Davis-Monthan AFB just got DP'd over the weekend.

"Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole" (Dukie) 03/10/2014 at 09:51 • Filed to: Planeopnik, A-10, Dogpatchers, 47th FS

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DP as in "Dogpatchers". The USAF Reserve's 47th FS, was formally activated at Davis-Monthan AFB this weekend. The aircraft used to carry the BD tailcode of Barksdale AFB, LA where they used to be based.

They also carried the iconic "Warthog Face" nose scheme, and were the only other A-10 unit (besides the Flying Tigers) to have a "face" on their aircraft for some time (The 163rd FS "Blacksnakes" & the 188th FS "Razorbacks" also had faces recently). I hope they keep them, but I'm not sure. I'll ask some friends.

The new DP Tailcode is a nod to the squadron's heritage. During WWII, the 47th Pursuit Squadron (the great grandaddy of this Squadron) painted pictures of characters from the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Cartoon on their aircraft, and the A-10's have been no different (just behind the Rescue arrow is where they paint the characters):

Now, if we could just do something about those people in D.C. that want to get rid of the A-10...

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole 03/10/2014 at 10:08

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So what you're saying is that unofficial nose art is banned, but anybody clever enough to make it official for a squadron could have it approved under that aegis? Interdasting.

Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/10/2014 at 10:16

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No, I forget the exact reasoning we were told, but Active units couldn't have nose art (except the FT guys), Guard & Reserve are a different animal and don't really have those restrictions.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole 03/10/2014 at 10:17

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Paraphrased: Bureacratic puffery that doesn't successfully cover everything, thus making it even more confusing.

ttyymmnn > Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole 03/10/2014 at 10:26

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What is it about the military and the propensity for speeches?

willkinton247 > Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole 03/10/2014 at 10:57

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SJ stands for Seymour Johnson AFB, which sounds like a Bart Simpson prank call name.

As for my favorite nose art on a modern jet, it's gotta be the now defunct VF-111 Sundowners.

Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole > willkinton247 03/10/2014 at 11:09

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"See-more Saudi" was what it was called for a while (during the Southern Watch days).

I've always hated seeing the shark face on anything other than a P-40 or A-10. It just doesn't seem right to me.

The Transporter > ttyymmnn 03/10/2014 at 11:17

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Officers like to hear themselves talk. If I had a nickel for every minute of my life wasted listening to some officer drone on at a Bn. change of command ceremony then I wouldn't be posting on Oppo because I'd be too busy hooning my brand new Ferrari 458 through the Italian Alps.

willkinton247 > Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole 03/10/2014 at 11:21

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I actually don't like the Shark Face on the A-10. It should be a warthog, like above. And the P-40 actually was styled after a Tiger. Most of the mouths have big canines

As for the Sundowners, it goes back to when the Squadron used the F-8 Crusader, with the open intake at the front that looked like a mouth. The mouth actually was there to fill in the Intake warning graphic. The shark is also totally appropriate in my book because it's naval aviation.

They transferred to the F-4, they kept the shark mouth.

And then it went to the F-14, which eventually became low-visibility.