For many aviation enthusiasts, it’s one of the most iconic aircraft ever built.  With its short wings, tiny cockpit at the tail, and massive engine compartment, the Gee Bee Model R Super Sportster built by the Granville Brothers of Springfield, MA is, perhaps, the most famous air racer of all time.  Built in 1932, the Gee Bee Model R-1 and R-2 were the fastest aircraft of the time.

The R-1, piloted by Jimmy Doolittle, won the 1932 Thompson Trophy race - a 10 mile closed circuit race emphasizing low altitude, high speed flying - in Cleveland, OH with an average speed of 253 mph.  Doolittle also set the world landplane speed record of 296 mph in the Shell Speed Dash. 

Even with the success, the Gee Bee Model R’s had a reputation of being dangerous aircraft in the wrong hands.  During the 1933 Thompson Trophy race, pilot Russell Boardman perished when the R-1 crashed on takeoff in Indiana.  It was rebuilt with parts from the R-2 which previously crashed and flew again, only to crash again with pilot Roy Minor at the controls.  Minor was not seriously injured, and the aircraft was yet again rebuilt and sold to Cecil Allen. Allen, against the recommendation of the Granvilles, installed fuel tanks aft of the center of gravity and upon takeoff with full fuel, the aircraft crashed fatally for the last time and was not rebuilt.

This tattoo was submitted to us by a gentleman who has had a love for the R-1 and R-2 for many years.  In the 1990’s when a full-scale replica of the R-2 flew the airshow circuit piloted by builder Delmar Benjamin, our wearer helped support the crew at local shows.  He was even able to get a ride in the “belly of the beast” while the plane taxied on the ground as there wasn’t a second seat.  With such a history with the Gee Bee, it’s easy to see why he’d choose to have it added to his permanent art collection.

The tattoo was created by artist Ryan Groebler of Stay True Tattoo in Dublin, CA. 

Our editor here at TattoosInFlight.com has the R-1 as part of his air racing thigh tattoo… you can see that by clicking this link.

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This weekend I was supposed to be in Chino, CA for the annual Planes of Fame Air Museum Airshow - one of the most well-known warbird airshows in the world. One of the highlights of the airshow this year is the assembly of no less than five Grumman F8F Bearcats in one place… and three would fly in an aerobatic formation act… perhaps the first time since the U.S. Navy Blue Angels stopped using the type in 1949. Alas, I wasn’t able to go because of a tight budget, but instead I’d like to present this tattoo of a Bearcat just to mark the event.

The Grumman F8F Bearcat was to be the last piston-engine fighter built by the Grumman Aircraft Company of Bethpage, NY.  The aircraft was conceived as an interceptor — a light, small, and maneuverable aircraft built behind the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine, producing over 2,000 hp. Though designed and flown late in World War II, the Bearcat only reached operational status after WWII ended.  It saw service alongside early fighters and the final variant of the Vought F4U-5NL Corsair, another piston fighter. 

After U.S. service, the Bearcat was used by the French Air Force in the First Indochina War and was also used by the Royal Thai Air Force.  This weekend at the airshow in Chino, a Bearcat painted in Royal Thai Air Force colors will make it’s first public appearance. 

The since being disposed from armed forces inventories, the Bearcat has been known in civil use as a formidable competitor in the sport of Unlimited Air Racing.  A stock F8F flown by Mira Slovak won the first Reno Air Races in 1964.  For several decades, the highly modified “Rare Bear” F8F owned by Lyle Shelton (now owned by Rod Lewis) has dominated the Reno Air Races on-and-off again.

This colorful tattoo featuring the Bearcat was created by artist Mo Malone tattooing at Iron Age Studio in St. Louis, MO.

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The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is the oldest serving transport aircraft design currently in Armed Forces inventory.  As a result, thousands of crew members have served aboard the “Herkey Bird” throughout its service history.  Many crew are intensely proud of the aircraft and as a result, the C-130 is, perhaps, the most tattooed transport aircraft out there… but that’s just a guess from our crack editorial staff!

Over 2300 C-130’s have been produced and they are still under production as the C-130J Super Hercules - nearly the same externally as the basic C-130 but with new engines, six-bladed propellers, digital avionics and other upgraded systems.  The fact that it’s still rolling off the assembly line after 55 years is an amazing testament to the durability of the design and usefulness of the aircraft in a changing military over more than five decades.

A little known fact about the C-130 is the fact that it currently holds the record for the largest and heaviest aircraft to land on an aircraft carrier - a record set through a series of trials in October and November 1963 with a USMC KC-130F aboard the USS Forrestal. 

