Ron Cole & Cole's Aircraft Aviation Art

09/25/2026

RARE WWII German Luftwaffe Arado Ar 234 'Blitz' Authentic Crash Relic — KG 76 Remagen Bridge Mission!

On 7 March 1945, American troops captured the Ludendorff railway bridge at Remagen, securing a vital crossing over the Rhine. The Luftwaffe immediately began a determined but unsuccessful campaign to destroy it, employing conventional aircraft and the revolutionary Arado Ar 234 B-2 “Blitz,” the world’s first operational jet bomber.

On 9 March 1945, Oberfeldwebel Friedrich Bruchlos of 8./Kampfgeschwader 76 attacked the bridge in Ar 234 B-2 F1+AS. His aircraft was struck by American antiaircraft fire from the 634th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion near Erpel. Bruchlos attempted to escape across the Westerwald, but the damaged jet crashed in the Fockenbach valley near Niederbreitbach. The aircraft buried itself approximately four to five meters into the soft forest floor.

The wreck remained forgotten until fragments discovered by a hiker led to a major excavation on 18 October 1975. Investigators recovered portions of the aircraft—including its braking parachute—and identified it through wreckage carrying the F1 unit code. Subsequent research and more recent documentation have preserved the history of the site; several recovered components are displayed in the Dorfmuseum Niederbreitbach, while a memorial at the crash location is still maintained by local German reservists.

The Ar 234 relic included in this 8.5x11-inch (size of artwork) display has been carefully cut from a larger panel (see photo) that was recovered in 1975 during this jet bomber's initial excavation and was a cockpit component based upon its original dark gray matte paint and markings. While amateur excavators have visited the crash site over the years, their finds are not nearly as well preserved as this component.

Each of these displays have been signed & numbered and are limited to 75.

Handmade in Zanesville, Ohio!

$230 each

https://roncole.net/products/german-luftwaffe-arado-ar-234-blitz-kg-76-remagen-bridge-mission-relic-display

Own a piece of Germany's desperate last stand of the Second World War: RARE WWII German Luftwaffe Arado Ar 234 'Blitz' Authentic Crash Relic — KG 76 Remagen Bridge Mission! On 7 March 1945, American troops captured the Ludendorff railway bridge at Remagen, securing a vital crossing over the Rhine....

09/24/2026

Battle of Gettysburg .54-Caliber Minié Ball Relic Display

A tangible artifact associated with the most famous battle of the American Civil War: an original .54-caliber Minié-type bullet excavated from the Gettysburg Battlefield with full provenance and history - combined with the original artwork of Ron Cole!

The .54-caliber Minié ball was an expanding-base lead projectile used in several Civil War ri**es. Two notable examples were the Austrian Model 1854 Lorenz r***e-musket and the U.S. Model 1841 “Mississippi” r***e. The full-length, three-band Lorenz was imported in large numbers and carried by both Union and Confederate soldiers.

This artwork depicts Confederate infantry advancing uphill through drifting black-powder smoke while Union soldiers defend Gettysburg’s rocky high ground.

This bullet came from the collection of longtime historical collector and Civil War interpreter Larry Marple. As a teenager during the 1970s, Marple purchased Gettysburg-associated bullets from a local shop remembered as “Pie Antiques,” said to have stood across the road from General Robert E. Lee’s Headquarters on Seminary Ridge. Local children collected bullets exposed as their parents plowed fields around Gettysburg and sold them to Sally M. Barach, who operated the shop. Barach was a local author and member of the Gettysburg Area Antique Dealers Association. The referenced landmark is the surviving Mary Thompson House, now located at 401 Buford Avenue. General Lee used the house as his headquarters during the Battle of Gettysburg, and it later became a prominent museum and tourist attraction.

Gettysburg has a long history of bullets and other military objects being uncovered during agricultural work. Local museums and relic dealers were actively buying and selling such material by the early 1970s. By 1979, however, such prospecting and the removal of relics such as this became a serious crime. Possession of this rare piece of history is, however, perfectly legal as it was recovered prior to the federal ban.

