Sweet Lorraine

© Photographed December 3, 2016, with permission of
EAA AirVenture Museum

Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin

43.984169, -88.577507

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Original WWII Nose Art
"Sweet Lorraine"

While it is difficult to make out, this boot cowl from a 1942 Stinson AT-18 (aka V-77) s/n FK958 bears the remnants of nose art it acquired sometime during it's [sic] WWII service.

Like almost all AT-19s, it went to England as part of the Lend-Lease program through which the Allied powers shared war material. The plan was returned to the United States post-war and parted out somewhere along the way.

The cowl still carried it's [sic] last WWII paint when it was sent to Skyhaven airport in Tunkhannock, Pa. to be stripped and prepped for installation on the owner's AT-19. Part way through that process they noted the faint outlines of the nose art and halted their work. With original WWII nose art being such a rarity, it was decided to preserve and display the cowl as is.

Sweet Lorraine is part of the Commemorative Air Force WWII Nose Art Collection, on display November 2015 through December 2017, at the EAA AirVenture Museum located at 3000 Poberezny Road, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54902.

EAA AirVenture Museum

More than 30 pieces of nose art from actual World War II combat aircraft made their first-ever trip outside their home museum, with the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh chosen as the first public display location for this rare collection.

The collection from the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) headquarters in Dallas, Texas, made its debut in November 2015 after a month of preparation in the EAA museum’s Eagle Hangar, which honors the people and aircraft of World War II. The artifacts have been designated by the National Trust for Historical Preservation as an official project of Save America’s Treasures, which seeks to preserve historic structures, art, and published works throughout the nation. It will be on display at EAA throughout 2017.

Commemorative Air Force Headquarters

Click here for more information about the collection and to view all nose art photographed.

Sweet Lorraine is part of the Commemorative Air Force

WWII Nose Art Collection, on display through December 2017

at the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Click here for more information about the collection
and to view all nose art photographed.