Aircraft Pinups and Blown 4360cu. in. Radials

Pinups and Amazing Radial Engines

An Aircraft museum doesn’t have much to do with MyRideisMe.com or does it. But, pinup art on the noes of aluminum beasts that appear way too damn large to fly and a blown 4360 cu. in. radial motor are too cool to skip.

Here’s the pics, first the “Maid in the Shade” found somewhere around 42 degrees north by 9 degrees east.

Nose art

Followed by the lovely “Miss Murphy”

Nose art Miss Murphy

And my favorite, the beautiful honey standing hitching a ride on “Sentimental Journey”

Nose Art

I don’t know much about planes, so I won’t go into that detail, but I was curious about nose art. I found some info I’ll pass on. The following info is from a blog called “Creation Robot“. There are several links to more info.

The subject matter in nose art varies but largely stayed within a few mainstay topics, namely the cartoon characters and female pin-up. The females occurred in various stages of dress, or undress, and were very popular. The style evolved and became more wild and provocative. As a result, the Army Air Force tried to restore a sense of decorum with AAF Regulation 35-22 in August 1944. The regulation didn’t prohibit nose art, but did try to, unsuccessfully, institute a “sense of decency.”

According to some accounts, the farther the planes and crew were from headquarters or from the public eye, the racier the art. For instance, nudity was more prevalent with aircraft based in the South Pacific than of those in England.

Nice. In a quick google search, this is the best site I could find for more examples of nose art: Savethegirls.org

4360-R Wasp MajorNow for the horsepower part of the story!

Here’s a picture of a 28 cylinder, supercharged, air cooled 4-row radial engine. Who dreamed that up? Is it so far from the bench racing that happens now? But with a different purpose, make no mistake. Produced between 1944 and 1955 this 4,360 cu. in. behemoth put out nearly 1 H.P. per cubic inch. Keep in mind the notorious Chevy V8 came out in 1955 at the end of service for this baby. So why do you think they stopped at 28 cylinders? It even had a cool name, the “R-4360 Wasp Major”. I love it.

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4360-R Wasp Major Specs