THE VNAF PAINTINGS

You don't see many VNAF Fine Art Paintings around, because the aviation art seems to be an unfamiliar concept in South Vietnam during the war. Now, the war is over a long time ago and who else is going to cherish a forgotten Air Force? But there are some "starving artists" who just do the opposite. Here are some of their art works along their humble thought.

VU KHAI CO'S ILLUSTRATIONS

FRANCOIS' PAINTING

Francois joints us today with his debut digital painting of VNAF UH-1. A job well done and welcome aboard, comrade! Hopefully we will see more Francois' VNAF artworks in the near future.

VU KHAI CO (CoHuong)'s PAINTINGS

About CO HUONG's painting of VNAF A-37Bs: The painting depicts a pair of A-37's doing a bomb-run over enemy position. Co Huong: "The image called Angels was based on a diary from an Army officer who was involed in the evacuate of the 2nd Corp Headquater (from Pleiku along the old abandon route 7 as a shortcut). During the evacuation, the civilian refugees followed the Army, making the situation more dificult and extremely dangerous. Meanwhile, the Comunist force was closing in with artillery shelling and ambushed the exodus from all over...Then, suddently a pair of A-37's appeared over them just like the Angels rescueing the poor souls in distress (but just for a short period of time). The A-37s were believed to be from Nha Trang Air base, 524th FS."

ABOUT THIS PAINTING Some one might build VNAF model aircraft just for fun or happen to deal with that subject as a hobby; but there were the others who had worked with the images of the defunct Air Forces for a better idea, or in short: a "noble cause." CoHuong is one of the latters. Recently, CoHuong has done a VNAF painting to commemorate the Black April. Here is CoHuong's concept on his recent VNAF art work: ...I've got this idea from some article I read sometime ago...a lone A-1 evacuated from Bien Hoa to TSN, flew past the Nghia Trang Quan Doi to salute the fallen heros and friends...I took this "image" and turned it into a "fiction" of my own to dedicate and honors the soldiers of the ARVN and ultimately, I dream of us to see each other again one day in our belove Viet Nam of freedom. My thinking behind this painting is one of the A-1s fought together with the AC-119K over TSN on the morning of 29/04/75...before this A-1 went into the final battle...it flew past the NTQD with high speed and low, banked over to salute the status Thuong Tiec for the last time... A job well done, nice and clean with Copic Marker pens.

GUCCI's DIGITAL MANIPULATION

They look like paintings or drawing but don't be fooled! They were the photos that have been turned into art works by using some Adobe Photoshop effects. I called these "Mi An Lien" (instant Chinese noodle) art works. :0)

        Click on the thumbnail below to see VKC's slide show of VNAF aircraft illustration.

THE VNAF SKYRAIDER'S PROFILE ILLUSTRATION

THE VNAF SKYRAIDER'S PROFILE ILLUSTRATION DONE BY DIFFERENT ARTISTS

        The following slides show presents the VNAF Skyraiders' profile illustration (done by many different artists) for only technical information and artistic appreciation. The artists hold the full credit copyright of their art works. To see the slide show, please click on the thumbnail picture on the left.

GUCCI's PAINTINGS

"The Old Glory" depicts the AD-5 and the AD-6 Skyraiders of the 1st VNAF Fighter Squadron (circa 1962) and "Soaring Eagle" shows off a lone A-1H in South East Asia camouflage scheme (SEA camouflage colors used in late stage of Vietnam war).

A-1H Skyraiders are the "classic" propeller aircraft of South Vietnam Air Force, famous for its versatility and effectiveness in close air support during the Vietnam war. At that time when electronic gadgets, computer devices, smart bombs and laser-guide bombs didn't exist; then human skills, courage and determination were the main factors for the Skyraider pilots to carry out their missions successfully. There are numerous legends about the Vietnam era Skyraiders, but to sum up one can say: The Skyraider pilots never drop bombs, they just delivered the "packages" right on the Vietcong's address! For example, Lt. Tran The Vinh, a "tank killer" of VNAF 518 FS, with 8 bombs under the wings, he knocked out 6 T-54's. In the morning of April 9,1972, after scoring a total of 21 VietCong T-54's, He and his skyraider had gone forever over the sky of Quang Tri province.

The A-1H Skyraiders served dutifully throughout the Vietnam war to the bitter end. In the morning of April 29, 1975, a Skyraider (serial #137588, commanded by Maj. Truong Phung) had been shot down by a Soviet Strela missile while defending Tan Son Nhut Air Base. Today, Skyraiders have ceased flying combat, a few retirees sit in the aviation museums, but its magnificent images live on forever in the memories of many, who once witnessed the bravery of the unsung heroes over the free sky of South Vietnam.

Some art works, photos, and articles are properties of their owners, the rest by VNAF MA MN.© Copyright 2005 vnafmamn.com.