home Bleak Drawings of woodpeckers on World War II planes. American Air Force Rock Art

Drawings of woodpeckers on World War II planes. American Air Force Rock Art

War is temporary, but music is eternal!

They began decorating airplanes with images almost immediately after combat aviation appeared. It is believed that the first design applied to the fuselage of an aircraft was the image of a sea monster on the bow of a 1913 Italian flying boat.

Later, drawing a picture on an airplane began to be called nose art. Initially, the images on the planes resembled heraldic symbols, similar to those that ancient knights put on their shields. It is worth remembering the rearing stallion (cavallino rampante) of the Italian ace Francesco Baracchi. This coat of arms was later used by Ferrari.

Francesco Baraca poses in front of his plane!

Later, designs on airplanes became more varied. For example, storks were adorned on the fuselages of French aircraft from Escadrille les Cigognes.

Nose art became most popular in the US Air Force during World War II. The initiators of the coloring of the aircraft were often not the pilots, but the maintenance personnel. On the development of nose art in the USA big influence rendered a pin-up. Thus, the image of a naked pin-up star of that era, Betty Grable, was displayed on many military aircraft. In the USSR, of course, such liberties were not allowed, but the designs on Soviet aircraft of that time were also distinguished by their beauty and sophistication.

Drawings began to be applied more often to the fuselage after the Battle of Kursk in 1943, when the initiative passed to the Red Army. Often, next to the image on the plane, asterisks could be seen indicating the number of enemy aircraft shot down (Spanish pilots were the first to do this). On Soviet aircraft, victories could be indicated by stars of several colors. A personal victory was marked with one color, and planes shot down in a group were marked with another.

Many Soviet viewers were able to get acquainted with the drawings on airplanes thanks to the film “Only “old men” go into battle.” On the fuselage of the plane of squadron commander Alexei Titarenko, played by Leonid Bykov, a musical staff was depicted. The image of the notes is no coincidence. Such a drawing, for example, was on the plane of the Soviet attack pilot Vasily Emelianenko, who had a musical education.

Vasily Emelianenko's plane

The maestro himself!

Kostylev's La-5 aircraft on display at the Leningrad Defense Museum.

Captain Alexander Lobanov (left) and Major Alexander Pavlov next to the La-5FN, April 10, 1945

Lieutenant Zabiyaka G.I. against the backdrop of the registered Pe-2 205 series. The inscription “Bully” is white, the lightning is yellow

Lieutenant Gennady Tsokolaev. On board - the "Guard" emblem

Captain Alexander Nikolaevich Kilaberidze of the 65th GIAP in the cockpit of the Yak-9, Belarus, June 1944

“Lionheart”, LaGG-3 Lieutenant Yuri Shchipov, 9th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force.

Squadron commander of the 566th ShAP Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Mykhlik

The Il-2 "Avenger" was built at the expense of the chairman of the collective farm Grigor Tevosyan,

whose two brothers died in the war. Nelson Stepanyan flew on the plane.

Georgy Baevsky (right) and mechanic Sobakin against the backdrop of the Yak-9U. 5 GvIAP. Sprötau airfield, Germany. April 1945

On the tail of LAGG-3 Leonid Galchenko, instead of a red star, a black cat is depicted playing with a mouse.

1942 The cat was originally white

Malyutina Elena Mironovna and her swallow

Commander of the 180th Guards Fighter Stalingrad Red Banner Aviation Regiment

Major General Georgy Zakharov in the cockpit of the Yak-3. By plane - St. George the Victorious,

piercing a snake with the head of Goebbels. Spring 1945

Pilot of the 958th Assault Aviation Regiment, Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Meilus .

Airacobra Vyacheslav Sirotin

Nikolai Proshenkov and his Airacobra

The Yak-9B aircraft of the commander of the 168th IAP, Lieutenant Colonel Grigory Kogrushev.

