PHANTOM SHOWTIME
By Robert Taylor
800 Signed and Numbered

It was 19 January 1972, aboard the USS CONSTELLATION in the Gulf of Tonkin. As Cunningham shuts down the engines of his 'Fighting Falcons' F-4J Phantom, Commander Admiral Cooper and the rest of VF-96's crews were there to congratulate Cunningham and Driscoll on achieving their first kill. It was the first of five air victories, Cunningham and Driscoll becoming the US Navy's only Aces of the Vietnam War. After the usual vision-blurring caapult off the deck, Cunningham's F-4J headed for the North Vietnamese airfield at Quang Lang. His three-ship section was tasked to intercept any MiGs that threatened the reconnaissance RA-5C Vigilante mission. As the RA-5C came under severe fire from AAA and SAMS, Cunningham dodges two missiles, plunging downward from 15,000 feet in the process. Spotting two MiG-21s below, he tracked them closing ot within range of his heat-seeking Sidewinders. The MiG pilot broke hard, throwing off the missile, and Cunningham immeidately gave his attention to the second enemy fighter. Firing a second Sidewinder, the missile scored a direct hit, blasting off the entire tail section of the MiG, sending it crashing straight into the ground in a ball of fire. Cunningham and Driscoll turned back for the long return flight to the Constellation.
Robert Taylor's spectacular painting shows Cunningham's F-4J Phantom, just feet above the murky waters of the Gulf of Tonkin, passing the USS Constellation at 500 knots. Signed by Commander Randall "Duke" Cunningham and Commander Willie Driscoll,
and Robert Taylor.

Size: 34 1/4" x 23 1/2"
Price: 295.00