Category And Colors

Another report by Eglin Field, No. 3-42-106, “Test of Camouflage for Photographic Airplanes at Extremely High Altitudes”, was re­leased on September 22, 1943. It is yet another of the missing reports referred to previously, so we are not sure of the contents. However, we do know that Lockheed finally painted all of the later production F*5As and F-5Bs in a single color synthetic blue haze paint. Later F – 5s were converted from P-38 aircraft at modification centers. It is not known what colors the converted aircraft were painted in, but refer to the entry dated October 16, 1943 (later in this chapter), covering the painting of F-7 aircraft in two shades of blue.

Consolidated B-24J-25-CO, 42-73250, is seen on a test flight, with the red outline insignia in mid-1943. (Convair)

a. The use of decalcomanias, Specification No. 14118,for standard or organization insignia and markings is authorized Instructions for application should be printed on the reverse side of the various types; however, in event of any confusion, the Commanding General, Air Service Command, Patterson Field, Fairfield, Ohio, will be notified, giving Purchase Order number, type, and size.

Douglas Aircraft was informed by Material Command on July 7, 1944, that the deletion of camouflage from the A-20H and A-20K. aircraft was canceled.

Requirements for troop carriers, transports, and war-weary and surplus aircraft added by T. 0.07-1-1B, August 5, 1944.

Another change to T. O. 07-1-1 was made, dated August 5, 1944. This added troop carriers and transport aircraft to those that required camouflage on exterior surfaces.

The war situation was reflected in the addition of two new categories of aircraft to section “3. Markings” of the T. O.. This new section read as follows:

g. WAR-WEARY AND SURPLUS AIRCRAFT. – Two-inch letters will be stenciled directly beneath the type, model, and series designation on the fuselage of aircraft (same color as present markings) in the following categories. This stenciling will be ap­plied by activities at which the affected aircraft are now stationed, and will also include affected aircraft received in the future without these markings:

(1) The letter “W” will be stenciled on all war-weary aircraft which have not undergone a complete DIR. The term “WAR – WEARY” applies to any aircraft returned permanently from service in an overseas theater.

(2) The letter “Q” will be stenciled on all war-weary aircraft that are processed through a depot for DIR. This symbol will replace the “W”, which will no longer appear on the aircraft.

(3) The letter “S” will be stenciled on all aircraft which have been declared by Headquarters, Army Air Forces excess to the military requirements or surplus to the W. D. or both. (Reference paragraph 9.a. AAF Regulation 65-86). Under no circum­stances will the letter “S” be used to indicate or be interpreted to mean “storage.” In cases where the symbol “W” or “Q” is required to be placed on the aircraft, the “S” will be stenciled directly after that symbol. Example: “WS” -“OS.”

It should be noted that this order was not strictly adhered to, in that in every photograph of a war-weary aircraft that the author has seen, the letters “WW” were stenciled rather than the required “W”.

Exterior plywood surfaces will be finished with two coats of varnish, Specification No. AN-TT-V-118, thinned with an equal portion of naphtha or, on open grain woods, one coat of thinned varnish followed by one coat of surfacer, Specification No. 14115, sanded down, before the final two coats of aluminized varnish. Use 16 to 20 ounces of pigment, Specification No. AN-TT-A-461, in each gallon of varnish for the final coats.

This new issue, dated August 14, 1947, made a number of detail changes to the requirements for the new national aircraft insignia. This included using a gray color for the insignia white on upper wing surfaces when finished in low visibility camouflage color schemes, and deleting the small size national insignia used above the wings of night fighters, enlarging them to a minimum size of thirty inches (from the previous twenty five inches). The spec, read as follows:

A. APPLICATION

A-l. Application.- This specification is drawn to present the requirements for the size and location of the national insignia on the exterior surfaces of aircraft.

B. APPLICABLE SPECIFICATIONS,

B-l. There are no specifications applicable to this specification.

C. MATERIALS.

C-l. General.-The insignia shall be applied with approved lacquers, dopes or enamels as are applicable and compatible with the finishes applied to adjacent surfaces, Decalcomanias may be used upon specific approval of the Procuring Agency. The gloss or specularity shall match that of adjacent surfaces, except that non-specular laquers, dopes or enamels shall be used on surfaces finished semi-gloss sea blue.

