The Missus and I are volunteers at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach. We meet a lot of really nice people and show them the very cool aircraft we get to hang around.
While we were staffing the Great War Hangar (see yesterday's picture) the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was started up and taxied around to the Fighter Factory, the Museum's maintenance shop, about 1/4 mile away in the Museum complex. Since it was another slow day, even slower than yesterday, I was able to take some great pictures.
This plane is painted in the livery of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), also known as the Flying Tigers, and specifically that of David "Tex" Hill, a legendary pilot among a legendary group of pilots. The AVG was made up of volunteer* US pilots who flew for the Chinese in their fight against the Japanese invaders before the US entered WWII.
The Flying Tiger logo on the side of the plane was designed for the AVG by Walt Disney himself.
*The "volunteers" were actually authorized by President Roosevelt to support the Chinese.