When the prototype B-26 Marauder took to the skies for the first time on November 25th, 1940, it was one of the fastest, most advanced bomber aircraft in the skies at the time. Powered by the reliable and powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engines and configured with a relatively short cantilever wing, the Marauder could fly at a maximum speed of 287 mph, but had a very high stall speed / landing speed of 120 mph… higher than most aircraft of the era. These characteristics made the single-engine performance of the Marauder extremely challenging… in fact, many believed that the aircraft could not fly on one engine until skilled pilots like Jimmy Doolittle proved this assumption was wrong. Regardless, the Marauder was certainly not an aircraft for novices. Unfortunately, the wartime need to get pilots from initial training to combat standards quickly put a number of relatively inexperienced pilots into the cockpit of the B-26 and the accident rate of the aircraft increased and stained continued to stain the reputation of the aircraft.  Early B-26 crews gave the plane the nickname “Widowmaker” as well as other not-so-flattering nicknames including “Martin Murderer”, “Flying Coffin”, “B-Dash-Crash”, “Flying Prostitute” (so-named because it was so fast and had “no visible means of support,” referring to its small wings) and “Baltimore Whore” (a reference the Martin Aircraft hometown, Baltimore, MD).

After a 1942 Senate inquiry into the frequency of accidents with the B-26, design changes were made, including lengthening of the wings to improve slow speed stability. Additional aircrew training also helped to overcome the challenges of the B-26 and it successfully deployed to combat. The B-26 Marauder was used mostly in Europe but also saw use in the Mediterranean and the Pacific.  As with most aircraft used in early daylight bombing campaigns in WWII, the aircraft took heavy losses but became one of the most successful medium-range bombers used by the U.S. Army Air Forces by the end of the war.  In fact, the B-26 Marauder went on to record the lowest attrition rate of any U.S. Army Air Force aircraft serving with the 9th Air Force in Europe during the war. By the end of World War II, it had flown more than 110,000 missions and had dropped 150,000 tons of bombs, and was used in combat by British, Free French and South African forces in addition to the USAAF. The last bombing mission by a Martin B-26 Marauder Group was flown on May 1, 1945 by the 17th Bomb Group, bombing gun positions at the Isle d’Oleron in France.  When B-26 production ended in 1945, 5,266 had been built by Martin Aircraft.

However, the history of challenges for the B-26 Marauder didn’t end with the end of WWII.  When the U.S. Army Air Corps became the United States Air Force (USAF) after World War II, the designations for some aircraft types were also changed and the “Attack” or “A” prefix designation was dropped and was consolidated to the “Bomber” or “B” prefix.  As a result, the Douglas A-26 Invader, a light attack bomber designed and used in World War II and retained as a combat aircraft after the war, became the Douglas B-26 Invader… and since the aircraft wasn’t officially retired from service until 1972, the “Invader” was known as a “B-26″ far longer than the B-26 Marauder had been.  The fact that the Marauder and the Invader were fast, R-2800 engined, tricycle landing gear equipped bombers further confused the matter… though each aircraft was a completely different design.

So it’s refreshing to see the B-26 Marauder being honored in a permanent manner with a tattoo!  This detailed B-26 Marauder tattoo was created by tattoo artist Carlos Rubio, owner of Disciple Tattoo in Chandler, Arizona.  It is the start of a B-26 leg “sleeve” tattoo, so we look forward to seeing the completion of the whole piece!

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Join the Tattoos In Flight Air Force! -  If you have or find any aviation-themed tattoos on the web, send the photo to us along with the name of the artist, studio, location, and a website!  Send them along to tattoosinflight@gmail.com – thanks!

The An-2, also known by its NATO Codename “Colt”, was designed for use in short, unimproved airfields or even flat pastures and frozen lakes when an airport isn’t close.  It’s unique biplane configuration combined with large flaps and a powerful radial engine make it well-suited for operations in extreme environments where speed isn’t always the first requirement.  The AN-2 is used as a light utility transport, parachute drop aircraft, agricultural application aircraft and fire attack aircraft and can be outfitted with standard landing gear, skis, or floats. The original prototype first flew on August 31st, 1947.

