352 of them. He was forced to take to his parachute or crash land on 14 occasions. He flew on the Eastern Front where he primarily engaged Russian Airmen in air to air combat. He shot down 345 Russian and 7 American aircraft. After the war ended, he surrendered to the Americans who were pressured to turn him over to the Russians. He was convicted of war crimes and was imprisoned for 10 years. His son died while he was incarcerated. Erich Hartmann flew and fought with honor and committed no crimes. He fought for his country as did many soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines did for their country. He should not have been treated like a criminal. After his release he returned to his homeland and rejoined the German Air Force. He was instrumental in rebuilding the German Air Force. He evaluated American aircraft for suitability for use in the German Air Force. He attended the US Air Force Academy, US Air Force Weapons School, and Air War College. Erich Hartmann enjoyed a long and success air force career and was well respected throughout the world. Below is an excerpt of a more comprehensive account of Erich Hartmann’s life and combat career from Wikipedia. Erich Alfred Hartmann (19 April 1922 – 20 September 1993), nicknamed "Bubi" (the hypocoristic form of "young boy") by his comrades and "The Black Devil" by his Soviet adversaries, was a German fighter pilot during World War II and is the highest-scoring fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. He claimed 352 aerial victories—that is, 352 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft—in 1,404 combat missions. He engaged in aerial combat 825 times while serving with the Luftwaffe. During the course of his career, Hartmann was forced to crash-land his damaged fighter 14 times. This was due to damage received from parts of enemy aircraft he had just shot down or mechanical failure. Hartmann was never shot down or forced to land due to fire from enemy aircraft. Hartmann, a pre-war glider pilot, joined the Luftwaffe in 1940 and completed his fighter pilot training in 1942. He was posted to Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52) on the Eastern front and was fortunate to be placed under the supervision of some of the Luftwaffe's most experienced fighter pilots. Under their guidance, Hartmann steadily developed his tactics, which earned him the coveted Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds) on 25 August 1944 for claiming 301 aerial victories. At the time of its presentation to Hartmann it was Germany's highest military decoration Hartmann scored his 352nd and last aerial victory on 8 May 1945. Along with the remainder of JG 52, he surrendered to United States Army forces and were turned over to the Red Army. In an attempt to pressure him into service with the Soviet-friendly East German Volksarmee, he was convicted of false war crimes, a conviction posthumously voided by a Russian court as a malicious prosecution. Hartmann was sentenced to 25 years of hard labour and spent 10 years in various Soviet prison camps and gulags until he was released in 1955. In 1956, Hartmann joined the newly established West German Luftwaffe in the Bundeswehr, and became the first Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 71 "Richthofen". Hartmann resigned early from the Bundeswehr in 1970, largely due to his opposition to the F-104 Starfighter deployment in the Luftwaffe and the resulting clashes with his superiors over this issue. He was later involved in flight training. He died of natural causes on 20 September 1993. This is a Limited Edition print of 352 reproductions on Epson Professional Matted Finish Paper and measures 13X19. The image size is 11.5X18 inches. It is done in graphite pencil and is highly detailed.

Price: 23.99 USD

Location: Traverse City, Michigan

End Time: 2025-01-16T00:17:22.000Z

Shipping Cost: 9.35 USD