Nose Art
By lex, on October 5th, 2011
The Valions of VFA-15 have hearkened back to their roots in this photo essay:
Strike Fighter Squadron 15, the Valions, has its origins in a torpedo squadron formed in 1942 that protected the sea lanes between Bermuda and Newfoundland.
To honor that heritage, sailors from the squadron, led by Petty Officer 1st Class Steve Kiss, recreated the squadron’s original chest patch, featuring a lion riding a torpedo while sweeping the seas with its broom, and painted it on the right vertical stabilizer of one of the squadron’s Hornets. They added the squadron’s current logo, a lion riding a laser-guided bomb, and topped it off by painting an American flag on the jet’s speedbrake.
In another military tradition, each of the squadron’s aircraft has gotten some personalized “nose art” – the name of one of pilot’s wives. The squadron, based at Oceana Naval Air Station, deployed in May with the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush and is flying missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the final photo, the perceptive reader will note the acronym “VFR” on the lion-bestridden laser-guided bomb. This could plausibly be understood to stand for “visual flight rules,” a condition under which aviators may come and go pretty much as they please, so long as they remain clear of clouds and controlled airspace.
But it doesn’t.