Indiana ANG A-10 gets “Blacksnake” paint job in honor of Revolutionary War hero
A-10 Blacksnake
As a military history buff and a former Zoomie, I have a great love for the shark teeth motif commonly found on the A-10 Thunderbolt II. I have found a new favorite though. The above pictured “Blacksnake” theme put on this Warthog is, as the article says, “BRRRT-iful.” The Air National Guard unit this particular bird flies with is from Fort Wayne, Indiana. The unit lays claim to the legacy of Revolutionary War hero Major General Anthony “Mad Anthony” Wayne, the namesake of the fort and eventual city of Fort Wayne. Wayne’s tactics of waiting for the perfect moment to strike reminded his soldiers of the Black Snake, which became another of his nicknames.
Read all about it here at Task and Purpose.
A close second for awesome paint jobs on the A-10 is the D-Day-style invasion stripes. Here’s a pic of a Thunderbolt II with a P-47 Thunderbolt, body wearing the invasion livery. I guess one good thing about being the ugly duckling of the Air Force is nobody cares much about how you paint them.
Thunderbolts in invasion stripes
Category: Air Force, Air National Guard
Unable to choose, both pictured examples are drop-dead-gorgeous…
Thank you for posting this, Mason.
I like the Blacksnake version! It has that civilian motif, of slick and understated!
My dads B-17G had a rabid Wolf drooling bombs from it’s jaws.
Kudos to Indiana ANG..Everyone loves a good nose job.
I LOVE the sound of *BRRRRRRRRT!* in the morning, it’s the Song of Freedom.
Testify Bro! My all time fave Aerial Artillery Platform. Can hang around all week and bring the dam dam down in the blink of an eye.
FTWIW dprt, there was a city in the Great State of Georgia named in Honor of the “Mad” Gnrl, long before there was one in what became the state of IN. And not only to George Washington visit/sleep there, so did Lafayette. So, nanny, nanny boo boo, ya Hoosiers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waynesboro,_Georgia
PeTA says they are against any depictions of animal skin on anything associated with the military.
Quote:
“Animals should be treated with respect and not be the subject of military or civilian aggressiveness that encourages people to kill them.
We condemn the animal appropriation being used and call upon the military to stop its use.”
source: https://youtu.be/x31tDT-4fQw
We are treating those animals with respect.
It is the idiots of PETA who get our earned contempt.
Oh dear.
😉
If they didn’t gas four out of five animals that come into their own shelter, I would find it easier to take them seriously.
Oh dear oh dear.
😉
PETA – People Eating Tasty Animals
Leftists screaming that “black snake” is racist in 3… 2… 1…
blacksnakes matter!
As far as aircraft paint jobs go my favorite is still the legendary “shark mouth” from the old Flying Tigers. When I was at Bragg in the mid 1990’s the composite squadron at Pope AFB (now Pope AAF) apparently traced its lineage to the Flying Tigers and thus were (so I heard) the only USAF squadron allowed to paint the Shark Face on their planes. That included not only the F-16’s but also the C-130’s in the squadron.
I always thought there was something incredibly cool about jumping out of a C-130 with the Scary Shark Face painted on the nose!
I love it when the USAF does “Retro” schemes on the aircraft. Saw a few while I was in, but it seems they do it more often now.
As an Air Force Brat, I saw USAF F-4s in SEA scheme, Wrap around, Lizard scheme, European scheme, Air-Superiority grey/gray. Some with teeth painted on them.
Nice.
Very nice. I still wish pinup nose art would make a comeback, though, for the shrieking of the woke nazis as well as the aesthetics.
Recently read about Mad Anthony’s attack on Michigan. 4 days w/o food and water and the hand full of troops were supplied by the locals just prior to their counter attack. Wish my brain still worked. Can barely remember the highlights. Was interesting at the time though. like 2 -3 wks ago.
Y’all know why the Allies went to the black-and-white “invasion stripes” right?
It wasn’t because it looked pretty. 😉
They were just tired of Allied planes getting shot at (and shot down) by allied troops and ships.
It happened in Sicily not once but TWICE!
“Blackadder” ?