Over 18,000 AN-2 aircraft were built during it’s 55 year production run and it went through a variety of variants and design changes as can be seen on its Wikipedia article.  It remains the 12th most produced aircraft in history and stands as the most produced biplane ever.  Though no longer produced by Antonov, the AN-2 may begin production again under license by Shijiazhuang in China as a turboprop aircraft designated the Y-5B.

This realistic black and grey shoulder tattoo was created by the talented Ukrainian tattoo artist Denis Sivak tattooing from L.O.V.E.machine tattoo studio in Odessa, Ukraine.

Special thanks to Bob Baxter’s Tattoo Road Trip blog at TattooRoadTrip.com for introducing us to the tattoo art of Denis Sivak, allowing us to feature his work here on Tattoos In Flight!

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Join the Tattoos In Flight Air Force! -  If you have or find any aviation-themed tattoos on the web, send the photo to us along with the name of the artist, studio, location, and a website!  Send them along to tattoosinflight@gmail.com – thanks!

The 1950′s were a very important decade in the development of modern aviation technology – especially in the development of turbojet aircraft for the military and commercial aviation market. One of the reasons for advancing development of military jet aircraft was the pressure on both sides of the Cold War to develop long range, high-speed bomber aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons and all-weather, high altitude interceptor aircraft to protect against the bomber threat.  With the Soviet Union threatening Western nations with bomber routing over the Arctic Circle, Canada and the United States were keenly interested in developing interceptors to protect against possible aggression by Soviet bombers. One of the most promising designs that emerged was the powerful, delta-winged Avro CF-105 Arrow project that began in 1953 with initial design and concept testing.  The Arrow incorporated many advanced technologies such as a Mach 2.0 capable delta wing, internal weapons stores, and a completely-new powerplant developed specifically for the Arrow… the Orenda PS.13 Iroquois, capable of 30,000 pounds of thrust in afterburner.

The prototype Arrow, RL-201, was rolled out on October 4th, 1957 and the first flight of the aircraft (powered by the J75 engine while the Orenda PS.13 Iroquois was being developed), took place on March 25th, 1958.  Less than a year later in February 1959, the Arrow had completed the majority of its flight testing program with five aircraft. Though the test program went surprisingly well and the aircraft was found to only need fine-tuning over the duration, the future for the Arrow was far from bright.  On March 31, 1959, the Canadian Cabinet Defence Committee (CDC) abruptly and controversially cancelled the Arrow program due to political pressures — politics considered by many Canadians to this day to be irrational and short-sighted.

As a result, the Avro Arrow, an interceptor that could have been a “game-changer” and an aerospace engineering benchmark for Canada, was ordered to be dismantled.  All aircraft were destroyed (save for the nose of one aircraft) and all engines, production tooling and technical data were ordered scrapped as well — due to a perceived threat of a “mole” at Avro.  And if the loss of the Arrow program wasn’t enough of a disappointment, nearly 15,000 Avro employees lost their jobs as well as an additional 15,000+ workers from other companies that were part of the supply chain for the anticipated production of the Arrow.  The massive downsizing at Avro Aircraft as a result of the cancellation of the Arrow has been considered a major cause of the demise of the company, which eventually ceased operations in 1962 after assets being transferred to Hawker Siddeley Canada.

This excellent tribute tattoo to the legend that could have been the Avro CF-105 Arrow was expertly created by Canadian tattoo artist Derek Dufresne of Fleshworks Tattoo Studio in Victoria, British Columbia.

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Join the Tattoos In Flight Air Force! -  If you have or find any aviation-themed tattoos on the web, send the photo to us along with the name of the artist, studio, location, and a website!  Send them along to tattoosinflight@gmail.com – thanks!

And though the P-40 is a commonly found tattoo here at Tattoos In Flight, there is certainly a reason why it remains so popular and we can certainly appreciate the reasons why wearers choose it for their tattoo. The famous “shark mouth” nose art was found on  many P-40′s in World War II – both in U.S. Army Air Force use and in use by other Allied forces (such as the Royal Air Force) and the famous eyes and teeth of the P-40 are some of the most memorable icons from the war.   The P-40 also gained popularity early in WWII as it was also used by the famous American Volunteer Group (AVG) or better known as the “Flying Tigers” fighting in the China-Burma-India theater of WWII.  Not officially part of the U.S. Army Air Forces, the AVG was formed before U.S. entry into WWII and was comprised of volunteer U.S. fighter pilots supporting the Nationalist Chinese in their fight against the Imperialist Japanese early in the war.  Though the Flying Tigers trained in Burma before the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7th, 1941, their first actual combat engagement over China took place on December 20, 1941 after the U.S. declared war on Japan and Germany.  After countless references in books, movies, and in general pop-culture, the shark mouthed P-40′s of the Flying Tigers remain some of the most recognized aircraft of World War II.

