F-104 Starfighter

[JMSmith]

they aint carriers,

they are "through deck cruisers"

[Supah]

Well used Starfighter!

[inkworm]

what's the story behind the 5 and leaf, any connection with 5 Sqn RAF which also uses the same symbol?

Ok so I'm too lazy to google it myself

[Skyraider3D]

Well used Starfighter!

Looks great, but with that in mind I really do think the colours on the roundel could do with a little toning down. Especially the blue is very vibrant now and not quite the right hue:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/...29665858_o.jpg

[Supah]

Inkworm; In the seventies and eighties it was a custom in many Cross Servicing units to paint a logo of the unit or the base on a plane as a form of interservice joke. This was mostly done under the cover of darkness when planes overnighted at a base away from home or when squadrons went on rotation. It was called "zapping", the artwork being called a "zap". The one shown here was done really neatly, the pilot involved believes they actually took it to a paintbarn to do it, most however were much cruder stencil and spraycan affairs. RAF Laarbruchs X-serv was particularily notorious for it with their "Pinguin Airlines" motif.

Ronnie: Wilco, agreed!

[inkworm]

So it's just a zap then not some ties between two squadrons.

Best zap I've seen is a kiwi Vulcan, shame that they are less obvious these days.

Another good one though I've not seen photos of the original a/c is
which crossed deck with a US carrier

[Supah]

hehehe yeah there are some awesome zaps, though some people did get into trouble for the most epic ones



What do you think of this roundel Ronnie?

[inkworm]

roundel looks better, and going back to the zaps, I've got some photos of a Gladiator which visited 501 Sqn and got zapped with the sword n wings on one side and a very badly painted popeye on the other side of the tail. It's nothing new.

[Skyraider3D]

Perfect!

[Supah]

Cool! Now it also comes with the mighty Mk76's!