Nose Art

[flyingsailor]

Very cool! Thanks, Paul.
Anybody have group/squadron info on any of those?

If you go to www.savethegirls.org each of the AAHM panels and history is shown. It has taken a lot of research and luck to get the information that is there.

Flyingsailor

[ZeamerB17]

If you go to www.savethegirls.org each of the AAHM panels and history is shown. It has taken a lot of research and luck to get the information that is there. Flyingsailor

Thank you!

[tom d. friedman]

What "Genius" had the forsight to salvage and preserve these? Wow! I trust that they all are original?

A Mr. Pratt, an employee of Texas Railway Equipment Company (the firm that scrapped all the surplus at Walnut Ridge) was responsible for saving those sections. The Walnut Ridge Army Flying School Museum has photos of at least some of the aircraft prior to their scrapping.

he had real historical foresight!! god bless him!!

[RickH]

We had a lady and her husband show up when the CF aircraft were in San Antonio. She had this book. When she opened it up you should have seen the treasures. MAMA Foo Foo was one of them, the whole squadron and then some, all in theater ! They were thinking of donating them somewhere. There was page after page, we were all amazed !

[Django]

Anyone know how Tequila Daisy happened to be saved? It doesn't really say on their site.

[mustangdriver]

I love the original nose art panels. Glad that someone had the notion to save this stuff.

[Second Air Force]

great stuff Paul - thanks a lot....

may I add a panel of a B-24 on display at the Swiss AF Museum ?



it's from B-24J-150-CO 44-40168 from the 492nd BG 857th BS, coded 9H-R - it arrived in Switzerland on 11th July 1944

http://492ndbombgroup.com/cgi-bin/pagep ... e=44-40168

Martin

Django, it appears that the Swiss crew that dismantled the airplane must have saved the artwork. Notice in this photo from the 492nd Group website that the wrinkled skin under the young lady matches the panel Martin posted:

[warbird1]

I had these from my buddy Harlan Short Nose Art from Midland Texas.

Just a quick question that is not intended to be critical. I thought that the nose art collection could not be photographed. How did your buddy do that?

[Second Air Force]

Here are the photos I took of a portion of the nose art at Airsho '84 in Harlingen. The artwork didn't deteriorate much during those years, even just being displayed in the hangar without climate control. Thank goodness the panels have been out of direct sunlight for all these years.

[Registrar]

Warbird 1 is right: the collection is trademarked. There is a sign on the door prohibiting photos and you are supposed to get permission from the museum Executive Director to take images. I am privileged to be the Registrar at the American Airpower Heritage Museum, also known as the CAF Airpower Museum, and we take great pride in our "girls". We have the world's largest collection of authentic nose art, 34 WWII panels that have been completely restored and preserved. We also have a interwar piece on canvas and a Vietnam helicopter piece that is not on display yet. Feel free to look at the photos of the pieces on www.savethegirls.org, or come see them in person. It's an experience not to be missed!

[Swiss Mustangs]

Django, it appears that the Swiss crew that dismantled the airplane must have saved the artwork. Notice in this photo from the 492nd Group website that the wrinkled skin under the young lady matches the panel Martin posted:

correct - the a/c was cannibalized for spares to make other B-24's flyable for return to BAD-1 Burtonwood England.... they were ferry-flown during Fall 1945, only to be scrapped there a few weeks later - the hulk of "Tequila Daisy" was scrapped in Switzerland with a mechanic saving this panel..... irony is that many other nose-arts were cut from damaged a/c destined for scrapping, but a high-ranking officer got wind of this 'operation' and ordered the panels being handed over and made sure for subsequent scrapping.... (he argumented that it's U.S property and that nobody is entitled to any part - based on the contract with the USAAF) - another irony is that this (Tequila Daisy's) panel ended up in another high ranking officer's office - and of course no action was taken there..... thus saving this piece of history.....

Martin

[Swiss Mustangs]

forgot to add - during WW2, a total of 166 USAAF aircraft ended up in Switzerland - most arrived relatively intact.......

mainly B-17's and B-24's

Martin

[Obergrafeter]

Oh no!!!!!!! The nose art cops are coming to get you now.

[tom d. friedman]

it's 1 thing to post images for profit. & the museum should get a cut for copyrighted images..... but who are they to dictate that i can't shoot a picture for my own enjoyment??? all the nose art of ww 2 was done by troops who were on uncle sam's payroll via the payers.

[tulsaboy]

Registrar,

Welcome to WIX!

There is a HUGE difference between "trademarked" and "copyrighted." The museum may have the nose art trademarked, which means that no one else can use it commercially for the uses that you folks have it trademarked for (mugs, t-shirts, posters, etc.) You don't have it copyrighted, though, as that is a right that can only start with the original artist and must be legally transferred either through death to heirs and/or assigns, or through a contractual arrangement. As I'm quite confident you don't have that transfer, there's really nothing anyone can do to prevent people from taking photographs and sharing them with others. You can keep folks from taking cameras into the gallery and/or station folks to stop people from taking photos, but that's about it. Older photos especially can't be controlled at all. You can, to a certain extent, keep people from making money with them, but you can't control the images themselves.

Keep up the good work! The museum display looks fantastic!

kevin