And if you are impressed with this amazing back tattoo of a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk by artist Phil Garcia, we encourage you to take a look at his portfolio on the website of his tattoo studio, Ink Philler Studios, in Port Hueneme, CA.  You can also check out his page on Facebook and “like” it as well! Professional Tattoo Artists may also want to check out his new DVD “Layering In The Details” which discusses his unique techniques in creating the stunning tattoos in his portfolio.

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Join the Tattoos In Flight Air Force! -  If you have or find any aviation-themed tattoos on the web, send the photo to us along with the name of the artist, studio, location, and a website!  Send them along to tattoosinflight@gmail.com – thanks!

It’s quite fitting that this P-51 tattoo comes to us from England.  Though the P-51 was made famous while in use by the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II and was built by North American Aircraft in the United States, it actually was designed and built to meet specifications requested by the Royal Air Force (RAF) for a single engine fighter aircraft in 1940.  North American confirmed the initial order of 320 aircraft on 24 April 1940 by Sir Wilfred Freeman, the Executive Head of the Ministry of Aircraft Production for the RAF and first flew the Model NA-73X prototype only 178 days later on 26 October 1940 — one of the shortest design and development periods found at the time.  As a result, the first North American Mustang Mk. I aircraft entered service in 1941 by RAF 2 Squadron… two years before the USAAF development of the NA-73, the P-51 Mustang, was introduced for use by the Eighth Air Force and Ninth Air Force for fighter escort duties from bases in England.

Unfortunately the early Mustangs ordered by the RAF were far from perfect and differed significantly in design from the legendary P-51D.  The original NA-73 was powered by the Allison V-1710 inline V-12 engine rather than the Rolls-Royce Packard Merlin engine it became famous for and as a result, the original Mustang performed poorly in high-altitude operations.  Eventually the design was improved and replaced by later versions for RAF use, notably the Mark IV and Mark IVA… the RAF variants of the P-51D and P-51K respectively.  The RAF used the Mustang through the end of WWII and eventually retired the type in 1947.

Our well-executed leg tattoo montage of USAAF P-51 Mustangs was created by Oliver Jerrold, a tattoo artist at Hope and Glory Tattoo in Swaffham, Norfolk, England.

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Join the Tattoos In Flight Air Force! -  If you have or find any aviation-themed tattoos on the web, send the photo to us along with the name of the artist, studio, location, and a website!  Send them along to tattoosinflight@gmail.com – thanks!

Tattoos In Flight

Looking back to only a century ago, those who had the need and ability to travel long distances over oceans or vast expanses of land knew that their journeys could take weeks, if not months, to complete.  Though powered flight had advanced greatly in the eight years since Orville & Wilbur Wright first flew in 1903, the concept of reliable and safe passenger travel by air was still a dream and aspiration that would take several more decades to realize in the form we are familiar with today.  It wasn’t until the birth of the jet age in the late 1950′s that fast, reliable, safe and affordable airline travel became possible — thus making destinations on the other side of the world accessible within the span of a day.

The Boeing 757 has become a cornerstone of commercial airline travel in the 29 years since it first flew on 19 February 1982.  The 757 was an efficient, twin-engine narrow-body airliner designed by Boeing to replace the Boeing 727 for high-demand short and medium range routes.  It was developed in tandem with the long-range, wide-body Boeing 767 and both aircraft share some common components, systems, and controls as well as common two-crew flight deck configuration with similar avionics and instrumentation.  As a result of this, the flight crews are trained and qualified on both the 757 and 767 and the FAA type rating issued to pilots reflects this.  Though Boeing ceased production on the 757 in 2004 as it focused its attention to more efficient aircraft like the 787 Dreamliner, the 757 still remains in wide airline and cargo use worldwide, with 946 aircraft still in operation as of 2010 out of the 1,050 produced.  The largest operator of the 757 is Delta Air Lines with 160 757-200 aircraft and 16 757-300 aircraft in current service.

