ART

Painting pinups on airplane nose cones is back in vogue at Castle Air Force Base in California where a KC-135 Stratotanker sports a 1940s-era calendar pinup in a midriff blouse and miniskirt rippling in the breeze. Castle Air Force Base officials said the painting is designed to instill pride in the crews that fly and maintain Strategic Air Command aircraft. A sketch of a knight with a sword and shield mounted on a horse has already been approved for decorating the nose of another Stratotanker. Plane art originated during World War I when aircraft first assumed a major role in warfare, and reached its zenith during World War II.