--- title: "These F-15s dressed up fly as hell for Halloween" description: "Get ready for supersonic trick or treat!" date: "2020-10-30" modified: "2020-10-30" authors: - name: "David Roza" job_title: "YouTube Writer/Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/david-roza/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/culture/air-force-f-15-nose-paint-raf-lakenheath/" categories: - "Aircraft" - "Culture" - "Fighter Aircraft" - "Mandatory Fun" - "Tech & Tactics" --- # These F-15s dressed up fly as hell for Halloween ![]() ![]() *Great airpower comes with great Green Goblin responsibility* When it comes to Halloween costumes, few Air Force units did it better than RAF Lakenheath’s 492nd Fighter Squadron, whose crews splashed portraits of famous movie and comic book villains on the noses of their Mach 2-capable F-15s. The Joker, Loki, Killmonger and others were all represented in vivid color on the jets, which were recently featured on [RAF Lakenheath]()’s Facebook page. The base is conducting a poll to find out which of the paint jobs is the crowd favorite. On Thursday afternoon, the three finalists were the Mad Hatter, the Green Goblin, and Thanos. But by Friday morning, the Mad Hatter won the day after a close vote. “This is BEAUTIFUL,” wrote one Facebook user on the Thanos art, which depicts the Marvel supervillain sprinkling bombs and wearing shades in homage to the salt-sprinkling meme [Salt Bae](). ![]() *The hardest choices require the strongest paint jobs, Papa Thanos always said.* Sick paint jobs aren’t exactly new to U.S. Air Force F-15s, according to The War Zone, which [first reported]() the Halloween nose art. In July, The War Zone reported the Kadena-based [44th Fighter Squadron]() sporting swaggery bold-lettered names like “CHAOS” and “NIGHTTRAIN” alongside images of spooky skulls. Still, the 492nd appears to have outdone the 44th in terms of scale: there were 14 separate villain nose arts featured in the Facebook post, more than four times the number featured on 44th's aircraft. ![]() *"Luke, I am your father's favorite air superiority platform." -- Darth Vader.* Besides the villains already mentioned, the others include Harley Quinn, Darth Vader, Rita Repulsa, and Ray Finkle from *Ace Ventura: Pet Detective*. Notably, the Green Goblin is featured riding not his typical Goblin Glider, but a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) precision-guided bomb. “Would look good as a patch,” commented multiple Facebook users. There are also real-life baddies and notorious characters such as Vlad the Impaler, Pablo Escobar, Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, and Joe Exotic from *Tiger King* fame. Oddly enough, photos of the latter three were taken off the 492nd’s Facebook page at some point after The War Zone first reported the story, but Task & Purpose is re-posting them here. The 492nd returned to its U.K. base earlier this month after a six-month rotation at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. Like the 44th, the paint jobs may have been applied while the squadron was downrange, as The War Zone reported. Strike Eagles like the ones flown by the 492nd saw heavy action fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria, where they also shot down Iranian drones and supported the Delta Force raid on ISIS founder Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. Keep up the good work and the sick paint jobs, Kestrels. Happy Halloween! ***Related: [11 amazing F-16 paint jobs in honor of the Air Force birthday]()*** ## Author David Roza writes scripts about military news for the Task & Purpose YouTube channel, and he also writes articles about military pay, benefits, health care, child care, culture, and other personnel topics on a freelance basis. Roza previously covered the Air Force and Space Force for Task & Purpose from 2019 to 2023 and for Air & Space Forces Magazine from 2023 to 2025. In the course of that reporting, he has set off a ‘Hollywood explosion’ with Air Force bomb techs, turned the (unarmed) keys of a nuclear missile bunker, hovered over the Nevada desert on an Air Force rescue helicopter, and got the best sleep of his life on the floor of a C-17 over the central Pacific. Share tips and story ideas with David at [david.roza@teamrecurrent.io]()