Silver biplanes
Discussion
Dr Jekyll said:
Why did the RAF paint their fighters silver until the mid 30s, then suddenly change to camouflage? Was it just that until then it was assumed they wouldn't fight anyone who had their own airforce?
The WW1 aircraft were found painted green and brown ... okay, technically that is before there was an RAF I know. But it does hint at your supposition.Dr Jekyll said:
Why did the RAF paint their fighters silver until the mid 30s, then suddenly change to camouflage? Was it just that until then it was assumed they wouldn't fight anyone who had their own airforce?
The best flying club in the world phrase hints at the fact that bright coloured squadron markings and silver dope finish at Hendon Air Pagents etc., it was viewed that another war wasn't likely. Apart from minor colonial skirmishing in the various still 'pink' parts of the world maps, it was a peacetime jolly japes flying club.Cloth covered aircraft need to be "doped" in order to tauten the cloth and protect it from ultra-violet induced deterioration.
At the start of World War 1, most aircraft were doped (as they had been since the first aeroplane in 1903) in a clear dope which more or less allowed the original linen cloth colour to show through.
As the war progressed, most of the fighting powers decided that coloured dopes needed to be used either to enhance camouflage or (in the case of the Germans) to make the aircraft more obvious. Royal Flying Corps (RFC), Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and later RAF aircraft tended to have a khaki brown type scheme on the top and sides and the undersides left clear doped.
After WW1, these colours remained more or less but as replacement aircraft came along in the 1920s, it was decided that painting the aircraft in an aluminium oxide based dope was better because it was decided that being able to see and identify an aircraft was more important in peacetime than hiding it. As a result, the airframes were painted silver, carried large and colourful squadron markings and also carried large serial numbers.
From 1938 on, especially starting around the the time of the Munich Crisis, camouflage began to be applied to RAF and Royal Navy (Fleet Air Arm) aeroplanes again.
At the start of World War 1, most aircraft were doped (as they had been since the first aeroplane in 1903) in a clear dope which more or less allowed the original linen cloth colour to show through.
As the war progressed, most of the fighting powers decided that coloured dopes needed to be used either to enhance camouflage or (in the case of the Germans) to make the aircraft more obvious. Royal Flying Corps (RFC), Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and later RAF aircraft tended to have a khaki brown type scheme on the top and sides and the undersides left clear doped.
After WW1, these colours remained more or less but as replacement aircraft came along in the 1920s, it was decided that painting the aircraft in an aluminium oxide based dope was better because it was decided that being able to see and identify an aircraft was more important in peacetime than hiding it. As a result, the airframes were painted silver, carried large and colourful squadron markings and also carried large serial numbers.
From 1938 on, especially starting around the the time of the Munich Crisis, camouflage began to be applied to RAF and Royal Navy (Fleet Air Arm) aeroplanes again.
Eric Mc said:
it was decided that painting the aircraft in an aluminium oxide based dope was better because it was decided that being able to see and identify an aircraft was more important in peacetime than hiding it.
It had nothing to do with making the aircraft more visible. It was purely a maintenance issue.The aluminium oxide that gave the silver colour was added to dope because the standard nitrate and butyrate dopes gave neglible protection against UV, either to the fabric itself or to underlying components.
In wartime, when the life expectancy of both pilots and the aircraft they flew was measured in days, the fact that your fabric degrades after a couple of years becomes pretty much irrelevant.
Certainly other air forces went down the "high viz" route in that period. In the US both the army and navy had all their aircraft wings painted bright yellow.
And even if the silver dope on British aircraft wasn't specifically in itself a high viz feature, the large, bright and prominent markings on the RAF and Fleet Air Arm aircraft were all about being visible and identifiable. The serials often took up one whole wing so that they could be readable from the ground.
And even if the silver dope on British aircraft wasn't specifically in itself a high viz feature, the large, bright and prominent markings on the RAF and Fleet Air Arm aircraft were all about being visible and identifiable. The serials often took up one whole wing so that they could be readable from the ground.
Eric Mc said:
Certainly other air forces went down the "high viz" route in that period. In the US both the army and navy had all their aircraft wings painted bright yellow.
