I will admit that when I first saw this tattoo, I thought the aircraft pictured was a North American AT-6 Texan… one of the more common trainers of WWII vintage.  However, as I reviewed it this past week as I was preparing posts, I realized it was far more rare than an AT-6… this tattoo features the obscure Curtiss-Wright CW-22 Falcon.  Certainly one of the more unique aircraft we have featured here.

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There is a reason why few people know of the CW-22 – only around 600 were built from 1940 onward, originating from Curtiss-Wright’s St. Louis factory.  Originally designed from the single-seat CW-21, the –22 was a two seat, light sport or training aircraft that found it’s way into becoming a combat trainer and light attack airplane.

The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force was the main customer of the CW-22 as 36 were exported to support their defense of the East Indies.  However, due to Japanese advancement, the exported CW-22’s were delivered to the Dutch in Australia. The CW-22B was later delivered to Turkish forces and some replaced original –22’s with the Netherlands and some even made their way to South America flying with Peru, Bolivia and Uruguay.

The US Navy bought 455 unarmed aircraft and designated them the SNC-1 Falcon and operated them as trainer aircraft.  One SNC-1 hangs in the hall of the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL… one of four still in existence.

This colorful tattoo of the CW-22 was created by tattoo artist Brian Mcdermott at Electra Art Tattoo in Corpus Christi, TX.

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In commemoration of the annual, World famous Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, which is happening right now in Albuquerque, NM, we are delighted to present this colorful rib tattoo featuring two hot air balloons. Propelled only by gossamer breezes and lifted by hot air contained within the colorful envelope, hot air ballooning remains one of the most serene forms of aviation today.

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What makes the Albuquerque Int’l Balloon Fiesta special is the unique Autumn weather patterns that the region enjoys.  The “Albuquerque Box” where the cool morning temperatures in October promote Southerly low level winds and Northerly higher level winds – thereby allowing balloon pilots to fly in a vertical box pattern that will optimally bring them back near the launch site for landing.  This convenient meteorological phenomena eliminates the need for crews to travel far from the launch site for recovery.

The Fiesta traces it’s roots back to 1972 when KOB, the local radio station, approached Sid Cutter, an owner of Cutter Flying Service (now Cutter Aviation) and the first person in New Mexico to own a hot air balloon, to fly his balloon “Roadrunner” as part of the station’s 50th anniversary festivities.  As the discussion continued, it was decided to expand it in an attempt to break the record for the largest gathering up until then… a 19 balloon gathering in England.

The original event in 1972 drew 13 balloons from around the United States, but the event grew rapidly after that point. Balloon attendance reached it’s peak of 1,013 balloons in 2000, but a cap of 750 entrants was established after that as a way to promote “quality over quantity.”

In addition to the nine-day event being the World’s largest gathering of hot air balloons, it is also widely considered to be the World’s most photographed event… with the sight of hundreds of colorful balloons in the air to be one of the most breathtaking sights in aviation.

This beautiful tattoo on the ribs of a fit female balloon enthusiast was created by tattoo artist Ant Iannucci of Ascension Tattoo in Orlando, FL.

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When people think of the classic aerobatic plane, many think first of the Pitts Special. And for good reason too… originally conceived in the mid-40’s, the timeless design of the Pitts has survived for over six decades. As an icon of aerobatic and sport aviation, the Pitts S-2B seen here is a fitting subject for a permanent honor as a tattoo.

The design of the Pitts Special was first created by Curtis Pitts in 1943-1944 and the original homebuilt prototype flew in 1944.  Though the General Aviation community all but halted during WWII, Pitts still was able to envision a lightweight, agile, and strong aerobatic biplane that would rival the maneuverability of the powerful monoplane fighters of the era. 

Pitts manufactured a limited number of single seat S-1 aircraft in the late 40’s and 50’s, including one bought and popularized by legendary aerobatic performer Betty Skelton as the “Lil’ Stinker” in her act.  Despite the direct production by Pitts, many more were built as homebuilts during this era from hand-drawn plans Curtis Pitts had released.  In 1962 Pitts produced far more detailed and professional plans and then its homebuilt production of S-1 variants skyrocketed. 

After several years of design, the two-seat Pitts S-2 named “Big Stinker” flew in 1967.  It’s production type certificate was gained in 1971 and factory-built S-2 aircraft (and later joined in 1973 by the 1-seat S-1S) were produced in Afton, WY by Aerotek. The 1971 US National Aerobatic Team won the world championships by flying Pitts aircraft exclusively.

Today the Pitts remains extremely popular in the sport aviation market in production as the S-2C from Aviat Aircraft in Afton, WY.  Homebuilt plans for the S1-S are sold through Aviat and S1-C, S1-SS, and the new radial-engined Model 14 plans and kits are supplied by Steen Aero Lab in Palm Bay, FL.  Jim Kimball Enterprises in Zellwood, FL also produces kits and custom-builds of the radial-engined Pitts Model 12.

Noted aviation author and editor of Flight Journal magazine, Budd Davisson is a big fan of the Pitts and has owned and instructed in the type for over 37 years… and still does so as Plus 5 Aviation in Scottsdale, AZ.

Betty Skelton’s “Lil’ Stinker” Pitts S1-C built by Curtis Pitts now hangs on public display in the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum located at Dulles International Airport.

