"Rhino Charge"
By: Rich Thistle ©
On June 2, 1972 , flying an F 4E Phantom II at over 1.2
mach, United States Air Force pilot Maj. Phil "Hands"
Handley shot down a MiG 19 with 20mm cannon fire. It
was the first victory for an F-4 with internal cannon, the
only MiG-19 shot down by cannon fire during the
course of the Vietnam War, and believed to be the
highest speed gun kill in the history of aerial combat. In
the back seat was WSO 1/Lt. Jack Smallwood. Phil's
best friend and partner on many combat missions,
Smallwood was the last rated officer to die in the War
of 1000 Days, when his F-4 was shot down over
Cambodia as the war ended.
limited edition litho print
500 s/n by the artist
all prints co-signed by Col. Handley USAF (Ret.)
17.25" x 20"
On June 2, 1972 , flying an F 4E Phantom II at over 1.2
mach, United States Air Force pilot Maj. Phil "Hands"
Handley shot down a MiG 19 with 20mm cannon fire. It
was the first victory for an F-4 with internal cannon, the
only MiG-19 shot down by cannon fire during the
course of the Vietnam War, and believed to be the
highest speed gun kill in the history of aerial combat. In
the back seat was WSO 1/Lt. Jack Smallwood. Phil's
best friend and partner on many combat missions,
Smallwood was the last rated officer to die in the War
of 1000 Days, when his F-4 was shot down over
Cambodia as the war ended.
limited edition litho print
500 s/n by the artist
all prints co-signed by Col. Handley USAF (Ret.)
17.25" x 20"
_______________________________
________
Limited Edition Print
$134.00
_______________________________
________
________
Limited Edition Print
$134.00
_______________________________
________
F-4 Phantom...a moment in history...© Rich Thistle
Commissioned by Col. Phil Handley, USAF (Ret.), RHINO CHARGE may well be the definitive Phantom II
("McDonnell Rhinoceros")combat painting. Created with intense attention to every detail through the
ongoing involvement of Col. Handley, the USAF F-4 pilot who made history in the skies over Hanoi, this
painting dramatically depicts a unique moment in the history of aerial combat.
On June 2, 1972, at approximately 1330 hours, while in a flight of four F-4Es on CAP (combat air patrol) flying
Brenda 01, a hard-wing F-4E, tail number 68210, at over 1.2 mach, Maj. Phil "Hands" Handley shot down a
MiG-19 with 20 mm cannon fire 40 miles northeast of Hanoi. The estimated flight parameters were; F-4 speed
over 1.2 mach (800 kts); MiG 19 speed mach 0.77 (500 kts); altitude above terrain 500 feet; slant range
200-300 feet; and flight path crossing angle 90 degrees. It was the first victory for an F-4 with internal
cannon, the only MiG-19 shot down by cannon fire during the course of the war in Southeast Asia, and is
believed to be the highest speed gun kill in the history of aerial combat.
...Here is a direct quote from an email message I received from Phil as the painting progressed...
"Can you imagine Rich what an air show this would have been to a North Vietnamese worker in one of the
rice paddies directly below this scene? Jaded by the years of seeing numerous flights of MiGs and American
fighters overhead and hearing the distant rumble of heavy bombing, he had learned to mostly ignore the
continuing saga which he wished would go away. However, just over a minute and one-half earlier an
echoing muffled boom had attracted his attention. Brenda 01 accelerated through the mach several miles
southwest of him.
Focusing upon the rapidly turning and descending F-4, his eyes also picked up a second F-4 which was
climbing upward and turning slowly left. Soon he saw two more silver aircraft descending and turning to the
north. Continuing to watch, he saw a streak come from the F-4 in the direction of the silver aircraft, but it
seemed to simply fly harmlessly upward. As his gaze passed northwest, he could not believe how fast all
three of the airplanes seemed to be going. Just then a second streak left the brown airplane and flew
behind the silver planes. He now realized that all of the airplanes were going faster than he had ever seen,
and that they were very, very low.
As he now faced directly north, he looked to the northeast to see the rapidly approaching silver aircraft, and
back to the north to see the brown airplane. He suddenly realized that all of them were going to converge
directly over his head. He snapped his head to the right as his ears sensed the high-pitch squeal of the four
after burning engines of the MiGs and noted that there was some sort of fog streaming off both of the
rapidly turning silver airplanes.
