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Military-Art.com  Michael Rondot |
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The Last Sunderland by Michael Rondot. Short Sunderland ML814 served with 01, 422 (Canadian) and 330 (Norwegian) Squadrons during World War II and is now the worlds last airworthy Sunderland. Battered and weatherbeaten by the North Atlantic, ML814 flies over the Antrim coast. |
Lightning by Michael Rondot. This classic portrayal of 92 squadrons flagship Lightning F2A XN778 King Cobra taking off from a rain-swept RAF Gutersloh in 1977 pays tribute to the legendary fighter,its pilots and the engineers who enjoyed a love/hate relationship with the difficult and technically challenging Lightning. |
By Day, By Night by Michael Rondot. A famous WWII pathfinder unit, No.7 Squadron flew Stirling bombers before converting to Lancasters to spearhead the RAF Bomber Command night offensive in 1942. Post-war, the squadron flew Lincolns, Valiants and Canberras before receiving Chinook helicopters in 1982. Since then it has been constantly at the forefront of support operations in the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Beirut, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Sierra Leone, and was deeply involved in the 1991 Gulf War, proudly continuing its pathfinder origins. This beautiful and powerful portrayal of No.7 Squadrons heavily armed and highly modified Chinooks in action provides a rare glimpse into the dark world of Special Forces helicopter operations. By Day, By Night portrays a pair of Chinooks taking off in typical desert conditions faced by the squadrons crews during recent Special Forces operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Flying often at night, far behind enemy lines and in extreme weather conditions, No.7 Squadrons crews are frequently called upon to test the limits of their aircrafts performance envelope. Little is known about these operations and much of their flying is shrouded in the secrecy surrounding Special Forces, but the numerous honours and awards for gallantry which are quietly gazetted from time to time give some clues about the dangerous nature of No.7 Squadron duties. |
Tornado F3 by Michael Rondot. (AP) Tornado F3 taking off on a dark and wet afternoon with the characteristic pink and blue afterburner plume blazing from its RB 199 engines. The controversial Tornado F3 replaced both the Lightning and F-4 Phantom in the RAF, and flew operational combat air patrols throughout the Gulf War. |
The Marham Wing Over Sandringham by Michael Rondot. At the beginning of her Golden Jubilee Year, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited Royal Air Force Marham, the Norfolk airbase close to the Royal familys winter residence at Sandringham. RAF Marham personnel are very proud of their unique association with Her Majesty who became Honorary Air Commodore of the station in 1976. To mark the occasion of her Golden Jubilee Year this magnificent oil painting was commissioned by all ranks of RAF Marham and presented to Her Majesty. The aircraft in Michael Rondots painting represent the five squadrons of The Marham Wing, formed in August 2001 to become the Royal Air Forces largest and most potent fast-jet main operating base. A Canberra PR9 is portrayed leading four Tornado GR4s, one from each squadron with aircraft tail letters specially marked to spell E II R L for the Queens Golden Jubilee, in a formation flown over Sandringham House in Her Majestys honour. In the background, surrounded by beautiful wooded grounds, lawned gardens and 20,000 acres of estate, stands the fine red brick and sandstone house built in 1870 for Prince Edward (later King Edward VII) and Princess Alexandra. |
Twin Pioneer by Michael Rondot. Known affectionately by it crews as the Twin Pin, the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer was an outstanding short take-off and landing tactical transport aircraft. In RAF service, it was used mainly in the Far East, where its STOL qualities enabled it to operate into remote strips just a few hundred metres long, often in rough inhospitable terrain or jungle clearings well beyond the range of helicopters. RAF Twin Pioneers saw action in Aden, Kenya, Kuwait and finally, Malaya ad Borneo, where it was pressed into service as a bomber for a short time during intense fighting. Popular with its air and ground crews, Twin Pioneers were often flown by ex-fighter pilots, who enjoyed exploiting its slow-flying qualities on operational sorties in support of Special Forces. In civilian guise, twenty countries operated the Twin Pin and several are still flying, the best known being the former ETPS example operated by Air Atlantique. The aircraft represented in this remarkably detailed painting is XM961, which is now at the Museum of Flight, East Fortune. |
Paveway Tornados by Michael Rondot. In this remarkably accurate portrayal of low level action at sunset he features a pair of FLIR-equipped Tornado GR4s carrying a TIALD laser designator pod and GBU-24 Paveway III laser guided bombs. These weapons, used to such devastating effect during the Gulf War by USAF F-lllF and F-117A Black Jet aircraft, now give the RAF the same capability to attack targets with pinpoint accuracy, both day and night, in adverse weather and from all altitudes. |