This colorful upper chest tattoo was created by Rob Figueroa of Refined Tattoos (MySpace site) in Palm Bay, FL – the home of Pitts kit distributor Steen Aero Lab… leaves one to wonder if the wearer works for them!

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It’s the end of the summer and for many pilots in the Midwest and Northeast, it’s also nearing the end of lazy-day summer fun flying as winter approaches.  In tribute to fair weather flying fun, we present this tattoo of the classic Piper J-3 Cub… the timeless traditional taildragger.

The Piper J-3 Cub, produced by Piper Aircraft of Lock Haven, PA, was built from 1938 to 1947.  Over 19,073 aircraft were built during that time and the simple little two-seat taildragger, powered by an equally simple Continental 65 hp engine, was popular for flight training.  In fact, during WWII, the Piper Cub was heavily used by the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) which provided training that screened pilot candidates who then entered the air services of the time in the either the Army or Navy. The military also used the Cub as a liaison aircraft as the L-4.

After the war, the popular Cub was an inexpensive and simple airplane to keep the growing General Aviation community in the skies.  The basic design was translated into several other Piper postwar products, namely the PA-11 Cub Special (90 hp), PA-18 Super Cub (150 hp) and those aircraft kept the basic design of the Cub for many more years. 

Though the Cub and it’s derivatives are no longer produced by Piper, the J-3 design is produced in modern form by two companies… Cub Crafters in Washington and American Legend Aircraft in Texas.

This tattoo was sent to us by one of our readers who has a 1946 J-3 Cub as part of his family.  The tattoo features their Cub as the centerpiece with the names of their children, Piper and Ryan, accenting it.  Both kids were named after the classic aircraft companies Piper Aircraft and Ryan Aeronautical… a family certainly in love with aviation!

The artist of this colorful Cub tattoo is Jason Eggert who tattoos at Island Tattoo in Salco, NC.

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To feed the growing baby boom that followed World War II, farmers used new advances in pesticides and fertilizers to decrease crop failure from insects and increase yields.  Along with new chemicals, a more effective and efficient delivery method was needed, thus the birth of the aerial application industry, or better known as “crop dusting”.  In honor of that unique niche of the industry, we present this tattoo featuring the Ayres S2R-T Thrush agricultural sprayer.

After the WWII, many training aircraft like the PT-17 Stearman and the BT-13 Valiant were made available as war surplus and could be purchased for next-to-nothing by farmers.  Haphazard modifications to accommodate chemical tanks, hoppers, spray bars and aerodynamic changes to allow the plane to fly slower and more precisely were common using these re-purposed planes.  As the ag spray industry grew and the dangers of the low-altitude flight operations became apparent, companies began building aircraft exclusively designed for crop spraying.  Mainstream manufacturers joined in with their own aircraft: Piper Aircraft created the PA-25 Pawnee, Cessna designed the C-188 AgTruck, and Grumman joined in with the G-164 Ag Cat biplane.  All of these new aircraft featured high-lift wings, powerful engines for climb power, and heavily reinforced fuselages and a roll cage for the cockpit to protect the pilot in case of a low altitude crash.  The latter modification was important as crop dusting was one of the most dangerous flying jobs out there… power line and tree collisions were common.

Another aircraft emerged at the time from a designer by the name of Leland Snow.  His aircraft, the S-2 Thrush, was produced by his company, Snow Aeronautical, after its first flight in 1956.  In 1965 the company and aircraft was purchased by the Aero Commander division of Rockwell and it was produced as the Thrush Commander.  Then in 1977, Rockwell sold the brand along with the factory in Albany, GA to Ayres Corporation which had been retrofitting the original radial engine on Thrush Commanders with turboprop engines. They produced the aircraft as a turboprop until 2003 when the design was again sold to Thrush Aircraft, who currently produce the aircraft.

This colorful tattoo of the curious choice of an Ayres S2R-T Thrush as a subject with the inscription under it translated from Portuguese as “Trust in God” was created by artist Mauricio Huber of Dermografite located in the coastal city of Balneário Camboriú in Santa Catarina, Brazil.

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Marking a first for Tattoos In Flight, we present to you today our first skydiving tattoo!  While some in aviation may ask “Why jump out of a perfectly good aircraft?” we certainly know many aviators choose the adrenaline rush of freefall by choice.

Are pilots naturally drawn to these psychokinetic thrills? AOPA Pilot Editor-at-Large Thomas A. Horne even poses this question in his recent blog post…

And what of the adrenaline rush you get when getting at tattoo?  Is that a natural draw of the thrill seeking pilot, biker, or skydiver?

Either way, here’s a tribute to the skydive as executed in black and gray by artist Shawn Willmorth at The Hive Tattoo & Piercing in Moses Lake, WA.

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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.

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Finally!  I found a tattoo of my favorite plane — the Boeing Stearman PT-17 Kaydet.  The “Stearman” was usually the first plane a cadet got his hands on in flight training during WWII, and it made a great many pilots.  After the war many Stearmans saw service as crop dusters and sport planes and today many Stearmans are still flying as a reasonably priced warbird collectable!

This tattoo was beautifully done by Thomas Graham of Supergenius Tattoo in the Boeing birthplace, Seattle, WA.

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