Captain Alexey Zakalyuk, 104th GvIAP

Alexey Alelyukhin's plane

Captain Georgy Urvachev (left)

Fighter pilot Vladimir Dmitriev

Aircraft of Senior Lieutenant Vasily Aleksukhin

Fedor Dobysh and Alexander Pomazunov against the backdrop of Pe-2 with a crocodile

Abrek Barsht's plane

Nikolai Didenko's plane

Airplane of Vladimir Pokrovsky

The commander of the Cherbourg squadron of the Normandy regiment Marcel Lefevre and his Soviet comrades (technician-lieutenant Tarasov and senior sergeant Kolupaev) at the Yak-9 fighter No. 14

They began decorating airplanes with images almost immediately after combat aviation appeared. The founders of this type of painting were Italian and German pilots. It is believed that the first design applied to the fuselage of an aircraft was the image of a sea monster on the bow of a 1913 Italian flying boat. Later, drawing a picture on an airplane began to be called nose art.
Initially, the images on the planes resembled heraldic symbols, similar to those that ancient knights put on their shields. It is worth remembering the rearing stallion (cavallino rampante) of the Italian ace Francesco Baracchi. This coat of arms was later used by Ferrari.

Later, designs on airplanes became more varied. For example, storks were adorned on the fuselages of French aircraft from Escadrille les Cigognes. Nose art became most popular in the US Air Force during World War II. The initiators of the coloring of the aircraft were often not the pilots, but the maintenance personnel. The development of nose art in the USA was greatly influenced by pin-ups. Thus, the image of a naked pin-up star of that era, Betty Grable, was displayed on many military aircraft. In the USSR, of course, such liberties were not allowed, but the designs on Soviet aircraft of that time were also distinguished by their beauty and sophistication. Many Soviet viewers were able to get acquainted with the drawings on airplanes thanks to the film “Only “old men” go into battle.” On the fuselage of the plane of squadron commander Alexei Titarenko, played by Leonid Bykov, a musical staff was depicted. The image of the notes is no coincidence. Such a drawing, for example, was on the plane of the Soviet attack pilot Vasily Emelianenko, who had a musical education. Here we also remember the plane that Utesov’s ensemble gave to Soviet pilots during the war. Cases when airplanes were built at the expense of citizens were not uncommon. Such fighters usually had an inscription indicating whose money the machine was created with. Sometimes there was a small image next to the inscription.

Photo: Kostylev’s La-5 aircraft on display at the Leningrad Defense Museum.

Photo: Captain Alexander Lobanov (left) and Major Alexander Pavlov next to the La-5FN, April 10, 1945

Photo: Lieutenant Zabiyaka G.I. against the backdrop of the registered Pe-2 205 series. The inscription “Bully” is white, the lightning is yellow

Photo: Lieutenant Gennady Tsokolaev. On board - the "Guard" emblem

Photo: Captain Alexander Nikolaevich Kilaberidze from the 65th GIAP in the cockpit of the Yak-9, Belarus

Photo: “Lionheart”, LaGG-3 Lieutenant Yuri Shchipov, 9th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Air Force

Photo: Squadron commander of the 566th ShAP Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Mykhlik

Photo: The Il-2 “Avenger” aircraft was built at the expense of the collective farm chairman Grigor Tevosyan, whose two brothers died in the war. Nelson Stepanyan flew on the plane.

Photo: Georgy Baevsky (right) and mechanic Sobakin in front of the Yak-9U. 5 GvIAP. Sprötau airfield, Germany. April 1945

Photo: On the fin of Leonid Galchenko's LAGG-3, instead of a red star, a black cat is depicted playing with a mouse. 1942 The cat was originally white

Photo: Elena Mironovna Malyutina and her swallow

Photo: Flight commander of the 180th Guards Fighter Stalingrad Red Banner Aviation Regiment of the Guard, Senior Lieutenant Viktor Lukoshkov against the background of the La-5FN

Photo: Major General Georgy Zakharov in the cockpit of the Yak-3. On the plane - St. George the Victorious piercing a snake with the head of Goebbels. Spring 1945

Photo: Pilot of the 958th Assault Aviation Regiment, Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Meilus.

