What more can be said about the North American P-51 Mustang that hasn’t been said here on Tattoos In Flight before?  Though it’s a close call as to whether the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk or the P-51 Mustang holds the title for “Most Tattooed Airplane” here at the site, I still am amazed at how many people choose the Mustang as a permanent tribute to airpower. 

This particular P-51 tattoo — a beautiful color backpiece — was created by tattoo artist Carlos Rubio of Club Tattoo in Mesa, AZ.  The flatness of the upper shoulders and back makes it easier to appreciate the straight lines and edges of the wings of the P-51.

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

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The North American P-51 Mustang is considered by many to be the dominant fighter of World War II.  Despite others being faster, more maneuverable, or having longer range, the P-51 was a good combination of all those traits.  Even after WWII, the P-51 still stayed in front-line service with other air forces and the Air National Guard.  Even now, the airframe of the P-51 is considered to be one of the best for the basis of Unlimited Air Racers like those seen at Reno each year.

This bold black and gray chestpiece tattoo was created by artist Mike Devries of Mike Devries Tattoos in Encino, CA.  Devries is also the artist behind another tattoo seen here on Tattoos In Flight featuring a B-17 — one of our more popular posts!

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Most aviation enthusiasts pride themselves in the fact they can identify an airplane on the ground or in the air by only a few references.  Much like a gearhead identifying a car by the growl of the engine, an airplane nut only needs the profile of a wing, nose, or tail to give a positive I.D.  That’s exactly what happened when I was surfing through the web and came across this tattoo — immediately recognized as the nose of a North American P-51D Mustang.  It’s an interesting tattoo and it leaves me to wonder if the rest of the airplane extends onto the back.

The tattoo was created by artist Riley Baxter of Temple House Tattoo in Hollywood, CA.

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The commitment required for large scale tattoo work is certainly commendable — the amount of time it takes along with the pain and cost over multiple sessions makes the completed piece not only a triumph of art, but also a triumph over various hurdles along the way.  A full sleeve project is one of these large scale projects and is one of the most visible you can get — making it important to get the right artwork from the right artist!

That’s the case in this fantastic sleeve featuring all different sorts of World War II fighter and bomber aircraft.  You can see famous planes like the P-51 Mustang, B-17 Flying Fortress, P-47 Thunderbolt, and SBD Dauntless here.

The awesome sleeve was created by artist Jason Leisge of Oddball Studios in Portland, OR.

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

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Another quick P-51 Mustang tattoo for today — this time a colorful stylized head-on shot on the inner bicep created by John Montgomery of the Tattoo Syndicate in San Bernardino, CA

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A colorful sleeve project for today that needed two photos to properly document. Yet again we can see that the North American P-51 Mustang continues to be one of the most popular aviation tattoo subjects out there. 

This particular tattoo project was created by Mark Lazio of Ground Zero Tattoo in Riverside, CA.

Please click on the link below to see a larger version of the photo and the second photo in the series. 

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