Jump to content

Last Flight of VEGA 31 - F-117 vs Serbian SA-3 oil ptg


Recommended Posts

Hey all,

Just finished this oil painting depicting Lt Col Dale Zelko's F-117 under the callsign VEGA 31 coming off a successful bomb run about to be hacked out of the night sky by a Serbian modified SA-3 SAM during Operation Allied Force in 1999. The second one in the distance is actually the one that got him - the first one didn't fuze as it blew by at Mach 3.5 or so. Dale did a super job evading Serbian patrols for 8 hours before a massive Allied/USAF Combat SAR effort was able to daringly pluck him out of enemy territory in the dead of night in lousy weather. I presented it to him personally at Hanscom AFB just yesterday - he's on the right, me on the left. I was pleased as he was very happy with both the image itself and the level of accuracy - objective achieved. It was a great day - more so because he's an old A-10 squadron mate of mine from over 20 years ago. You can check out more particulars on my site www.fox3art.com.

381466xl.jpg

394972xl.jpg

Edited by MaGooF15
Link to post
Share on other sites

Beautiful Painting, MaGoo ! ;)

What a great presentation too ...

I remember the incident well, although not nearly as well as Dale does ... :coolio:

It also has to be a scary situation with the lack of rearward visibility the F-117 provided ...

Thanks for sharing this here ...

Gregg

Link to post
Share on other sites

I remember the day this happened. I was working at Nellis AFB as a contractor with the F-117 Analysis Group [bDM Federal] at the time. One of the guys I worked with was a Mission Planner for the F-117 during the early days [black Program] and during the 1991 Gulf War. We were all stunned and amazed. Figured it was a "Golden BB" that got him. We were so elated to hear when he was rescued! What a great tribute... One that Dale probably would rather not relive in memories.... Fabulous depiction!

Art Eggers. Capt/USAF [Ret]

Link to post
Share on other sites

Superb work! :rofl:

Your painting truly captured the moment. I could fantasize any possibilities of how it would be shot down until your painting killed it.

Fantastic! Keep up the good work!!

Jack

Link to post
Share on other sites
Superb work! :thumbsup:

Your painting truly captured the moment. I could fantasize any possibilities of how it would be shot down until your painting killed it.

Fantastic! Keep up the good work!!

Jack

Good Painting, hope so you do more in future on same topic.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 year later...

I missed this when it was first released, but was directed by a link up in the General forum today. I supported the SOF MH-53s and MH-60s on the rescue that night. What an awesome print. It's going on my Christmas list.

Great work!

-Jeff

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...