Was this to make an easier target for the Allied powers [LOL] or an aid for easy visual recognition for their own side.!!
To me, to paint large areas of yellow of an aircraft is saying “here I am shoot me.”
I know the German Navy painted some warship turrets yellow or red to aid recognition from the air , so maybe something similar here with this… Comments welcome.
Also can anyone recomment good web sites for photo archives of allied and axis aircraft. THX.
it was indeed a visual aid. Just like the d-day stripes on allied aircraft.
By the way, since aircraft are machines, they cannot have a political preference. Therefore there are no nazi planes but German planes
Yellow was used in Europe, white in North Africa. The Allies also used such markings for recognition. The RAF introduced sky bands around the fuselage and sky spinners and yellow leading edges to the wings to make it easier to tell freind from foe when head on. The allies had few radial engined fighters in Europe so P 47s had white bands painted on them so they would not be mistaken for Fw 190s. The P 51’s wings are similar in shape to a Me 109s and when they first appeared were often mistaken for them. White bands soon appeared on Mustangs as well. The Me 262 was an easy target when landing so Fw 190s were used to protect them. These Fw 190s had very garish schemes painted on the undersides to stop them being downed by their own flak. The black and white D-Day stripes were derived from similar markings used on Hawker Typhoons. They were also mistaken for Fw 190s when they first came into service.
www.ww2images.com (have to pay)
Don’t forget the “redtails” [:)]
I’ve had the same thoughts about the Luftwaffe aircraft. While I know it was for recognition purposes, the bright yellow noses on many 109’s really does seem to defeat the purpose of camo.
Regards, Rick
Don’t forget the Reich Defense bands,behind the spinner and the aft fuselage.KG 200 was the unit with the B-17 and P-51 painted yellow on the bottoms?
Perhaps the bright yellow nose is camo. The German pilots had a preference for head on, out of the sun attacks, so maybe the bright yellow worked as camo in those circumstances, while serving a dual purpose. The bright yellow would also alert the other Germans who would be viewing the aircraft from the side.
Or, just maybe, the bright yellow was a “we’re here and just what are you going to do about it?” snap of the fingers to the opposing forces.
I think warplanes by nature are a very political statement.
Another color scheme that fooled me for ages was the RAF underside of half black, half white.For
years I wondered what kind of camoflage was that?? Then Graham Tarant told me!! Identification!!
Duh!
TEise
As well as the P-47 Thunderbolts that hade huge “extra” insignias painted on the lower left wing as well as white or red stripes on the tailplanes depending on whether the plane was painted or left natural aluminum.
Tom T [C):-)]
The yellow under the wings and around the rear fuselage indicated an aircraft being operated on the Eastern front. All the Axis powers operating aircraft on the Eastern Front ( Germany, Finland, Hungary, Romania, Italy etc) used these markings to aid in quick identification of friendly aircraft (White was used in the MTO and North Africa). Yellow noses were used as an identifier on the Western Front (The Abbeville Kids), the Balkan campaigns, occasionaly by units on the Eastern Front and late in the war, aircraft assigned to Defense of the Reich units.
In addition, the Luftwaffe painted the complete undersurfaces yellow on captured enemy aircraft being tested (B-17, B-24, Short Stirling, P-38, P-47, P-51) and trainer aircraft. This was to identify them as German operated aircraft and you were to stay away from them (The British did the same thing with their prototype aircraft and trainers).
It’s been awhile since I read Pierre Clostermann’s The Big Show, but I distinctly remember him commenting at one point that a certain staffel commander was easily recognizable because he always led his squadrom of Bf109s in a FW190 painted totally yellow.
Using that line of thinking, wouldn’t it be fair to say that since aircraft are machines, they can’t have a nationality, either?
-Jonathan
Thanks for your comments. Thought something like that. It seemed so simple after the first few postings - now it appears to have a lot more to it.You could almost write a book on it. Suppose someone already has ! Bit like life I suppose.[:D]
Did the shade of yellow vary or was it a standard colour?
No, that’s not the case. They are German, because they originate from Germany.
Just like Swiss Chookoo clocks and Swedish meatballs. [:)]
Considering the livery of the aircraft, and their use during the time period the vast majority of us model them, I would say that the aircraft are Nazi, not just German.
I will repeat: A warbird is by it’s nature a political statement.
I really don’t see how a machine can be a political statment.
But let’s just keep it at: we agree that we disagree
I wouldn’t say that, the vast majority of the German people were NOT nazis, despite of what most people think. Most of them were soldiers because they were drafted.
Especially amongst the Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine there were a lot of ANTI-nazi officers, the best example may be the case of the Bismarck’s captain, nobody could ever accuse him of being a nazi, since he was from Jewish orrigine, I believe it was his mother who was Jewish.
Knowing that, calling the Bismarck a nazi ship gets a strange angle doesn’t it ?
Indeed they are. While it would certainly not be incorrect to call them German, they are most definitely Nazi.
When that machine flies over your capital bombing it just before the ground troops assault your city.
When a battleship is anchored off your territorial limits with it’s guns trained on your shore.
When the tanks amass on your border.
I’d say that makes a pretty darn big political statement.
The machine’s primary role is to deal death out to your enemies, and is dressed in the livery of your country’s armed forces, draped with your flag. How can it not be political?
When you see film footage of thousands of cheering men, women and children saluting der Fuhrer and shouting “Lead us!”, it is hard to imagine that they all weren’t Nazis. I know they all weren’t, but if they wore the uniform, how can you tell them apart? They, and the aircraft, wore the Nazi symbol. What else would you call them?
Hitler’s mother was also Jewish, so what does that prove?