The featured Boeing 757 tattoo beautifully combines the clean lines of the airliner with the wispy plumage of the contrail feathers in a style similar to that of an etching.  The detailed black and grey rib tattoo was created by tattoo artist Alex Vidaud, currently tattooing at Colors Art Space in Berlin, CT.

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Join the Tattoos In Flight Air Force! -  If you have or find any aviation-themed tattoos on the web, send the photo to us along with the name of the artist, studio, location, and a website!  Send them along to tattoosinflight@gmail.com – thanks!

Well, I am proud to say that the finished article has been published in the October 2011 issue of AOPA Pilot Magazine under the title “Tattoos in the Air: Visual Evidence of a Passion for Flight” by Alton Marsh.  The article is complete with some amazing photography of some of our featured subjects on Tattoos In Flight including the famous portrait tattoo by Shotsie Gorman of Charles Lindbergh, the amazingly detailed cutaway tattoo of the General Electric turbine engine by Brett J. Barr, and the Piper PA-28R Arrow tattoo by Jim Judeikis.  As for the identity of the proud wearers, well, you’ll just have to read the article!

So, if you’re a member of AOPA, make sure to keep an eye out for it in your mailbox.  If you aren’t a member of AOPA yet, why not become a member and support the future of General Aviation… it’s well worth the $39.00 per year!  And if you just can’t wait, you can always read the article online at this link to “Tattoos in the Air” at AOPA Online and see some of the photos as well.

Once you’ve read it, come back here and let us know what you think!  Post a comment!

Click on the image at the left or visit this link for a larger image and to read the rest of the story.

Beginning with the maiden launch of the Orbiter Columbia on April 12, 1981, the Space Shuttle program was not only one of the most important advancements in Space Exploration Vehicles as the first reusable vehicle ever used, but was also the transport for some of the most important scientific payloads carried into orbit.  Some of these payloads included the Ulysses and Galileo spacecraft for orbital exploration of the planet Jupiter and its satellite moons, the Magellan spacecraft for orbital exploration of Venus, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and the majority of the components to construct the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit.  The contributions made by the Shuttle program to science were truly extraordinary, but these advancements unfortunately came with a cost.  The world paused in shock upon witnessing the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger and its seven crewmembers moments after launch on January 28, 1986 and again on February 1, 2003 when communication was lost with the Space Shuttle Columbia during re-entry followed shortly after by eyewitness reports, video and images of the breakup and explosion of the orbiter fatally claiming its seven crewmembers over the Southcentral United States.  Though both remain a solemn reminder of the inherent risk involved in the exploration of new frontiers in space and science, the lessons learned from them and the 133 successful missions of the Space Shuttle program will continue to help shape the future of National, International and commercial space exploration for decades to come.

Now retired, the surviving Space Shuttle Orbiters have been committed for display at museums around the United States.  Atlantis will be placed on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Discovery will be displayed at the Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air & Space Museum at Dulles International Airport outside Washington D.C.; Endeavour will be displayed on the West Coast at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, CA; and Enterprise, the atmospheric test orbiter currently on display the Udvar-Hazy Center, will be moved to New York City for display at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum.

And for some people, a more permanent and personal tribute to the Space Shuttle is in order… like the tattoo featured in this post.  The vibrant and colorful tattoo of the Discovery at launch was created by talented tattoo artist Justin Leifeste, currently tattooing at Graphic Images Tattoo in West Haven, CT.

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Join the Tattoos In Flight Air Force! -  If you have or find any aviation-themed tattoos on the web, send the photo to us along with the name of the artist, studio, location, and a website!  Send them along to tattoosinflight@gmail.com – thanks!

Click on the image at the left or visit this link for a larger image and to read the rest of the story.

