april2017

ell... a lot like the Navajo Code Talkers, they

helped win the war. In one of the darkest, most violent

and bloody periods in human history, could there be

one specific idea, one more powerful than freedom or

life itself, that could act as an encouraging light at the

end of the tunnel? Scantily clad women, of course.

We’re talking about the

nose art at the front

of these legendary

fighter planes, piloted

by maniacs with nerves

of steel. These he-

roic airmen were faced

with extremes across

the board; hours of

loneliness in a sky of

emptiness and the

occasional enemy bul-

lets, the traumatizing

psychological effects

of warfare, sleep-depri-

vation and the grueling

physical strains due

to soaring at 30,000+

feet at 300+ mph in

temperatures as low as

-50 degree Fahrenheit,

with very little oxygen.

All this, and not a

curvaceous woman to

be seen for months on

end.

These pilots needed

something to keep

them sane, something

to motivate them, to

give them hope. So

they created mascots

for their planes and for

themselves in the form

of “nose art”. No, not

face paint. Artwork on

their airship. For those

who were handy with a

Pinups won World War II