aircraft shark mouth

Aircraft Shark Mouth - This portrait of Flight Lieutenant Neville Bowker inspired the nose art that is forever associated with the Flying Tigers.

That's not a smile. It is more than a predator's taunt. Razor teeth, a wagging tongue, and 300-yard black, dead eyes focused on the confluence of the warriors' guns. The airplane's nose art featured the attack face, a bit of psychological warfare meant to intimidate, painted with a few ounces of paint on aluminum.

Aircraft Shark Mouth

The legendary World War II American volunteer group "Flying Tigers" popularized the shark's mouth, but they weren't the first to paint it on airplanes. During World War I, some German pilots painted their eyes and covered their mouths in the Roland C.II spy plane. They are called thin-bellied Roland biplanes

Shark Teeth Plane Stock Illustrations

(of the whale). The nose art seems ridiculous and appropriate for such tabby machines. It expresses strong determination rather than actual coercion. Soon, someone decided to put together an open mouth and triangular teeth, giving one of the planes an impish smile.

Nothing good can remain secret for long. The pattern continued through World War I and beyond with many machines, appearing on Newports, Swopwiths and later Messerschmitts.

Greet visitors as they enter the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Entering the Edvard-Hazy Center, a Curtiss P-40E has the face of a shark, but it's not a Flying Tiger. In 1942, the plane was painted in the colors of the 14th Air Force's 23rd Fighter Group, which included some pilots and aircraft from the Flying Tigers.

Then came the Curtiss P-40. Straight out of the factory, the fighter looked horribly underpowered, thanks to the ample intake scope located under the nose. Today, it's hard to imagine a couple going for a ride with hungry couples. Even a three-year-old will tell you, "That's a flying tiger," and the inherent contradiction in a shark-faced tiger doesn't bother anyone. But not all Shark-faced World War II P-40s were Flying Tigers.

The World War I Origins Of The A 10 Warthog Shark Mouth Design

While American pilots were flying in combat in World War II, Royal Air Force aircraft were involved in nearly two years of combat. The Americans adopted many British ideas on how to fight effectively in the air, including 100 Tomahawk fighters produced for Britain. These flights were flown by AVG.

The archetypal shark's mouth as we know it today first appeared on the nose of the tomahawks of Royal Air Force No. 112 Squadron fighting in North Africa. In July 1941 the "Shark Squadron" received its Curtiss fighters. Squadron nose art went through several iterations before the British Air Force settled on a final design. The final Shark appeared while 112 Squadron was serving in Egypt.

That year, in a different part of the world — at a Baptist missionary's house in Tongko, Burma, to be exact — AVG pilot Charles Bond got bored with the after-dinner conversation. He took the copy on November 2, 1941

On its cover was a picture of a pair of tomahawks from 112 Squadron. Pictured, South African Flight Lieutenant Neville "Box" Bowker stands on the wing of a British Tomahawk Mk. 1 was named "Danger". But what impressed Bond most were the fighter's eyes and fearsome teeth.

Warhawk Plane With Shark Teeth

"Yes!" He wrote in his diary, "I wish my P-40 was like that!" I discussed it with others and they thought it was a good idea. Bond had hoped to mark every fighter in the First Pursuit squadron with the design, however, AVG commander Claire Chenault said, "No." Instead, he wanted all ships in the group to carry the marks. The next day, Bond wrote in his diary, "November 16, 1941. Today was very sad." I think it went from paddling through town to jazzing up airplanes for color.

Soon, several pilots and ground crews entered. After a few days of chalking out a very British model, then drawing teeth and eyes on each plane, the crew went back to admire their work. AVG pilot and memorial R.T. Smith certainly spoke for all Flying Tigers when he said, "It's like hell."

Corey Graff is an air museum curator, exhibit developer, and author of 10 books. One of his most recent aviation titles is P-51 Mustang: 75 Years of America's Most Famous Warbird, Zenith Press, 2015.

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