Request: Retro/Vintage schemes on modern aircraft

[kalamazookid]

Here are a few I've seen over the past couple years.

90th Flying Training Squadron T-38 from Sheppard AFB, Texas, painted to honor the 90th Pursuit Group in the CBI. Photographed at Shaw Air Force Base, April 2022.

IMG_8544 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

T-6 Texan II of the 459th Flying Training Squadron "Twin Dragons," commemorating P-38s of the 459th Fighter Squadron. Photographed at Wings by the Wabash, Robinson, IL, September 2021.

IMG_9725 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

T-38 Talon of the 469th Flying Training Squadron, based at Sheppard AFB, Texas. Silhouettes on the tail represent unit history associated with the B-24, P-47, F-86, F-105 and F-4. The shark mouth represents the time the unit spent at Korat RTBAFB, Thailand. Photographed at Airventure, July 2022.

IMG_1182 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_3861 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

And a few more of the "Screaming Banshees" T-6 Texan II at Airventure, July 2022. The 89th Flying Training Squadron is based at Sheppard AFB.

IMG_3859 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_3860 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

[k5083]

Loving the fact that the Air Force got the proportions of its own insignia wrong on that last Texan.

August

[Chris Brame]

"It's their plane, they can paint it however they want!"

[Ken]

Loving the fact that the Air Force got the proportions of its own insignia wrong on that last Texan.

Agreed. It similarly irks me that, while there is an SEA scheme for the F-5/T-38, they instead conjured one up. The general lack of networking between the DoD and civil counterparts is truly unfortunate. There are any number of credible people in the history/museum/modeling/art world who would gladly assist. While there have been some notable exceptions, they are outliers.

Ken

[kalamazookid]

Here's a recent story and photos of a Moody AFB A-10 being painted up as a tribute to AVG P-40s.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/a ... camouflage

[Warbird Kid]

Here's a recent story and photos of a Moody AFB A-10 being painted up as a tribute to AVG P-40s.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/a ... camouflage

Very cool indeed! BUT does it have the Chinese Nationalist emblems on the wing?

[JohnB]

Loving the fact that the Air Force got the proportions of its own insignia wrong on that last Texan.

Agreed. It similarly irks me that, while there is an SEA scheme for the F-5/T-38, they instead conjured one up. The general lack of networking between the DoD and civil counterparts is truly unfortunate. There are any number of credible people in the history/museum/modeling/art world who would gladly assist. While there have been some notable exceptions, they are outliers.

Ken

Remember the Air Force had a T-38 pretending to be a F-5 (with painted over back canopy) with SEA camouflage on display for several years on display at Lackland AFB.
All done by well meaning folks who lack the knowledge of WIXers.
With us it's a hobby, maybe a passion. To them, it's a day's wirk.

[JohnB]

Here's a recent story and photos of a Moody AFB A-10 being painted up as a tribute to AVG P-40s.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/a ... camouflage

Very cool indeed! BUT does it have the Chinese Nationalist emblems on the wing?

Imagine some captain, the wing project officer for the heritage re-paint, going into the wing commander's office saying...
"Sir, to be accurate we need to put the Chinese emblem on the wing".
In today's political climate, it's not going to happen...even with the Nationalist Chinese emblem.
If for no other reason than they would need protection from F-22s.

[Duggy009]

The 4th Fighter Wing’s F-15E Strike Eagle flagship, named "The Spirit of Goldsboro”, taxis to take part in a five-ship heritage flight at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, May 5, 2023. The 4th FW and 333rd, 334th, 335th and 336th Fighter Squadrons’ painted their F-15E Strike Eagle flagships to commemorate the wing’s heritage and celebrate the men and women who have paved the way for the wing. The history started with the Eagle Squadrons from the Royal Air Force, developed under leaders like Col. Don Blakeslee pictured on the wing flagship, who excelled as the first of many who helped the wing transition through numerous titles before becoming the 4th FW as we know it today. The newly painted flagships are intended to help showcase each unit’s unique logo, celebrate the wing’s combat airpower and commemorate the historical milestones accomplished throughout the years. (U.S. Air Force photos by Senior Airman Kevin Holloway)

[kalamazookid]

Would be great if they recreated the F-15E formation for the public at the Seymour Johnson airshow this weekend.

[StangStung]

Does anyone know how or why the recent proliferation of heritage schemes came to be in the USN/USAF?