The yellow and blue would still have had the silver uv undercoat.Silver isn't a particularly prominent colour for an aircraft anyway (almost the opposite) so Id be surprised if that was the reason for leaving the aircraft in that state. More likely cost and weight saving combined with there being no particular need to overcoat it at all at that stage.
I wouldn't dispute the other 'hi viz' elements for identification purposes, but the fact remains that silver dope was there purely and simply for UV protection of the fabric.
Most commercial aircraft, flying boats and airships of the period were silver for the same reason (only more so, as maintenance replacement of the fabric on a Zeppelin was not a job to be taken lightly). You can hardly argue that you needed to make an 800 foot long airship that lumbers along at 85mph flat out a bit more conspicuous in case people didn't spot it.
If it was about 'high viz' or type identification, they'd have painted them yellow (as they did with trainers) or fire engine red, or something. Silver doesn't help with identification, the way that squadron colours or large serial numbers do, if all your aircraft are painted silver. With front-line combat aircraft, it was simply a matter that to add any other colour on top of the silver-doped fabric was unnecessary extra weight, cost and maintenance, when concealment from the enemy wasn't a primary consideration.
Most commercial aircraft, flying boats and airships of the period were silver for the same reason (only more so, as maintenance replacement of the fabric on a Zeppelin was not a job to be taken lightly). You can hardly argue that you needed to make an 800 foot long airship that lumbers along at 85mph flat out a bit more conspicuous in case people didn't spot it.
If it was about 'high viz' or type identification, they'd have painted them yellow (as they did with trainers) or fire engine red, or something. Silver doesn't help with identification, the way that squadron colours or large serial numbers do, if all your aircraft are painted silver. With front-line combat aircraft, it was simply a matter that to add any other colour on top of the silver-doped fabric was unnecessary extra weight, cost and maintenance, when concealment from the enemy wasn't a primary consideration.
I suspect that at the time of the early jets there was some carry-over from the last days of WWII when bombers stopped being painted (e.g. look at the B-29s) because they flew faster without paint; had air superiority; could be spotted from the contrails anyway.
Add in the belief that keeps coming around that it wasn't possible to dogfight in a jet and the only way you'd be spotted was on radar and I imagine the conclusion would be to leave them unpainted.
Probably a bit of "anti-flash" nuclear thinking in there, together with the idea that the jets would be flying so high camouflage was pointless.
Once you go to war all the armchair thinking seems to evaporate though : http://www.boeingimages.com/archive/F-86F-Sabre-Je...
Add in the belief that keeps coming around that it wasn't possible to dogfight in a jet and the only way you'd be spotted was on radar and I imagine the conclusion would be to leave them unpainted.
Probably a bit of "anti-flash" nuclear thinking in there, together with the idea that the jets would be flying so high camouflage was pointless.
Once you go to war all the armchair thinking seems to evaporate though : http://www.boeingimages.com/archive/F-86F-Sabre-Je...
In the post World War 2 era, it was decided in many countries that the need for camouflage was diminished and many aircraft either remained unpainted (especially in the US and the Soviet Union) but in the UK they were often painted in a special Silver Paint called High Speed Silver.
With the demise of camouflage, we also saw a return to more colourful markings - especially in the US.
By the mid 50s, the RAF had started camouflaging again (usually in grey and green) but tended to keep the underside of their fighters silver.
In the US camouflage made a return as the USAF committed more and more aircraft to the war in Vietnam.
Throughout these years, ship based aircraft were generally camouflaged/painted. Because of the tough conditions found on board a ship at sea, an unpainted or unprotected aircraft would rapidly start to suffer corrosion and wear. Despite this, US Navy aircraft still carried very colourful unit markings.
By the 1980s low vis greys had become the norm and that is more or less where we are today for front line aircraft.
With the demise of camouflage, we also saw a return to more colourful markings - especially in the US.
By the mid 50s, the RAF had started camouflaging again (usually in grey and green) but tended to keep the underside of their fighters silver.
In the US camouflage made a return as the USAF committed more and more aircraft to the war in Vietnam.
Throughout these years, ship based aircraft were generally camouflaged/painted. Because of the tough conditions found on board a ship at sea, an unpainted or unprotected aircraft would rapidly start to suffer corrosion and wear. Despite this, US Navy aircraft still carried very colourful unit markings.
By the 1980s low vis greys had become the norm and that is more or less where we are today for front line aircraft.
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