The sight of these two aircraft fighting against each other, though most likely in a far less artistic manner, would have been a common sight over Occupied France and Germany in early 1944 as the bombers of the 8th Air Force and 15th Air Force of the U.S. Army Air Corps stationed at bases scattered around England pushed hard in their daylight strategic bombing campaigns, preparing for the famous “Big Week” raids and the first attacks to hit the German capital Berlin shortly after.  The Messerschmitt Bf-109, along with the Focke Wulf FW-190, was one of the front line fighters used by the Luftwaffe to intercept the Allied bomber formations.  Though the Bf-109 was considered to be a challenge to fly, it was deadly in the hands of an experienced pilot.  In fact, the highest-scoring fighter ace in the history of aerial combat, Major Erich Hartmann of the German Luftwaffe, flew nearly all of his 352 aerial victories flying the Bf-109 in combat.

Thanks to one of our fans on the Tattoos In Flight Facebook page, we were able to find out about this detailed and colorful half sleeve tattoo by Brazilian tattoo artist Marcelo Marzari, an artist working with Color Up Tattoo in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. We’re always glad to uncover amazing tattoo work from other countries and glad we found this fantastic World War II aviation tattoo!

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Join the Tattoos In Flight Air Force! -  If you have or find any aviation-themed tattoos on the web, send the photo to us along with the name of the artist, studio, location, and a website!  Send them along to tattoosinflight@gmail.com – thanks!

After the first successful takeoff of an aircraft from a ship (the USS Birmingham) by Eugene Ely on November 14, 1910 and the first successful landing on a ship by Ely using a specially built platform constructed aboard the armored Cruiser USS Pennsylvania on January 18, the U.S. Navy officially set forth their intentions to develop an aviation component aboard ships.  The first officer designated as an “Aviator” was Lieutenant Theodore G. Ellyson, and officially became an aviator on January 28, 1911 when he successfully took off and landed a Curtiss Pusher.  Several months later, on March 4, 1911, the first funds were appropriated for Naval Aviation, providing $25,000 for continued testing.  On May 8th, 1911, Captain Washington I. Chambers prepared requisitions for two Curtiss biplanes. The first, named the Triad, was able to land and take-off from either land or water and carried a pilot and observer and flew at a speed of 45 miles per hour – the aircraft later became the Navy’s first airplane, the A-1.  This date, May 8th, has officially become the anniversary date for the beginning of U.S. Naval Aviation.

Throughout 2011 the Centennial of Naval Aviation is being celebrated at airshows and in events around the United States.  At many of these events, current U.S. Navy aircraft have been painted in “retro” paint schemes and markings of aircraft operated in the past 100 years as well as many U.S. Navy Legacy Flights with current aircraft flying in formation with WWII or Korean-vintage Naval fighter aircraft.  For a full list of events, please visit this page on the 100th Anniversary of Naval Aviation website.

This beautiful full arm sleeve tattoo depicts some of the most famous Naval Aircraft from World War II including (from the wrist upwards), the Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina Patrol Bomber, the Grumman TBF (TBM) Avenger torpedo bomber, the Grumman F6F Hellcat carrier based fighter aircraft, the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver dive bomber, and the Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber at the very top.  The artist, Matt Geiogamah, is well known for his realistic color tattoo work, unique and vibrant colors and fantastic composition… attributes perfectly seen in this piece.  Matt Geiogamah is currently traveling and tattooing as a guest artist at noted studios and conventions around the United States, so the best way to find and contact him is through his website, MattGeiogamah.com.

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Join the Tattoos In Flight Air Force! -  If you have or find any aviation-themed tattoos on the web, send the photo to us along with the name of the artist, studio, location, and a website!  Send them along to tattoosinflight@gmail.com – thanks!

Update: August 2, 2011 – We’re having some problems with the new theme file, so we’ve held off on unveiling the new look until we are 100% ready, but we’ve started posting new content again! 

For those of you who have been patiently waiting for something new to be posted here on Tattoos In Flight, have no fear… that’s all going to change this weekend!  After months of working on a new look and a new navigation for the site, we have finally finished all the work we can perform up to actually installing it on the site… and that’s what is going to happen this weekend!  Have no fear, all of our posts, pictures and links will remain working and the URL will remain the same (as will the RSS feed for those of you who read the site as a news feed)… though you might see some weirdness at certain points over the weekend as we change things around.  With any luck, we’ll have the site fully switched over by Monday and will have some new posts to add shortly after!