Photo: Airacobra Vyacheslav Sirotin

Photo: Eagle by Mikhail Avdeev

Photo: Nikolay Proshenkov and his Airacobra

Photo: Vasily Emelianenko’s plane

Photo: Yak-9B aircraft of the commander of the 168th IAP, Lieutenant Colonel Grigory Kogrushev.

Photo: Captain Alexey Zakalyuk, 104th GvIAP

Photo: Alexey Alelyukhin's plane

Photo: Captain Georgy Urvachev (left)

Photo: Fighter pilot Vladimir Dmitriev

Photo: Aircraft of Senior Lieutenant Vasily Aleksukhin

Photo: Fedor Dobysh and Alexander Pomazunov in front of the Pe-2 with a crocodile

Photo: Airplane of Abrek Barsht

Photo: Nikolai Didenko's plane

Drawing on combat aircraft during the Great Patriotic War it was not welcomed, although they turned a blind eye to it. Drawings began to be applied more often to the fuselage after the Battle of Kursk in 1943, when the initiative passed to the Red Army. Often, next to the image on the plane, asterisks could be seen indicating the number of enemy aircraft shot down (Spanish pilots were the first to do this). On Soviet aircraft, victories could be indicated by stars of several colors. A personal victory was marked with one color, and planes shot down in a group were marked with another.
There were cases when the fuselage was decorated with the image of the “Golden Star” received for a victory. Old traditions have also been preserved: the nose of a fighter sometimes resembled the mouth of a mythical monster. In general, drawings and emblems that frightened the enemy were often applied. For example, a dragon was depicted on Gugridze’s Yak-9 fighter, and Georgy Kostylev’s plane had a toothy mouth.
There were no special rules for applying emblems. Each squadron had its own customs. Some pilots had their own emblem, others had a common one for all. Often the planes were decorated with cards or a specific suit. As a rule, it was an ace. It was usually applied by distinguished pilots. Thus, aces were painted on the La-5 aircraft of Alexander Pavlov, on the LaGG-3 of Yuri Shilov.
Those who managed to shoot down a German plane from the famous squadron placed the emblem of that squadron or other similar symbol pierced by an arrow or entwined with a snake on the fighter. For example, the planes of the squadron of the 9th Guards Regiment, commanded by Alexey Alelyukhin, carried on their sides an emblem with a leopard tearing the heart, invented by pilot Evgeny Dranishchev. This indicated that the pilots had defeated the aces of 9 Staffel JG 52 (the heart under the cockpit was their distinctive sign). Animals were often depicted on Soviet military aircraft. Drawings of birds were also common. Thus, similar images were on the planes of such famous pilots as Mikhail Avdeev, Vladimir Pokrovsky, Vyacheslav Sirotin. Symbolic images, such as arrows and lightning, were especially popular.

There is already a lesson on the site. In this lesson you will be able to draw a military aircraft from World War II step by step. Drawing this military aircraft will not be difficult for you, take a sheet of whatman paper and a simple pencil and you will see it. Even children can do this lesson, try it.

1. How to draw the basic contours of an airplane

First of all, draw a horizontal, barely noticeable line; it will help you more accurately draw the main contours of the fighter. By the way, in those days this (English) plane had beautiful name The Supermarine Spitfire was considered one of the best. And besides, since 1942, Soviet pilots have also flown on it. In total, the Soviet side accepted 143 such vehicles from Great Britain during the war. Draw a line for the wings, tail and draw an oval.

2. Contours of the aircraft body

Start this drawing step with a triangle for the tail, add another one to the oval and draw two connecting lines. Now the drawing has become similar to a military aircraft.

3. Thin the drawing along the previous contours

This drawing step is perhaps the most difficult, since you need to draw the final outline of the nose, cockpit and tail of the aircraft. Take your time, look carefully at my drawing and make the same additions. You need to "lengthen" and "flatten" the oval of the nose, change the shape of the cockpit, round off the sharp edges of the triangle and start drawing the wing.

4. How to draw wings

After you have removed the now unnecessary initial outlines, you can start drawing the wings and the screw mount. This is not a jet plane, I just did not draw the propeller blades because they are not visible during rotation. But for greater clarity, you can draw them. The propeller has two blades, not four, like a helicopter. Start drawing the wings. The left wing in the picture should be slightly longer than the right.

