Page 101 - EAA78.Newsletter.Archives.(February.2017-July.2021)

CHAPTER CHATTER, EAA Chapter 78 4

Artist John Stahr Restores Nose
Art on EAA’s B-17

When EAA’s B-17G Aluminum Overcast arrived
at Eugene, Oregon’s Mahlon Sweet Field for its
tour stop, the EAA crews had the airplane and
tour trailers all ready to present the historic
aircraft to the public May 5-7 as part of the
“Join the Flight” national tour.

But when well-known experimental aircraft
airbrush painter John Stahr, EAA 714251, of
EAA Chapter 1457 took a look at the faded nose
art on the B-17, he offered to volunteer his
services to EAA to restore the art during the
afternoon ground tour portions of the aircraft’s
visit. With enthusiastic approvals from the EAA
crew at KEUG as well as Tour Chief John
Hopkins at EAA headquarters in Oshkosh, Stahr
began the restoration, which would take several
hours of work over each of the tour stop’s three
days in Eugene.

Stahr — who is a self-proclaimed diehard B-17

nerd since watching the 12 O’Clock High TV
series as a kid — knew that for an aircraft as
important to aviation history as Aluminum
Overcast, the nose art had to be as authentic as
possible. “Instead of doing a slick airbrush
rendering, which looks like the medium
used for the original rendering,” Stahr
explained, “I decided to repaint the same
image and lettering using traditional oil-
based sign painters enamel, the paint
probably used by artists decorating planes
between bombing sorties during the war.”