I am a pilot, and I am tattooed.

That statement itself is a bit of a paradox in the mind of many people in aviation out there… both recreationally and professionally.  By nature, the hobby and career attracts conservatively-minded people who may never consider tattoos as a form of expression and as a result, the chance of seeing a tattooed pilot is fairly rare.  For those of us who are, we frequently are concerned with displaying them in some form around others because of the traditional negative stereotype attached to them.

I am an active pilot and work as a professional in the aviation industry. I have many friends and colleagues who are as conservative as you can get, though I have been pleasantly surprised on how open minded some of them have been.  Still, I rarely speak about my tattoos unless asked and it’s even rarer to see them displayed… and I will never show them in a professional setting in any form.  To me, they are very personal expressions of my innermost passion for that which drives my eyes skyward. The passion for flight.

So as a result, my ongoing tattoo project exclusively uses aviation and flight as the theme.  Eventually most of my "private" body will be illustrated in that form… certainly after many years of progressive work over many hours.

Take a look at my tattoos thus far and the story behind them by clicking here…

In the meantime, you may have some questions about me and the site… well, here are some of the more popular ones… so read on!

But what do you think you’ll look like when you’re eighty?

That’s the most tiresome question that tattooed people get… and it’s about as silly as it is annoying.  For those of us who have made a commitment in getting heavily tattooed, we have thought quite a bit about the long-term picture.  I know that I, myself, thought about it for a solid seven years before taking the first step in 2002 with my first session.  I researched artists, I debated designs and when the needle touched skin, I had no doubts in my mind that it was a sound choice.  To me, I’ll be as proud of my tattoos at the age of eighty as I was when I started at the age of 24.

Certainly there are people with tattoos that regret their choices… and as a result, the tattoo removal industry has done very well.  I believe there are SOME people who do it out of youthful indiscretion, drunken euphoria, or relentless peer pressure… and those are the people who risk regret when looking at their ink.  I was out of college, sober as a dairy cow, and not in the presence of friends at most of my tattoo appointments and there are many committed enthusiasts like me who have the same story. To us, they are not the rebellious choice… they are part of us as much as our eyelashes and fingernails are.  Without them, we would feel weird.

Those of us who are heavily tattooed also traditionally have more than just a passing interest in the art.  I have been interested in it since I was VERY young… in fact I remember taking my moms eyebrow pencils and drawing on myself when I was eight years old. As I grew up, I learned about the history of the art in parallel with learning about the history of aviation.  As I became a teenager and the Internet came to be, I suddenly found it as an amazing resource to learn even more… and as a result, I became a huge fan of the new generation of artists that started changing the face of tattooing in the late 1990’s.  So, needless to say, my choice to be tattooed wasn’t poorly planned… it was decades in the making.

Why did you create a website for aviation tattoos? Isn’t that too much of a niche?

You know, when I created this site back in June of 2008, I wasn’t sure how many people would honestly be interested in aviation tattoos… and I worried even more about if I would find enough source material to keep it going.  In the year since, I have been impressed and very surprised to find that not only are there A LOT of aviation tattoos out there by some amazing artists, but that people are also VERY interested in the theme!  For tattooed and non-tattooed people, it’s become an entertaining site to look through.  In fact, quite a few people have emailed me to say that the site actually helped change their minds a bit about tattooing.  It may not prompt a person to go out and get a tattoo, but at least if people can use it to clear the negative stereotype out of their minds, then I consider it to be a success.

Additionally, I hope that tattoo enthusiasts who visit the site may learn a bit more about the aviation subjects to the tattoos featured here… and perhaps they may have the inspiration to take to the skies and experience the freedom of flight.

The site has become the way I can take my two, formerly exclusive interests in aviation and tattooing and allow them to intersect.  It was like finding a missing puzzle piece in my life.

But the biggest reason why I did this was to create a resource to enable other people like me who are researching artists and aviation imagery to make the right choices in tattoo designs and in finding the right artist and studio for their project.  I know how hard it was for me to find aviation tattoo material for years, and I hope this makes it easier for everyone else!  I’ve even cataloged all the gallery posts by geographic region so people can find the right artist closest to them.

As a result, as of September 2009, over 130,740 unique visitors have stopped by Tattoos In Flight and we are averaging over 1000 unique visitors per day and had over 16,000 visitors last month!  I guess the niche is a lot bigger than I expected!

But aren’t you afraid of hurting aviation careers? Aren’t tattoos taboo in aviation?

It’s true that aviation is deeply conservative requires the utmost professional appearance and behavior, and because of this, I know that highly visible tattoos will probably never be allowed for career aviation professionals in any form.  I am perfectly fine with that fact and will not advocate or encourage anything contrary to that.  There are certain careers that this fact will hold true for… and just about any white collar career traditionally abides by the “no highly visible tattoos” guideline.  Though I have many friends that are tattooed professionals, they keep them fully covered when working and in many cases while in casual work-related circumstances as well.

Yes, this means long sleeved shirts in the summer and no sleeveless or strapped dresses for some… but being tattooed is worth the minor discomfort or inconvenience for those who are. Luckily, professionals in aviation rarely ever find themselves in anything very revealing. So as long as people think before they ink, being tattooed shouldn’t impact their career.

There’s an ongoing argument whether having ANY tattoos will keep you away from getting hired by an airline… including those that may be covered.  I have yet to see any actual evidence of this that goes beyond the ‘old wives tales’ that seem to be perpetuated by rumors on Internet forums.  As I said, highly visible tattoos that would show outside the confines of your professional attire or uniform are certainly a no-no, but those “under” should never be a problem.

Some use the story that company (airline) physicians report tattoos, even hidden ones, to recruiters and HR and I seriously doubt this… and again, I have yet to see or even hear clear evidence of it.   Others say the FAA AME (Aviation Medical Examiner) reports these to airlines in First Class Medical certificates and again, I have never seen proof of this or anything that is not part of the standard exam reported or even noted on paper at all.  Of course, I could be wrong and welcome anyone to send me info to prove me wrong… and if it pans out, I’ll post it here.

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Thank you for visiting Tattoos In Flight and I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy putting it together!

If you have any questions, comments or concerns… please feel free to email me at tattoosinflight@gmail.com – I’m always interested in hearing from you!

Blue skies,

Ryan K. – Editor
TattoosInFlight.com

tattoosinflight@gmail.com 

Acknowledgements

My thanks goes out to the following people who have been a great support in building and promoting Tattoos In Flight since we started this in 2008:

• To my patient and loving wife, thank you for allowing me to huddle over my laptop and write and research while we relax at the end of the workday.  I love ya hun!
• To Marisa Kakoulas, Editor of NeedlesandSins.com and fellow tattooed professional for her awesome support and promotion from the very start! 
• To David Kimelberg, Author of the book, Inked Inc on tattooed professionals, for inspiration that gave me the motivation to start Tattoos In Flight.
• My friend Scott for his continual support and enthusiasm for the project, despite the fact that it’s meant that I couldn’t work as much on his projects!
• And thank you to the artists and tattooed enthusiasts who have sent me tons of material and have promoted the site to make it as popular as it is today.  Their fantastic tattoos have been an honor to feature here!