On September 29, 2007, I got the following message and photo from Joe Kline, aviation artist. I have included the photo at the bottom of this page.
Jim McD
Webmaster
======== Joe's note to me ========
Hi Jim-
I thought that I would send along a photo of my new print "Good Vibrations" done up
in 174th Dolphin markings. More info can be found at www.joekline.com.
Best Regards,
Joe Kline
Joe Kline Aviation Art
Gilroy, CA
============ My Reply to Joe ===============
Hello Joe,
GREAT PAINTING! You continue to impress me with each painting you produce. Thanks for the 174th nose art.
Awesome! I wish to place my order right now for one of these. If you wish to sell the one you've included
a photo of, I'll take that one. If not, personalize one for me just like it. The tail boom stripes and the
door markings are perfect. I like the fact you can "almost see" the Dolphin on the ship in the LZ too. The
name is most appropriate too, "Good Vibrations." Let me know the price and I'll get a check off to you.
My copies of Shark 165 "Have Guns - Will Travel" and Dolphin 946 "Riders on the Storm" still occupy places
of Honor in my office.
I am going to forward your message with photo of the print to our 174th AHC listserver that has 300 or so
former 174th members on it. I'm sure they'll like to see your work.
FLIGHT ..., if you're not familiar with Joe Kline's work, see his photo below. Joe is a slick crew chief
turned professional artist. He paints an original piece of art and has 1,000 copies printed of it. Each
original painting is "generic" without unit identification. He then will customize each order as you like
it with nose art, unit markings, etc. He will even change the gun systems on the one of Charlie models
("Have Guns - Will Travel") to suit your ship. I have print #2 of Shark 165 (Joe always keeps print #1).
They are good sized too, approximately 2 feet by 18 inches. When placed in a matted frame, they'll
"dominate" your den or study.
If you order one of these through his web site, be sure and tell him the specifics of what you want,
especially the color of the scarf on the Dolphin, whether the horizontal stab was OD or orange on top,
etc. This one is from my period (1967) and is a replication of Richard Machina's first dolphin nose
art (actually all the first batch looked very similar -- later versions got more creative). If you
provide him photos of your Dolphin nose art variation, such as Pennington's drunk-ass Dolphin, he
can replicate your version. I'm not a pimp for Joe here, but I think his work is tremendous and his
prices are very reasonable. I won't say what they are here as they may have changed since I last
ordered one, but they are indeed reasonably priced.
(NOTE: in a follow-up e-mail, Joe told me he still charges the same price he has for several years
now, and that's only $125 for the print customized with the unit markings of your choice. This is a really good deal
for a quality customized print of an original painting. This will make the fifth painting I have of Joe's.)
Take care all. Look forward to the next reunion.
Jim McD.
Webmaster
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