Birth of a Legend Robert Taylor Knight's Cross Edition Signed and Numbered Print

  
Birth of a Legend Robert Taylor Knight's Cross Edition Signed and Numbered Print. Only 850 Limited Edition prints including 490 Knight's Cross Edition prints. Lithograph print by Aviation Artist Robert Taylor. The third edition print in the Hartmann Trilogy. For sale is a Knight's Cross Edition print by renowned aviation artist, Robert Taylor. The print comes with a certificate of authenticity from The Military Gallery. The print is on acid free archival paper. The print is in excellent condition, never framed, and stored flat in a nonsmoking environment. The overall size of the print is 33" x 25.25". The Knight's Cross Edition print is signed by Robert Taylor, Erich Hartmann, Gunther Rall, and 7 Knight's Cross holders. The print depicts Erich Hartmann in his Me109 of JG-52 on November 5, 1942. Hartmann attacked a Russian IL-2 fighter-bomber and after an unsuccessful first attack, Hartmann closed on the aircraft, setting it on fire. Hartmann's Me109 was showered with debris from the doomed Russian plane, causing an explosion in the young pilot's aircraft, which immediately caught fire.

Already at a very low altitude, Hartmann had no alternative but to belly in. Having cut power, fuel, and ignition switches as he crash landed at high speed in a massive cloud of dust. Unhurt, the young future Ace was picked up almost immediately. It was the first of 352 air victories that would make Hartman the top scoring fighter pilot in history.