Richard Bong's P-38 Lightning over a flaming Ki-61 Hien fighter.

Mr. Kane grew up in Minnesota, a neighbor of American ace Richard Bong, and always had it in his head to paint an image of Bong's P-38 Lightning fighter.

Kane began to read about Bong and contacted the family. He settled on Bong's 22nd victory, flaming a Ki-61 Hien "Tony" fighter as the sun sets over the South Pacific.

Bong remains America's leading ace with 40 air-to-air kills. He died testing jets. Learn more by visiting the Richard I. Bong World War II Heritage Center

This image is available for purchase as a giclee reproduction. Contact Hawaii Visions

Hall's First Victory

James Norman Hall was a member of the Lafayette Escadrille in 1917, flying a Spad.

On ChristmasDay, 1917, He took his plane up to sport among the clouds. Doing acrobatics for the pure joy of it, he flew into enemy territory. Shooting out from the bottom of a cloud, the sun at his back, he found himself behind a lone German observation plane. Rather than pounce on his prey, Hall slid alongside the German and cut his motor. The German pilot was shaken with surprise. Hall shouted to him as loudly as he could, “Merry Christmas!” The enemy nodded his head, Hall waved his hand, and both aircraft sped off in opposite directions.

But then his good friend Douglas MacMonagle was shot down and killed. Hall felt he must even the score. New Year's Day, 1918, found him on patrol. Spotting a speck a half mile distant Hall began to climb to overtake him. Soon black crosses grew visible on the wings of an Albatros fighter.

Hall dove, to 100 meters, then fired, watching his tracers bounce off the engine. The enemy fell out of control and into a cloud bank. When it reappeared, Hall put another 100 rounds into it. A wing collapsed, and the plane flipped over and went down.

Jimmy Hall guides Eddie Rickenbacker to his first victory

In April,1918, Captain James Norman Hall and newly arrived Lieutenant Rickenbacker scrambled their Nieuport 28s (Hall in #17, “Rick” in #12) on word that an enemy plane was nearing their area of patrol. Soon a German Pfalz came into view. Hall signaled, and the two planes climbed rapidly. From an advantage of altitude they dived together toward their prey. When Eddie broke away to attack from the other side, the German saw him leave the invisibility of the sun's rays and frantically began to climb; but Hall was already firing. The German quickly banked to escape, but now Eddie pounced. At 150 yards he pressed his triggers, maneuvering his diving plane to guide the stream of tracer bullets into the enemy plane. He pulled out of his dive and watched the Pfalz until crashed.

It was the first in a long line of victories that made Rickenbacker the highest scoring American ace of the First World War.

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