Sometimes the best tattoos are the simplest, just take a look at the old school designs popular in the earlier days of Western tattooing.  Thick lines, bold contrast and simple designs… the building blocks of good tattoos.

Some may think airplane designs are the same way, simple equals better. Well… in some ways.  For the sake of pure whimsy, early biplanes can’t be beat.  Tough as nails, simple construction and more fun than should be legally allowed.

And that’s what this tattoo represents — the simple, fun biplane done in the simple and fun old school style. It was created by Virginia Elwood currently tattooing at NY Adorned in New York City, NY.

For a larger photo, click on the link below or the image above.

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Today we’re glad to feature one of the worlds most adored and beloved airplanes — the Douglas DC-3.  Also known as the C-47 Skytrain and the “Gooney Bird”, the rugged DC-3 was one of the first successful passenger airliners as well as a popular transport and paratroop aircraft during World War II.  This particular tattoo shows a DC-3 as a C-47 with a bit of WWII-vintage nose art adorning the ample forward fuselage.

The colorful tattoo along with the propeller and wings was created by artist Shawn Willmorth at The Hive Tattoo & Piercing in Moses Lake, WA.

See a larger shot of the tattoo by clicking on the link below or the image above.

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The aircraft designs of the 1930’s are considered to be some of the most classic and attractive aircraft ever produced in the 100 years of powered flight. Manufacturers and models like Waco, Boeing, Travel Air, and Fairchild provided the basis for the American sport flying community.  Pictured here is a unique tattoo featuring a Fairchild 22 C7B parasol-wing sport plane.  First flown in 1931, the 22 was a two-person sportplane powered, in the C7B version, by a 125 hp Menasco C-4 inline engine.

This highly detailed and fantastic tattoo was created by Jeffery Tarinelli at Oddball Studios in Portland, OR.  Oddball Studios has quite a few aviation tattoos in their portfolio, so we’ll be seeing more from them over the coming weeks!

Click on the link below or the image above for a larger version of the photo.

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Flying in from Rochester, NY, this Boeing 727 tattoo was sent to us by an airline fan who took his love for the famous three-engine airliner and made a permanent tribute to it on his skin. He said he always loved the three tone livery of United Airlines and chose that as the color scheme for his tattoo.

The tattoo was done by artist Kevin at Flesh for Fantasy Tattoo in Rochester, NY.

For a larger image, please click on the link below or the image above. 

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Certainly a unique tattoo flying at us today!  Pictured here is a colorful half sleeve highlighting the job of the crop duster — one of the riskier flying jobs out there, but a necessity in agriculture. The particular aircraft featured here is an Air Tractor AT-400.  The tattoo is presumably in honor of a loved one who was a crop dusting pilot.

The tattoo comes our way from Manakin Tattoo Studio, Pismo Beach, CA.

For a larger image, please click on the link below or the image above.

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Harley Davidson riders get tattoos of the company logo all the time, so how strange is it REALLY for a pilot to get the logo of his favorite airplane manufacturer tattooed on his body?

Aero-TV.net asks the question… and finds just such a person!

Make sure to check out Aero-TV.net for great aviation features… and Mooney for some great planes.

In the three months that Tattoos In Flight has been in operation, today’s feature is the first time a General Aviation airplane has appeared.  Illustrated here is a Piper PA-28R Arrow flying above the clouds. We checked the N-Number to see if the owner had his plane tattooed on him, but the registration shown here is for an Embraer 145 Regional Jet.  But still, artist Jim Judeikis of Saints and Sinners Tattoos of Baltimore, MD still did a great job with the tattoo.

For a more detailed shot, please click the link below or the photo above.

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Taking a break from the warbirds and military planes, here is a classic Waco biplane tattoo playfully tattooed in with some swirling clouds.  Artist Jessie Hopeless of Exile Tattoo in Kansas City, MO is responsible for the fun execution of this colorful tattoo.

Click on the link below to see a larger version of the tattoo.

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We received a great original tattoo design from a fan last week that we just had post here! The tattoo is a tribute to his favorite aircraft, the Boeing 747-400, and the city that Boeing built — Seattle, WA.  He combined the outline of the 747 with the familiar Seattle landmark, the Space Needle.  If you look closely, you’ll see the Boeing logo in the tribal fill work too!

The tattoo was executed by Thomas Wade of Fenix Tattoo in Seattle, WA.

The wearer works in aviation, so he keeps the tattoo covered at work, but is working on other aviation-related tattoo work — so stay tuned!

For a larger image, please click on the link below to jump to the larger view.

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This fantastic black and gray tattoo of Amelia Earhart and her Lockheed 10A Electra was sent to us this week by the wearer, a licensed pilot in Washington who chose the powerful design after searching for artwork to use in an aviation-themed piece. The tattoo was done by artist Collin Delgado of Baraka Naga Art Company in Seattle, WA. The tattoo took ten hours over three sessions to complete.

To see a larger version of the tattoo, please click on the link below to open the full story.

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