US Air Force,
AUSTIN, Texas: An F-16C Fighting Falcon from the Texas Air National Guard's 111th Fighter Squadron is flying with a special paint job in honor of the squadron's 90th anniversary. All the colors and markings have specific meanings, reflecting the unit's nine-decade history.
The rudder is painted like a JN-4 Jenny, which the squadron flew in the 1920s. The schemes for the wings and flaps recall the paint schemes of the pre-World War II era.
The blue fuselage represents the Korean War, in which the squadron earned credit for two air victories. The gray underside represents the jet age.
The “N5 A” was the insignia the squadron's P-51 Mustangs sported during World War II, in which the squadron claimed 44 air victories. Also representing World War II is the star on the fuselage, while the star on the wing represents the pre-World War II era.
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An F-16C Fighting Falcon from the Texas Air National Guard's 111th Fighter Squadron flies with a special paint job in honor of the squadron?s 90th anniversary. All the colors and markings have specific meanings, reflecting the unit?s nine-decade history. (Photo courtesy of John Dibbs)
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“Ace in the Hole” and the star on the tail replicate the markings of the squadron's F-84s during the Korean War. The ventral fin, partially obscured, reads “Est. 1917.”
Today the 111th FS is part of the 147th Fighter Wing, based at Ellington Field in Houston.
