<here@glorious-somerset.uk> wrote:
>On 26/11/2014 13:32, John Szalay wrote:
>> Mitchell Holman <noemail@att.net> wrote in
>>>
>>> At least it doesn't have that overused
>>> shark mouth thing.......
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> One of the engineers I worked with for years was a P-40 & P-51
>> pilot with Chennault's air force in China, and he used to say the same
>> thing. It bothered him when everyone else used the shark motif without
>> asking permission from the veterans.
>>
>
>Agreed.
>
>P-40s first saw combat with the British Commonwealth squadrons of the
>Desert Air Force in the Middle East and North African campaigns, during
>June 1941. No.112 Squadron Royal Air Force, was among the first to
>operate Tomahawks in North Africa and the unit was the first Allied
>military aviation unit to feature the "shark mouth" logo, copying
>similar markings on some Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 110 twin-engine
>
>Inspired by 112 Squadron's usage of them in North Africa, and by the
>Luftwaffe's earlier use of it, both via Allied wartime newspaper and
>magazine article images, the "shark mouth" logo on the sides of the
>P-40's nose was most famously used on those of the Flying Tigers in China.
>
Pretty sure I've seen a photo of a WWI aircraft painted with a
sharkmouth.
Warriors using paint and masks to enhance their warriorness dates back
at least a few (thousnad) years before that.
I want to see a great white shark with a P-40 painted on its nose...
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