There’s a lot of traditional flash art that’s out there featuring military or Naval themes… but so few designs feature anything aviation-related. When we saw this great old-school-style tattoo featuring the North American B-25 Mitchell on the web, we had to feature it here!

The B-25 Mitchell is named after General Billy Mitchell - a man who many consider the father of the U.S. Air Force.  Appointed as deputy director of the fledgling Air Service division of the U.S. Army after World War I, Mitchell was a crusader for an increased investment in air power by the United States military. He even proved the value of aircraft in battle with several aircraft versus naval vessel tests that resulted in aircraft showing a clear advantage.

Mitchell had a tumultuous career in the military as he was considered something of a firebrand in the eyes of his superiors for his frequent arguments and criticisms of their leadership. He was demoted to Colonel in 1925 and later that year was court marshaled for insubordination after accusing Army and Navy leaders of an “almost treasonable administration of the national defense.”

Though he resigned from military service shortly afterward and was only honored with a posthumous commission to Major General by the President after he passed away, Mitchell was immortalized in 1940 when the North American B-25 medium bomber was named after him.

This tattoo tribute to the man and the machine named “Mitchell” was conceived by it’s wearer in honor of his grandfather who served in the USAAF in World War II, his childhood love of WWII history, and his first home on his own at the age of 19 — in Milwaukee, WI, home of General Mitchell and where a B-25 stands guard at the airport in the city that bears his name.

His other tattoo work is primarily traditional-style work inspired by the work of traditional tattoo master Bob Shaw (1926-1993).  Our wearer participates as a World War II re-enactor at local events and airshows… so the style fits perfectly.

The tattoo was created by tattoo artist and friend Matt Wes who is currently tattooing at Family Tattoo in Chicago, IL.  The photo below show’s the tattoo six years after it was done… and is as vibrant and clear as the day it was done.

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

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One of the challenges of tattooing aircraft is the fact that airplanes are composed of straight lines and the human body is inherently curved. On top of that, when taking a photo of the completed piece, it’s hard to capture the tattoo in two dimensions when it exists in three dimensions.

With those challenges in mind, this tattoo of a Royal Air Force North American B-25D Mitchell done in black and gray shows some amazing attention to detail. It was expertly executed by Mark Lazio of Ground Zero Tattoo in Riverside, CA.

Click on the link below or the image above to see a larger version.

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Artist Phillip Spearman of Inkworks Tattoo in Artesia, CA completed this detailed North American B-25J Mitchell tattoo recently on a client. The difficult location of the tattoo, on the arm, makes the straight lines of the bomber hard to photograph, so excuse the bent lines… but otherwise the detail is great!

Please click the link below for a larger shot of the tattoo.

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