nose art

B-24 bomber "C. E. 'Shack'" with crew on the ground. 425th Bomb Squadron, 308th Bombardment Group. Names painted on the nose of "C. E. 'Shack'" include those of 2nd Lt. Gordon C. Weems (copilot), 2nd Lt. Charles R. Thompson (navigator), and an unknown "Chick," who was possibly bombardier. (Info courtesy of deployment name list.) The crew apparently trained together at...

B-24s in flight in the CBI during WWII, including "The Goon" (tail #124183) in the top image.

The crew of the American B-29 bomber "City of Pittsburgh" in the CBI during WWII.

Remains of American P-38 aircraft “Butch II”--this was piloted by famous football star Tom Harmon. He had christened his P-38 “Butch II” after his girlfriend, actress Elyse “Butch” Knox, and had commissioned a painting designed by Walt Disney himself, whom Harmon had befriended in Hollywood: a rendition of the cartoon character Peg-­leg Pete, wearing Harmon’s football jersey, crushing a swastika...

An Air Transport Command (ATC) emblem painted on a transport aircraft in China during WWII.

Nose art showing a women riding a falling bomb. During WWII, this B-24L serial 44-41431 was named "BOMBS AWAY". The plane flew missions in early 1945 assigned to 373rd Bomb Squadron, 308th Bomb Group, with the Fourteenth Air Force in China. After 373 BS operated from Luliang, China from 14 Sep 1944 until it transferred to Yontan, Okinawa 21 July...

Nose art of a crashed B-24 bomber, B-24J-10 bomber, serial #42-51850, named "Lady Luck II" flew missions over Burma while assigned to 436 Bombardment Squadron, 7th Bombardment Group, Tenth Air Force. The plane was transferred to Air Transport command, converted to a C-109 aerial tanker. It suffered severe damage in a landing accident at Luliang, China on 18 Nov 1944...

Nose art of crashed B-24J bomber (serial #42-51850) named "Lady Luck II", in China in WWII. Additional information: Sgt Elmer Bukey, 396th Air Service Squadron, noted on a photo of the "Lady Luck II" that it was being salvaged at Ankang, China.

The crashed P-61 "Howe's About It" showing nose art of a woman reclining with the name "Cynthia Kay." (Much appreciation to Yves Marino for corrections to this entry.)