Warbird gurus; what do you think?

[Wittpilot]

Okay warbird gurus.... Love 'em or Hate 'em... the CAF keeps birds in the air... That being said, I never liked the fact they changed their name... but we live on, they can still be called the CAF... They all have to refer to themselves as Colonels, or Flight Leader...yadda yadda yadda...thats annoying, but I don't care.... BUT..... I must draw the line at this...

I have noticed the CAF has put their new emblem on all their planes... Once again, I don't see anything wrong with that... I always liked how they had their name usually underneath the horizontal stabilizer.... it was there, but not atrociously sticking out....

This is what they have now..... It isn't that I don't even like the symbol, I think it is kind of cool actually, but for goodness sakes does it need to be that huge!!! or maybe in diff. spot? I noticed it first this weekend at Thunder Over Michigan on a Hellcat... same spot, right behind the cockpit..

Maybe John can talk me down off the ledge, but I was fine until I saw Sentimental Journey tagged with it..... What do you think?

-witt

not my photo btw...

[PRB]

Well, not a “guru”, but I do have an opinion, so I’ll toss in my two cents…
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I don’t mind it. In the early days of the CAF, many of the planes were all painted white with red trim, which bore no resemblance to their original “war paint” at all, so this is better in that respect. And some of the planes are painted as planes that did not actually exist in the war. They look like WW-II paint schemes, but represent the owner’s decision, and not an historically real plane. As long as they don’t start putting sponsor’s logos on em (Red Bull..??) I’m ok with it…
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I wish they would have kept their original name, but I understand why they had to change.

[denisch]

Maybe John can talk me down off the ledge, but I was fine until I saw Sentimental Journey tagged with it..... What do you think?

Bear in mind that their "logo" has to bee seen from the ground.

[Bomber_12th]

I don't know if I'll be able talk you down Witt, I'm right up on that ledge as well.

The 'philosophy' behind the size of the logo's, is to allow them to be seen in air-to-air photographs, and help promote the CAF brand, getting more recognition. Though the obvious question now stands - when was the last time you saw a popularized picture of a CAF aircraft now with the logo decal? And who in the aviation world has not already heard of the CAF anyway?

The logos have been around since the beginning of last year. I too was okay with it, until I saw it on the local B-25J, "Miss Mitchell", which is such a beautiful and authentic warbird and for some reason those logos just degrade it (it has the same type as seen on SJ - painted examples have white logos) - I'm going to really hate it when/if the CAF's Redtail Mustang has to get them as well! It doesn't seem like a short-term thing either, and I'm sure it would take a change of command in order to remove them.

Still, as Paul states, the fleet are for the most part in proper WWII markings, and if one can just look past the logos, they are still the same planes, and they are flying. I hope that as long as they keep the logos on the planes, they are actually helping the CAF, and not hurting it. Interestingly, I've been able to be more accepting of such things however - when I was younger, about 7 or 8, I actually hated seeing just the CAF text and aircraft type written under the tail, because I felt that it detracted from the aircraft's originality too much...over time I learned that most markings on warbirds weren't absolutely correct anyway, and I grew to accept it.

[Moparmike]

Well...I guess I don't mind the logo as they've got to wear their "colors" somewhere.

For those of you who prefer it without, here's SJ from last June...sans the new logo.

[brad kaste]

...The aircraft look better without the CAF logo underneath the pilot's window,....but hey,.........they're footin' the bill to keep the aircraft flying. We'd be poorer for that....

[stiz]

...The aircraft look better without the CAF logo underneath the pilot's window,....but hey,.........they're footin' the bill to keep the aircraft flying. We'd be poorer for that....

thats the thing ... live with the logo and the plane ... or live without both

[TARPSBird]

So long as the CAF logo doesn't replace the Betty Grable nose art I don't have a problem with it.

[Wittpilot]

thats the thing ... live with the logo and the plane ... or live without both

I hope everyone understands that I completely agree with comments like that Stiz... Tis better to seem them flying with some decals than sitting with no decals... I'm also a strong advocate that if you personally own an aircraft, like a warbird, you should not have to sucumb to what others feel your plane should look like... paint scheme wise... Heck, I remember at first I didn't like Liberty Belle's nose art because I thought it was to 'modern' looking... but she has definitely grown on me.

I was more or less wondering what everyone thought of the new decal logos

-witt.

[smoores]

I'm reminded how much I love the CAF every time their Zero flys over. Which is pretty often!