5. Finishing touches of the drawing

You see, step by step and quite simply, you have already been able to draw a real military aircraft. All that remains is to add a few details, carefully and accurately draw the cabin and you can proceed to the last stage.

6. Tone painting of a military aircraft with a pencil

This tutorial is done entirely in pencil, but you can use colored pencils for the last step. Just don’t rush to paint with paints, as you can ruin the whole drawing. But, if you have experience, then paint with paints. For greater realism, draw clouds, rays of the sun and what is far below earth's surface. Don't forget that this military aircraft was flying at an altitude of up to 5 km.
18/06/2014

Video on how to draw a fighter jet.

Space Shuttle is a spaceship and an airplane at the same time. This is the only type of spacecraft that can independently return from space to Earth. But the Shuttle cannot rise into orbit on its own; it is launched into orbit by launch vehicles.

Drawing a helicopter is a little more difficult than drawing an airplane, since it has a lot of details and it is more difficult to maintain their proportions in the drawing. The rotating blades of a helicopter are especially difficult to draw correctly. But if you color it with colored pencils, the picture of the helicopter will be very bright and attractive.

Nowadays it is rare to find wooden sailing ships, but every boy would like to visit a sailboat. I think if there was a choice between an airplane and a sailing frigate, everyone would choose a sailboat.

The tank is one of the most complex military vehicles in design. The most important thing is to correctly draw the base of the tank, and then just add other details. Draw military planes in the sky above the tanks, this will add dynamism to the picture.

Sports cars are very popular these days. They have a dynamic beautiful design and attractive streamlined body parts. But this attractiveness gives a slight disadvantage to drawing such cars. It is very difficult to convey its unusual shape of the hood and other details.

It would seem so easy to draw a star, but try to draw a star of the correct shape without reading this lesson. It's unlikely that you will succeed. You will need this lesson if you are drawing stars on board a military aircraft.

Once on the site we held an “Air Parade” competition dedicated to the anniversary of the Victory, where readers were asked to guess the names of some of the most famous aircraft of World War II by their silhouettes. The competition has been completed, and now we are publishing photos of these combat vehicles. We invite you to remember what the winners and losers used to fight in the sky.

Editorial PM

Germany

Messerschmitt Bf.109

In fact, a whole family of German combat vehicles, the total number of which (33,984 pieces) makes the 109th one of the most massive aircraft of World War II. It was used as a fighter, fighter-bomber, fighter-interceptor, reconnaissance aircraft. It was as a fighter that the Messer earned notoriety from Soviet pilots - at the initial stage of the war, Soviet fighters, such as the I-16 and LaGG, were clearly inferior in technical terms to the Bf.109 and suffered heavy losses. Only the appearance of more advanced aircraft, such as the Yak-9, allowed our pilots to fight with the "Messers" almost on an equal footing. The most popular modification of the vehicle was the Bf.109G (“Gustav”).

Messerschmitt Bf.109

Messerschmitt Me.262

The aircraft was remembered not for its special role in the Second World War, but for the fact that it turned out to be the first-born jet aircraft on the battlefield. Me.262 began to design even before the war, but Hitler's real interest in the project awakened only in 1943, when the Luftwaffe had already lost its combat power. The Me.262 possessed speed (about 850 km/h), altitude and rate of climb that were unique for its time, and therefore had serious advantages over any fighter of that time. In reality, for every 150 Allied aircraft shot down, there were 100 Me.262s lost. The low effectiveness of combat use was due to the "dampness" of the design, little experience in the use of jet aircraft and insufficient training of pilots.

Messerschmitt Me.262

Heinkel-111

Heinkel-111

Junkers Ju 87 Stuka

The Ju 87 dive bomber, which was produced in several modifications, became a kind of forerunner of modern precision weapons, since the bombs were not high altitude, but from a steep dive, which made it possible to more accurately target the ammunition. It was very effective in the fight against tanks. Due to the specific nature of its use in conditions of high overloads, the vehicle was equipped with automatic air brakes to recover from a dive in the event of the pilot losing consciousness. To enhance the psychological effect, during the attack the pilot turned on the “Jericho trumpet” - a device that emitted a terrible howl. One of the most famous ace pilots to fly the Stuka was Hans-Ulrich Rudel, who left some rather boastful memories of the war on the Eastern Front.

