Just had to add this.. My dad's favorite pilot, James L "Two Gun" Brown. Jim received that nickname from wearing 2 colt45's!. The back of his jacket reads "The Sting of Death" referring to the B-25 that he flew as Co-pilot- When the Group converted to A-20's , he named his plane for his brother who was KIA at Anzio.. In the 8th Sqdn, usually a plane was assigned with a letter for the rudder, the first letter of the guys last name. Well, that was taken, so Jim requested the question mark.. Jim went west 2 years ago.. Sure do miss him!
These are fantastic! I LOVE the Tantalizing Takeoff one. Is it just me or is the 8th squadron in the back and the arrangement of the bombs forming a V indicative of another famous symbol we all know and love?
Tantalizing Takeoff is my favorite also. Great graphic, it's got it all! The typeface, the babe, the wings. Outstanding! Thanks for sharing that link Ryan!
Man, what cool stuff. Loved reading all the accounts of the planes. It's so sad to read that some survived the war only to be sold for scrap. What a shame. There was even a plane named "BAD PENNY"...nice http://www.flickr.com/photos/18532986@N07/5475372380/in/set-72157626140462192/
I have a booklet on VMFA-321, The Hells Angels. A Marine Corps Fighter Attack Squadron, that went from WWII through Viet Nam. It is interesting to see how the insignia evolved and why. I wish I knew how to post it.
Great! Love this era and been thinking of a cool design for a Bomber Jacket to commemorate the original owner (my 2nd cousin) of my roadster. Just need the doe. I think I'd have CheaterRome do the work. Seen his stuff in another thread along time ago.http://www.picturetrail.com/jrome
Not much here that hasn't already been written. Personally, seeing the jackets reminds me of the nose art which I really like. I am most impressed with the amount of bomb runs that are shown on the jackets. 30 or more runs is a lot of time staring death in the face. I knew a couple WWII aviators before their final roll calls and feel lucky to have met them. Truly the greatest generation. Thanks Ryan.
To cool!! Those jackets are awesome. The sad thing is I couldn't even wear one of those jackets inside my hangar at work. Trust me I know (funny story). Those would be considered sexist by todays standards. I get to see plenty of great nose art. Some art is saved, most are not.
OK here's a question for you,.... What kind of paint did they use on the originals?,.. Do they use the same type of paint on the reproductions today ?
I changed my avatar when i saw these on flickr a couple of days ago..and was thinking the same thing, a bit OT but very cool...
If you are looking to have a jacket done with this kind of stuff, I know these folks from back in my aviation days and they do nice work. http://www.victorygirl.com/
Not much to add. Great artwork. Not only are these guys heros with balls o' steel, many of them had SWAGGER, too.
Very cool! I love stuff like this. I still have my Dads jacket (he was part of a PBY crew in AK) I have his leather helmet also. no cool artwork but it's real USN issue. I used to wear it riding my HD back in the day but it started to fall apart so it got put away.
I knew you would dig on those, Ryan and glad it made it into a post - the photos are just amazing, love how they shot them out in front of the planes. "Salvo Sadie" was my fave, obviously...
Great write-up and the images are cool as hell. We owe those guys a big debt of gratitude. Thanks for posting them up.
I've been wanting to do a jacket with the art from the B-24 or the C-47 that I painted for the longest time. I just can't seem to find the time. I think after I do the P-51 next month though, that one will be the one that finally will end up on my jacket. Check out Art of the Flight Jacket too. It's a great book with vintage photos like these and color photos of surviving jackets. http://www.amazon.com/Art-Flight-Ja...7943/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326213108&sr=8-1 Years ago before I got hooked up with painting aircraft nose art, I designed this art and Dan Barnett painted it for me. I wear it all the time.
Yeah! I dig your jacket. I need one like this for my roadster. Shoot I need one to wear all the time too!
Here's a poor pic of my A-2.. The Gunners patch was my dads, and the 8th Sqdn patch came from one of their Reunions. What I like best is whats on the inside. At the last "Official" Reunion, I had the Vets sign it for me.
i'd write it in my will that i'd be buried in a jacket like that if i had one. i used to love to watch WW2 documentaries, etc.... but it hit me once that every time they showed a bomber going down, as many as ten guys were dying. they paid a hell of a price to keep us safe and didn't flinch.
We have my father-in-law's bomber jacket. Clarke was a B-17 pilot that flew 37 mission and never lost a man
I've always loved nose art. Looked for years before I finally found this photo of the art on my great uncle's plane earlier this year. Plane went down with another flight crew on it. granddad's didn't have a name. have friend in his late 80's was a nose art painter. he still paints daily and teaches classes.
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