This tribute tattoo of a C-130 as a paratrooper ship was created by artist Melissa Zimmer of Black Lantern Tattoo in Glendale, AZ.

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The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is one of the most timeless turbojet aircraft ever to have been produced.  Despite the fact that the design is over fifty years old, with it’s first flight taking place on June 22, 1954, it still flies as a front line fighter in some Air Forces and Naval Arms worldwide today.

The A-4 was designed by famous Douglas aircraft designer Ed Heinemann in response for a U.S. Navy order to replace the carrier-borne, propeller-driven Douglas A-1 (AD) Skyraider attack aircraft. The simple, delta-winged design weighed only half the U.S. Navy specification and the wings were so small that they didn’t require wing-folding mechanisms to operate and be stored on aircraft carriers.  It’s nimble performance earned it the nicknames “Scooter” and “Heinemann’s Hot-Rod”.

The Skyhawk remained in production until 1979 and 2,960 aircraft were built. it fought through the Vietnam War and was used by Israel in the Yom Kippur War and Argentina in the Falklands War against the British Royal Navy.

A tribute to the tiny attack jet, this realistic tattoo was created by tattoo artist Jesse Rix, owner of Secret Lake Tattoo located in Keene, NH.

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The term “pin-up girl” first came into mention in popular culture in 1941 and became even more popular in the years immediately after.  The provocative drawing and photo spreads found in magazines of the glamorous models, movie stars, and starlets of the time were popular with the soldiers, sailors, airmen and grunts fighting in World War II.  At bases, on ships, or in camps far removed from the dazzle of Hollywood, these images that were plastered to the insides of footlockers, tacked up on bunks, and taped up on the walls of the barracks were sometimes the only images of a woman these guys would see for months.  It kept their blood pumping and reminded them of what was waiting for them when they got home.

Pin-up girls even found their way onto some of the chariots that took the guys into battle… as pieces of “nose art” on the bombers they’d pilot over enemy territory.  Famous recreations of pin-ups from artists Alberto Vargas and George Petty among others found their way onto the aluminum skinned noses of countless B-17’s, B-24’s, P-51’s, and B-26’s along with many other planes from the smallest liaison plane to the largest cargo transports. Sadly, many of these artworks were lost when thousands of the bombers and fighters were scrapped at the end of the war.  Luckily some panels were saved by some savvy-eyed scrappers and now hang in a gallery at the American Airpower Heritage Museum of the Commemorative Air Force in Midland, TX.

This awesome piece of pin-up girl perfection in front of a Chance-Vought F4U Corsair U.S. Navy fighter was created by artist Frank LaNatra of Eternal Ink Custom Tattoo Studio in Davie, FL.

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We’ve featured lots of North American P-51 Mustangs on Tattoos In Flight over the past year (see our P-51 archive) and it remains one of the most popular aviation tattoo subjects out there today.  There’s not much I can add to the history and background of the P-51 that I haven’t said before, but I’d like to take a moment to use this specific tattoo in a comparison.

Pilot’s spend hours and hours of time… sometimes at great personal sacrifice… to perfect their skills and become better pilots.  Before they are allowed to sit in an airliner and fly passengers or sit in a multi-million dollar jet and fight a war, they have endured years of training and flying… “paying their dues” per se.  Once professional pilots, they need to keep learning, keep training, keep their minds open for the new technologies that make their job easier and safer.  They are confronted with changing weather, delays, new flight schedules — a constantly dynamic environment — and have to adapt to remain successful in their career.  Despite all this, pilots remain extremely passionate about what they do and in many cases would rather be in the air than any other place in the world.

Tattoo artists are, in many cases, the same way.  They struggle for years building up a portfolio of artwork before they are given a shot at an apprenticeship.  Once in that spot, they work hard hours, do the dirty work, and “pay their dues” before even picking up a machine and tattooing a client for the first time.  Even then, every tattoo is a learning experience… and away from the tattoo machine, the artist is constantly pushing their envelope with new styles, new techniques, and new art mediums that they can fold into their own unique tattoo style.  In many cases, artists spend a lot of time “hoofing it” on the road at conventions to get their name out there… and even when success finally comes, they still pour every ounce of energy into their craft.  There’s no where they’d rather be.

This tattoo is a perfect example of that drive to “push the envelope” - artist David Newman-Stump of Skeleton Crew Tattoo in Columbus, IN sent this to us and let us know it was the first aviation tattoo he had done. For a first time tattoo, I know I am pretty impressed with the composition, shading, and placement of the tattoo - overall a beautiful piece, would you agree?

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