You might ask why we’re doing this and why it’s taken so long?  Well, when I say “we” I really mean… well, me.  Since Tattoos In Flight started back in June 2008, it’s been a one-man operation.  Though when I first started the site, I was on a one-month break between leaving one job, moving across the U.S. to Arizona, then starting a new one, I began the site when I had some spare time on my hands. But since then, I’ve pretty much had a full-time career plus a few side jobs while working on the site — and you know how it goes.  And over the past few years, I’ve learned a lot more about how a blog should work and have learned a lot about WordPress (the system that runs the blog), so an upgrade has been long overdue!

I can’t wait to get the new design launched and see what you all think of it!  I am pretty proud of how far TattoosInFlight.com has come and thank you all for being a part of the site and hope you’ll keep coming back when TattoosInFlight 2.0 goes live this weekend!

Though the helicopter was introduced into military service during World War II in mid-1943, the emerging technology had only advanced to the point of light, limited range helicopters and their use was rare and extremely limited.  When the Korean War began in 1950, helicopters were more common in military use in support roles like search and rescue and medical evacuation (as seen in the popular television show “M*A*S*H”) but were not found in combat roles. This was due to a restriction created in 1947 when the U.S. Air Force became a separate branch of the Armed Forces, prohibiting the U.S. Army from operating large aircraft and helicopters in combat. On November 4, 1952 the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force signed an agreement that lifted the restriction of combat use of helicopters by the Army.  As a result the U.S. Army created and deployed the 6th Transportation Company to Korea and their use of the Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw became the first true use of large helicopters operated by the Army as combat troop transport, but their arrival was too late in the war to have an impact.

It wasn’t until the U.S. entry into the Vietnam War in the early 1960′s when the helicopter became heavily used as a troop transport in a combat role.   The dense jungle landscape of the region and guerrilla fighting techniques of the North Vietnamese forces redefined combat strategy for American forces.  Unlike the mass deployment of large ground-based infantry and mechanized divisions to overwhelm and hold territory as used in World War II, the challenging combat conditions in Vietnam required smaller, more mobile fighting forces.  With the lack of cleared land and airfields, the helicopter became the vehicle for large-scale troop insertion and extraction as well as medical evacuation (nicknamed “Dustoff”), search and rescue, as well as its first use as an offensive attack aircraft (with the introduction of the Bell AH-1 Cobra).  Initially the piston radial-engine powered Sikorsky H-19 and its derivative, the H-34 Choctaw, were the primary large helicopters used in Vietnam, but were rapidly replaced with the new turbine-powered Bell Model 204, designated the UH-1 Iroquois, known commonly as the “Huey”.  The reliability, rugged construction, speed and capacity of the UH-1 allowed it to operate in a wide range of missions including air assault, cargo transport, medical evacuation, search and rescue, electronic warfare, general support, and even ground attack.  The base Model 204 Huey was upgraded through the war as the UH-1A, -1B and -1C versions and received a variety of field modifications and mission-specific equipment additions as well.   In 1963, a “stretched” Huey, the Bell Model 205, was introduced as the UH-1D and continued through the model -1H.  In all, over 7,013 Bell UH-1 Huey models served in Vietnam, transporting hundreds of thousands of troops during the 19 year deployment of U.S. forces.

Our featured half-sleeve upper arm tattoo illustrates a scene that perfectly illustrates the two most common uses of the UH-1 Huey: large-scale troop insertion into a combat landing zone (or “LZ”) on the outer arm (left side of image) and a “Dustoff” casualty extraction by UH-1 medivac on the inner arm (left side of image).  Also included in the tattooed scene is the ribbon of the Vietnam Service Medal over the crossed rifles of the Infantry Branch of the U.S. Army at the top and the insignia of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) under it.  The tattoo was created in honor of the father of the wearer, who is an Army veteran of the Vietnam War and served his tour of duty from 1966 through 1967.  The tattoo was completed in May 2010 and showed her father the completed tattoo created for him on Memorial Day — a most appropriate day for sure!  She said her father was greatly touched by the amazing tribute to his service.

The highly detailed and colorful half sleeve tattoo was created by tattoo artist Scotty Rich from Lady Luck Tattoo Gallery in Tempe, AZ.

