Posted on 05/15/2016 5:11:34 PM PDT by Kaslin
Air Force fighters and bombers are soaring into the wild blue yonder with new paint jobs, quietly reviving an old tradition.
The decorative painting and designs on the noses and wings of Air Force planes may not be as racy as they were during World War II, but they are just as meaningful, the Air Force Times reports.
“This is a tradition across the Air Force," Col. Jeff Smith, commander of the 173rd Fighter Wing in Klamath Falls, Ore., told the newspaper. “This truly is a source of morale and pride, especially for the dedicated crew chief to know that they have a little mark of themselves on the airplane.”
It took 31 days to transform one of the unit’s dull gray F-15 Eagles into a colorful work of art, commemorating the Oregon Air National Guard’s 75th Anniversary, the Air Force Times reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
It’s tough to top the “Varga girls”.
I liked to one on the bomber nose in the airplane graveyard in movie “The Best Years of Our Lives”... ROUND TRIP?
Yeah, it is
A little addendum to the Fox story. The F-15 from the Oregon Air Guard with the distinctive paint job has a tail number beginning with the number “79” That means it rolled off the former McDonnell-Douglas (now Boeing) assembly line in 1979, so it’s been in operational service for 39 years.
The cool art doesn’t mitigate an important fact: that’s a very old jet which should have been retired long ago. But thanks to the procurement holiday of the 90s; the decision to halt F-22 production at 187 jets and recent budget cuts, the Oregon F-15 will likely see 40 years of service as an operational fighter—something unthinkable when it joined the inventory during the last year of the Carter Administration.
Additional thoughts on the impact of a shriking (and aging) Air Force on national security:
http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2016/05/wiped-out.html
I agree thats a good looking one. I have always enjoyed official entire aircraft themes. Black Phantom was a great one. And there were a bunch in 1976 for the Bicentennial.
I love airplane nose art. There are some great videos on YouTube about the boneyards they flew them to for dismantling, and looking at the planes, it was interesting to look at the change over time. It could be me, but it seemed as WWII went on, the nose art got more and more sexually graphic...
They probably got to the point where they simply said “No female/male sex organs except for T&A, or sex acts. Paint what you want and keep flying missions.”
I’m with you on that...Fail.
I enjoyed those...thanks.
I wonder what the Krauts thought of the nose art on our planes? Something tell me their pilots appreciated a good nude.
My dad was a B24 tailgunner out of Spinazola Italy. Thanks for reminding me of him. I miss him a lot.
“I shoveled sh!t in Louisiana.”
Patton (movie) reference.
Late in WWII, the more graphic nose art was censored by adding bikini bottoms, etc. Probably some command general’s wife got the vapors.
Me too...
Me too...
Yeah...probably stateside or over in England. Hard to imagine that in the far west Pacific.
Someone commented that if you look at German WWII nose art, it was always something dark, like skulls, etc.
He said it was a telling commentary on how the two cultures viewed life - ours celebrated it, theirs celebrated death.
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