Pirate's Bounty

(Retail or Dealer Split Only)
Artist Proof from Limited Edition of 1,000
S/N by the Artist & Pilot, U.S. Navy Cdr. John B. "Pirate" Nichols III
Image Size: 21" x 15"
Paper Size: 24" x 18"

Plane Type: Vought F-8E Crusader

"When you're out of F-8s, you're out of fighters," goes the old Navy saying, and one of the mainstay fighter aircraft to shoot down Soviet MiGs during the Vietnam War was the Vought F-8 Crusader. On July 9, 1968, VFP-63 pilot Cdr. John Nichols, with his callsign "Pirate," engaged a North Vietnamese MiG 17 over the town of Vinh and shot it down using a combination of Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and finally the F-8's 20mm cannon, thus becoming the last Navy pilot to ever shoot down an enemy airplane with guns. After this historic engagement, the MiG could only be called "Pirate's Bounty."

PIRATE'S BOUNTY by Mike Machat (F-8E Crusader)@ Dare to Move