I recall a not so distant time when heritage schemes were just not a thing for our forces, while the Europeans seemed to be all over them. Did someone just rise to a high enough position where they said, "That's pretty cool, we're doing that too!"?

I suppose that was step one, and step two would be, I dunno, calling over the the NMUSAF and asking the office of guys who give a sh*t, "Hey, are we getting this paint job right?"

Any insights would be appreciated.

[raconnel]

Maybe the Air Force higher-ups noticed how much positive publicity the Navy was getting with their Century of Naval Aviation paint schemes.

[Lon Moer]

05.04.2021
A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II from the Idaho Air National Guard’s 124th Fighter Wing is painted with a heritage WWII paint scheme at the Air National Guard paint facility in Sioux City, Iowa. The paint scheme is designed to replicate the look of the original P-47 Thunderbolt as it appeared during the 2nd World War. The 124th Fighter Wing conceived the idea in order to commemorate the unit’s 75th anniversary and lineage to their predecessor, the 405th Fighter Squadron.
U.S. Air National Guard photos by Senior Master Sgt. Vincent De Groot. released.
https://app.photobucket.com/u/Duggy009/a/28902ea3-6021-4e72-b7a6-5d17e6778a73/p/cdf844b0-7fcf-4d25-a991-a4ccb1598409
https://app.photobucket.com/u/Duggy009/a/28902ea3-6021-4e72-b7a6-5d17e6778a73/p/768a10e0-b4fa-4be5-ada3-f9a5e77d1db0
https://app.photobucket.com/u/Duggy009/a/28902ea3-6021-4e72-b7a6-5d17e6778a73/p/6bf58dce-744e-47a5-854d-4bd39f9e1c65
https://app.photobucket.com/u/Duggy009/a/28902ea3-6021-4e72-b7a6-5d17e6778a73/p/d1895ea6-7920-46e7-9320-333b8256154a
https://app.photobucket.com/u/Duggy009/a/28902ea3-6021-4e72-b7a6-5d17e6778a73/p/ef13782e-227b-404d-a4fb-39a3946a8201

Found some aerial photo's of this Thunderbolt.....

[StangStung]

05.04.2021
A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II from the Idaho Air National Guard’s 124th Fighter Wing is painted with a heritage WWII paint scheme at the Air National Guard paint facility in Sioux City, Iowa. The paint scheme is designed to replicate the look of the original P-47 Thunderbolt as it appeared during the 2nd World War. The 124th Fighter Wing conceived the idea in order to commemorate the unit’s 75th anniversary and lineage to their predecessor, the 405th Fighter Squadron.
U.S. Air National Guard photos by Senior Master Sgt. Vincent De Groot. released.
https://app.photobucket.com/u/Duggy009/a/28902ea3-6021-4e72-b7a6-5d17e6778a73/p/cdf844b0-7fcf-4d25-a991-a4ccb1598409
https://app.photobucket.com/u/Duggy009/a/28902ea3-6021-4e72-b7a6-5d17e6778a73/p/768a10e0-b4fa-4be5-ada3-f9a5e77d1db0
https://app.photobucket.com/u/Duggy009/a/28902ea3-6021-4e72-b7a6-5d17e6778a73/p/6bf58dce-744e-47a5-854d-4bd39f9e1c65
https://app.photobucket.com/u/Duggy009/a/28902ea3-6021-4e72-b7a6-5d17e6778a73/p/d1895ea6-7920-46e7-9320-333b8256154a
https://app.photobucket.com/u/Duggy009/a/28902ea3-6021-4e72-b7a6-5d17e6778a73/p/ef13782e-227b-404d-a4fb-39a3946a8201

Found some aerial photo's of this Thunderbolt.....

ScreenShot_20230610151526.jpeg

ScreenShot_20230610151646.jpeg

That is a great looking scheme. Very nice when they use the vintage national insignia and get the proper proportions. That is a scheme that was chosen with care by someone who knew what they were doing.

[Duggy009]

Crew chiefs assigned to the 309th Fighter Squadron prepare an F-16 Fighting Falcon for takeoff, July 10, 2023, at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. This aircraft is a part of an F-16 block swap between the 309th FS and the 49th Wing at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. This paint scheme matches that of the World War II era 310th Fighter Squadron’s “Passionate Patsy” Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.
(Photo by Senior Airman Dominic Tyler)