…what does it mean for the yellow band at front edge of the RAF wing and tail, like my Vicker wellington ? Or the black front edge of my RAF Catalina II’s wing and tail ?
I can’t give you anything on the yellow, but the black is the rubber de-icing boot.
Thank you sir
I believe the yellow leading edge on some RAF aircraft was an identification aid to prevent/reduce confusion with enemy aircraft.
Yeah, try to tell a spitfire from a messerschmidt at 650 knots closure on your nose. Visual aids are key.
But I never noticed these on a bomber. Interesting indeed.
Its definately for identification. In the Pacific theater, it was the Japanese who used yellow on their leading edges. Im not sure but would guess the RAF didn`t use yellow ID markings in the PTO and also did away with the center red roundel so as not to be mistaken as a Japanese “meatball” and avoid taking a little friendly fire.
it sounds reasonably to put yellow front edge on RAF wing avoiding firing their friends
Definetly for ID purposes. At 650 knots plus by the time you see the other guy and the time you have to identify him it probally leaves you about 2 or 3 second to shoot him before he shoots you. idetification of aircraft was a huge problem in WWII. Flying fast enough for quick closer speeds but no IDF like today to give you a clue as to what is coming at you. That is why you see all of these carefully camo’ed planes with bright yellow noses or huge stripes on the wings. and colorfull national insignias on the wings and fuselage. There were probally more freindly fire incidents during WWII on all side than there were in al of the other wars combined. WWII Ameican bomber gunners were notorious for shooting at anything that came near the bombers.
Soulcrusher[oX)]
It’s seem to be “Fiends or foes” game.
Soulcrusher, The US Navy had IFF transponders in their aircraft as far back as the Marianas Turkey Shoot. They didnt work as well as they do today, naturally, but it worked well enough to thwart many Japanese air assaults on the fleet. I really wasnt aware that the RAF used yellow leading edge markings on their aircraft. To be honest, the only planes that Ive seen with leading edge markings like that were Japanese.I`ve built lots of Japanese aircraft kits and probably 90% have these markings. Take care…Len
Here’s two well-documented examples of British yellow ID markings…notice that on the Typhoon the yellow markings were even suplemented with white and black ID bands, as well as both having white bands on their tails:
Manstein- The 3rd picture from the top is similar to the Japanese aircraft I was refering to. The only difference is where the yellow is on the leading edge. All the IJN/A aircraft Im familiar with have the yellow starting from the fuselage/wingroot out past the wing mounted machine guns.I guess the RAF usually put it out near the wingtips? I can honestly say that thats the 1st time Ive seen yellow leading edge markings on an Allied fighter. But then again..Im a splicer for the phone company and not a historian…lol! Take Care, Len
i never knew that. Cool info to know. From some of the interviews of some Vietnam pilots I have watched it was not foolproof even in the high tech fighters of that era. Because of that they still had to get a visual before firing. It drove them nuts because it forced them to fight the Mig’s fight. Instead of blasting them down BVR. I still thing they do not trust it 100% to this day and they still prefer visual confermation but at least they are pretty sure what is coming at them.
Soulcrusher[oX)]
It means that Johnnie Johnson could sit in a folding chair, Labrador at his ankles and tell the dopies how to paint his a/c any old way he wanted. Didn’t want his war to end in a head on while landing. Nicest Mark 9, Manny.
Tiffy I don’t know. “Doreen”? ehh?
Wrong; like all RAF personnel, Johnson did as he was told. If you think that a Squadron Leader/Wing Commander/Group Captain has time to sit on his backside all day, while others do all of the running around for him, you have a lot to learn. Due to his rank, he could have his initials painted on his Spitfire(s,) which he did, and he was one of the first to have his IX converted from “C” armament to “E.”
The yellow band was for fighters only, supposed to be 4" wide, and to start from the mid-point of the wing’s leading edge; the order for the change (which included the change to Ocean Grey uppers, and Sea Grey Medium underneath) was made on 15-8-41. The tail-band was Sky (not white) same as the spinner, and was also introduced in 1941. Some wartime paint was little better than whitewash, in quality, and the Sky often faded to almost white; there’s also evidence that white did get used, at times, due to a shortage of Sky. The band was painted out from 1-1-45, usually with Ocean Grey, with the spinner going black; this was to avoid the camouflage being compromised when the a/c were on the ground on European airfields. Oddly, though, around the same time, the upper wing roundel had a thin white band added, making it similar to the fuselage roundel. At the end of the war, it, too, had a yellow outer ring added.
Edgar
Spiffing work on those ‘kites’, old boy! [4:-)]
.
A little info about the Tiffy:
.
Because of it’s alleged sillouette similarity to the FW190(?), It was vulnerable to frendly fire, to put it mildly, so it was painted with ASYMETRICAL black/white stripes underneath.
These preceded the D-Day even stripes considerably.
The yellow above wing stripe was not carried by all birds & was specific to colour schemas.
.
I’m still researching the Tiffy for my Hase Bubbletop
MR, it has been such a long time since you’ve posted your aircraft that I had almost forgotten how nice they are. Thanks for their guest appearance.
She was a pretty young lass…met her in '46 while in a prison camp for high-ranking German officers in Scotland…she was a nurse in the infirmary…
The RAF fighters in SEAC usually had white bands around the wings, horizontal and vertical stabilizers.
Australian fighters had the entire wing leading edge painted white and the whole tail area painted white.
It didn’t help any that the Luftwaffe was fond of yellow noses and rudders also.[:-^]
Tom T [C):-)]