Nose Art: Boeing B-29B Superfortress "Lucky Lady"
Though personalized art appeared during World War I, and occasionally grew to incorporate the entire aircraft, most pilots carried a saying or a slogan, or a family crest, or squadron symbol. Some were named, but nose art was not common. During World War II, nose art not only saw its true beginnings, but its heyday.
No one knows exactly who started nose art first--it appeared with both the British and the Germans around the first time, with RAF pilots painting Hitler being kicked or skulls and crossbones on their aircraft, while German nose art was usually a personal symbol, named for a girlfriend or adopting a mascot (such as Adolf Galland using Mickey Mouse, something Walt Disney likely didn't approve of). It would be with the Americans, and a lesser extent the Canadians, that nose art truly became common--and started including its most famous forms, which was usually half-naked or completely naked women. This was not always true, but it often was.
The quality of nose art depended on the squadron or wing artist. Some of it was rather crude, while others were equal to the finest pinup artists in the United States, such as Alberto Vargas. For men thousands of miles away from home and lonely, a curvaceous blonde on a B-17 or a P-51 made that loneliness a bit easier. Others thought naked women were a little crude, and just limited themselves to names, or depicted animals, cartoon characters, or patriotic emblems, or caricatures of the Axis dictators they were fighting.
Generally speaking, there was little censorship, with squadron and group commanders rarely intervening on names or pictures; the pilots themselves practiced self-censorship, with profanity almost unknown, and full-frontal nudity nearly nonexistent. After the loss of a B-17 named "Murder Inc.," which the Germans captured and used to make propaganda, the 8th Air Force, at least, set up a nose art committee that reviewed the nose art of aircraft--but even it rarely wielded its veto. For the most part, nose art was limited only by the crew's imagination and the artist's ability. The British tended to stay away from the lurid nudes of the Americans, though the Canadians adopted them as well. (The Axis also did not use nose art in this fashion, and neither did the Soviets, who usually confined themselves to patriotic slogans on their aircraft, such as "For Stalin!" or "In the Spirit of the Motherland!")
When World War II ended, so did nose art, for the most part. In the peacetime, postwar armed forces, the idea of having naked women were wives and children could see it was not something the postwar USAF or Navy wanted, and when it wasn't scrapped, it was painted over. A few units (especially those away from home and family) still allowed it, but it would take Korea to begin a renaissance of nose art.
Built as a B-29A bomber, 44-84076 joined the USAAF two days before the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. As a result, it missed World War II, and ended up back in storage. In 1947, it was returned to service with the new USAF, joining the 28th Bomb Group at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. As the B-29 force was replaced by the B-50, 44-84076 was converted to a TB-29B radar calibration aircraft in 1951, and was assigned to various squadrons and flights at Hamilton AFB, California. It was among the last USAF B-29s retired, leaving the service in 1959, and became the first aircraft donated to the Strategic Air Command Museum at Offutt AFB, Nebraska.
For many years at Offutt, it was painted as a Korean War-era B-29 with the name "Man O'War," but after the SAC Museum moved to Ashland, it was completely restored as a World War II-era B-29, "Lucky Lady," assigned to the 313th BG at Tinian. The nose art shows a Varga Girl style pinup wearing a tied-off shirt and cutoff shorts; this would be considered very modest for B-29s over Korea!
I had forgotten I had this nose art picture, but the other day I was cataloguing my photos, and ran across it. This actually turned out better than my full picture of "Lucky Lady," when I got it in 2020.
Nose Art: Boeing B-29B Superfortress "Lucky Lady"
Though personalized art appeared during World War I, and occasionally grew to incorporate the entire aircraft, most pilots carried a saying or a slogan, or a family crest, or squadron symbol. Some were named, but nose art was not common. During World War II, nose art not only saw its true beginnings, but its heyday.
No one knows exactly who started nose art first--it appeared with both the British and the Germans around the first time, with RAF pilots painting Hitler being kicked or skulls and crossbones on their aircraft, while German nose art was usually a personal symbol, named for a girlfriend or adopting a mascot (such as Adolf Galland using Mickey Mouse, something Walt Disney likely didn't approve of). It would be with the Americans, and a lesser extent the Canadians, that nose art truly became common--and started including its most famous forms, which was usually half-naked or completely naked women. This was not always true, but it often was.
The quality of nose art depended on the squadron or wing artist. Some of it was rather crude, while others were equal to the finest pinup artists in the United States, such as Alberto Vargas. For men thousands of miles away from home and lonely, a curvaceous blonde on a B-17 or a P-51 made that loneliness a bit easier. Others thought naked women were a little crude, and just limited themselves to names, or depicted animals, cartoon characters, or patriotic emblems, or caricatures of the Axis dictators they were fighting.
Generally speaking, there was little censorship, with squadron and group commanders rarely intervening on names or pictures; the pilots themselves practiced self-censorship, with profanity almost unknown, and full-frontal nudity nearly nonexistent. After the loss of a B-17 named "Murder Inc.," which the Germans captured and used to make propaganda, the 8th Air Force, at least, set up a nose art committee that reviewed the nose art of aircraft--but even it rarely wielded its veto. For the most part, nose art was limited only by the crew's imagination and the artist's ability. The British tended to stay away from the lurid nudes of the Americans, though the Canadians adopted them as well. (The Axis also did not use nose art in this fashion, and neither did the Soviets, who usually confined themselves to patriotic slogans on their aircraft, such as "For Stalin!" or "In the Spirit of the Motherland!")
When World War II ended, so did nose art, for the most part. In the peacetime, postwar armed forces, the idea of having naked women were wives and children could see it was not something the postwar USAF or Navy wanted, and when it wasn't scrapped, it was painted over. A few units (especially those away from home and family) still allowed it, but it would take Korea to begin a renaissance of nose art.
Built as a B-29A bomber, 44-84076 joined the USAAF two days before the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. As a result, it missed World War II, and ended up back in storage. In 1947, it was returned to service with the new USAF, joining the 28th Bomb Group at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. As the B-29 force was replaced by the B-50, 44-84076 was converted to a TB-29B radar calibration aircraft in 1951, and was assigned to various squadrons and flights at Hamilton AFB, California. It was among the last USAF B-29s retired, leaving the service in 1959, and became the first aircraft donated to the Strategic Air Command Museum at Offutt AFB, Nebraska.
For many years at Offutt, it was painted as a Korean War-era B-29 with the name "Man O'War," but after the SAC Museum moved to Ashland, it was completely restored as a World War II-era B-29, "Lucky Lady," assigned to the 313th BG at Tinian. The nose art shows a Varga Girl style pinup wearing a tied-off shirt and cutoff shorts; this would be considered very modest for B-29s over Korea!
I had forgotten I had this nose art picture, but the other day I was cataloguing my photos, and ran across it. This actually turned out better than my full picture of "Lucky Lady," when I got it in 2020.