Aircraft Nose Art
 

Went to the Aviation Museum in Warner Robins, Georgia, and snapped some images of classic nose art. Several have been restored, others have been allowed to wash out in the weather. Regardless, classic planes are cool.

http://fox.org/~vince/photos/out/nose1.jpg

Other aircraft had some amusing names -- one World War II plane had the name "Miss Carriage".

...and there was some not-so-classic stuff, too. This one was found on the side of a C-130 used in the 1991 Gulf War.

http://fox.org/~vince/photos/out/camels.jpg

Poor camels. Always gettin' death from above.

More nose art soon to follow.

http://fox.org/~vince/photos/out/nose2.jpg

Found on the side of a 1970's era fighter jet.

http://fox.org/~vince/photos/out/nose3.jpg

Restored version on a WWII-era bomber.

Damn, I wish I had taken note of the model aircraft I found these on. Anyone good at identifying aircraft? Check out the bloated transport in the back on the left.

http://fox.org/~vince/photos/out/field.jpg

sweet! do they allow you in the cockpit?

They had several "chopped up" cockpits that had all the dials and controls, but the rest of the plane wasn't there. Some of the mechinical stuff was still hooked up -- when pressing on the rudder pedals, etc, you could hear lots of internal movement.

But, alas, the ejection seats had all been disabled.

One cool thing was that you could crawl around in the wheel wells and bomb bays of the aircraft outside. I cannot convey just how massive some of these planes were up close -- the B-52 was HUGE! Having a flashlight turned out to be a good idea, as a lot of the wheel wells, cargo holds, etc, were completely dark.



http://fox.org/~vince/log/images/20031226/b52.jpg

"This is where death comes from." -- the bomb bay of the B-52D, which wasn't as large as I would have thought. The visible fuel tanks on this thing (when peering into the wheel wells, bomb bay, etc) and knowing that the wings were full of tanks made it very impressive.

One image I hope I captured, but have yet to locate, is the ground clearance of the gear on the end of the wings. When fueled, that gear touches the ground. When empty, the wings pick up quite a bit. To show how much the wings flex, they had the gear down on this empty B-52. Unbelievable.

Saylor's Trailer
 

Is this a rib?

Saylor's Trailer looks like a C-47 Dakota (military version of a DC-3). Heartbreaker is an F-111 Aardvark, I'm pretty sure.

Interesting subject, here. Last night, I was making some vid caps of my last airshow trip a few years ago, so I'll have some vids up in a few days which includes some nose art, most notably, "Fifi", which is (I believe) the only operational B-29 in the world.

I think most of here can enjoy the sight and sound of four monster radial engines warming up and flying, can't we?

I'll get these finished as soon as my boy is out of the hospital, or at least as soon as I'm not here with him.

The group pic front row left is a C-141 Starlifter, the front row right is a C-130 Hercules, the next back left is an enlarged version of a B-29, but I don't remember what it was designated. The two directly behind the Hercules are Lockheed Constellations, military versions of course (I also have some video of a restored Connie based and restored right here in KC). Small jet over to the right is a military version of some bizjet, possibly a Gulfstream. It is next to the Aardvark (notable for it's swing-wing and crew ejection capsule), and in the background I think I see a Flying Boxcar...

I can't really hazard a guess on the others...too small.

i'll try and get down to the galveston flight museum and get some pics. they've got a C-47 Dakota out on the ramp. as many times as i've been to that airport i've never stopped into the museum there. this will be a good oportunity.....

Verry cool subject !!!!
If any of you EVER get the chance go to the Air force museum at Wright Patterson in Daton Ohio . If you like planes , well ,,,,,,,,,,
OH my god they got them !!!! You name it they got it . They even have a Vulkuri (sorry for the spelling ) . One of the most memerable was a prototype of a P51 (I think) with a 105 howitzer ( i think ????) , it flew ok but when they fired the cannon the plane backed up and fell !!!!!!
And for a bonus there is a hanger with retired Air Force One's in it . We talked our way in slightly after hours . The older ones had bunk beds to sleep on .
I would suggest going dureing the week and give your self a day or two ( or more ) . I spent a long day there and it was NOT enough !!!!

This site has a great collection of B-26 nose art.