Rodeo Clowns of the Sky

March 14, 2024 2:43 AM

The aircraft they are following, the one they have been looking for, is not like the others in the group. She wears a paint scheme any other Liberator would think humiliating—white from chin turret to trailing edge, covered in a pox of bright red and blue polka dots about 18 inches in diameter. Aft of the trailing wing edge, she is army green, but the pox extends down her flanks in garish red and yellow dots. And she has a face... perhaps it was meant to be that of a shark, but it grins like a dim-witted dachshund. It seems to pant in the heat of the turbulent air. The spotted markings make her look like a massive flying bag of Wonderbread. from Polka Dot Warriors – The Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth
posted by chavenet (18 comments total)

These have yet to make an appearance in Masters of the Air. There's still time though.
posted by Molesome at 5:16 AM on March 14 [4 favorites]

I've always though these'd make a neat subject for a model build.
posted by Harald74 at 5:17 AM on March 14 [1 favorite]

On their sides, they carry outrageous and sometimes puerile artwork and names like Arise My Love and Come With Me, Squat ’n Drop it, S.O.L., Time’s a Wastin’ and Big Chief Little Beaver.

They could be Culture ships.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:21 AM on March 14 [15 favorites]

Neat! Makes me think of Dazzle Camouflage although it has the opposite intent.
posted by Ishbadiddle at 5:31 AM on March 14 [2 favorites]

Mod note: Comment removed. If you don't care for a post you're free to ignore it or create a post about something you do like, but please avoid making snarky or comments expressing disdain on the subject, thank you.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:56 AM on March 14 [8 favorites]

Somehow, the existence of these craft were unknown to me. Quite interesting in that “weird shit war creates a need for” way.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:05 AM on March 14 [4 favorites]

Oh, this is marvelous!! I assumed this was a story about a book, but the whole text & pictures are actually online. These planes are entirely logical and also kind of wild!

Everyone makes fun of middle-age dudes who are interested in World War II, but when stories like this pop up, how can you not be fascinated? Chapters 12 and 13 of Daniel Immerwahr's book "How to Hide an Empire" talk about the amazing scale of WWII, and how many people were involved in it -- not just soldiers, sailors and airmen, but factory workers and truckers and construction crews, building ports and roads and assembly plants. It seems obvious (and amazing) that, long after all the people who were there have passed on, new stories will emerge from the records.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:22 AM on March 14 [6 favorites]

@Thorzdad I thought I knew a lot about the WWII air campaigns but this is a new story to me also.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 6:38 AM on March 14 [3 favorites]

I feel like Lieutenant Orr would have happily flown one of these.
posted by delfin at 7:09 AM on March 14 [5 favorites]

an “assembly ship" [is] an aircraft whose job it is to assemble and lead other aircraft of her Group on the proper track for the target.

posted by glonous keming at 7:34 AM on March 14 [1 favorite]

Huh. This is one of those things that I feel like I should have already known about and yet it's the first I've ever heard of it.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:20 AM on March 14 [4 favorites]

Never had any idea (and I too thought I knew a lot about WWII aircraft), and there are *so many* photos. If you get bored and think there are only a lot of photos of the same couple of planes, keep scrolling. The one with two extra planes painted on the side is quite attractive.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 9:06 AM on March 14 [4 favorites]

Boy, Yossarian missed his ride...
posted by tspae at 9:53 AM on March 14 [3 favorites]

I imagine one of these fitted with several club laser projectors and rave light systems and pumping out the jams at angels 8 then issuing a last call on the radio and shutting it down and going home while everyone else goes off to bomb whoever. man. wouldn't that be something.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:38 PM on March 14 [2 favorites]

Always something to learn about just how clever we can be and how much will we can bring to bear when it comes to waging war. (And I'm deeply deeply into WWII history and I didn't know about these planes)
posted by drewbage1847 at 2:12 PM on March 14 [2 favorites]

There is something touching, tender even, about the names and color schemes for these planes. A reminder that it was people who wanted a little something to laugh at in the midst of a terrible practicality.
posted by winesong at 5:03 PM on March 14 [1 favorite]

I really enjoyed that. Be forewarned that one of the first photo captions actually spoils the story's ending (wtf, eds) so maybe skip those til after.
posted by ZaphodB at 6:16 PM on March 14 [1 favorite]

Very cool, thank you for sharing.
posted by Canageek at 7:11 PM on March 14 [1 favorite]