FReeper Canteen ~ Military Nose Cone Art ~ February 28 2005

The FReeper Canteen looks at

Nose Cone Art

Nose Cone Art has gone through many changes over the years. The subject of the artwork range from scenes of "Home Sweet Home" to cartoon favorites to fantasy pictures to every man's favorite...beautiful women.

Home Sweet Home

Thousands of aircrews throughout history have declared their roots through their art. From the Memphis Belle of WWII to Pittsburgh's Finest of the Gulf War, it all comes as much from the heart as it does from the Aircraft Commander's or Wing's hometown.

Cartoon Faves

The Duck goes to war.... Painted on the side of a restored, flying P-51D, this nose art captures an era when Walt Disney freely offered his studio's talents to design unit patches and symbols for Americans going to war. Beyond the Vargas pin-ups, Walt Disney's art did more to define the motif of nose art than any other single source.

Fantasy

Much of today's nose art is based not on pin-ups but on science fiction and fantasy art. This tradition continues and grows as a new generation of artists paint based on their own influences. After all, it has been a long time since Esquire featured a pin-up as a centerfold.

This C-130 is a classic example of the new genre. While popular in the field, there are countless nose art aficionados who prefer the old, somewhat less politically correct look.

Babes

The B-17G Shoo Shoo Baby flew 24 combat missions in WW II with the 91st Bomb Group, known as "The Ragged Irregulars". The plane was based at Bassingbourn, England.

Its first mission was the bombing of Frankfurt, Germany, on March 24, 1944. The plane ended its combat career after taking battle damage during a mission to Posen, Poland, on May 29, 1944. Today, the plane is at Wright-Patterson AFB in the US Air Force Museum.

Yankee Lady is another restored example of a B-17G. Frequently seen at airshows around the country, it is one of the finest examples of a Flying Fortress still capable of taking to the air. If you've never heard the power of four Pratt & Whitney engines at full tilt, you're missing a real piece of history.

During World War II, pin-ups emerged from the fine airbrushed art of Alberto Vargas, whose images were the most sought-after section of the popular magazine, Esquire. With thousands of airplanes droning off to war, noseart emerged as the aviator's unique calling card.

Although the Army Air Force attempted to ban and censor noseart on several occasions, ultimately, the art would remain. Its value in terms of morale was unquestioned.

In the end, it emerged as a defining element of the era, gracing everything from the noses of airplanes, to leather jackets, to the walls of barracks huts and O-Clubs across Europe and the Pacific.

The finest pin-ups were torn from the pages of Esquire Magazine. Each artwork was published with a poem by Phil Stack. These poems were designed to rhyme and present without much subtlety, again using the double-entendre to effect.

One went simply,

"I'm learning some commando tricks. / For keeping fit, they're dandy, / And when you men come home again, / They're apt to come in handy!"

Honorable Mention

As Desert Shield wound down and the coalition forces in Southwest Asia prepared for the assault against Saddam's entrenched ground forces in Kuwait, thoughts of home and the holidays again entered the mind of aircrew members across the region.

This airplane was painted with a fitting holiday theme, Santa being pulled in his sleigh by his magical flying camels, err... wasn't that supposed to be reindeer?

Considered by many to be the finest technical example of nose art from the Gulf War, this beautifully rendered pig carries the motto, "Ol Lightnen" and the plane's tail number 0005. Painted on the side of a KC-135 refueller out of Riyahd, it is one of the classics of the era.

So what about you? Show us your favorite Nose Cone Art
~ as long as it's family friendly.
If it's a little too racy, just post a link for interested parties.

Click the picture to visit the website that was the source of this
information ~ there's lot's more there to see and read!

SandRat's links to great Nose Cone Art:

13th Bomb Squadron Nose Art
http://www.13thbombsquadron.org/
Gallery of classic bomber noseart.

Aviation Art by Robert Karr
http://fly.to/KarrArt
Nose art for viewing and for purchasing.

