Anyone know why the leading edges of wings on so many Spitfires and Hurricanes (and others) were painted yellow? And what was the red around the gun ports for? I’ve always painted it on- never knew it’s purpose, though.
My guess would be for identification at long distances. Where it may be difficult to tell if it is coming or going.
I can’t speak to the yellow, but I do know about the red over the gun ports. Back in the days of iron men and fabric, wood and (some) metal planes, the ever-tidy British got in the habit of putting a fresh strip of canvas over the gun muzzels to keep out dirt, dust, grass and other nasties because they had few paved airfields. The canvas was held on with airplane dope (glue to the rest of us) that dried a reddish color.
The Yellow wing leading edges was for identification. The red canvass or tape covering on the gun openings also alerted ground crews to possible weapon malfunction.
Regards, Rick
LOL… camo the whole bird to not be seen, then paint a yeller stripe on it. [;)] Something tells me a committee was involved…
Thanks for the info!
The yellow (and other colors) was used for identification purposes. The theory behind the camouflage was to make the planes much harder to see from a distance, hence the sky colors on the bottoms, camo on the tops. The yellow on the leading edges (and nose and tails on German Aircraft) was so that once you got close enough to fire, you’d see the yellow and realize it was a friendly and wouldn’t shoot them down.
As stated the yellow was for for ID. Primarily for a head on pass in the middle of a dogfight.
After the Battle of Britain the RAF increased its operations over the mainland Europe. The Green/Dark Earth/Sky camouflage (Day Fighter Scheme) used at the time was no longer found to be suitable for those operations. Experiments were carried out to find a better alternative and the Air Ministry issued orders that the new scheme be introduced gradually as and when convenient after the 15th August 1941. Ocean Grey replaced Dark Earth and Medium Sea Grey replaced Sky on the undersurfaces. Spinners were to be painted Sky and an 18 inch Sky band painted around the rear fuselage. Both for identification purposes. In addition a 4 inch yellow band was painted on outer wing leading edges to help pilots identify friend from foe while head-on. Squadron and individual letters were standardised at 24 inches and the colour changed to Sky (probably because MSG codes wouldn’t show up against Ocean Grey).
Because of friendly fire incidents chord-wise yellow bands were painted on Mustang Is and Typhoons for a time. However, in the case of Mustangs they were removed as it was felt it made them too conspicuous. They were taken off Typhoons after reports that FW 190s had been seen with similar yellow bands. 2 and 26 Squadrons painted their Mustang Is with yellow leading edges from the wingtip to wingroot.
Covering the gunports also kept out dirt and reduced drag. Red Dope was not glue. Its intended purpose was as a kind of primer used to make the fabric areas of aircraft stiff and air-proof before painting. It was also used to stick fabric patches over damaged areas. It had a distinct brown tinge, perhaps because it contained a lot of iron oxide.
Just as an FYI, the yellow wing stripes on RAF fighters were to extend from the wingtips for a distance of 8 feet.
I have copies of the original Air Ministry orders for 1944/45, well, all the back to 1939 actually.
AMO A.864/44 to AP2656A indicate that code letters are 48 inches in height, and are to be Sky for day fighters and intruders, Light Slate Gray for Coastal Command aircraft, and Dull Red for everything else, including night fighters, day bombers, training and transport aircraft, and photo recon aircraft.
In fact, going all the way back to AMO A.154/39 (April 27, 1939), the standardized codes were 48 inches in height with a stroke of 6 inches.
There were some exceptions and variations, as No.130 and 610 Squadrons (those are two I know off the top of my head) used shorter and thicker code letters.
The specific instructions for Mustangs and Typhoons are as follows. This is an amendment to AMO A.664/42, Section 4, Column 8:
A.1096 (F.O.6 dated 10/8/42): “Mustang aircraft will carry a yellow stripe 12 inches wide running across the upper and lower surfaces of each wing for and aft from the leading edge to the trailing edge, the outer edge of the stripe coinciding with the outer edge of the flap”.
A.1377 (F.O.6 dated 12/24/42): "Typhoon aircraft are specially marked as follows: –
(a) The undersurfaces port and starboard wings are painted with black stripes running fore and aft 12 inches wide and at intervals of 24 inches from the root of the wing to the inboard end of the aileron with the first black stripe situated at the wing root. The spaces between the black stripes on the under-surfaces of the wings are painted white, but from the outboard edge of the outer black stripes to the wing tips the undersurfaces remain gea gray medium."
Jeff
The patches, over the guns, were not red-doped, they were already coloured, and were clear-doped after fitting. Some, in the desert, were blue. The patches were an indication that the guns were loaded, and, probably, cocked, so keep off. If you can find the famous photo of VB ZD-F (although it appears as F-ZD,) it’s possible to see the dark area, around the patches, where the “erk” has been a touch over-generous with the dope. Regarding the yellow leading edges, head-on aircraft do not appear very large, and you need to make up your mind, pretty quickly, if it’s friendly. Apparently the Germans found it useful, too. Friendly anti-aircraft would need it, too, if aircraft are approaching.
Edgar Brooks
Wow- great info. Thanks to everyone!
everyone so far have discussed the yellow edges for the RAF, the JAAF also had yellow edges, were they for the same purpose?
Same purpose, but if I remember correctly, the length of the stripe was determined by dividing the wing, from the root to the tip, into thirds. The first two-thirds of the wing from te root outboard received the yellow stripe. If the aircraft was twin-engined, then the stripe stopped at the edge of the nacelle and continued on the other side. The width of the nacelle was factored into the overall length of the stripe.
Jeff
I am currently reading “Enemy in the Sky,” the Battle of Britain memoir of Air Vice Marshal Sandy Johnstone (at the time a squadron commander). He states that the red tape alerted ground crews as soon as they saw their aircraft on approach, that the guns had to be fired, and needed to be reloaded and serviced ASAP, since the aircraft during this time had to be fueled, rearmed, and turned around for another sortie within minutes, and every extra second the could give the ground crews for a heads up was critical. The red tape told the armorers to head for the turnaround area as soon as their plane was in the pattern.
Oh, and it also kept grass and dirt out of the guns.
TOM
No Spitfire ever carried 48 inch codes letters, either grey of sky. It was impractical as the fuselage was too slender. The largest roundels carried were 49 inches in diameter and occupied the entire fuselage side at its widest part. Squadrons were permitted to use their own judgement. 19 Sqn (QV) were 28 in high with 6 in strokes. 610 Sqn (DW) 36 in high with 6 in strokes. 92 Sqn (QJ) 30 in high with 6 in strokes. This is probably why the size was changed to 24 in August 1941 as the same problem must have existed on other day fighters being introduced into service.
The USAAF also covered gun barrels on the ground to keep dirt out of the guns. In American practicality, they simply put tape over the muzzles.
My father was a combat photographer out in the Pacific. He spent a year riding in B-25s in the Southwest Pacific. Standard prcedure was to load the guns and slap tape over the muzzles. With fighters, the ground crews would always look at the muzzles when a plane landed to see if their bird had been in a fight. The B-25s almost always had the tape blown off since they fired the .50s when on their bomb runs.
Bill
“With fighters, the ground crews would always look at the muzzles when a plane landed to see if their bird had been in a fight”.
Didn’t they always test fire their weapons anyway? I had always believed that to be the case. I know I would if it were my butt on the line. Perhaps I am mistaken?
-60
Fighters only had a small amount of ammunition, giving only a few seconds firing time; also, if you test fire your guns, the freezing air, immediately, gets in through the holes. If you don’t have to fire, in anger, for several minutes, your guns could be frozen.
Edgar