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Great Moments in Aviation History - 1984 by Jay Ashurst

Hand signed and numbered by Jay Ashurst

Published for the Class of 1984 - Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB

A 3-plate triptych with twenty-four (24) signatures of famous aviators

Overall size (plates 1 and 3): 26 3/4" x 7 3/4"

Overall size (plate 2): 27" x 19 1/2"

# 121/1200

It's all about the signatures!

This incredibly scarce 1984 Great Moments In Aviation History lithograph includes 24 incredibly rare signatures of aviation pioneers

In 1982 a small faculty and student group at the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB was chartered to develop an aviation heritage program which encouraged the study of aviation history and the contributions of aviation pioneers. Distinguished aviators were invited to share their unique personal experiences through a series of teaching interviews and social events with members of the class.

Initially called the "Great Moments in Aviation History" and later termed the "Gathering of Eagles", the gathering recognized aviation pioneers and greats for their accomplishments. Each year the graduating class chose the "Eagles" to be featured, and each year an original painting with the depiction of aircraft that they were famous for flying was commissioned. Prints were published and hand signed by the "Eagles" in pencil.

Signatures:

Plate 1:

Douglas CAMPBELL - (Jun 7, 1896 – Oct 16, 1990) was an American aviator and World War I flying ace. He was the first American aviator flying in an American-trained air unit to achieve the status of ace.

John F. WHITELEY - (1897 - Mar 25, 1992) Commissioned in 1918, he was attached to the Air Service as an aerial observer where he taught himself how to fly while stationed at France Field, Panama after the flight school was closed in 1919.

Haywood S. HANSELL Jr. - (Sep 28, 1903 – Nov 14, 1988) was an American general officer in the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II, and later the United States Air Force. He became an advocate of the doctrine of strategic bombardment, and was one of the chief architects of the concept of daylight precision bombing that governed the use of airpower by the USAAF in the war.

Bram VAN DER STOK - (13 Oct 1915 – 8 Feb 1993), also known as Bob van der Stok, was a World War II fighter pilot and flying ace, and is the most decorated aviator in Dutch history.

Chesley H. PETERSON - (Aug 10, 1920 – Jan 28, 1990) was a career officer in the United States Air Force, and a flying ace of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in World War II. As a fighter pilot in the European theater, he is best known for his time as the commander of the famous 4th Fighter Group during 1942–1943. At 23, he was the youngest colonel in the USAAF.

Marion E. CARL - (Nov 1, 1915 – Jun 28, 1998) was an American military officer, World War II fighter ace, record-setting test pilot, and naval aviator. He was the United States Marine Corps' first ace in World War II.

James H. HOWARD - (Apr 8, 1913 – Mar 18, 1995) was a general in the United States Air Force and one of just two fighter pilots in the European Theater of Operations in World War II to receive the Medal of Honor—the United States military's highest decoration.

Matthew B. RIDGWAY - (3 Mar 1895 – 26 Jul 1993) was a senior officer in the United States Army, who served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1952–1953) and the 19th Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1953–1955). Although he saw no combat service in World War I, he was intensively involved in World War II, where he was the first Commanding General (CG) of the 82nd Airborne Division, leading it in action in Sicily, Italy and Normandy, before taking command of the newly formed XVIII Airborne Corps in August 1944. He held the latter post until the end of the war in mid-1945, commanding the corps in the Battle of the Bulge, Operation Varsity and the Western Allied invasion of Germany.

Roland DE LA POYPE - (28 Jul 1920 – 23 Oct 2012) was a Second World War fighter ace and a member of the Normandie-Niemen fighter group that fought on the Soviet front.

Bryce POE II - (Oct 10, 1924 – Nov 20, 2000) was a United States Air Force four-star general who served as Commander, Air Force Logistics Command (COMAFLC) from 1978 to 1981.

Walter M. "Wally" SCHIRRA Jr. - (Mar 12, 1923 – May 3, 2007) was an American naval aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. In 1959, he became one of the original seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury, which was the United States' first effort to put humans into space. He was the 5th American to travel into space

Randy CUNNINGHAM - (b. Dec 8, 1941 - 27 Aug 2025) is an American former politician, Vietnam War veteran and fighter ace. A member of the Republican Party, Cunningham represented three California districts in the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2005, and later served prison time for accepting bribes from defense contractors.

Plate 3:

Waclaw MAKOWSKI - (Oct 30, 1897 - Jun 11, 1986) Lt.Col. engineer pilot and commanding officer of No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron from July 1940 to July 1941. His achievements in aviation span 46 years during which time he fought for the freedom of his homeland in two wars, and helped establish an air force and two national airlines.

James H. DOOLITTLE - (Dec 14, 1896 – Sep 27, 1993) was an American military general and aviation pioneer who received the Medal of Honor for his raid on Japan during World War II, known as the Doolittle Raid in his honor. He made early coast-to-coast flights and record-breaking speed flights, won many flying races, and helped develop and flight-test instrument flying. According to the US FAA, he was the first pilot ever to perform a successful instrument flight.

Jose LARIOS - Spain’s Jose “Pepe” Larios, the Duke of Lerma, flew combat throughout Spain's bloody civil war beginning in 1936 and became one of 20 aces on Franco’s Nationalist side.

Eino I. JUUTILAINEN - (21 Feb 1914 – 21 Feb 1999) was a fighter pilot of the Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force), and the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. The top flying ace of the Finnish Air Force, he led all Finnish pilots in score against Soviet aircraft in World War II (1939–40 and 1941–44), with 94 confirmed aerial combat victories (he himself claimed further kills for a total of 126 victories, but these were unconfirmed) in 437 sorties.[1] He achieved 58 of his victories while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109G and 34 with a Brewster Buffalo.

Robert H. M. GIBBES - One of Australia’s leading World War II aces and the pioneer of one of the first airlines to open up inland areas of Papua New Guinea.

Leon W. JOHNSON - (13 Sep 1904 – 10 Nov 1997) was a United States Air Force general who was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading the attack on the Ploesti oil fields during World War II.

Geoffrey Leonard CHESHIRE - (7 Sep 1917 – 31 Jul 1992) was a British Royal Air Force pilot, officer and philanthropist. He fought in the Second World War receiving the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the youngest group captain in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and one of the most highly decorated pilots of the war.

David MCCAMPBELL - (Jan 16, 1910 – Jun 30, 1996) was a United States Navy captain, naval aviator, and a Medal of Honor recipient. McCampbell is the United States Navy's all-time leading flying ace and top F6F Hellcat ace with 34 aerial victories. He was the third-highest American scoring ace of World War II and the highest-scoring American ace to survive the war. He also set a United States single mission aerial combat record of shooting down nine enemy planes in one mission, on October 24, 1944, at the beginning of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in the Philippines.

Adolf GALLAND - (19 Mar 1912 – 9 Feb 1996) was a German Luftwaffe general and flying ace who served throughout the Second World War in Europe. He flew 705 combat missions and fought on the Western Front and in the Defense of the Reich.

Charles E. YEAGER - (Feb 13, 1923 – Dec 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight.

Gerald O. YOUNG - (May 19, 1930 – Jun 6, 1990) was a United States Air Force officer and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Vietnam War.

Brewster H. SHAW, Jr. - (b. May 16, 1945) is a retired NASA astronaut, U.S. Air Force colonel, and former executive at Boeing. Shaw was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 6, 2006. Shaw is a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions and has logged 533 hours of space flight. He was pilot of Space Shuttle Columbia in November 1983, commander of Space Shuttle Atlantis in November 1985 and commander of Columbia in August 1989.

[Mini bios credit to Wikipedia]