Hostile Sky

L/E of 200 Giclee Prints on Paper
S/N by the Artist
Image Size: 22¾" x 16½"

Plane Type: Nieuport 16

The final flight of Victor Chapman, the first US airman to lose his life in combat. Chapman, a member of the famed Lafayette Escadrille was flying his Nieuport 16 on June 23, 1916, on a personal errand to deliver a crate of oranges to a hospitalized friend. While in the air he noticed a dogfight in which he recognized three of his squadron mates. Chapman joined the fight only to find that his squadron mates had vanished and he was now alone against five German Fokker monoplanes. The fight ended quickly with Chapman plummeting to his death. PLANE JUNKIE - Hostile Sky by Russell Smith (Nieuport 16)