368th Fighter Group Tribute
http://www.368thfightergroup.com/

Bomber Girl
http://www.bombergirl.com/
Aviation nose art and pin-up art.

Aviation Pioneer
http://www.weisskopf.de/
Worlds First Motorized Flight.

Collectors Press Inc.
http://www.collectorspress.com/
Publisher of nose art and pin up books.

Don Henderson's - Bikes, Trains, Planes and Dames
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~machenry/
Nose art and pin-up art.

Jackit Art
http://members.nbci.com/varga46/
Hand painted jackets and patches.

Luc's Photo Hanger
http://www.bayarea.net/~hanger/
Established to promote a portion of W.W.II aviation history in the form of aircraft nose art.

Paradon Collectibles Group
http://www.eparadon.com
Home of really cool warbird nose art wall clocks.

Pictures of Nose Art on Some Bombers from Tinian
http://www.cris.com/~ronniem/WWII/noseart.htm

Rosemary Dery - Hand Painted Leather
http://www.rosemarydery.com
Hand painted leather and WWII squadron patches -- specializing in military aviation nose art.

Thunderbolt Galleries
http://www.thunderboltgallery.com/index.htm
Source for reproduction aviation art including nose art panels, war ads, leather jackets and airbrushed aircraft nose art.

Velasco Enterprises Fighting Colors Collection
http://www.fightingcolors.com/
WWII Nose art panels for sale.
and
http://www.mutoworld.com/Nose-Art.htm
and
http://381st.org/noseart.html
and
http://www.36rcm.com/aircraft/noseart/noseart.htm
and
http://www.npswapa.org/gallery/album35
AND
http://www.nps.gov/wapa/indepth/Park/Cultural/PlansPin.htm
and
http://www.lancastermuseum.ca/noseart.html
and
http://5thbomberbarons.com/html/noseart.html
and
http://www.7thbg.org/NoseArt.htm

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on February 28:
1533 Michel de Montaigne France, essayist/philosopher
1552 Jobst Bürgi [Justus Byrgius], Swiss/German mathematician
1573 Elias Hill German architect/city builder (Augsburg)
1663 Thomas Newcomen English co-inventor (steam engine)
1690 Aleksei P Romanov Russia, son of Peter the Great
1712 Louis Joseph de Montcalm de Saint-Véran France, General
1779 Augustus Callcott landscape painter, Kensington
1797 Mary Lyon US, educator (Mt Holyoke) (Hall of Fame)
1797 W Frederik K prince of Netherlands/General/Admiral (10 day campaign)
1817 James Craig Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1888
1820 John Tenniel England, cartoonist/illustrator (Alice in Wonderland)
1822 Matthew Duncan Ector Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1879
1824 John Creed Moore Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1910
1825 Quincy Adams Gillmore Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1888
1833 Alfred von Schlieffen Count/Prussian General-field marshal
1865 Sir Wilfred Grenfell England, medical missionary
1882 Geraldine Farrar US soprano/actress (Story of American Singer)
1887 William Zorach Lithuania, US sculptor (Spirit of the Dance)
1890 Vaslav Nijinsky Kiev Ukraine, ballet dancer
1901 Linus Pauling chemist/peace worker (Nobel 1954, 1962)
1906 Bugsy Siegel gangster created casinos in Las Vegas
1907 Milton Caniff Hillsboro OH, cartoonist (Terry & the Pirates)
1910 Vincente Minnelli Chicago IL, movie director (American in Paris, Gigi)
1915 Zero [Samuel Joel] Mostel Brooklyn NY, actor (Fiddler on the Roof, The Producers)
1923 Charles Durning Highland Falls NY, actor (Dog Day Afternoon, Fury, Sting, Tootsie)
1926 Svetlana Alliluyeva daughter of Josef Stalin, author (My Life)
1928 Smokey The Bear
1930 Leon Cooper US physicist (Nobel 1972)
1931 Gavin MacLeod Mt Kisco NY, actor (Murray-Mary Tyler Moore, Love Boat)
1934 Willie Bobo New York NY, jazz drummer (Cos)
1938 Martin Olav Sabo (Representative-Dummy-MN, 1979- )
1939 John Fahey singer (Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death)
1939 Tommy Tune Wichita Falls TX, dancer/choreographer (The Boyfriend)
1940 Joe South Atlanta GA, guitarist/songwriter/singer (Games People Play)
1940 Mario Andretti race-car driver (1969 Indianapolis 500)
1942 Brian Jones rock guitarist (Rolling Stones-Brown Sugar)
1945 Charles "Bubba" Smith Texas, NFLer (Baltimore Colts)/actor (Police Academy)
1948 Bernadette Peters [Lazzaro] Queens NY, actress (The Jerk, Song & Dance)
1953 Ricky "Dragon" Steamboat [Richard Blood], wrestler (NWA/WWF/WCW/AWA)
1962 Rae Dawn Chong Edmonton Alberta, actress (Quest for Fire)
1967 Jeff[rey] Pfaendtner Detroit MI, rower (Olympics-bronze-1996)
1967 Marcus Lillington rock guitarist (Breathe-All I Need)
1970 Noureddine Morceli Algeria, 1500 meter runner (Olympics-gold-96)

