Why Do Military Aircraft Have Nose Art Decals?

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Historically speaking, military aircraft have gained fame for many reasons, from their speed to their various technological innovations to their sheer destructive power. But since the dawn of aerial combat, there has been one particular factor that has made military aircraft so memorable and iconic from a cultural aspect: nose art. Nose art that depicted everything from shark mouths to aircrews’ loved ones. So then, were these artistic adornments on bombers strictly for sentimental and morale-boosting purposes, or was that a more pragmatic driving force as well? The why and the wherefore of the nose art It turns out that...