Coup de Grace by Michael Rondot. 30th January 1991. Day 14 of Operation Desert Storm, and ships of the Iraqi navy make a desperate dash for the northern waters of the Persian Gulf and sanctuary in Iranian waters. Only a few of them will make it through the gauntlet of Allied air-power lying in wait to attack any surface contacts.Already on fire amidships after being attacked by US Navy aircraft, this Polnocny C class landing ship has fallen prey to a pair of rocket and cannon-armed Jaguars only a few miles from the mouth of the Shatt-al-Arab waterway in southern Iraq. The Jaguars, led by Wing Commander Bill Pixton AFC, make a low pass to confirm the identity of the ship and turn away to position for their attack that will leave the Polnocny sinking, ablaze from end to end. Coup de Grace portrays the incident as it unfolds, capturing the moment when the Jaguar flight leader looks back over his shoulder at the burning ship and prepares to attack. The Jaguars will unleash four pods of CRV-7 rockets onto their target and then re-attack with 30mm cannon before returning to base at the end of a harrowing 3-hour mission. Heavily armed, and using Victor tankers to in-flight refuel, RAF Jaguars often flew combat air patrols over the northern Persian Gulf from their base at Al-Muharraq, Bahrain, during the first weeks of Operation Desert Storm. Their task was to seek and destroy Iraqi army and naval targets, or to locate and to suppress enemy AAA during rescue missions for downed Allied airmen. The results were invariably the same: the targets were hit, and the Jaguars, despite coming under fire, returned safely home. |
Night Attack by Michael Rondot. April evening: Wittering, 1993. Seventy five years after the formation of the Royal Air Force, Michael Rondot now portrays the most important new aircraft to enter RAF service, the night-attack Harrier GR7. |
The Longest Minute by Michael Rondot. Just off target there was a lot of flak. Its the first time I have ever seen tracer coming up at me. It was the longest minute of my life. These sobering words brought home the reality of war when a Jaguar pilot described his feelings to waiting press reporters, after coming under fire front AAA during an attack on Iraqi forces in Kuwait on 20 January 1991. The remorseless precision pounding of strategic and tactical Iraqi targets in the Kuwait Theatre of Operations was barely three days old when these words were spoken, but six weeks later, as the hostilities of Operation Desert Storm reached a climax, RAF jaguar pilots still counted the seconds during the long minutes of their dive attacks onto heavily defended targets. Success was important, since many of the targets posed a serious threat to both allied ground and naval forces. Artillery and missile sites were attacked in equal measure with airfields, barracks and ammunition dumps during the Jaguars six week war. Brilliantly led by Wing Commander Bill Pixton AFC, the Jaguars, based at Al Muharraq, Bahrain, flew over 600 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm without loss, suffering only two hits from anti-aircraft fire Often flying into treacherous weather and heavy calibre AAA, the Jaguar pilots dispelled many myths about their aircraft during these tense times. We pushed the aeroplane so far outside its flight envelope that I wouldn't have believed it could do it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes was how one pilot described taking his fully loaded Jaguar transonic at over 34,000 feet during one mission ingress. Michael Rondots painting depicts the moment when the last man to attack, the number 8 at the tail end of the formation watches and waits before tipping in to attack. For him the longest minute is about to begin. The first 4 Jaguars have already attacked and are feet wet returning to base, having dropped their load of 1000lb bombs on the target. During the next few minutes the second four-ship will press home their attack, releasing sixteen 1000lb airburst bombs totally devastating the target before escaping out to sea, away from the coastal AAA flak belt and back to their base at Bahrain. |
Gazelle Over Salisbury Plain by Michael Rondot. Fast and manoeuvrable, the Gazelle has proved itself as one of the worlds best light battlefield helicopters. Since its introduction into the Army Air Corps in 1973, Gazelles have been used in every major conflict involving British Forces from the Falklands to the Gulf Wars. Used extensively on anti-terrorist observation and troop support operations in Northern Ireland, Gazelles have also been heavily committed to NATO operations in Bosnia. |
Vulcan XH558, The Loved One by Michael Rondot. Few aircraft have evoked such strong emotions with the airshow-going public as Vulcan XH558. Climbing almost vertically, with black smoke pouring from its thundering Olympus engines at full power, the Vulcan could bring any airshow to a complete standstill. Crowds watched in awe as the majestic delta winged bomber created a deafening roar of smoke and noise, the sight and sound of its display an emotional and unforgettable experience for those who witnessed it. |
Meteors Over Castle Howard by Michael Rondot. No 72 Squadron Meteor F8 and NF14 fighters over Castle Howard, North Yorkshire. Initially based at RAF North Weald with Meteor F8s, No72 moved to Church Fenton in 1953 where, in 1956, it became an all weather squadron with meteor NF12s and 14s Castle Howard, set in more than 1,000 acres of Yorkshires finest parkland, was the magnificent location for the televison filming of Brideshead Revisited. |
Buccaneer Thunder by Michael Rondot. Built to fly low and fast over very long distances, the Buccaneer reigned supreme during the Cold War years both as a carrier-borne and land-based strike aircraft. For 30 years, first with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm then with the Royal Air Force and the South African Air Force, the Buccaneers achievements in the low-level strike role approached the proportions of legend. Roy Boots classic design is unbeatable in many respects even by the latest and most potent fighters and this much-loved aircraft is still immensely popular. It enjoys a unique reputation as a tough and reliable shipyard foundry-built aircraft and is sorely missed by those who flew it or worked on it and regarded it as irreplaceable. Pressed into service at short notice during the Gulf War, the Buccaneer and its aircrews finally proved in the most spectacular manner what many had been saying for years, - that the Buccaneer was a truly outstanding machine that could only be replaced by another Buccaneer. |