Junkers Ju 87 Stuka

Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu

The Fw 189 Uhu tactical reconnaissance aircraft is interesting primarily for its unusual double-boom design, for which Soviet soldiers nicknamed it “Rama.” And it was on the Eastern Front that this reconnaissance spotter turned out to be most useful to the Nazis. Our fighters knew well that bombers would arrive after the “Rama” and strike the scouted targets. But it was not so easy to shoot down this low-speed aircraft due to its high maneuverability and excellent survivability. When Soviet fighters approached, he could, for example, begin to describe circles of a small radius, into which high-speed vehicles simply could not fit.

Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu

Probably the most recognizable Luftwaffe bomber was developed in the early 1930s under civilian guise. transport aircraft(The Treaty of Versailles prohibited the creation of a German Air Force). At the beginning of World War II, the Heinkel-111 was the most popular Luftwaffe bomber. He became one of the main characters in the Battle of Britain - it was the result of Hitler's attempt to break the will to resist the British through massive bombing raids on the cities of Foggy Albion (1940). Even then it became clear that this medium bomber was obsolete, it lacked speed, maneuverability and security. Nevertheless, the aircraft continued to be used and produced until 1944.

Allies

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

The American “flying fortress” constantly increased its security during the war. In addition to excellent survivability (in the form, for example, the ability to return to base with one intact engine out of four), the heavy bomber received thirteen 12.7 mm machine guns in the B-17G modification. A tactic was developed in which “flying fortresses” flew over enemy territory in a checkerboard formation, protecting each other with crossfire. The plane was equipped with a high-tech Norden bomb sight at that time, built on the basis of an analog computer. If the British bombed the Third Reich mainly in the dark, the “flying fortresses” were not afraid to appear over Germany during daylight hours.

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

Avro 683 Lancaster

One of the main participants in the Allied bomber raids on Germany, the British heavy bomber of World War II. The Avro 683 Lancaster accounted for ¾ of the total bomb load dropped by the British on the Third Reich. The carrying capacity allowed the four-engine aircraft to take on board “blockbusters” - the Tallboy and Grand Slam super-heavy concrete-piercing bombs. Low security implied the use of Lancasters as night bombers, but night bombing was characterized by low accuracy. During the day, these planes suffered significant losses. Lancasters actively participated in the most destructive bombing raids of World War II - on Hamburg (1943) and Dresden (1945).

Avro 683 Lancaster

North American P-51 Mustang

One of the most iconic fighters of World War II, which played an exceptional role in the events on the Western Front. No matter how well the Allied heavy bombers defended themselves when they went on raids on Germany, these large, low-maneuverability and relatively slow-moving aircraft suffered heavy losses from German fighter aircraft. The North American company, commissioned by the British government, urgently created a fighter that could not only successfully fight against Messers and Fokkers, but also have a sufficient range (due to drop tanks) to accompany bomber raids on the continent. When Mustangs began to be used in this capacity in 1944, it became clear that the Germans had finally lost the air war in the West.

North American P-51 Mustang

Supermarine Spitfire

The main and most massive fighter of the British Air Force during the war, one of the best fighters of the Second World War. Its high-altitude and speed characteristics made it an equal rival to the German Messerschmitt Bf.109, and the skill of the pilots played an important role in the head-to-head battle of these two machines. "Spitfires" proved to be excellent, covering the evacuation of the British from Dunkirk after the success of the Nazi blitzkrieg, and then during the Battle of Britain (July-October 1940), when British fighters had to fight like German bombers He-111, Do-17, Ju 87, as well as with Bf fighters. 109 and Bf.110.

