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A very good friend of mine was a bomber pilot ( B-25 )
during WWII and he told me that as the war went on, and the losses of air crews mounted, the censors eased up on the air crews about the nose art. I have seen pictures of some nose art that would be considered to be somewhat risque by todays standards, let alone 60 years ago. Wish I could remember where I saw them.......... ![]() On a side note, I just thought I would share this with the group. After WWII, my friend stayed in the Air Force ( Army Air Corps then ) and started to fly fighters in Korea and Vietnam. His last stint was in the F-4 Phantom over the skies of Vietnam. As this was one of my all time favorite airplanes, loud as hell, I decided to do something very special for his 79th birthday. Using this thing called the internet, I started doing research into his last stint in Vietnam and more importantly his squadron back then. After many months of effort, I found the correct tail markings, color scheme, etc. for his last F-4 and I commissioned the building of a highly detailed model to exact specifications, right down to the inclusion of his name on the canopy. I did this all without his kowledge as I wanted to present it to him as a total surprise on his actual birthday. In any event, I went to Florida with the model in tow and unveiled it at his party. He was so overcome that he cried. I later learned that he had also commissioned replica's of each & every plane he flew during the wars. Unfortunately, they were all lost to a fire sometime in the late 1970's. He never thought he would see one again. It was a touching moment. ![]() Steve This is his original squadron patch ( found via. research ) ![]() This is a vintage image of a F-4C from his squadron ( 1968 - Tan Son Nhut airbase ): This is a "not so complimentary" image of the finished model: ![]() By the way, the tail number was an ad-lib as I could not find that information anywhere. So, I opted instead to assign his age as the tail number.
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Steve,
Great story and very nice model. Attached is a shot of my dad presenting Jimmy Doolittle a model of a B-25. Not one of the actual B-25 that he flew off the carrier in the Tokyo raid in 1942 but possibly a later one he flew. Rick
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Rick Nelson Musclecar Restoration and Design, Inc (retired) www.musclecarrestorationanddesign.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62r-6vgk2_8 specialized in (only real) LS6 Chevelle restorations |
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