Desert Scorpions by Michael Rondot. Dominating the foreground of his evocative painting of a typical resupply operation in the field are a Leyland Daf Drops vehicle from 12 Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport and a Multiple Launch Rocket System from 39 Heavy Regiment, Royal Artillery. |
Testing Times by Michael Rondot. Of all the big piston-engined navy fighters built after WWll, the Hawker Sea Fury was the greatest.Rugged, powerful and fast, the formidable Sea Fury achieved fame over Korea in both fighter and ground attack roles and was the last of the line of piston-engined Fleet Air Arm fighters. |
Shiny II - Tornado Recce by Michael Rondot. Flying beneath an overcast of grey, threatening cloud, two Tornado GRlAs break formation as the lead aircraft turns and accelerates towards a narrow gap in the cloud covered hills. The aircraft are flying a low-level tactical reconnaissance mission, aiming to locate, identify and film a camouflaged target using their sophisticated on-board video recording sensors. As night falls and low cloud envelops them, they have the capability, unmatched by any other recce aircraft in the world, to fly their mission in darkness, at very low-level, and still locate and record their target. During the Gulf War, Recce Tornados were tasked to fly deep-penetration low-level missions at night into Iraq and the Kuwait Theatre of Operations, searching out troop concentrations, armour, and mobile SCUD missile launchers. Their missions were dangerous and lonely work, flying alone and without fighter escort, often into the most heavily defended areas of Iraq and Kuwait. None were lost on these missions, but the dangers they faced, and the professionalism displayed by the aircrews from No. II (AC) Sqn, and No. 13 Sqn, were recognised in the Gulf War Honours List by several awards for bravery in the air, including the DSO and DFC. Already regarded as one of the finest strike and attack aircraft in NATO, the Recce Tornado dispenses with conventional cameras altogether, and instead, features infrared linescan and side-looking thermal imagers mounted inside the forward fuselage gun bays. These high-resolution sensors enable Tornado to identify pinpoint targets from tree-top height, by day or by night, even in the most appalling weather conditions. |
Boeing E-3A Sentry by Michael Rondot. A wintery morning take-off portrayal of a Boeing E-3A Sentry AWACS aircraft. |
Valiant, The Last Valiant by Michael Rondot. The Vickers Valiant was the first four jet bomber of Britains Cold War nuclear strike V-Force whos Valiants, Victors and Vulcans, painted in distinctive anti-flash white, were a familiar sight in the 1950s & 1960s. Widely regarded as the best looking V Bomber and the nicest to fly, the Valiant equipped nine Squadrons during its brief career from 1955 to 1964, dropping bombs in anger during the Suez crisis and Britains first atomic and hydrogen bombs. |
Hornet the Hunter by Michael Rondot. Military pilots do not easily heap praise on one another's aircraft but when the object of their attention is the McDonnell F-18 Hornet, they really do talk in superlatives. Whether displaying its awesome manoeuvrability and firepower in the air-to-air combat role, or delivering a hefty warload with unerring accuracy in the ground-attack role, this aircraft has few, if any, equals. Ask any RAF Jaguar pilot from the Gulf War what modifications he would have liked to improve the combat effectiveness of his aircraft, and the answer is invariably the same - Twin fins, bubble canopy, big engines, a powerful multi-mode radar and face-shooting missiles. In other words, I'd rather be flying an F-18. Of all the single-seat combat aircraft in service today, the Hornet is universally regarded by those in the know as the most versatile and effective aircraft around. Capable of both ground-attack and day/night all-weather air-to-air missions, the Hornet has earned a justifiable reputation as the most sought-after cockpit in the single-seat business. During the months before the outbreak of hostilities in the Gulf War, Hornets flew round-the-clock Combat Air Patrols to provide top cover for Allied fleets. They played a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Iraqi aircraft probing their defenses before turning away, but when the war started it was a different game and in deadly earnest. US Navy and Marine Corps F-18s were among the first Allied aircraft to cross the Iraqi border and they remained in the thick of the fighting throughout the air campaign. In addition to flying escort and sweep missions in support of strike aircraft to and from targets deep within Iraq, Hornets also flew bombing and defence suppression missions and participated in raids on Baghdad. They flew more than 10,000 sorties and 25,000 flight hours during Operation Desert Storm, and shot down two Iraqi MiG 21s to add to the proud McDonnell boast that every enemy fighter shot down in combat was downed by one of their aircraft. The image shows F/A-18A Hornets, Canadian Air Force airborne from Doha, heading North during the Gulf War. |
Broken Silence by Michael Rondot. The Jaguars are en-route to Cape Wrath to carry out precision-guided bombing attacks at Garbh-eilean weapons range. The lead aircraft is armed with a Paveway II laser guided bomb, whilst the No 2 is carrying a TIALD pod to laser designate their target. In the background mighty Ben Hope, soaring up to 3040 feet, forms a massive backdrop against a darkening sky as the Big Cats get down to business. |
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