We Are Hot Chicks Wednesday: Our Fathers' Fathers

Yesterday was Veteran's Day here in America. In Canada, they celebrated Remembrance Day. Both Veteran's Day and Remembrance Day exist so that citizens of either fine nation reflect upon members of their respective armed forces brigades. This, in the United States is not to be confused with Memorial Day, wherein Americans remember those killed in battle. The day -- often referred to as Armistice Day in the past -- is tagged, though, on the 11th of November to indicate the end of hostilities from the Great War, which ceased in the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. This, obviously, is an important holiday as the masses of murdered are still, in large part, unrecognized. Casualty estimates from WWI range from 18 to 60 million, which, on the low end, is more than the Vietnam, Korean, and Civil wars combined. Thus, we remember many a father -- or padre in Spanish -- and their fathers, and their fathers' fathers.

These days of remembrance are meant to include veterans from all our wars, and my father's father was a WWII pilot. I've never dug up his name attached to anything, but apparently, as a 19 (ish)-year old, he flew the Strawberry Bitch and did so in missions to Africa, Italy, and was something like the sixth plane in line for the D-Day invasion at Normandy. I haven't verified any of these facts; I know not the order of missions, or if that plane was part of any or all. This is simply what my late father once told me, and I never knew him as a fibber. The plane, however, is pretty famous, and allegedly haunted. It was restored and flown to Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and now rests there in the United States Air Force Museum. The practice of placing pin-up girls on the noses of planes was something that was never sanctioned by the Air Force, but overlooked given that it was something in the way of morale and a reminder of home. The image on Strawberry Bitch was supposedly inspired by a Vargas girl from Esquire magazine, and legend has it that she was initially nude on the plane, but had clothes painted on her for the purposes of display in the museum. Should a third world war ever break out, the House of Georges has some suggestions for plane art.

Aylar Lie



There's something about Aylar Lie that makes me think of nose.



And I knows that an image of her would up the value of any bird.

Cara Wakelin



That outfit, that coffee pour, that porch. Jackpot. Count it.

Jen Arsenault



Miss Arsenault might be better suited for cockpit art.



I have no idea what that means.



Oh wait. Yes I do.

Jessica DiFeo



The blue of Jessica works in so many ways.



From top to bottom,



I'm reminded of the sky, the water, and um, other stuff.

Karlie Montana



I wouldn't put Miss Montana on the nose; a depiction of her should be in the belly.

Kyla Cole



Kyla Cole I'd mount by the props.



Or in the tail.



Hell, I guess I'd mount her anywhere.

Lindsay Strutt



Lindsay Strutt art might look better in the office.



I mean, she does,



so why mess with a good thing.

Marta Gut



Marta Gut? Hangar.

Mary Castro



Mary might be the perfect example of nose art.



She can look good vertically,



horizontally,



or simply spread out across the body.

Nikkala Stott



If I get drafted, I've got dibs on Miss Stott for my vessel.



Typically, there isn't a draft, and I'm likely a decade and-a-half too old for such business, but I'm just sayin'...



...if the time comes, I've got a small fleet of images ready for naked bombers.



These crafts will require no touch-up work either.



They're fully dressed,



and ready for action.



Sort of.

Sophia Rossi



Miss Rossi would be fine for the nose of some other plane that some other guy would fly.

Vanessa Raia



And Vanessa Raia? I'd paint her likeness on a horse if you told me to.



She'd look good on one of those amphibious units.



Or any unit, really.

That's our post-holiday work. Thanks to the pilots of Gorilla Mask and Daily Niner.