Deaths which occurred on February 28:
1261 Hendrik duke of Brabant (1248-61), dies
1573 Jan "Hans" Liefrinck Flemish engraver/publisher, dies at about 54
1609 Paul Sartorius composer, dies at 39
1638 Henri duc de Rohan, French soldier/Huguenot leader, dies
1781 Richard Stockton US attorney (signed Declaration of Independence), dies at 50
1784 Phillis Wheatly poetess, dies
1844 Abel P Upshur Secretary of State, dies in explosion on USS Princeton
1844 Thommas W Gilmer Navy Secretary, dies in explosion on USS Princeton
1913 Elephant seal 6.8-m, 4000-kg, killed in South Georgia (South Atlantic)
1916 Henry James US/British writer (Bostonians), dies in London at 72
1931 Ban Johnson created (baseball's AL), dies after a long illness
1941 Alfonso XIII de Borbón King of Spain (1902-31), dies
1959 Maxwell Anderson US dramatist (Key Largo, Bad Seed), dies at 70
1966 Charles A Bassett II astronaut, dies in a crash of T-38 jet at 34
1966 Elliot McKay See Jr astronaut, dies in T-38 jet crash at 38
1968 Frankie Lymon singer, dies at 25
1977 Eddie "Rochester" Anderson comedian (Jack Benny Show), dies at 71
1978 Philip Ahn Los Angeles CA, actor (Master Kan-Kung Fu), dies at 66
1978 Eric Frank Russell sci-fi author (Hugo, Deep Space), dies at 73
1979 Mr Ed talking horse, dies
1986 Sven Olof Palme Swedish PM (1969-76, 82-86), assassinated at 59
1993 Fer A Olthoff Dutch WWII resistance fighter (Het Parool), dies
1993 Ruby Keeler actress (42nd Street, Dames), dies of cancer at 82
1994 Elbert "Skippy" Williams tenor Sax player, dies at 77
1998 Albert Lippert, co-founder of the Weight Watchers diet program, died at age 72

Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1967 MOORE JAMES RODNEY---ONTARIO NY.
1968 COONS HENRY A.---GERMANTOWN NY.
1968 HUNT ROBERT W.---BECKLEY WV.
[POSS CAPTURED POSS DIC]
1968 STEGMAN THOMAS---CATONSVILLE MD.
1968 SCUITIER JAMES J.---SUMMIT NJ.
[01/73 PRG SAYS DIC]
1969 LONG STEPHEN G.---CHILOQUIN OR.
[03/28/73 RELEASED BY PL, ALIVE AND WELL 98
1970 BOYLE WILLIAM---WATROUS PA.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
0870 8th Ecumenical council ends in Constantinople
1066 Westminster Abbey opens
1570 Anti-Portugese uprising on Ternate, Moluccas
1574 On the orders of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, two Englishmen and an Irishman were burnt for heresy
1610 Thomas West, Baron De La Warr, is appointed governor of Virginia
1638 Scottish Presbyterians sign National Convenant, Greyfriars, Edinburgh
1646 Roger Scott was tried in Massachusetts for sleeping in church
1692 Salem witch hunt begins
1704 Elias Neau, a Frenchman, opens a school for blacks in New York NY
1704 Indians attack Deerfield MA, kill 40, kidnap 100
1708 Slave revolt, Newton, Long Island NY, 11 die
1728 Georg F Händels opera "Siroe, re di Persia" premieres in London
1749 1st edition of Henry Fieldings' "Tom Jones" published
1759 Pope Clement XIII allows Bible to be translated into various languages
1778 Rhode Island General Assembly authorizes enlistment of slaves
1784 John Wesley charters Methodist Church
1794 US Senate voids Pennsylvania's election of Abraham Gallatin
1810 1st US fire insurance joint-stock company organized, Philadelphia
1827 1st commercial railroad in US, Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) chartered
1844 12-inch gun aboard USS Princeton explodes
1847 US defeats México in battle of Sacramento

1854 Republican Party formally organized at Ripon WI

1859 Arkansas legislature requires free blacks to choose exile or slavery
1861 Territories of Nevada & Colorado created
1863 Confederate raider "Nashville" sinks near Fort McAllister GA
1864 Raid at Kilpatrick's Richmond
1864 Skirmish at Albemarle County Virginia (Burton's Ford)
1871 2nd Enforcement Act gives federal control of congressional elections
1879 "Exodus of 1879" southern blacks flee political/economic exploitation
1883 1st US vaudeville theater opens (Boston)
1893 Edward Acheson, Pennsylvania, patents an abrasive he names "carborundum"
1900 General Buller's troops relieve Ladysmith Natal
1903 Barney Dreyfuss & James Potter buys Philadelphia Phillies for $170,000
1908 Failed assassination attempt on Shah Mohammed Ali in Teheran
1913 6.8-m, 4000-kg elephant seal killed, South Georgia (South Atlantic)
1914 Construction begins on Tower of Jewels for the Exposition (San Francisco)
1917 Russian Duma sets up Provisional Committee; workers set up Soviets
1917 AP reports México & Japan will ally with Germany if US enters WWI
1922 Egypt regains independence from Britain, but British troops remain
1924 US begins intervention in Honduras
1925 "Tea For Two" by Marion Harris hit #1
1929 Chicago Black Hawks lose record NHL 15th straight game at home
1931 Oswald Mosley founds his New Party
1933 1st female in cabinet Francis Perkins appointed Secretary of Labor
1933 German President Von Hindenburg abolishes free expression of opinion
1933 Hitler disallows German communist party (KPD)
1935 Nylon discovered by Dr Wallace H Carothers
1939 Great-Britain recognizes Franco-regime in Spain
1940 1st televised basketball game (college game at NYC's Madison Square Garden-University of Pittsburgh beats Fordham U, 50-37)
1940 Richard Wright's "Native Son" published
1940 US population at 131,669,275 (12,865,518 blacks (9.8%))
1941 39 U Boats (197,000 ton) sunk this month
1942 Japanese land in Java, last Allied bastion in Dutch East Indies
1942 1st weapon drop on Netherlands
1943 "Porgy & Bess" opens on Broadway with Anne Brown & Todd Duncan
1943 63 U Boats (359,300 ton) sinks this month
1947 Anti Kuomintang demonstration on Taiwan
1951 Senate committee reports of at least 2 major US crime syndicates
1954 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
1956 Forrester issued a patent for computer core memory
1959 Launch of Discoverer 1 (WTR)-1st polar orbit
1960 US wins Olympics hockey gold medal by defeating Czechoslovakia 9-4
1961 JFK names Henry Kissinger special advisor
1966 Sandy Koufax & Don Drysdale begin a joint holdout against Dodgers
1967 Wilt Chamberlain sinks NBA record 35th consecutive field goal
1968 Pirate Radio Hauraki, off New Zealand, returns to the air
1970 Bicycles permitted to cross Golden Gate Bridge
1970 "Georgy" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 4 performances
1970 Caroline Walker runs world female record marathon (3:02:53)
1971 53rd PGA Championship Jack Nicklaus shoots a 281 at PGA National to win his 2nd golf grand slam
1972 President Richard Nixon ends historic week-long visit to China
1974 US & Egypt re-establish diplomatic relations after 7 years
1974 Taiwan police shoot into crowd
1975 40 killed in London Undergroud, as train speeds past final stop
1977 1st killer whale born in captivity (Marineland, Los Angeles CA)
1981 China PR throws out Netherlands ambassador due to submarine sale to Taiwan
1982 AT&T looses record $7 BILLION for fiscal year ending on this day
1982 FALN (PR Nationalist Group) bombs Wall Street
1983 Final TV episode of "MASH" airs (CBS); record 125 million watch
1984 26th Grammy Awards Beat It, Michael Jackson wins 8
1986 Peter Uberroth suspended 7 baseball players for 1 year, after they admitted in Curtis Strong's trial in September, they used drugs
1989 Memo by Bryant Gumbel criticizing Today Show co-workers becomes public
1990 US 65th manned space mission STS 36 (Atlantis 6) launches into orbit
1991 US & allied forces grant Iraq a cease fire
1993 Gun battle erupts at Waco TX between FBI & Branch Davidians

