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Nose art is a decorative painting or design on the fuselage of an aircraft, usually on the front fuselage.
While begun for practical reasons of identifying friendly units, the practice evolved to express the individuality often constrained by the uniformity of the military, to evoke memories of home and peacetime life, and as a kind of psychological protection against the stresses of war and the probability of death. The appeal, in part, came from nose art not being officially approved, even when the regulations against it were not enforced.Ethell, Jeffrey L. (1991). The History of Aircraft Nose Art: World War I to Today. Osceola, Wisconsin: Motorbooks International, p. 14.
Because of its individual and unofficial nature, it is considered folk art, inseparable from work as well as representative of a group. It can also be compared to sophisticated graffiti. In both cases, the artist is often Anonymity, and the art itself is ephemeral. In addition, it relies on materials immediately available.
Nose art is largely a military tradition, but civilian airliners operated by the Virgin Group feature "Virgin Girls" on the nose as part of their Aircraft livery. In a broad sense, the tail art of several airlines such as the Eskimo of Alaska Airlines can be called "nose art", as are the tail markings of present-day U.S. Navy squadrons. There were exceptions, including the VIII Bomber Command, 301st Bomb Group B-17F "Whizzer", which had its girl-riding-a-bomb on the dorsal fin.Bowers, Peter M. (1976). Fortress In The Sky, Granada Hills, CA: Sentry Books. , p. 219.
Perhaps the most enduring nose art of World War II was the shark-face motif, which first appeared on the Messerschmitt Bf 110s of Luftwaffe Zerstörergeschwader 76 ("76th Heavy Fighter Wing") over Crete, where the twin-engined Messerschmitts outmatched the Gloster Gladiator biplanes of No. 112 Squadron RAF. The Commonwealth pilots were withdrawn to Egypt and refitted with Curtiss Tomahawks (P-40) off the same assembly line building fighter aircraft for the American Volunteer Group (AVG) Flying Tigers being recruited for service in China. In November 1941, AVG pilots saw a color photo in a newspaper of a shark mouth painted on a 112 Squadron P-40 fighter in North Africa and immediately adopted the shark-face motif for their own P-40Bs. The British version itself was inspired by "sharkmouth" nose art (without any eyes) on the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters of Zerstörergeschwader 76. This work was done by the pilots and ground crew in the field.Ford, Daniel. Flying Tigers: Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941–1942. Washington, DC: Harper Collins–Smithsonian Books, 2007, pp. 82–83. However, the insignia for the "Flying Tigers" – a winged Bengal tiger jumping through a stylized V sign symbol – was developed by graphic artists from the Walt Disney Company.Eisel, Braxton. The Flying Tigers: Chennault's American Volunteer Group in China. Washington, DC: Air Force History and Museums Program, 2009.
Similarly, when in 1943 the 39th Fighter Squadron became the first American squadron in their theatre with 100 kills, they adopted the shark-face for their Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. The shark-face is still used to this day, most commonly seen on the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II (with its gaping maw leading up to the muzzle of the aircraft's GAU-8 Avenger 30mm cannon), especially those of the 23d Fighter Group, the AVG's descendent unit, and a testament to its popularity as a form of nose art.
The largest known work of nose art ever depicted on a World War II-era American combat aircraft was on a Consolidated B-24 Liberator, tail number 44-40973, which had been named "The Dragon and his Tail" of the USAAF Fifth Air Force 64th Bomb Squadron, 43d Bomb Group, in the Southwest Pacific, flown by a crew led by Joseph Pagoni, with Staff Sergeant Sarkis Bartigian as the artist. The dragon artwork ran from the nose just forward of the cockpit, down the entire length of the fuselage's sides, with the dragon's body depicted directly below and just aft of the cockpit, with the dragon holding a nude woman in its forefeet.
Tony Starcer was the resident artist for the 91st Bomb Group (Heavy), one of the initial six groups fielded by the Eighth Air Force. Starcer painted over a hundred pieces of renowned B-17 nose art, including "Memphis Belle". A commercial artist named Brinkman, from Chicago was responsible for the zodiac-themed nose art of the B-24 Liberator-equipped 834th Bomb Squadron, based at RAF Sudbury, England.Valant, Gary M. Classic Vintage Nose Art. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Lowe and B. Hould, 1997, pp. 13–15.
Contemporary research demonstrates that bomber crews, who suffered high casualty rates during World War II, often developed strong bonds with the planes they were flying, and affectionately decorated them with nose art.Pfau, Ann Elizabeth. Miss Yourlovin: GIs, Gender and Domesticity During World War II. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Available at Gutenberg-e, a program of the American Historical Association and Columbia University Press: [2] It was also believed by the flight crews that the nose art was bringing luck to the planes.Polmar, Norman, and Thomas B. Allen. World War II: The Encyclopedia of the War Years, 1941–1945. New York: Random House, 1996, p. 595.
