Anyone recognize this type of plane? Nose Art??

Anyone able to tell what kind of plane this is? Or recognize the nose art? Looks like the profile of a big smiling head to me?
Can I assume it's German Luftwaffe or did they camouflage planes paint to confuse other pilots?

It is a pre-war image, possible 1938. The planes seen in the pic are the German Henschel Hs 123 ( the foreground one and these two on the left). The one in the background on the right is the Fieseler Fi 156.
Regarding the nose art ... sorry I can't see any there. The image is of the poor quality. However there is the Luftwaffe Cross of the early variant used up to 1939. The Black Triangle at the back of the fuselage of the foreground biplane indicates a plane of a Schlachtgeschwader ( ground-attack air regiment ). However, because of the version of the Balkenkreuz I would also expect there an unit code that consisted of the letters and digits or digits only. It is possible the traingle looking like sign could be the "A" letter. But see the shots below. IMHO the marking there is the black triangle and then the number 10+13 (?03/23) what indictes the Schlachtfliegergruppe 10. The negative of your shot seems to confirm that. At the front of the plane fuselage there was usually painted the Gruppe/Staffel emblem. But your pic shows the fuselage up to cockpit only




the source: the net and the link below.



If you want you may go to the Snautzer's thread where you may find many different markings for the plane type used for the early and late time of the service.

Thank you so much! Sorry that the photo is such low quality. I will try and get a better photo. There is some sort of nose art that you can see in the orig. It's like the profile of a giant head and possibly a front tooth (kind of looks like Chief Wahoo, the old mascot of the Cleveland Indians) I tried to play with the contrast to see if it would show up better. I'll try and get a better shot of it. But your info def helps!

Ireland said:

Thank you so much! Sorry that the photo is such low quality. I will try and get a better photo. There is some sort of nose art that you can see in the orig. It's like the profile of a giant head and possibly a front tooth (kind of looks like Chief Wahoo, the old mascot of the Cleveland Indians) I tried to play with the contrast to see if it would show up better. I'll try and get a better shot of it. But your info def helps!

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Looking at both shots you uploaded ... I'm sure fully there is any nose art there. The plane marking is the Black triangle then the digit 10 , the cross and then the 03 or 23. None of the Hs 123 I have seen in pictures so far, had any nose art painted at the cockpit area. As I have mentioned the Gruppe/Staffel emblem was applied between the back of the engine cowling and the front of the cockpit. Your picture doesn't present the part of the fuselage. The RLM rules for pre-war markings of the Luftwaffe planes were quite strictly followed. In your second shot uploaded even the Swastika applied correctly on the tail can be noticed as well.

Wurger said:

Looking at both shots you uploaded ... I'm sure fully there is any nose art there. The plane marking is the Black triangle then the digit 10 , the cross and then the 03 or 23. None of the Hs 123 I have seen in pictures so far, had any nose art painted at the cockpit area. As I have mentioned the Gruppe/Staffel emblem was applied between the back of the engine cowling and the front of the cockpit. Your picture doesn't present the part of the fuselage. The RLM rules for pre-war markings of the Luftwaffe planes were quite strictly followed. In your second shot uploaded even the Swastika applied correctly on the tail can be noticed as well.

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Not sure how well this will show up, but what I considered nose art I marked inside the red box. Probably isn't the correct term. It looks like the profile of a giant cartoon-like head to me with a black mouth and buck tooth, but maybe it's just a reflection or something. I just thought I'd ask in case it helped. Hard to know what could be a clue when you really aren't familiar with what you're looking at. Truly appreciate all the help!!

I understand you. But on the Hs 123 the arts or emblems weren't applied at the location. If you have a close up look at the enlarged shot you will notice that the picture pixels compose the shapes that look like the "2" and "3" in front of the cross. So no doubt there isn't the art but there is a part of the unit code.

Wurger said:

I understand you. But on the Hs 123 the arts or emblems weren't applied at the location. If you have a close up look at the enlarged shot you will notice that the picture pixels compose the shapes that look like the "2" and "3" in front of the cross. So no doubt there isn't the art but there is a part of the unit code.

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Awwh understood. I am so glad I asked. You can see the numbers and I thought it was a cartoon face. lol! This is exactly why I needed y'all's help!! Thank you so much!!

My pleasure .

BTW ... usually the coverting an image into the negative may reveal more details than we can notice with its positive .

You always impress, Wurger . It's pretty cool to learn one of your techniques.