1994 Brady Law, imposing a wait-period to buy a hand-gun, went into effect

1996 Britain’s Princess Diana agreed to divorce Prince Charles
1997 FBI agent Earl Pitts pleads guilty to selling secrets to Russia
1998 Likoshan two Serbian police officers were killed. Police blamed the Kosovo Liberation Army. The Serbian SAJ, an anti-terrorist unit, was immediately called to the scene and rounded up 10 males who were summarily shot. Another 15 villagers were also killed.
1999 In Colombia 3 US citizens, Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatok and Lahe'ena'e Gay, were kidnapped by FARC terrorists.
2000 In Algeria an armed group massacred 20 people, shepherds and their families, near Brezina
2002 In Pakistan gunmen attacked a police bus in a bid to free prisoners that included a suspect in the slaying of Daniel Pearl. A policeman and a prisoner were killed.
2004 In Taiwan an estimated 1.2 million people linked hands in a human chain the length of the island as President Chen Shui-bian urged protesters to oppose China's military threats and create the "Great Wall of Taiwan's democracy."

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Finland : Kalevala Day (1835)
Luxembourg : Burgsonndeg-celebrates end of winter
Sweden : Maria name day (most popular woman's name in Sweden)
Public Sleeping Day
Creative Romance Month

Religious Observances
Christian : Feast of St Romanus
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Hilarius, pope (461-68), calendar reformer (non-leap years)
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Gabriel Possenti (leap years)

Religious History
1759 Pope Clement XIII granted permission for the Bible to be translated into the languages of the Roman Catholic states.
1784 English churchman John Wesley, 80, formally chartered the movement within Anglicanism which afterward came to be known as Wesleyan Methodism.
1873 The Society of Mary, founded in 1816, was officially recognized by Pope Pius IX. This religious order seeks to combine the work of education with foreign missions.
1947 U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall prayed: 'Let not the past ever be so dear to us as to set a limit to the future. Give us the courage to change our minds when that is needed.'
870 The Fourth Constantinople Council closed, under Pope Adrian II in the West and Emperor Basil I in the East. The council had condemned iconoclasm, and became the last ecumenical council held in the Eastern Mediterranean area.

Thought for the day :
"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen"

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