Did Playboy lead the way?

The tail lights were developed by the DeVore Corp. and called “Tel-Tails”.
They are now standard on Boeings…and perhaps Airbus.

They provide for the operators…and they are a recognized safety aid improving visibility for flight crews and ground controllers.

Here’s a link:

http://www.devoreaviation.com/products.htm

McDonnell Douglas delivered that DC-9-30 to Playboy Enterprises back in November of 1969.

curlyboy,
I don’t think you read my post correctly.
It’s the bunny head logo on the pic of the tail you posted which I said was similar to the Phantom Black Bunny logo.
I couldn’t make out what was on the fin of the Blackbird in the F-4/Blackbird pic and acknowledged that this was not the jet in your previous picture.

Anon.

My bad they are similar but what i was just pointing out is the sign on the blackbird is for the skunk works but at least that blackbird is preserved (with the skunk works symbol still applied).

Blackbirds seem to have had lots of tail art where the black bunny phantom was pretty unique.

A better pic of the skunk can be found here

http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/tail001.html

curlyboy

Found this film of the big bunny,on the ground and in flight with interior footage of the gadgets and air Bunnies

http://www.takeofftube.com/view/1442/rare-big-bunny-playboy-jet-clip/

According to the text

A regular DC-9 jetliner can carry 115 passengers; Hefner’s will seat 50 and sleep 15—or maybe 16, if there are two in the elliptical bed in Hef’s own compartment. The compartment, which also boasts a stereo console, a movie screen and a step-down Roman bath, is reached through a special entrance in the underside of the plane.

Near the end of the clip you see the Big Bunny in flight at night with the illuminated tail

curlyboy,
I don’t think you read my post correctly.
It’s the bunny head logo on the pic of the tail you posted which I said was similar to the Phantom Black Bunny logo.
I couldn’t make out what was on the fin of the Blackbird in the F-4/Blackbird pic and acknowledged that this was not the jet in your previous picture.

Anon.

Apologies for diverging off-thread again but curlyboy’s pic has raised a point for me.
Here’s an early pic of the Phantom “Black Bunny”, as she was referred to, in compay with one of Edwards’ Blackbirds.
The Blackbird isn’t the one referred to in curlyboy’s post but note the bunny’s head on the fin of that Blackbird and compare it with the one on the Phantom in the photo. It’s an earlier “squashed” style rendition which was only ever seen on the Bunny Phantom.
I believe this to be the simplified outline which was used before permission came from Hefner’s lawyers to use the full-face rounded bunny logo, as seen on the DC-9.
Seems like the Air Force guys at Edwards wanted their own Black Bunny – possibly after doing the air-to-air with the USN Black Bunny F-4? Anything for another publicity shot, I suppose?

Anon.

The picture on the tail of the blackbird is the image for the skunk works as it is a picture of a skunk and the aircraft ‘955’ was the test blackbird for many years and kept by the skunk works for this purpose, they were both based at Edwards as well for a period i think which is why there was a photo op.

curlyboy

Bunny Blackbird

Apologies for diverging off-thread again but curlyboy’s pic has raised a point for me.
Here’s an early pic of the Phantom “Black Bunny”, as she was referred to, in compay with one of Edwards’ Blackbirds.
The Blackbird isn’t the one referred to in curlyboy’s post but note the bunny’s head on the fin of that Blackbird and compare it with the one on the Phantom in the photo. It’s an earlier “squashed” style rendition which was only ever seen on the Bunny Phantom.
I believe this to be the simplified outline which was used before permission came from Hefner’s lawyers to use the full-face rounded bunny logo, as seen on the DC-9.
Seems like the Air Force guys at Edwards wanted their own Black Bunny – possibly after doing the air-to-air with the USN Black Bunny F-4? Anything for another publicity shot, I suppose?

Anon.

SR-71 64-17978 operated with a legal playboy bunny for a while the bunny was apparently approved by Hef himself, but the aircraft was lost in a landing accident in 1972, would have been funny to have seen it in a museum though.

http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/tail042.jpg

curlyboy

The Big Bunny

Anyone remember the original Black Bunny Phantom (153783)?
This had the Playboy bunny logo on the fin just like Hefner’s around the same time. Apparently the idea of some wag at VX-4 Point Mugu, CA as they had the F-4 painted up in gloss black to test the scheme in visibility trials.
They didn’t illuminate the logo on the fin though but it was so unusual photos of it were widely published.

Pic attached (hopefully)

Bare-faced plug time:
The RAF ended up with this jet (ZE352) as one of their F-4J(UK)’s with 74 squadron. The preserved cockpit section is at the RAF Millom Museum.

Our 1-11s had fin lights in the late 1960s.

Bri 😀

Some pictures and more information on Big Bunny.

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=49567&highlight=Big+Bunny

N950PB, XA-JEB is derelict and has been parted out at Miguel Hidal airport, MX.

We’ve all seen today’s aloominium toobs (aka airliners, be they of the Hairbus or Boewing flavour) with lights illuminating their tails – it is such a common sight, we barely notice it. This is often through to be done for A; a way for the publicity department to get some cheap advertising or B; a method for the Driver and Slave to discover which one is the one they SHOULD be flying!

This started me thinking – when did this first happen? As usual, I discovered an ‘answer’ of a kind when I was looking for something else – and, unless anyone knows differently, it’s a bit of a surprise!

The first recorded instance of this I have been able to discover was back in October 1970 in a report about the highly modified McDonnell DC-9-30 N950PB called ‘The Big Bunny’ and owned by the Playboy Corporation and operated for them by Purdue Airlines Inc of LaFayette, Indiana with three Jet Bunnies looking after passengers needs. The all gloss-black aircraft with a huge Playboy logo on the fin in white was, it seems, very much ‘one of a kind’ being modified to Corporate President Hugh Hefner’s requirements by Pacific Airmotive Corp in Burbank California. Apart from a luxurious corporate interior it had a very comprehensive flight deck, supplemental fuel tanks in the wings and fuselage making it the longest-range DC-9 then in existence, and, and I quote: ‘ Seventy-five thousand candlepower lights are installed in the trailing edge of the wingtips to illuminate the rabbit head of The Big Bunny. Aviation experts report that the system greatly enhances aircraft identification and may be the forerunner of future aircraft lighting requirements’.

Was this the first – or was there something earlier?

There was an article about the Playboy DC-9 in an early issue of Aircraft Illustrated, (I’m not climbing in the loft again!). IIRC the article said that this was the first use of the system and that several airlines were interested in taking it up.

I’m pretty sure i’ve seen picture of aircraft with logo lights pre dating 1970.
The Tristar has them as standard and that first flew in 1970, with design work obviously predating that by a few years.