Our featured aviation tattoo on Tattoos In Flight today honors a revolutionary aircraft that never truly had the opportunity to take shape — the Avro CF-105 Arrow high-altitude jet interceptor aircraft designed for the Royal Canadian Air Force by Avro Aircraft Limited in Ontario, Canada in the late 1950′s.  This tattoo by Canadian tattoo artist Derek Dufresne of Fleshworks Tattoo Studio in Victoria, British Columbia pays tribute to the aircraft that many aviation historians felt could have been the pride of the Canadian aerospace industry.

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The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is one of our most featured aircraft on Tattoos In Flight and it’s no mystery why aviation enthusiasts choose the P-40 as the subject of their tattoo. Because of this popularity, it takes a really outstanding tattooed version of the P-40 to catch our attention… and this upper back tattoo is indeed one of the most outstanding examples we have seen!  Created by tattoo artist Phil Garcia at Ink Philler Studios in Port Hueneme, CA, just North of Los Angeles in Ventura County, this P-40 Warhawk tattoo is a clear example of how far tattooing as an artform has come in modern days.  The vibrancy of the piece, the level of detail, and the amazing use of layered and blended colors and negative space to define the tattoo makes this piece stand out for sure.

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It’s no secret that the North American P-51 Mustang is one of the most popular aircraft found in aviation-related tattoos today.  We have featured more than a fair share of the famous fighter here at Tattoos In Flight and have actually created a sub-category just for the P-51 Mustang.  Despite the fact that P-51 tattoos seem to be as “common as chips”, we are still proud to feature spectacular tattoos that take the P-51 “above and beyond” the norm.  Such is the case of our feature today: a fantastic montage of P-51 Mustangs in a colorful leg sleeve (or sock?) created by British tattoo artist Oliver Jerrold of Hope and Glory Tattoo.

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Tattoos In Flight features a unique black and grey rib tattoo of the well-known Boeing 757 airliner with contrails artistically transforming into feathers.  It is a tribute to the freedom afforded by modern commercial aviation, allowing humankind to fly upon feathered wings of our own design.

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.

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For many aviation and aerospace enthusiasts, July 2011 will always be remembered as a bittersweet month in the history of Space Exploration.  After a thirty year operational life, the iconic Space Shuttle program ended on July 21, 2011 as mission STS-135 concluded and the Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis successfully landed at Kennedy Space Center and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) officially retired the program.  Our featured tattoo on Tattoos In Flight today of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery at launch with its two powerful Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) and External Tank attached, is posted in honor of the men and women who built, maintained, crewed and even gave their life for America’s Shuttle program.

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Our aviation tattoo for today on Tattoos In Flight features two of the most famous foes of the air war over Europe in World War II — the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber that was made famous for its use in the daylight strategic bombing campaigns and its aggressor the famous fighter of the German Luftwaffe, the Messerschmitt Bf-109.  Brazilian tattoo artist Marcelo Marzari created the colorful upper arm half sleeve tattoo.

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Hello Tattoos In Flight fans!  I know we haven’t updated to the new site look yet – unfortunately the new design was presenting some problems and we are still trying to resolve those issues.  In the meanwhile, we’d like to post this fantastic full sleeve tattoo of World War II vintage U.S. Naval Aviation aircraft by the ultra-talented tattoo artist Matt Geiogamah from Mesa, AZ in commemoration of the Centennial of Naval Aviation… a year-long celebration being seen at airshows across America!  Click on the image or this link to read the rest and to see a larger image.

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Even though the end of the Vietnam War was nearly four decades ago, when many people think of the war, one of the first images that comes to mind is that of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter, more commonly known as the “Huey”. Its widespread use throughout the war by every branch of the U.S. military solidified it as a symbol of military service in Vietnam and as a result, many tributes for Vietnam Veterans feature the Huey… including the colorful half sleeve tattoo we feature today.

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