"Stormbirds Rising"
By Robert Taylor

Special Gift For Wings Customers!

FOUR (4) Ace Profiles Included with Your Purchase (Limited Time)

View RAF Ace Profiles Here
View Luftwaffe Ace Profiles Here
(Limited Quantity Only... While Supplies Last. Example Below.)

April, 1945, an Me262 scorching across the sky: The end of the war was growing closer. By now the weather was improving and, as the days began to lengthen, the American Eighth Air Force was able to dispatch well over a thousand bombers, with a fighter escort to match, on some of the largest raids of the war. The Allies’ overwhelming strength meant the contest was all but one-sided; yet the expert pilots of the Luftwaffe were still a force to be reckoned with - especially when armed with their revolutionary Me262 jets.

"Stormbirds Rising" captures a scene during the final weeks of the war as Leutnant Hermann Buchner, by now one of the most famous jet Aces and recipient of the coveted Knight’s Cross, joins his fellow pilots of III./JG7 as they climb to intercept a large formation of American bombers having just left their base at Parchim. Below them the tranquility of the meandering River Havel, flowing gracefully through the countryside west of Berlin, is in stark contrast to the deadly encounters that will soon take place overhead.

Overall size: 24" x 32"

EDITIONS

• Limited Edition: Signed by Luftwaffe jet pilots Hermann Buchner and Wolfgang Wollenweber ~ 150 prints ($295)
• Collectors Edition: Signed by four Luftwaffe jet pilots ~ 75 prints ($345)
• Artist's Proof: As above ~ 25 prints ($495)
• Remarque: As above ~ 15 prints ($1,195)
• Double Remarque: As above ~ 10 prints ($1,950)
• Tribute Edition: With a total of twelve signatures plus a matted original pencil drawing ~ 5 prints ($3,850)
• Coming Soon - Museum Presentation: Matted Aces edition with the wartime signatures of JG-7 Aces Theodor Weissenberger and Rudi Rademacher plus original Luftwaffe officer's breast eagle. Please call or email us for more information.

TRIBUTE EDITION

With all signatures of the Aces Edition, each print is issued with an exquisite original pencil drawing, specially created for this edition by Robert Taylor,
which is signed by two leading fighter Aces who flew the Me262 jet: Major Hans-Ekkehard Bob and Oberleutnant Erwin Leykauf

Each drawing is conservation matted to include the original signatures of a further three famous Luftwaffe Me262 Aces who fought in the skies over Germany towards the end of war:

• Generalleutnant Adolf Galland
• General Johannes ‘Macky’ Steinhoff
• Feldwebel Ernest Giefing

THE SIGNATURES

Limited Edition Signatures

• Oberst Hermann Buchner - Knight’s Cross / 58 victories
• Oberleutnant Wolfgang Wollenweber - Iron Cross First Class

Collectors Edition & A/P Signatures

• Oberst Hermann Buchner - Knight’s Cross / 58 victories
• Oblt. Wolfgang Wollenweber - Iron Cross First Class
• Maj. Erich Rudorffer - KC with Oak Leaves & Swords / 222 victories
• Leutnant Jorg Czypionka - Iron Cross / 2 victories

Aces & Remarque Edition Signatures

• Oberst Hermann Buchner - Knight’s Cross / 58 victories
• Oblt. Wolfgang Wollenweber - Iron Cross First Class
• Maj. Erich Rudorffer - KC with Oak Leaves & Swords / 222 victories
• Leutnant Jorg Czypionka - Iron Cross / 2 victories
• Oberleutnant Walter Schuck - KCwith Oak Leaves / 206 victories
• Leutnant Alfred Ambs - 7 victories
• Leutnant Norbert Hannig - Iron Cross First Class / 42 victories
• Oberst Hermann Buchner - Knight’s Cross / 58 victories

Tribute Edition Signatures

• Oberst Hermann Buchner - Knight’s Cross / 58 victories
• Oblt. Wolfgang Wollenweber - Iron Cross First Class
• Maj. Erich Rudorffer - KC with Oak Leaves & Swords / 222 victories
• Leutnant Jorg Czypionka - Iron Cross / 2 victories
• Oberleutnant Walter Schuck - KCwith Oak Leaves / 206 victories
• Leutnant Alfred Ambs - 7 victories
• Leutnant Norbert Hannig - Iron Cross First Class / 42 victories
• Major Hans-Ekkehard Bob - Knight’s Cross / 60 victories
• Oblt. Erwin Leykauf - German Cross in Gold / 33 victories
• Feldwebel Ernest Giefing - Iron Cross / 6 victories
• General Adolf Galland - Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords & Diamonds / 104 victories
• General Johannes ‘Macky’ Steinhoff - Knights Cross with Oak Leaves & Swords / 178 victories

