Warbird Information Exchange

This project began about 2 years ago when LSFM Maintenance Director John Cowart asked artist and metal craftsman Jason Barnett (carlisle1926 here on WIX) to come up with an "age appropriate" nose art for museum president Larry Gregory and other tour guides to be able to show and explain to the younger age groups that tour the museum. One of Larry's favorites has been "Waddy's Wagon" and he would use his iPhone to show pictures of it to the kids, and if they had phones of their own, have them find it also.
For anyone not familiar, "Waddy's Wagon" was a B29 in he Pacific Theater (20th Air Force, 73rd Bomb Wing, 497th Bomb Group, 869th Bomb Squadron) that was lost with it's crew on January 9, 1945 while escorting another B29 back from a bombing raid on Japan.



Pictured above, left to right: Jason Barnett, John Cowart & Larry Gregory









More pics on this WIX post: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=28904

Wow, that looks like real period artwork! Very nice work!

_________________
Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

Excellent display piece. I am a fan of Jason's work and have one hanging on my wall at home.

<<<<<<

_________________
Share your story: Rutgers Oral History Archive http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/

Agree, that is a very nice piece. Good work Jason!

Can't wait to get down to LSFM and see the collection in the new digs.

That looks fantastic! Well done!

_________________
Curator - EAA Aviation Museum, Oshkosh, WI
"Let No Story Go Untold!"
http://www.timelessvoices.org

That's awesome! I have always liked that nose art. The crews ending was sad.

_________________
"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

What was the 'canvas' for this? I'm always curious where panels like this come from (taken from another airplane, v/s, made from sheet stock and a pile of rivets)...

_________________
Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

The nose art is done on material from an airplane that was scrapped.

I used a section of the roof from the badly damaged Lockheed Lodestar that I once had. It has yielded a LOT of art pieces.

_________________
The nose art/aviation artist and general lunatic from Houston, Texas http://www.jasonbarnettartist.com

That must have been N43WT Lodestar c/n 18-2565; I have been struggling finding out its fate after someone sent me a 2004 pic.
http://www.ruudleeuw.com/guestphotos-44.htm (photo by Gerben Groothuis).
So it was cut up for art, eh? Quite like that!
thks
Ruud

Obviously a ton of work there - well done! Any thoughts of displaying a photo of the original airplane by the art for the little ones to visualize just how big the original was?

Looks super,
Ken

_________________
"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

This is a great idea. Hard to convey just how big these pieces of art were without seeing the real deal.

Wonderful piece, very well done.

Also one of my all time favorites, congrats on a fine display piece!
Looks like the pics in the link are gone, so here ya go.

Photo from U.S.F.G.

The crew of the USAAF Boeing B-29-40-BW Superfortress (s/n 42-24598) "Waddy's Wagon", 20th Air Force, 73rd Bomb Wing, 497th Bomb Group, 869th Bomb Squadron, the fifth B-29 to take off on the first Tokyo mission from Saipan on 24 November 1944, and first to land back at Isley Field after bombing the target. The crew is posing to duplicate their caricatures in the nose art. The crew (l-r): Capt. Walter "Waddy" Young/pilot, Lt. Jack Vetters/copilot, Lt. John F. Ellis/bombardier , Lt. Paul Garrison/navigator, Sgt. George Avon/radio operator, Lt. Bernard Black/flight engineer, Sgt. Kenneth Mansie/flight technican, Sgt. Lawrence Lee/gunner, Sgt. Wilbur Chapman/gunner, Sgt. Corbett Carnegie/gunner, Sgt. Joseph Gatto/gunner. This aircraft was lost on 9 January 1945. Date 1944
Sad story about brave men!
Robbie

_________________
Fly Fast Make Noise!

Very nice work indeed ...


Original 'colorized' photo


Jason's work and photo.

"Captain Walter “Waddy” Young and his crew pose in front of their caricatures on their B-29 Superfortress in the first photo, November 24, 1944.
One of “Waddy’s Wagon’s” most famous missions occurred on January 9, 1945; “Waddy’s Wagon” and 72 other B-29s were ordered to bomb the Nakajima Aircraft Engine Factory near Tokyo. The mission went awry when the Japanese resisted, and the plane to “Waddy’s Wagon’s” right was rammed by a kamikaze fighter. Waddy continued undeterred, bombed the target, and turned back to assist the stricken plane. They crew of “Waddy’s Wagon” threw blocks down to signal where the downed plane landed.
“Waddy’s Wagon” and its crew disappeared without a trace 10 miles east of Choshi Point, Japan, while it was protecting B-29 Crew A-46 (the crew that was rammed by the Kamikaze fighter). A search plane was dispatched, but after combing the area, there was no hint as to what might have happened. It is thought to have been shot down during the Nakajima mission."

_________________
Zero Surprise!!...

Lockheed C-60 N43WT was destroyed by Hurricane Ike in 2008. The wings, entire tail surfaces, and engines had already been removed long before the hurricane. I was told the plan was for the new owner who had purchased the plane some time before Hurricane Ike struck, was to truck the fuselage to a new home about 100miles away, but the Hurricane destroyed it before that happened, and only the wings and other parts had already been trucked out. I bought the horribly beat up remains and later cut it up to make artwork pieces such as the subject of this thread. It was a sad ending for such a neat plane, but it lives on as artwork now in a lot of homes, offices and museums.

_________________
The nose art/aviation artist and general lunatic from Houston, Texas http://www.jasonbarnettartist.com