C-2. Color.- Colors used shall conform to the applicable Army-Navy standard color cards for non-specular insignia and to the Army-Navy Aeronautical Color Standards for glossy insignia.

D. DESIGN.

D-l. Construction.- The national insignia shall be an insignia white five pointed star inside an insignia blue circum­scribed circle with an insignia white rectangle, one radius of the blue circle in length and one-half radius of the blue circle in width, on each side of the star and the top edges placed to form a straight line with the top edges of the two star points beneath the top star point; with an insignia red horizontal stripe centered in the white rectangles at each end of the insignia, the width of the red stripe to be one-sixth the radius of the star; and an insignia blue border one-eighth radius of the blue circle in width outlining the entire design; except that when the insignia is to be applied on a sea blue, dark blue or black background, the insignia blue circumscribed circle and the insignia blue border may be omitted. The construction of the star is obtained by marking off five equidistant points on the circumscribed circle and connecting each point to the two non-adjacent points. See Figure 1. The national insignia shall be applied so that in the normal flight attitude of the airplane the top star point of the insignia points upward and perpendicular to the line of flight on vertical surfaces, or forward and parallel to the line of flight on horizontal surfaces. A gray color, obtained by mixing one part of insignia white with one part of light gray, shall replace the insignia white on applications to upper wing surfaces when finished in low visibility camouflage color schemes.

D-2. Application.- D-2a. Wing Insignia.-

D-2a(l). Location.- Two insignia shall be placed on the wings of all airplanes. The national insignia shall be placed on the upper surface of the left wing and the lower surface of the right wing. On bi-planes one insignia shall be placed on the upper surface of the upper left wing and the other on the lower surface of the lower right wing. They shall be placed at a distance from the wing tip equal to one-third of the distance from the fuselage to the wing tip and tangent to the aileron cut out measured from the center of the insignia. The insignia may be moved inboard the minimum distance necessary where wing tip floats of sea­planes interfere or when space is not available for the minimum size specified.

D-2a(2). Size.- The insignia shall have a blue circle, excluding the borders with a maximum diameter of 50 inches and a minimum diameter of 30 inches. Standard sizes shall have blue circle diameters in multiples of five inches. The blue circle diameter selected shall be the standard size which is closest to, but does not exceed, 75 percent of the distance between the leading edge of the wing and the aileron cut out at the point of application.

D-2b. Fuselage Insignia.

D-2b(l). Location.- The national insignia shall be applied to each side of the fuselage approximately midway between the trailing edge of the wing and leading edge of the stabilizer but in no case shall any part of the insignia be located closer than 35 inches to the trailing edge of the wing, except that the insignia may be moved forward or to the rear of the midpoint to avoid covering transparent material. When the fuselage section between the trailing edge of the wing and the leading edge of the stabilizer is not large enough to accommodate the minimum size specified, the fuselage insignia shall be placed on such other parts of the fuselage, as will permit its being readily seen from the side. On patrol seaplanes, the insignia shall be applied to each side of the bow in such position that it is completely visible when the plane is water-borne in normal load condition. Alternate locations, as permitted above, shall be such as to obtain suitable visibility and shall be approved by the Procuring Agency. Fuselage insignia may extend over doors and emergency exits but shall not extend over windows or such opening used during combat which would change the insignia pattern.

D-2b(2). Size.- The insignia shall have a blue circle, excluding the border, with amaximum diameter of 50 inches and a minimum diameter of 20 inches. Standard sizes shall have blue circle diameters in multiples of five inches. The diameter selected shall be the standard size which comes nearest to, but does not exceed, 75 percent of the height of the projection of the fuselage side at the point of application.

E. NOTES.

E-l. Superseding Data.- This specification supersedes those parts of the current issues of the Bureau of Aeronautics Specification SR-2 and U. S. Army Specification 98-24102, which pertain to aircraft insignia, and Specification AN-I-9b for Army; and Navy aeronautical use.

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This ends the history of the ever-changing AAF requirements for the camouflage, markings and insignia on its combat and non-combat aircraft between 1941 and 1947, until the service finally became independent of the U. S. Army, as the new U. S. Air Force on September 26,1947.

* * *

Robert D. Archer spent his early years in Bristol, England. He kept extensive notes on the color schemes and markings to be seen on the huge variety of aircraft at Filton Airfield from 1936, until the outbreak of war in 1939, beginning a life-long interest in aircraft color schemes.