The Museum Presentation Signatures (in addition to Aces edition print signatures)

• Theodore Weissenberger: Original wartime signature included in Museum Presentation
• Born in Mühlheim am Main in the German Empire, Weissenberger, who had been a glider pilot in his youth, volunteered for service in the Luftwaffe in 1936. Following flight training he was posted to the heavy fighter squadron of JG-77 in 1941. He claimed his first aerial victory over Norway on 24 October 1941. After 23 aerial victories as a heavy fighter pilot he received the German Cross in Gold and was then posted to JG-5 in September 1942. There he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 13 November 1942 after 38 aerial victories.
• In June 1943, Weissenberger was appointed Staffelkapitän of 7. Staffel JG-5. Following his 112th. aerial victory he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 2 August 1943. He was appointed Staffelkapitän of 6. Staffel in September 1943 and in March 1944 he was given command of II. Gruppe of JG-5 which was operating in Defense of the Reich. In June 1944 he took command of I. Gruppe JG-5 which defended against the Invasion of Normandy. Weissenberger claimed 25 aerial victories in this theater, which included his 200th. victory on 25 July 1944.
• After conversion training to the Me 262 he was appointed commander of I. Gruppe JG-7 "Nowotny", the first operational jet fighter wing in the world, in November 1944. Promoted to Major, he took command of JG 7 "Nowotny" as a Geschwaderkommodore in January 1945, a position he held until the end of hostilities. He was killed in a car racing accident on 11 June 1950 at the Nürburgring.

• Rudolph Rademacher: Original wartime signature included in Museum Presentation

• Rudolf “Rudi” Rademacher was born on 19 July 1913 at Lüneburg. Unteroffizier Rademacher served with 3./JG 54 on the Eastern front from 1 December 1941. He achieved his first victory on 9 January 1942 on his fifth combat mission. He was awarded the Ehrenpokal on 19 October 1942. By the end of 1942 he had claimed 22 victories. In March 1943, he was transferred to 1./JG 54, the famous “Nowotny Schwarm” led by Walter Nowotny. He claimed seven enemy aircraft shot down in one day on 5 July 1943 to record his victories 39 through 45. Rademacher was promoted Oberfeldwebel whilst serving with 1./JG 54. On 30 April 1943 he was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz. On 30 August 1944 he was transferred to 1./Jagdgruppe Nord, redesignated Ergänzungs-Jagdgeschwader 1 on 4 November 1944, based at Sagan, to undertake instructing duties. Despite his training duties Rademacher was able to engage in aerial combat and claimed five enemy aircraft shot down, including four four-engined bombers and P-47, during his stay with the unit. On 18 September 1944, during an attack on a formation of USAAF bombers, he was badly wounded when he was shot down. On 30 September 1944, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz for 81 victories.
• In January 1945, Leutnant Rademacher transferred to 11./JG 7 where he undertook conversion training on to the Me 262 jet fighter. The training consisted of six flights totaling 150 minutes before he was declared operational. On 1 February 1945, he gained his first victory flying the jet, an RAF Spitfire over Braunschweig.
• Rademacher was to be credited with at least 16 victories while flying the Me 262, although sources do differ over his final tally crediting him with scores as low as eight and as high as 24. “Rudi” Rademacher survived the war only to be killed in a glider crash at Lüneburg on 13 June 1953. Rudolf Rademacher’s final score is a matter of some conjecture. Sources claim his total to be 97, 102 and 126 in more than 500 missions. Some claim he had an additional 23 unconfirmed victories. It is thought he gained 76 victories over the Eastern front with JG 54, including 21 Il-2 Stormoviks and 7 Pe-2, and a further five whilst with JGr. Nord. To this can be added his jet victories, at least 16, including 11 four-engined bombers.

Robert Taylor Remarques

Regarded as the world’s finest aviation artist, Robert Taylor’s original work is extremely limited so a hand-drawn pencil Remarque is one of the best ways to own a unique ‘one of a kind’ piece of his artwork.

Each print in the remarque editions will have a delicately crafted original pencil drawing, skillfully created by Robert Taylor in the lower margin. Every Remarque drawing is different and unique.