Quickly checking back to the north, he saw the same fog streaming from the big brown airplane, but, oddly
could hear no noise from its direction. Just then, a long streak of red fire shot from the nose of the brown
airplane and his ears heard the staccato cracks of one hundred 20 mm rounds per second breaking the
sound barrier over his head at over mach 4.5.
Now, in less than one second both of the silver airplanes screamed directly over him in a westerly direction
amidst the loudest roar he had ever heard. At the same instant, he thought he saw some sort of sparkles and
puffs on the second silver airplane... but had no time to reflect upon it, for as the brown airplane passed
directly over his head, the air in his lungs was suddenly expelled as if hit with a bat when the mach-Y stem of
the F-4's shock wave swept over him.
Now crouching on the ground and looking directly south, his eyes followed the brown airplane which had
snapped out of its right turn and was pulling rapidly into a vertical climb. As he looked back to his right he
saw the second of the silver airplanes streaming fire, with its wings rocking and nose dropping. He
continued to watch and in less than ten seconds it hit the ground in one of the neighboring rice paddies,
exploding into a huge orange ball of fire. He dropped his rake and began to run toward the black smoke....
Those are but a few of the thoughts that come to mind when I look at your painting. Do I like it? What do you
think? I don't know what your are doing with your magic, but it sure as hell seems to be working. " ...End of
quote from Col.Handley..........
In the back seat of the Rhino was WSO 1/Lt. Jack Smallwood. Phil's best friend and partner on many combat
missions, Smallwood was the last rated officer to die in the War of 1000 Days, when his F-4 was shot down
over Cambodia as the war ended.
Phil "flew the line" for all but eleven months of a twenty-six year career in the USAF, during which he
accumulated over 7000 flying hours in aircraft vintages F-86 Saber through F-15 Eagle, including the C-130A
Hercules. He flew 275 combat missions during two tours in Southeast Asia in the F-4D and F-4E .Rising to
command the 22nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, he became, in turn, Chief of USAFE Standardization and
Evaluation, Wing Deputy Commander for Operations of the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing, and Commanding
Officer of the 405 th Tactical Fighter Wing. Col. Handley is a graduate of Air Command and Staff College, the
Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and the US Army War College. He is a member of The Red River
Valley Fighter Pilot's Association (River Rats) and a MiG Killer.
On the occasion of his retirement from the Air force in 1984, his awards included 21 Air Medals, 3
Distinguished Flying Crosses, and the Silver Star. Col. Handley and his wife Solvejg live in Midland, Texas
where he continues to work in both military and general aviation.
Without doubt, RHINO CHARGE is the most authentically detailed depiction of an exact moment in time in my
entire body of aerial combat paintings. I was proud to be a part of this project with Col. Handley. It is
published as a limited edition print and each print is co-signed by Phil.
by Rich Thistle
Commissioned by Col. Phil Handley, USAF (Ret.), RHINO CHARGE may well be the definitive Phantom II
("McDonnell Rhinoceros")combat painting. Created with intense attention to every detail through the
ongoing involvement of Col. Handley, the USAF F-4 pilot who made history in the skies over Hanoi, this
painting dramatically depicts a unique moment in the history of aerial combat.
On June 2, 1972, at approximately 1330 hours, while in a flight of four F-4Es on CAP (combat air patrol) flying
Brenda 01, a hard-wing F-4E, tail number 68210, at over 1.2 mach, Maj. Phil "Hands" Handley shot down a
MiG-19 with 20 mm cannon fire 40 miles northeast of Hanoi. The estimated flight parameters were; F-4 speed
over 1.2 mach (800 kts); MiG 19 speed mach 0.77 (500 kts); altitude above terrain 500 feet; slant range
200-300 feet; and flight path crossing angle 90 degrees. It was the first victory for an F-4 with internal
cannon, the only MiG-19 shot down by cannon fire during the course of the war in Southeast Asia, and is
believed to be the highest speed gun kill in the history of aerial combat.
...Here is a direct quote from an email message I received from Phil as the painting progressed...
"Can you imagine Rich what an air show this would have been to a North Vietnamese worker in one of the
rice paddies directly below this scene? Jaded by the years of seeing numerous flights of MiGs and American
fighters overhead and hearing the distant rumble of heavy bombing, he had learned to mostly ignore the
continuing saga which he wished would go away. However, just over a minute and one-half earlier an
echoing muffled boom had attracted his attention. Brenda 01 accelerated through the mach several miles
southwest of him.