Supermarine Spitfire

Japan

Mitsubishi A6M Raisen

At the beginning of World War II, the Japanese carrier-based fighter A6M Raisen was the best in the world in its class, even though its name contained the Japanese word “Rei-sen”, that is, “zero fighter”. Thanks to the drop tanks, the fighter had a high flight range (3105 km), which made it indispensable for participation in raids on the ocean theater. Among the aircraft involved in the attack on Pearl Harbor were 420 A6Ms. The Americans learned lessons from dealing with the nimble, fast-climbing Japanese, and by 1943 their fighter aircraft had surpassed their once dangerous enemy.

Mitsubishi A6M Raisen

The most popular dive bomber of the USSR began production before the war, in 1940, and remained in service until the Victory. The low-wing aircraft with two engines and a double fin was a very progressive machine for its time. In particular, it was equipped with a pressurized cabin and fly-by-wire control (which, due to its novelty, became the source of many problems). In reality, the Pe-2, unlike the Ju 87, was not so often used as a dive bomber. Most often, he launched bombing attacks on areas from horizontal flight or from a flat rather than deep dive.

Pe-2

The most massive combat aircraft in history (36,000 of these "silts" were produced in total) is considered a true legend of the battlefields. One of its features is a load-bearing armored hull, which replaced the frame and skin in most of the fuselage. The attack aircraft worked at heights of several hundred meters above the ground, becoming not the most difficult target for ground-based anti-aircraft weapons and an object of hunting by German fighters. The first versions of the Il-2 were built single-seat, without a side gunner, which led to rather high combat losses among aircraft of this type. And yet, the IL-2 played its role in all theaters where our army fought, becoming a powerful means of supporting ground forces in the fight against enemy armored vehicles.

IL-2

The Yak-3 was a development of the well-proven Yak-1M fighter. In the process of refinement, the wing was shortened and other design changes were made to reduce weight and improve aerodynamics. This light wooden aircraft showed an impressive speed of 650 km / h and had excellent low-altitude flight characteristics. Tests of the Yak-3 started at the beginning of 1943, and already during the battle on the Kursk Bulge, he entered the battle, where, with the help of a 20-mm ShVAK cannon and two 12.7-mm Berezin machine guns, he successfully opposed the Messerschmites and Fokkers.

Yak-3

One of the best Soviet La-7 fighters, which entered service a year before the end of the war, was a development of the LaGG-3 that met the war. All the advantages of the "ancestor" were reduced to two factors - high survivability and the maximum use of wood in the construction instead of scarce metal. However, the weak engine and heavy weight turned the LaGG-3 into an unimportant opponent of the all-metal Messerschmitt Bf.109. From LaGG-3 to OKB-21 Lavochkin they made La-5, installing a new ASh-82 engine and finalizing the aerodynamics. The modified La-5FN with a boosted engine was already an excellent combat vehicle, surpassing the Bf.109 in a number of parameters. In La-7, the weight was again reduced, and the armament was also strengthened. The plane has become very good, even remaining wooden.

La-7

U-2, or Po-2, created in 1928, by the beginning of the war was certainly a model of obsolete equipment and was not designed as a combat aircraft at all (a combat training version appeared only in 1932). However, in order to win, this classic biplane had to work as a night bomber. Its undoubted advantages are ease of operation, the ability to land outside airfields and take off from small areas, and low noise.

U-2

At low gas in the dark, the U-2 approached the enemy object, remaining unnoticed almost until the moment of bombing. Since the bombing was carried out from low altitudes, its accuracy was very high, and the "corn" inflicted serious damage on the enemy.

The article "Aerial parade of winners and losers" was published in the journal Popular Mechanics (

War is temporary, but music is eternal!

Francesco Baraca poses in front of his plane!

Later, designs on airplanes became more varied. For example, storks were adorned on the fuselages of French aircraft from Escadrille les Cigognes.

Nose art became most popular in the US Air Force during World War II. The initiators of the coloring of the aircraft were often not the pilots, but the maintenance personnel. The development of nose art in the USA was greatly influenced by pin-ups. Thus, the image of a naked pin-up star of that era, Betty Grable, was displayed on many military aircraft. In the USSR, of course, such liberties were not allowed, but the designs on Soviet aircraft of that time were also distinguished by their beauty and sophistication.