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Join the Tattoos In Flight Air Force! -  If you have or find any aviation-themed tattoos on the web, send the photo to us along with the name of the artist, studio, location, and a website!  Send them along to tattoosinflight@gmail.com, or use the “submit” tool at the right.

But as of 2006, the goal of flying an F-14 off of a pitching aircraft carrier deck became an impossibility as the mighty Tomcat was retired from the United States Navy and all use within the American Armed Forces.  After 32 years as a front-line carrier-based interceptor and multi-role fighter for the U.S. Navy, the F-14 flew it’s last actual flight in U.S. service on October 4, 2006, when an F-14D of VF-31 was ferried from Oceana to Republic Airport on Long Island, NY for museum display.  All remaining aircraft are either on static display in museums or stored at AMARC in Tucson, AZ — awaiting their eventual scrapping.  The scrapping requirement is being enforced to prevent any F-14 parts from slipping into the hands of the Iranian Air Force who had some of the earlier models still in operation from an original order placed in 1976 before the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, thus halting all export of Western military hardware to the nation.

So, for those pilots, crews and enthusiasts of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, the only way to be reminded of the Top Gun star is to see them preserved in museums, immortalized in history books, or — in this case — as a permanent tribute tattooed within easy sight.  The highly-detailed tattoo we are featuring today is the work of legendary artist Shotsie Gorman, who now applies his trade from the West Coast near Sonoma, CA.  You can see more of his work and find out how to book an appointment with him at Shotsie’s Soul Signing website at this link.

Please click on the image above or the link below for a larger image.

Click the above image for the full-size photo.

Join the Tattoos In Flight Air Force! -  If you have or find any aviation-themed tattoos on the web, send the photo to us along with the name of the artist, studio, location, and a website!  Send them along to tattoosinflight@gmail.com, or use the “submit” tool at the right.

In the meantime, keep sending in your tattoos for consideration to be published… YOUR tattoo may be one of our new featured pieces!  Thanks! – The Editor

(click the image below for the full post and three larger photos of the tattoo in process)

And for good reason! This tattoo truly illustrates how far tattooing has evolved in the past few decades.  The amazing level of detail, shading, and technical precision that combined to create this technical triumph of turbine aircraft engine technology on a human canvas is staggering.

In fact, the subject of this tattoo and the tattoo itself are a lot alike.  The General Electric GE90 family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines are some of the most efficient, advanced, and powerful jet engines of the modern age of aviation.  The GE90 holds the world record for most thrust produced by a turbine engine and powered a Boeing 777-200ER that set the world record for the longest flight by a commercial airline aircraft.  On top of all this, it remains one of the largest engines ever built… and is the basis for the GEnx turbofan engine that has been developed to power the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Much like the engine, this tattoo illustrates a portion of what could be considered the peak of the art of tattooing… the line work, detail, and skill all combine to create an image that would look right at home in blueprints, 3-D CAD renderings, or detailed technical illustrations.  The fact that it was created on skin… a flexible living canvas with challenging curves and textures, proves that tattooing has not only evolved into an artform that mirrors that of other media, but perhaps even outranks in some cases because of the unique challenges that the medium presents to the artist.

Certainly the wearer, a dedicated aviation enthusiast and aspiring commercial pilot himself, made a very wise choice when he chose artist Brett J. Barr for this creation.  Brett is currently tattooing at Primal Tattoo Gallery in Orlando (Casselberry), Florida, so be sure to visit Brett’s portfolio for more amazing black and grey mechanical tattoo pieces as well as a diverse range of other amazing styles as well.  We are honored to have such a unique tattoo by such a talented artist featured here at Tattoos In Flight.

And thank you to our contributor for sending his masterpiece along as well as his patience… may the engine you have chosen to symbolize your career path, provide power and thrust on your journey into success within this fantastic industry of those who look to the sky and see more than just the clouds… they see the future!

Please click on the image above or the link below for three larger images of the tattoo in process and complete.

Click the above images for full-size photos of the tattoo.

Join the Tattoos In Flight Air Force! -  If you have or find any aviation-themed tattoos on the web, send the photo to us along with the name of the artist, studio, location, and a website!  Send them along to tattoosinflight@gmail.com, or use the “submit” tool at the right.