Focusing upon the rapidly turning and descending F-4, his eyes also picked up a second F-4 which was
climbing upward and turning slowly left. Soon he saw two more silver aircraft descending and turning to the
north. Continuing to watch, he saw a streak come from the F-4 in the direction of the silver aircraft, but it
seemed to simply fly harmlessly upward. As his gaze passed northwest, he could not believe how fast all
three of the airplanes seemed to be going. Just then a second streak left the brown airplane and flew
behind the silver planes. He now realized that all of the airplanes were going faster than he had ever seen,
and that they were very, very low.
As he now faced directly north, he looked to the northeast to see the rapidly approaching silver aircraft, and
back to the north to see the brown airplane. He suddenly realized that all of them were going to converge
directly over his head. He snapped his head to the right as his ears sensed the high-pitch squeal of the four
after burning engines of the MiGs and noted that there was some sort of fog streaming off both of the
rapidly turning silver airplanes.
Quickly checking back to the north, he saw the same fog streaming from the big brown airplane, but, oddly
could hear no noise from its direction. Just then, a long streak of red fire shot from the nose of the brown
airplane and his ears heard the staccato cracks of one hundred 20 mm rounds per second breaking the
sound barrier over his head at over mach 4.5.
Now, in less than one second both of the silver airplanes screamed directly over him in a westerly direction
amidst the loudest roar he had ever heard. At the same instant, he thought he saw some sort of sparkles and
puffs on the second silver airplane... but had no time to reflect upon it, for as the brown airplane passed
directly over his head, the air in his lungs was suddenly expelled as if hit with a bat when the mach-Y stem of
the F-4's shock wave swept over him.
Now crouching on the ground and looking directly south, his eyes followed the brown airplane which had
snapped out of its right turn and was pulling rapidly into a vertical climb. As he looked back to his right he
saw the second of the silver airplanes streaming fire, with its wings rocking and nose dropping. He
continued to watch and in less than ten seconds it hit the ground in one of the neighboring rice paddies,
exploding into a huge orange ball of fire. He dropped his rake and began to run toward the black smoke....
Those are but a few of the thoughts that come to mind when I look at your painting. Do I like it? What do you
think? I don't know what your are doing with your magic, but it sure as hell seems to be working. " ...End of
quote from Col.Handley..........
In the back seat of the Rhino was WSO 1/Lt. Jack Smallwood. Phil's best friend and partner on many combat
missions, Smallwood was the last rated officer to die in the War of 1000 Days, when his F-4 was shot down
over Cambodia as the war ended.
Phil "flew the line" for all but eleven months of a twenty-six year career in the USAF, during which he
accumulated over 7000 flying hours in aircraft vintages F-86 Saber through F-15 Eagle, including the C-130A
Hercules. He flew 275 combat missions during two tours in Southeast Asia in the F-4D and F-4E .Rising to
command the 22nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, he became, in turn, Chief of USAFE Standardization and
Evaluation, Wing Deputy Commander for Operations of the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing, and Commanding
Officer of the 405 th Tactical Fighter Wing. Col. Handley is a graduate of Air Command and Staff College, the
Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and the US Army War College. He is a member of The Red River
Valley Fighter Pilot's Association (River Rats) and a MiG Killer.
On the occasion of his retirement from the Air force in 1984, his awards included 21 Air Medals, 3
Distinguished Flying Crosses, and the Silver Star. Col. Handley and his wife Solvejg live in Midland, Texas
where he continues to work in both military and general aviation.
Without doubt, RHINO CHARGE is the most authentically detailed depiction of an exact moment in time in my
entire body of aerial combat paintings. I was proud to be a part of this project with Col. Handley. It is
published as a limited edition print and each print is co-signed by Phil.
by Rich Thistle
Here at Ozark Airfield Artworks we offer a large selection art prints. These prints
mainly depict modern and historic aviation along with military, civil and space
flight. We also deal with naval subjects and military armor and infantry works.
These prints are from all the top national and international artists along with
some local artists. Many of our prints are signed by the artist and by famous
pilots and veterans. If you are looking for a specific plane, pilot, artist or subject
please contact us.
mainly depict modern and historic aviation along with military, civil and space
flight. We also deal with naval subjects and military armor and infantry works.
These prints are from all the top national and international artists along with
some local artists. Many of our prints are signed by the artist and by famous
pilots and veterans. If you are looking for a specific plane, pilot, artist or subject
please contact us.
All images are copyrighted by the individual artist and may not be
reproduced without their consent.
reproduced without their consent.
Copyright © Ozark Airfield Artworks 2005 All Rights Reserved
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