Pirates of the Pacific - VF-17 Jolly Rogers

In 2008 I was contacted by an associate of the VF-17. The gentleman is spearheading a number of projects regarding the history of the VF-17 "Jolly Rogers" fighting squadron of World War II fame. One of the projects involves the renaming of the Muskeegon County airport in Michigan after the squadron's top scoring ace, Ike Kepford. It is planned to rename the airport in the spring of 2008. The project not only includes new signs for the airport and vicinity but also for a 3/4 scale Corsair airplane to be put on display as well as a small museum in the airport dedicated to Ike Kepford and the VF-17 "Jolly Rogers". A painting was commissioned for the museum which would depict the the VF-17 "Jolly Rogers" in action..The original idea was to create a painting featuring only Ike Kepford's airplane however through lengthy discussions during the planning phase of the work it was decided it would be a fitting tribute to also include the airplanes of the 4 surviving VF-17 pilots at that time: Mel