An oldie but a goody for people who love the sound of corncob round motors. Critical Mass, a Hawker Sea Fury air racer, starts its new zero time engine for the first time.
Mario's faithful plane in Super Mario Land and Mario & Wario! The faithful Sky Pop, a monowing propeller plane that's banana yellow. The original art for the Sky Pop is the most cartoon idea of a plane, just something vaguely plane shape. Perfect for a cartoony character like Mario that's compacted on the small, lime-colored screen of the OG brick, but not for me, the casual airplane enjoyer who loves hearing people blabber on and on about aerospace mechanics.
So, I decided to revisit my childhood and question "if Mario has a pilot's license, then what type of plane is the Sky Pop?" I don't know a lot of planes that fits the description to a tee - I'm sure there's PLENTY of monowing propeller planes to choose from, but I went with the first thing I found on google when I punched that in: the Hawker Sea Fury. Then I painted it the Sky Pop's colors, giving it a handful of artistic licenses, gave it a background of the Mushroom Kingdom landscape, and added a Mario.
Now, why is Mario, a Japanese character who is an Italian-Mario plumber from Brooklyn, doing flying a British Plane?
That's a good question. And I don't have an answer. :P Again, could of picked another plane, but didn't and was married to the idea of the Hawker Sea Fury, so here we are.
Wallpaper #226 by Laurent Quérité
Via Flickr:
F-AZXJ / 37733 - Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 Meeting Aérien Airshow Pilote : Patrice Marchasson Le Temps des hélices LFFQ La Ferté Alais France IMG_7709
WH589 / G-AGHB, Hawker Sea Fury FB.11, Duxford, 29-06-1975 by Gordon Riley
Via Flickr:
Ormond Haydon-Baillie holding the Sea Fury low over the Duxford runway as he retracts the gear before pulling up into a climb.