Painted planes make a quiet comeback: photos

Share:
  • The nose of a U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II displays a painted set of eyes and teeth over the aircraft’s 30mm GAU-8 Avenger rotary cannon during the 74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron’s deployment in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve at Graf Ignatievo, Bulgaria, March 18, 2016. The painting dates back throughout aviation history, where some cultures believed the paint intimidated opponents or warded off evil spirits aimed at disrupting the flight. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joe W. McFadden/Released)
  • After the nose art ban was lifted sometime around 1998, and within two weeks of joining the 171st Air Refueling Wing, Colonel Hess began the search for an artist to brighten up the unit’s fleet of KC-135s. ( U. S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Chris Galindo)
  • From the 173rd FW out in Oregon Courtesy FighterSweep.com
  • Boeing B-17F-10-BO “Memphis Belle” nose art. (U.S. Air Force photo)
  • DAYTON, Ohio — “Lets Make a Deal” nose art from a Boeing B-52G that flew in Operation Desert Storm is on display in the Cold War Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo)
  • Master Sgt. Christopher Barton, lead dedicated crew chief to aircraft 79-123 at the 442d Fighter Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, removes a ladder from the plane. Barton’s aircraft, which was also honored with the wing’s “Let’s roll” 9/11 commemorative aircraft art, was the first to receive teeth.
  • ROYAL AIR FORCE MILDENHALL, England Ð Senior Airman William Hickey, 100th Maintenance Squadron, removes air bubbles from a decal placed on the nose of KC-135 Stratotanker 58-0100 Ð the 100th Air Refueling Wing flagship Ð during a small ceremony March 14, 2012. Col. Christopher Kulas, 100th ARW commander, assisted in the application of the historic emblem, which was used by the 100th Bomb Group in World War II. The emblem was first approved in March 1944, when the 100th BG was flying B-17s out of RAF Thorpe Abbots over Nazi Germany. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Austin M. May)
  • B-1 assigned to the 37th Bomb Squadron “Tigers” at Ellsworth AFB, S.D.
  • Fighter aircraft often carried decorative Ònose artÓ in Korea. Pictured here is Capt. Karl Dittmer Jr., an F-86 pilot with three MiG kills, at work. Dittmer painted nose art on many of the 335th Fighter Interceptor SquadronÕs Sabres at Kimpo. (U.S. Air Force photo/Released)
  • Hockeytown Nose Art KC-135R Stratotanker from the 927th Air Refueling Wing, Air Force Reserve, at Selfridge ANG Base, Michigan. Hockeytown USA nose art dedicated to Detroit Red Wings NHL team.
  • Students and directors from the University of Alabama-Birmingham paint nose art on a KC-135R aircraft. The design commemorates the 117th Air Refueling Wing’s participation in the 1961 Bay of Pigs operation. Tech. Sgt. Aaron Sharit, a crew chief from the 117th Maintenance Group, created the design and was inspired by a combination of logos and graphics that were used on some of the aircraft during the invasion. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Ken Johnson/Released)
  • Hal Olsen touches up the paint on a B-25 Mitchell Bomber April 19 at the Pacific Aviation Museum in Hawaii. In honor of the 65th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo, Mr. Olsen was recreating one of his original nose art pieces, for the B-25 flown by Lt. Ted Lawson, one of the pilots involved in the raid. The piece called “The Ruptured Duck” is a symbol held in high esteem by World War II servicemembers. (U.S. Army photo/Army Sgt. Catherine Talento)
  • Pictured on Feb. 12, 2010, is chalk nose art on an RQ-4 Global Hawk created by Staff Sgt. Michael Middleton of the 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron’s Global Hawk aircraft maintenance unit at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia honoring Tuskegee Airman Lt. Col. Lee Archer who died Jan. 27 at the age of 90 in New York City. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol/Released)
  • Staff Sgt. Michael Middleton of the 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron’s Global Hawk aircraft maintenance unit, pictured here on Feb. 12, 2010, created the chalk nose art on an RQ-4 Global Hawk at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia honoring Tuskegee Airman Lt. Col. Lee Archer who died Jan. 27 at the age of 90 in New York City. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol/Released)
  • Many Ranch Hand personnel received Purple Hearts for wounds in action. They also recorded them as hearts on the side of their aircraft. Here, A1C Michael L. Shuppert points to his on the C-123 named Leper Colony. (U.S. Air Force photo)
  • Col. Joe Davis and his F-84 ÒFour Queens.Ó (U.S. Air Force photo/Released)
  • AC-47D (45-1117), Left nose, 9 June 1969
  • The MaloneyÕs Pony artwork is displayed on the body of an F-22 Raptor at Langley Air Force Base, Va., June 24, 2011. The artwork was painted on the Raptor in honor of Maj. Thomas E. Maloney, the 27th Fighter SquadronÕs highest scoring Ace of World War II. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Teresa Cleveland/Released)
  • RAF MILDENHALL, England Ð Senior Master Sgt Randy Walton, left, 100th Maintenance Squadron, and Staff Sgt. Sherwin Allen, 100th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, unveil nose art on a KC-135 Stratotanker, tail number 0001 May 8, 2012, in front of 100th Bombardment Group veterans and 100th Air Refueling Wing members at Hangar 715 here. The nose art was added to the tanker in honor of Capt. (ret.) Robert Wolff, a former 100th BG prisoner-of-war. Wolff was supposed to have the nose art on his aircraft during World War II, but was shot down before he had the chance to have it put on. The nose art is yet another tie between the 100th ARW and the 100th BG. (U.S. Air Force photo/Karen Abeyasekere)
  • Boeing B-17G “Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby” original nose art. The aircraft was never painted when assigned to the 91st Bomb Group; however, it is displayed at the museum painted to conceal the extensive sheet metal work necessary to return the aircraft to its wartime condition. (U.S. Air Force photo)
  • The Dakota Queen was a B-24 Liberator, which saw action in World War II. This nose art is assigned to the B-1 piloted by the 28th Bomb Wing commander. The B-24 was put into service because the Army Air Corps needed a bomber with greater range, higher ceiling, and faster speed than the B-17 Flying Fortress. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Kimberly Moore Limrick)
  • B-26 and F-84s, like other USAF aircraft in Korea, often had nose art. (U.S. Air Force photo)
  • B-26 and F-84s, like other USAF aircraft in Korea, often had nose art. (U.S. Air Force photo)
  • ÒSicÕEmÓ. B-29. (Photo by J. Stuart Edmondson/Released)
  • U.S. Air Force Capt. Kerry Baker applies nose art on a 93rd Bomb Squadron B-52H Stratofortress, Nov. 15, 2013, Barksdale Air Force Base, La. The original “Red Gemlin” nose art was on a World War II B-17 bomber piloted by now retired Gen. Paul Tibbets, Jr. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele/Released)