He entered the aircraft industry as a design engineer in 1942, working for Napier’s on the Nomad, Naiad, and double-Naiad en­gines: at English Electric on electrical control systems; and at Supermarine on the Swift series, and Types 525 and 545. He was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1954, and was active in the Air Training Corps and the Royal Observer Corps of the Royal Air Force until he left England in 1954 to join Canadair, Canada, on the CL-28 pro­gram.

Fie was brought to California in 1956 by Northrop and worked on the T-38, F-5, Lockheed Electra and the McDonnell F-4 prototype. In 1964 he joined Douglas Aircraft at Long Beach, initially in military advanced design. He worked on the control systems of the КС-10 and MD-80, made a special review of the F-15 flight control system, and completed his service as a manager on the fly-by-wire control system of the C-17. For a brief period he worked at Lockheed Aircraft, as a project engineer on the WP-ЗА and NKC-121K programs.

In 1966, the USAF granted him the then necessary secret clearances to research at! of the files concerning the subject of this volume. He was the only non-service person granted this privilege. This has ensured the accuracy and depth of the material presented herein, much of it for the first time.

Over the years, he has contributed to various publica­tions, such as Interavia, Flight International, Space/Aeronau – tics, Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft, and the American Avia­tion Historical Society Journal, and wrote a book covering the development and service use of the Republic F-105 Thunderchief.

He was a founding member of the American Aviation Historical Society, serving for many years on the editorial board of the Journal, and was a director for a short time. He
is a member of the Air Force Association and is also a founding member of the US branch of the International Plastic Modelers Society, and contributed scores of articles to several scale model magazines. After 49 years in the aviation industry, he retired in 1991.

His most recent work was the Monogram U. S. Army Air Ser­vice and Air Corps Aircraft Color Guide, a definitive reference work covering the period between 1908 and 1941, published in 1995.

The changes in Amendment No. 4 to Spec. 98-24102-K, issued on August 29, 1942, stated that decalcomania transfers could be used for the insignia depending upon specific approval of the AAF. The design of the insignia was changed to the white star within a circum­scribed biue circle, and the following new paras, were added:

3. Size of Insignia for airplane fuselage, – For the fuselage of airplanes, the diameter of the circumscribed circle, shown in Figure 1, shall be 3/4 of the depth of the projection of the fuselage side, but in no instance shall the diameter exceed 48 inches, 9. Location of insignia on fuselage. – One insignia shall be applied to each side of the fuselage, with a point pointing upward midway between the vertical projections of the trailing edge of the wing and the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer. In the event that transparent materials are located in this area, the star insignia shall be moved forward or to the rear as specified by the procuring agency.

Beech AT-ll-BH Kansan, 41-27679, bombardier trainer version of the AT-7. 1,582 were built and had a bomb bay for 1,000 lbs of bombs. (March AFB Museum)

10. Rudders, Insignia. – Insignia will not be applied to rudders. Rudders will be finished with the color which is applied to the vertical surfaces of the fuselage.

Mat. Com. (Wash.) informed Prod. Div, (WF) that the Dir. of Photo, had received information from the theaters that camouflage paint was needed despite the added weight. The Dir. of Photo. (Wash.) had directed (hat all photographic aircraft be haze painted at the factory, since the camouflage was a distinct advantage in avoiding interception. Although the Dir. of Mil. Req. (Wash.) did not concur in this directive, there was no objection to having the aircraft painted with haze paint, provided that Mat. Com. (Wash.) approved. Mat. Com. (Wash.) requested that an investigation be conducted and a report forwarded.

The National Insignia was revised in T. O, 07-1-ID, to require the use of a BLUE BORDER in lieu of the RED BORDER formerly specified.

The work was to be accomplished as soon as possible and not later than the next 25-hour inspection by service activities with the aid of sub-depots, if necessary.

The newT. O. changed all previous references to the RED BORDER to one of BLUE. The new insignia was to now consist of a five – point, white star within a blue circle, as previously specified, together with the two white rectangles, this entire design to be circum­scribed by a BORDER of BLUE whose width was 1/8 the radius of the original blue circle. Existing insignia could be reworked by painting over the existing red border with insignia blue, shade No. 47.

