P51-C Plane Restoration

[Bodhi]

Originally posted by Guppy35
They didn't polish it as such, they did wax the finishes in some squadrons, believing it added speed.  Obviously in a wartime setting the planes did not get the kind of pampered care a restored warbird gets.

I don't know that they ever dulled the aluminum though.

For what it's worth, a production Mustang that came off the assembly line in the unpainted silver, in fact had the wing primed and painted silver to begin with while the fuselage was natural metal.  

Something to do with the airflow over the smoother painted wing.  This too wore down in action though, so sometimes the paint would be removed.

Dan/Slack

Mustang wings were painted for one reason.  Their is filler on the leading edges of all production mustangs to smooth the leading edges and eliminate some airflow issues to that were inherent to the north american production line with the 51's leading edges.  This started with a complete painting that ended up to just painting the leading edges to the first skin seam.

As for bare aluminum finishes, they aircraft supplied with out paint will look very polished at first owing to the alclad finishes on the exterior of the aluminum.  This fades over exposure to aluminum, normal usage, and the effects of rough enviroments to the "dulled" appearence as seen in most phots.  Very few units polished their airplanes, but some individual pilots did engage in the practice, as they noticed in decreases surface drag and improved over all topspeed.  

One interesting thing with regards to the polishing of aircraft for painted birds was that many Navy hellcat pilots would buy shoe polish (large quatities) and polish their personal Hellcats.  This is reported to have resulted in an overall speed increase of 7 -11 kts.

[glenmorangie]

Originally posted by Red Tail 444
Oh the gunfighter, what a BEAUTIFUL plane...I only saw the birds in St. Paul, Minnesota, and I am on the RedTail project, when they begin touring. I'll be with hat in hand, requesting funds from organizations. I was never in Midland or Houston, although I plan to travel this summer with her, if possible.

I'd love to see pics of the new paint scheme...send me an email at corsair_pilot_mn@yahoo.com.

I sent them today...

[glenmorangie]

Originally posted by oboe

Can anybody provide specifics as to which squadron it was in, (I assume 332 FG?)   Also I cant make out the script writing on the side of the fuselage.   Any text on the nose will have to be omitted due to skin mirroring issues but the script below the cockpit could be included if I can figure out what it says.

 [/B]

According to my notes from a presentation by one of the Tuskeegee Airmen, Red Tail is painted with a "Composite paint scheme" as follows:

Marking...................... .......Represents
"A"............................. .......99th
Red outline, Red Wing..........100th
"4..2" in sequence...............301st
Red/Yellow Nose.................302nd
"Tuskeegee Airmen".............All the Program's participants
"By Request".......................Becaus e Bomb Groups requested them specificallly - they never lost a bomber to enemy fighters while escorting...