- by Dianna Lopez
Meet the PlaneTags Collector: Jim Emerson
- by Dianna Lopez
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At MotoArt we love the planes, the PlaneTags, and especially the PlaneTags collectors. There’s something special about meeting a fellow collector and learning more about them and their collection. Meet Jim Emerson, a long time collector, customer, and friend of MotoArt PlaneTags.

Name: Jim Emerson
Location: Torrance, California (originally from Van Nuys , California)
Why do you love aviation? My parents always went to airshows and I grew up around airplanes, built model kits, watched movies involving aviation, and made friends with the same interest. My dad was a freelance photographer for the Daily News Greensheet Newspaper in the San Fernando Valley, and for Popular Mechanics Magazine. I became and still am an Airport bum.
First PlaneTag(s): April 17 2019 - an SR-71 and 2 DC-3 Tags. Hooked ever since!
Favorite PlaneTag and why: My favorite tag is the A-20 Havoc due to every time I would see it out at Fox Field I’d dream of rescuing it or knowing that it would be rescued and it had. My personal attached history with it makes it my favorite.
Dream PlaneTag: A very tough question. My dream PlaneTag would be the P-61 Black Widow. Being so late in the war and such a specialized aircraft.
How many PlaneTags: I don’t even know how many tags I have, I am embarrassed to say. I’m sure I have at least a couple hundred tags. And I’ve given almost 50 away as gifts.
Jim shared some photos and videos with us, showing his large collection of PlaneTags, MotoArt memorabilia, and lots of aviation history. As you can see, Jim sometimes pairs his PlaneTags with other aircraft memorabilia to create a one of a kind display.






Jim belongs to the MotoArt Planetags Collections Facebook group. It is run by a dedicated band of moderators and supported by a fantastic group of collectors. They share photos, news, rumors, have auctions, sales and trades and compare their collections. Although it isn't run by MotoArt PlaneTags, the group does get access to perks not found elsewhere. Join today!
We love seeing your PlaneTags collection. Tag us on social media with #planetags or #showusyourplanetags.
The Airbus A330 That Helped Take Azul Beyond Brazil
The aircraft operated its final passenger flights for Azul before being retired from service and placed into storage. Like many widebody aircraft retired in recent years, its future was uncertain. For many airliners, retirement marks the beginning of a slow journey toward dismantling and recycling, with little remaining to tell the stories of the passengers and crews who flew aboard them. For PR-AIU, however, the story was not over.
When MotoArt founder Dave Hall learned the aircraft had been retired, he recognized an opportunity to preserve a piece of an important chapter in commercial aviation history. Rather than allowing the aircraft to disappear entirely, Hall and the PlaneTags team traveled to inspect and acquire material from the retired Airbus A330, ensuring that part of the aircraft would survive long after its flying days had ended.
Three Identities, One Aircraft: The Story of MH-47G 05-03761
Some aircraft serve a single role throughout their careers. Others evolve with the times.
MH-47G Chinook 05-03761 is one of the rare aircraft that spent decades transforming alongside the U.S. Army itself. What began life as a CH-47A Chinook during the Vietnam era would later be rebuilt into a CH-47D before ultimately becoming an MH-47G, one of the world's most capable special operations helicopters.
Grumman OV-1D Mohawk: The U.S. Army's Battlefield Eye in the Sky
The Grumman OV-1 Mohawk was one of the most capable and technologically advanced reconnaissance aircraft operated by the U.S. Army during the Cold War. Designed to gather intelligence close to the front lines, the Mohawk combined short takeoff and landing performance with sophisticated sensor systems that allowed it to detect and monitor activity on the ground in nearly any weather conditions.
At a time when battlefield commanders increasingly relied on timely intelligence, the Mohawk provided information that could not always be obtained through traditional observation methods. Equipped with infrared sensors, cameras, and side-looking airborne radar systems, it helped military planners track troop movements, monitor supply routes, and identify potential threats day or night.
Over a service life that spanned more than three decades, the Mohawk flew missions in Vietnam, served with Army intelligence units in Europe during the height of the Cold War, and helped pioneer many of the airborne surveillance techniques that later became standard throughout the military.
Today, PlaneTags made from OV-1D Mohawk serial number 62-5902 preserve the legacy of an aircraft that played a critical role in military reconnaissance during a period of rapid technological change.


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