by Joel R. Simpson

Artwork Description

AND THE DANCE BEGINS

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What pilots since the days of Capt. Eddy Rickenbacker, Capt. Roy Brown, Lt. Georges Guynemer, and of course Capt. Baron Manfred von Richthofen referred to as a “Dog Fight” was an unchoreographed dance of planes and men, moving almost in graceful synchronization, a “dance” if you will, all in the attempt to achieve the best position from which they may be able to shoot their opponent down. As the years passed since the Great War, the “Art” of air combat improved with new tactics and maneuvers as well as improvements and advancements in aircraft. Yet despite such advancements, “The Dance” continued. In “And The Dance Begins” we see two US Air Force F-86E Sabre Jets, from the 335th Fighter Squadron (FIS) of the 4th Fighter Group (FIG) out of Kimpo Airfield, South Korea engage two North Korean-marked MiG-15 bis Fagots from the 175th Guards Fighter Air Regiment of the 324th Fighter Air Division. It had become known, among American air crews in Korea, that the MiG-15s with North Korean markings, and some with Chinese markings, were in fact flown by veteran Soviet fighter pilots sent by Moscow to test out their new fighter jets and tactics against the American F-86s. The most challenging part of this painting was trying my best to capture the bare metal texture of the four aircraft depicted here and the play of sunlight and shadows upon them.

Artwork Details

Medium: Painting Acrylic

Genre: Figurative