The artistic work of Alberto Vargas and George Petty's from Esquire Magazine were often duplicated, or adapted, by air force crews and painted on the nose of American and allied aircraft during World War II.
Some nose art was commemorative or intended to honor certain people, such as the Boeing B-29 Superfortress "The Ernie Pyle".Superfort "Ernie Pyle", Gift of Plane Plane Workers, Here En Route to Japan PDF
During the Vietnam War, Lockheed AC-130 gunships of the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Squadrons were often given names with accompanying nose art – for example, "Thor", "Azrael – Angel of Death", "Ghost Rider", "War Lord" and "The Arbitrator."Lars Olausson. Lockheed Hercules Production List – 1954–2011, 27th ed. Såtenäs, Sweden, 2009. (Self-published.) The unofficial gunship badge of a flying skeleton with a Minigun was also applied to many aircraft until the end of the war and was later adopted officially. In addition, Army and Navy helicopter crews often embellished their assigned aircraft with a wide range of nose art and other personalized markings.
Nose art underwent a revival during the Gulf War and has become more common since Operation Enduring Freedom and the Iraq War began. A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft ladder doors are frequently painted while many fixed and rotary air crews are merging artwork as part of camouflage patterns. The United States Air Force had unofficially sanctioned the return of the pin-up (albeit fully clothed) with the Strategic Air Command permitting nose art on its bomber force in the Command's last years. The continuation of historic names such as "Memphis Belle" was encouraged.
In many other cases at airfields throughout the Middle East during the War on terror, aviation units instead painted the reinforced concrete Bremer wall that protected the aircrews and aircraft with elaborate murals and graffiti.
The farther the planes and crew were from headquarters or from the public eye, the racier the art tended to be. For instance, nudity was more common in nose art on aircraft in the Pacific than on aircraft in Europe.Cohan, Phil. "Risque Business." Air and Space, 5 (Apr.–May 1990), p. 65. Luftwaffe aircraft did not often display nose art, but there were exceptions.Ketley, Barry. Luftwaffe emblems. Manchester: Flight Recorder Publications, 2012. For example, Mickey Mouse adorned a Condor Legion Messerschmitt Bf 109 during the Spanish Civil War and one Ju 87A was decorated with a large pig inside a white circle during the same period. Adolf Galland's Bf-109E-3 of JG 26 also had a depiction of Mickey Mouse, holding a contemporary telephone in his hands, in mid-1941. A Ju 87B-1 ( Geschwaderkennung of S2+AC) of Stab II/St. G 77, piloted by Major Alfons Orthofer and based in Breslau-Schöngarten during the invasion of Poland, was painted with a shark's mouth, and some Bf 110s were decorated with furious wolf's heads, stylistic (as with SKG 210 and ZG 1), or as in the case of ZG 76, the shark mouths that inspired both the RAF's 112 Squadron and in turn the Flying Tigers in China, on their noses or engine covers. Another example was Erich Hartmann's Bf-109G-14, "Lumpi", with an eagle's head. The fighter wing Jagdgeschwader 54 was known as the Grünherz (Green Hearts) after their fuselage emblem, a large green heart. The Geschwader was originally formed in Thuringia, nicknamed "the green heart of Germany". Perhaps the flashiest Luftwaffe nose art was the red and white Viperidae snake insignia running through the whole fuselage of certain Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers that served with the II Gruppe, and especially the 6. Staffel of Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 in North Africa campaign, the only known artwork on an Axis-flown combat aircraft that could have rivaled the length of that on "The Dragon and his Tail" B-24.
The Soviet Air Forces decorated their planes with historical images, mythical beasts, and patriotic .
The attitude of the Finnish Air Force to the nose art varied by unit. Some units disallowed nose art, while others tolerated it. Generally, the Finnish airforce nose art was humorous or satirical, such as the "horned Stalin" on Maj. Maunula's Curtiss P-36 fighter.
The Japan Air Self-Defense Force has decorated fighter aircraft with Valkyrie-themed characters under the names Mystic Eagle and Shooting Eagle.
Beginning in 2011, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force has AH-1S Cobra anti-tank helicopters and Kawasaki OH-1 observation helicopter named Ita-Cobra and Ita-Omega respectively, decorated in the theme of 4 Kisarazu (木更津) sisters (Akane (木更津茜), Aoi (木更津葵), Wakana (木更津若菜), Yuzu (木更津柚子)). The Aoi-chan first appeared in 2011, followed by the other three sisters in 2012.
Canadian Forces were reported having nose art on CH-47D Chinook and CH-146 Griffon helicopters in Afghanistan.
The markings of aces were often adopted by their squadrons, such as Galland's Mickey Mouse and Hartmann's black tulip (still in use until recently on the aircraft of JG 71 "Richthofen" – not known to be in use on the unit's new Eurofighter Typhoons).
A 2015 US Air Force memorandum stated that nose art must be "distinctive, symbolic, gender neutral, intended to enhance unit pride, designed in good taste." Furthermore, it must not contravene copyright and trademark laws.
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