This historical relic has been incorporated into an 8.5×11-inch black-framed, wall-hanging display. Each display is personally signed and individually numbered as part of a limited edition of only 60 examples. Its complete history and certificate of authenticity is attached to the reverse of each display.

No discount codes, please. Availability is limited to the numbered edition. of only 60!

$250 each for a limited time

SHOP NOW: https://roncole.net/products/battle-of-gettysburg-excavated-54-caliber-minie-ball-relic-display

09/15/2026

Take 30% off your order as our 'thank you' for making Cole's Aircraft one of the best businesses of 2026 as rated by Google Reviews and Business Rate!

Use code 30LABOR at checkout
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Cole's Aircraft Aviation Art specializes in historic aviation art and relic displays from different time periods in history.

09/14/2026

Thank you for your generous Google Reviews!

09/08/2026

The RB-51 Red Baron was one of the most formidable aircraft ever created for Unlimited Class air racing. Originally built as North American P-51D-25-NT Mustang 44-84961 and registered N7715C, it competed under several identities—including Miss R.J. and the Roto-Finish Special, which won the 1972 Reno Unlimited Gold race. After Ed Browning purchased the aircraft in 1974, it was extensively rebuilt and renamed Red Baron.

Its standard Merlin engine was replaced by a roughly 3,000-horsepower Rolls-Royce Griffon 57, driving two contra-rotating, three-bladed propellers adapted from an Avro Shackleton. The installation required an elongated cowling, extensive structural changes, and an enlarged vertical stabilizer. Flying as Race No. 5, Red Baron won the Reno Unlimited Gold in 1977 with Darryl Greenamyer and again in 1978 with Steve Hinton.

On August 14, 1979, the 27-year-old Hinton flew Red Baron over a measured three-kilometer course at Tonopah, Nevada, averaging 499.018 mph and establishing a world speed record for piston-powered aircraft that stood for ten years. Only a month later, on September 16, the aircraft suffered a catastrophic engine and propeller-control failure at Reno. It crashed short of the runway and was destroyed, although Hinton survived with serious injuries.

In 2023, Ron Cole and Cole’s Aircraft acquired a substantial original fuselage section from the wreckage from a Florida collection. The surviving panel retains portions of the aircraft’s red paint and hand-painted lettering commemorating its 1979 speed record.

Recognizing its historical importance, Cole preserved the majority of the section intact, using only a small portion to create a limited series of relic displays. The principal surviving panel remains in Ron Cole’s collection—a tangible remnant of one of air racing’s fastest and most celebrated Mustangs.

Cole's Aircraft Aviation Art specializes in historic aviation art and relic displays from different time periods in history.

08/28/2026

Luftwaffe BF 109 F-2 JG 54 Rare Brown/Green Camouflage Relic Display.

A very rare opportunity to acquire an original piece of World War II Eastern Front aviation history: a fragment from a Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 of 7./Jagdgeschwader 54, finished in an exceptionally rare multicolored camouflage scheme and believed to have been flown in combat by fighter ace Werner Pichon Kalau von Hofe, credited with 21 aerial victories.

$260 each - Limited to only 20!

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Luftwaffe German WWII original Me 109 F-2 original art of this specific aircraft by Ron Cole.

08/27/2026

Own a piece of Germany's desperate last stand of the Second World War:

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Own a piece of Germany's desperate last stand of the Second World War: The V-1 flying bomb—Vergeltungswaffe 1, or “Vengeance Weapon 1”—was the world’s first operational cruise missile. Officially designated the Fieseler Fi 103, it was also called the Höllenhund (“hellhound”) by the Ge...

08/20/2026

NEW RELEASE!

P-61 'Black Widow' Night Fighter Combat Loss Relic Display by Ron Cole.

Own an extremely rare piece of Pacific War aviation history - an authentic piece of black-painted aluminum from this Northrop P-61 'Black Widow' night fighter paired with Ron Cole's original artwork of this famous night hunter high over its falling prey c. 1945!

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Very rare P-61 Black Widow night fighter original aircraft fragment in display by Ron Cole.