"CLASH OF EAGLES" by ROY GRINNELL RARE LTD EDITION *RARE* SIGNED BY ARTIST AND BOTH PILOTS *RARE* Start Price USD 1,500.00 Current Price USD 1,500.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Saturday, November 15, 2008 End Time Saturday, November 22, 2008 Location rochester, MI See more about '"CLASH OF EAGLES" by ROY GRINNELL RARE LTD EDITION ' Description JimGRonH Store RARE RARE RARE RARE   This print is completely sold out. It is a rare print of "CLASH OF EAGLES" by Roy Grinnell. This print is signed by the artist AND the two pilots depicted in the print.   Signed by: Captain Joseph H. Bennett. 4th Fighter Group (Debden Eagles), 336th Fighter Squadron Signed by: Oberfahnrich Hurbert Heckmamm, Jagdgeschwader 1, Third Group, 9th Staffel Signed by: Roy Grinnell, Artist   On the morning of May 25, 1944, three pilots from the 4th Fighter Group, the “Debden Eagles”, 336th Fighter Squadron, 8th Air Force, were over Germany looking for trouble. Flying near Botenheim, they encountered German planes from III JG1, 9th Staffel.During the ensuing dogfight, a Messerschmitt Bf109G-6/AS (also known as an Ausburg Eagle) came up behind Captain Joseph H. Bennett’s P-51B Mustang, while staying below the P-51’s propeller gust.The Bf109’s guns jammed, but the young Luftwaffe pilot, Oberfähnrich Hubert Heckmann, was determined not to let the American flyer get away. Heckmann pulled up to the P-51’s height and rammed his Bf109 fighter right into the tail of Bennett’s aircraft.The impact sheared off the tail and rear fuselage section and came within a few feet of the rear fuselage tank. With his aircraft’s nose thrust skyward, Bennett bailed out near Botenheim. Going into a loop, the P-51 crashed into a house in the middle of the village. His own plane seriously damaged, Heckmann managed to make a belly crash landing.Bennett, a former RAF Eagle Squadron pilot, was captured and taken to a jail by German military officials. Heckmann later came to introduce himself and meet the first American flier he had put out of commission as a German pilot. Bennett remain a German prisoner until the end of the war. The 336th Fighter Squadron lost another Mustang in this fight but made claims of shooting down five of the enemy. After the war, the two airmen became friends and met every year for their reunion.   Both men are now deceased.Roy Grinnell’s painting depicts the crippled Bf109G-6 diving away, its propeller blades bent, while P-51B 43-6572 sheds its rear end. Two other Mustangs can be seen in the distance and the winding Rhine below.   Prints of this painting, which were signed by both pilots and the artist, are long sold-out and commanding a high secondary market value The Art of Roy Grinnell Roy Grinnell biography Roy Grinnell was born in Santa Barbara, California. As a child, he enjoyed drawing airplanes and at the age of eleven, he painted a Swedish P-51 shooting down a Me-109 for his Swedish grandmother. When Roy graduated from Santa Barbara High School, he decided to join the Navy and was stationed in Guam. After serving his time in the Navy, he attended the Art Center School of Design in Los Angeles, California and graduated with honors.Preserving Aviation History on canvas is Roy Grinnell’s forte’ and it has brought him worldwide recognition as an aviation artist of the highest caliber. Roy’s documentation of aerial combat events has given him the honor of being the official artist of the American Fighter Aces Association. Over the years, Roy has painted over 28 original oil paintings for the American Fighter Aces Association depicting combat missions of the top American Aces of WW1, WW11, Korean War and the Vietnam War. These Aces include WW1 Aces George Vaughn, Douglas Campbell and Ray Brooks, WW11 Aces including Tex Hill, Joe Foss, Gabby Gabreski, Marion Carl, Rex Barber, Alex Vraciu, Chuck Yeager, Chuck Older, Robert L. Scott, Korean War Aces Boots Blesse and Guy Bordelon, and Vietnam War Ace Steve Ritchie. In 2004 at the American Fighter Aces Reunion in Seattle, Washington, Roy was made an “Honorary Ace.” Roy’s original oil paintings have been displayed at the Museum of Flight, Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington, in the Personal Courage Wing and the Dahlberg Research Center.Roy is also the official artist of the American Combat Airman Hall of Fame, Commemorative Air Force, Midland, Texas. Roy has painted several paintings for the ACAHOF and lithographs are signed by some of the inductees including Bob Hoover, Robin Olds, Robert Morgan, Paul Tibbetts, The Flying Tigers, The Eagle Squadron, Lee Archer, and members of the Black Sheep Squadron. Roy was honored to receive the “Spirit of Flight” award and Lifetime Membership into the Commemorative Air Force. In 2002 and 2006 he was awarded the Silver Magnolia Blossom by the international French Wing of the CAF.Several other museums where Roy’s paintings are displayed are the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, Florida, The Polish War Museum in Warsaw, Poland, The United States Air Force Museum, Dayton, Ohio, the National Aviation Hall of Fame, Dayton, Ohio, the Normandie Niemen Museum in Les Andelys, France, CAF Headquarters, Midland, Texas, Le Bourget Aviation Museum, Paris, France, and Lafayette Escadrille Memorial, near Paris, France. Roy has also exhibited his art at the American Airlines Museum in Fort Worth, The US Air Force Museum in Dayton, The Aeroclub de France, Paris, France, and the Paris Air Show, Le Bourget Airport, France. Roy received a special award from the United States Air Force Museum for his participation in the Centennial Celebration of Aviation Art in 2003.Roy has traveled worldwide preserving memories of the Aces he is portraying. He has traveled to China twice researching for some of his paintings, and also spent a month, as a guest of the Chinese Air Force, at the China Aviation Museum near Beijing where he researched and painted “Final Victories” in a studio they prepared for him.A few years ago, Roy did a few paintings depicting the Battle of Britain and they were launched at the Duxford Air Show in England where prints were signed by RAF Aces Pete Brothers, Billy Drake and Ken Lee, and Luftwaffe pilot Hans Ekkehard Bob. His Battle of Britain oil painting “The Struggle Begins” won Best of Show in March 2008 at the annual CAE Simu-flite Aviation Art Exhibition held in Dallas Fort Worth/TX.Roy traveled to Hawaii on the 60th Anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor to launch the painting “The Final Moment” and spent time with survivors of the USS Arizona who signed lithographs.Another really unique moment was when former Flying Tigers Ace, Supreme Court Judge Chuck Older married Roy and Irene at an AVG Reunion in Seattle, Washington in 2001 with members of the Flying Tigers present. Roy also launched a major AVG painting, “The Decisive Moment” at the 60th Reunion, and 23 members of the Flying Tigers signed lithographs.In 1999 Roy was the proud recipient of the prestigious R.G. Smith Award for Excellence in Naval Aviation Art at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, in Pensacola, Florida. In 2003, Roy’s painting “Joe Foss – A Proud American” won First Place at the Naval Museum in Pensacola.Roy is a member/ fellow in the ASAA, an organization for aviation artists.Roy Grinnell   Place a Bid!