D-088 F-4 Phantom "Black Bunny"

Dating back to 1950s, the bunny design on the tail of aircraft has come to represent the tradition and spirit of Naval Aviation.

According to US Navy lore, the first rabbit appeared on the black F-4 Phantom II in 1969 during night testing and was referred to either as “Black Bunny” or “Vandy One”.

That same year, Playboy Enterprises bought a black Douglas DC-9 known as the  “Big Bunny”. Shortly after this, a famous picture started to circulate featuring the Navy’s “Black Bunny” at NAS Point Mugu, CA in October 1971. The squadron received a letter from Playboy Enterprises, Inc stating that the bunny head was unofficial and warned of potential legal action. However, Playboy Enterprises stated no legal action would be taken if the squadron used an official Playboy stencil to ensure authenticity and accuracy. Thereafter official stencils were delivered to the Navy to match Playboy’s own design.

Scales 1:48 & 1:72