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1988 “Gathering of Eagles” Print Signed by Aces, Astronauts and Flight Pioneers - LeMay, Hill, Slayton, Etc.
Lot 239. 1988 “Gathering of Eagles” Print Signed by Aces, Astronauts and Flight Pioneers - LeMay, Hill, Slayton, Etc. Two aces are among the 18 aviators who autographed this Jay Ashurst lithograph, which is double-matted to 32” x 40”. Ashurst was commissioned to produce the artwork by the U.S. Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. The Gathering of Eagles program focuses on the study of aviation history and the contributions of aviation pioneers. Numbered 114 of 1,200, the print honors the class of 1987. William T. Badham (died 1991), who served in World War I; “Tex” Hill (died 2007), U.S. World War II ace; Francis S. Gabreski (d. 2002), one of the top-scoring U.S. aces of WWII, and Chuck DeBellevue, a Vietnam veteran, are the aces. In 1972, DeBellevue became the first Air Force Weapons System Officer to become an ace when he was credited with his sixth MIG kill. Ralph Parr achieved another first: accumulating more than 8,000 flying hours and carrying out 641 combat missions in three wars, he became the only person ever awarded both the Distinguished Service Cross and the Air Force Cross. The Space Age is represented by Deke Slayton (d. 1993), one of the original NASA Mercy Seven astronauts, NASA’s Director of Flight Crew Operations 1963-72 and the oldest person to fly into space until he was surpassed by John Glenn. One of the top achievers among the group is Tom (Thomas H.) Moorer (d. 2004), Navy pilot who achieved the rank of admiral and served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Other signers are Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, pilot and co-pilot for the Voyager aircraft that flew around the world in 1986; Bob Knapp (d. 1994), aviation pioneer who received U.S. pilot license #185, served in three wars and led the first Allied attack on Rome in World War II; Bee Beamont (d. 2001), British WWII fighter pilot; Thomas H. Miller (d. 2007), combat veteran of WWII, Korea and Vietnam, test pilot who set a world speed record in an F4H-1 (F4B) Phantom, the first American to fly the Marine Corps’ AV-8A Harrier jet and generally regarded as the Corps’ “father of STOVL (short take-off and vertical landing) aviation”; Joseph H Moore (d. 2006), pilot who achieved the rank of lieutenant general; Gen. Curtis LeMay, who oversaw a strategic bombing campaign in the Pacific Theater in WWII and headed the Berlin Airlift; Tony LeVier (d. 1998), air racer and test pilot for the Lockheed Corporation from the 1940s to the 1970; Richard C. Catledge (d. 2007), U.S. Air Force general who formed and originally led the Thunderbirds, R. F. Toliver and Chuck Yeager. Kevin Keating authenticated the autographs, which are in pencil. The Badham autograph is nm 7. The others are 9s and 10s. A high-quality color softcover book accompanies the print; it contains a description of the artwork, as well as a portrait of each aviator, biographical information and a description of the plane the aviator flew.
Winning Bid $113.
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