On the weekend I got Neo Dutch to pinstripe the EK and add some nose art to the front quarters. It adds some colour to help break up the grey, and also makes it more individual. Its probably not to everyones taste, but its not everyone's car :wink:
With the pinstriping on the front I told him colours and rough size, but otherwise gave him free reign to create something. The end result is some amazing pinstriping which is nice and different to most pinstriping that you see.
Liana and I have decided to call the ute 'She's Apples', and I wanted some WWII inspired nose art low down on the guards. Again Neo Dutch came up trumps in terms of really capturing what I wanted and that nose art style.
'She's Apples' was a famous bomber that my grand uncle crewed on in PNG back in WWII. It was 22nd squadron and they flew Boston bombers. Here's my great uncle working on one of the Boston bombers (he's in the light pants facing the plane in the middle)
This is 'She's Apples', the nose art was actually a dog with earmuffs, but we thought an apple would be cooler (artistic license
)
The Bostons served with No 22 Squadron where their operations became known as "Boston Tea Parties" and individual aircraft became legendary. Wing Commander Learmonth's "She's Apples" set a South-West Pacific bombing record; Flight Lieutenant Williamson's A28-5 was belly-landed with a bomb load and was back in operations within hours; and, most famous of all, Flight Lieutenant Bill Newton's A28-3 crashed off Salamaua on 18 March 1943, prior to his post-humous Victoria Cross award.
Just to add to that, Learmonth Airport in WA is named in honour of Charles Learmonth who piloted 'She's Apples'
The plane and Learmonth also played a key roll in the Battle of the Bismark Sea. A book about Learmonth has been written, its called Wings of Destiny.
This is a cool article from back in the day about how the bomber got its name
Basically when they got back from a mission the crew were asked how she flew, and the answer was always 'Shes the apples'
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/17863178
