Now that you have seen my painting of Harry Stewart sitting proud in his P-51D Mustang, here he is just a couple of weeks ago (67 years later), sitting very happily in the Palm Springs Air Museum's P-51D. Harry is 88 years young! He is as sharp as a tack and walks with a bounce in his step! He is a great person to have as a friend

Red Tail Pilot Harry Stewart

A couple of years ago, I created this painting of Harry Stewart in his P-51D Mustang. The painting was of Harry after his big April 1, 1945 dogfight with 3 enemy aircraft. He survived the fight, but they didn't! Tomorrow, I'll show you something really neat that just happened with Harry.

On the night of the Palm Springs Air Museum's Gala, we had 10 Tuskegee Airmen present. In this photo, you see 7 of the Airmen. From left to right, Rusty Burns, Asa Herring, Alton Ballard, Bob Ashby, Ted Lumpkin, Me, Harry Stewart, Joan, Peter Bissonnette, and Bob Friend. It was a wonderful evening! Everyone had a blast!

Tuskegee Airmen Day and Red Tail Bob Friend's Birthday

At the conclusion of yesterday's Tuskegee Airmen talk with Airmen Bob Friend and Rusty Burns, we celebrated Bob's 92 birthday by having all 600 people sing "Happy Birthday" to him. Then, a P-15 Mustang took off and made several high speed passes, thrilling the crowd. Bob and Rusty happily spent the next 2 hours signing autographs. They are amazing guys! It was a great day!

Tuskegee Airmen at the Palm Springs Air Museum

Yesterday, we had an huge crowd of around 600 people at the Palm Springs Air Museum's Tuskegee Airmen Day! There were 2 Airmen, Rusty Burns and Bob Friend and they were in great form. Both Pilots told of how they came to be flight cadets at Tuskegee and continued their stories through their careers. They had the crowd's complete attention for the entire hour.

332nd Red Tail pilot Bob Friend

This coming Saturday, Feb. 18th, we are having our Tuskegee Airmen Day at the Palm Springs Air Museum. Tuskegee pilots Bob Friend and Rusty Burns will be there and possibly a few more. We will have a program that will start at 1:00 PM. Please come and meet Bob and Rusty. They are both great guys that you will enjoy listening to and talking with!

The photo is of Bob Friend, nose art model Nadiyah Simms and our P-51 Mustang "Bunny".

Nose Art Comes Alive! Last Friday evening at the Palm Springs Air Museum's Gala, we unveiled the finished P-51 Mustang "Bunny". Here I am with model Nadiyah Simms who is the real life "Bunny". You can now see the P-51 Mustang at the Museum. This Saturday, Feb. 18, we will have our "Tuskegee Airmen" day at the Museum. It will get under way at 1:00 PM

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of showing our P-51 Mustang off to Red Tails Harry Stewart, Alton Ballard, and Bob Friend. These are the real "Red Tails". Between the 3 of them, they flew more than 250 combat missions with the 332nd Fighter Group in WWII. All 3 of them were individually awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Our Mustang is now painted up as Bob Friend's aircraft. There will be allot more about this to come!

Today, I almost completed the nose art on the Palm Springs Air Museum's P-51 Mustang. This is Bob Pond's old P-51. I've been "friendly" with this aircraft for 30 years! Back in the 80's, I had so many rides in it that I lost count. It is a blast to be a part of it's rebirth!

Here is the P-51 nose art I'm painting about half way finished. The whole P-51 Mustang is going together quite well. It will be finished in about a week! I will show it to you.

Last Monday, I went to see Tuskegee Airman Bob Friend to show him the painting that I had just completed of his P-51 Mustang that he flew as one of the famed "Red Tails". He loved the painting! Bob flew 142 combat missions, quite a few of them in this Mustang. We are repainting the Palm Springs Air Museum's P-51 as Bob's aircraft. It will be unveiled at the Museum's Gala on Feb. 10th. Can you believe that Bob is 91!

Stan Stokes and the Tuskegee Airmen

Through my art, I have been blessed to have a long term relationship with the magnificent men known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Half of this group was the 332nd Fighter Group known as the "Red Tails". The other half was the 477th Composite Group that were flying B-25s and P-47s.

At present, I am creating my 80th painting honoring the Airmen and their heroic exploits. I have taken 2 of these paintings and have produced limited edition prints from them. In the last year, I drove over 18,000 miles taking the prints to the individual Airmen and spent hours with them guiding them through signing the prints.

In the end, 20 Tuskegee Airmen signed each of the prints!

I will be introducing you to these great men and sharing their exploits with you.