The order for the revised insignia went out to industry very quickly, where it was required that the changeover should be made at the factories and mod centers as quickly as possible without delaying deliveries. For example, this revision reached Douglas Aircraft at Long Beach and Santa Monica, and Lockheed Aircraft at Burbank on September 29, 1943.

It should be noted that the Navy moved even faster, sending out the change on September 23,1943, one day before the issue of T. O. 07-1- ID. In fact, their teletype was dated September 15,1943, but its transmission was apparently delayed by coordination with the AAF.

New’ ANA BULLETIN No. 157 standardizes names and numbers of Army-Navy colors for aircraft camouflage, September 28, 1943.

The results of the JAC standardization of aircraft camouflage colors was finally issued on September 28, 1943, as ANA Bulletin No.157. This listed the following:

COLOR NO. COLOR NAME

601 Insignia White

602 Light Gray

603 Sea Gray

604 Black

605 Insignia Blue

606 Semi-Gloss Sea Blue

Two Consolidated B-24Ds of the 376th BG, shortly after their return from the Ploesti mission. The nearest aircraft is 4І-П630, aircraft no.83. Note that the RAF fin flashes are on both sides of the vertical tail. (March AFB Museum)

Note 2a. of the original document stated that:

The Arm у-Navy Aircraft Camouflage Color Standards supersede Army Air Forces Bulletin No. 41 and any other color standards for the colors listed herein for Army and Navy aeronautical use.

For many reasons, these new color standards did not take effect for several months. For example, the engineering department at Douglas Aircraft Co’s. Santa Monica plant did not receive their copy until October 30, 1943. However, the main reason was it took several months before the necessary camouflage paint specifications were revised to meet the requirements (for full details see Chapter 7). Also note that there were no high altitude camouflage colors included, despite the request of August 13, 1943, to the Tech. Sub­Committee on Camouflage.

None of the colors in the Bulletin were changed, except for the major one of color No. 613, Olive Drab. This replaced the previous Dark Olive Drab No. 41 of Bulletin No. 41, per the Army request of January 22,1943 (described earlier). There was quite a difference in the shade of the two colors, but in the event, the change was not to appear in the combat theaters for many months, and as it so happened, not on the AAF major combat aircraft. This was because, as a result of Gen. Arnold’s inquiries to his theater commanders (described earlier), far-reaching changes were about to be made in the AAF camouflage requirements.

a. Organization insignia will be placed on each side of each lighter-than-air aircraft. The location for observation balloons will be on each side, halfway between the greatest diameter and the leading edges of the horizontal lobes. The locations for spherical balloons will be at points in line with and 3 feet from each end of the wording ‘U. S. Army.”

b. In no instance will the size of lighter-than-air insignia exceed 9 square feet. The insignia placed on each craft assigned to an organization will be uniform in size. However, this does not require that insignia of different organizations be of the same size.

c. The insignia for all lighter-than-air aircraft will be painted on two-ply envelope fabric, code No. 101, and securely attached to the envelope with rubber cement. Each sheet of fabric will be neatly trimmed to the minimum size required; and, to insure adhesion, corresponding areas of the aluminum finish will be carefully removed from the envelopes with suitable wire brushes.

3. MATERIALS REQUIRED, (omitted from this work – author).

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This concluded the AAF work on aircraft camouflage, markings, insignia and colors for 1943. The situation world-wide had changed to where the AAF was preparing to go on the offensive with massive strength in all combat theaters, particularly in Europe. The Allies intentions were to beat Germany first and then concentrate on Japan. Russia’s insistence on a “Second Front" in Europe played a key role in the planning for 1944: the US and British response was the planning of Operation OVERLORD, the landing of strong Allied forces on the north coast of France. This obviously required total air supremacy in that area, thus the destruction of the Luftwaffe’s capability to defend the Channel Coast was paramount in the plans for 1944.

The story of 1943 is one showing that the AAF was no longer worried about defending its airpower on the ground against hostile attack. This allowed them to concentrate on getting the maximum production of the required aircraft and getting every little bit of performance out of each type. The deletion of basic camouflage from its aircraft at the end of 1943 showed that these aims were being achieved, despite the heavy losses of the Eighth Air Force Bomber Command in the summer of 1943. In 1943, key problem in Europe had been shortage of aircraft, rather than crews. This was to change drastically in 1944. The arrival of the P-51 in England finally gave the Eighth AF the long-range escort fighter it needed to destroy German industry without suffering prohibitive losses.