I'm again working on my A-10 door art book and I'm taking Goose's suggestion and just getting something done.
I wanted to run something by you guys to see if you have any input on it. In this part I'm talking about true A-10 nose art (you know on the nose) and I'm wondering if I've got my facts right. Please read and giove me any feedback you can.
Following Desert Storm the only time I know of nose art being placed on an A-10 during wartime was during the early stages of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). The “Cajuns” out of the now closed Naval Air Station New Orleans Louisiana painted a few simple nose arts using chalk and enamel paints.
(Is the above correct?)
Above is aircraft 79-0111 during a rotation to OEF in 2002. The last three digits of the aircrafts tail number, which can be found on all A-10s noses, has been modified to represent the famous twin-towers. Windows have been drawn-in and, although hard to see, there is a antenna on top of one of the towers.
There is also a red, white, and blue ribbon and a skeletons head wearing a US Air Force “fatigue” hat. The skeletons head has shown-up in other artwork by the Cajuns and is a symbol of the New Orleans Voodoo religion.
The words read, “Holy of Holy’s, Cajuns from Naw Lin’s. Of course this was a play on a Cajun accent. Under that, written in what appears to be grease pencil, is the phrase, “They’re no Saints.” Another play on words but this time on the fact that New Orleans’s pro football team was/is the New Orleans Saints. I guess the 926th Fighter Wing “Cajuns” didn’t feel they were “Saints”!
(did I get my facts right on the above?)