F6F Squadron skin question.

[1701E]

May be the wrong place to ask, but I know most of the squadron/skin knowledgeable people visit here, so....

Was wondering what skins the Squadron 'VBF-18' used.  It is, from what I can tell, an F6F-3/5 and F8F Squadron, so mostly I am wondering about the F6F-5 part.  I am curious since that was one of the Squadrons my Grandfather flew in, and I can't seem to find much about them except that they formed in Early 1945 and had a name change in about November 1946, and that they flew F6F/F8Fs.

From what I can find this is all the longer they flew F6Fs...
# Date Type First Received - - - - - - Type of Aircraft:
# February 7, 1945 - - - - - - - Grumman F6F-3/5 Hellcat
# August 10, 1945- - - - - - - - Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat      (From http://www.skyhawk.org/3e/va72/va72.htm)

So obviously they didn't have F6Fs for long.
Was there some standard skin most would use, or did every Squadron have a different skin?
I'm trying to find the list we have other the other Squadrons he was in, so I may have one or two more questions when I find that.


Thanks for any help.
 

[warphoenix]

f6f skins didn't vary alot maybe slight differences in color but other than that it didn't vary

[TequilaChaser]

May be the wrong place to ask, but I know most of the squadron/skin knowledgeable people visit here, so....

Was wondering what skins the Squadron 'VBF-18' used.

So obviously they didn't have F6Fs for long.
Was there some standard skin most would use, or did every Squadron have a different skin?



Thanks for any help.
 

in WWII and  Real World aircraft......... you would not associate "Skins"  with aircraft as we do here in AH or in other flight sims....

now you would be wondering what Paint Scheme your relative's squadron flew with.....

for most F6F-5's it was a deep dark blue ( Midnight BLue, Navy blue )........ I know this is not the correct naming of the Blue, but is close

reference websites: http://aerofiles.com/USNcolors.html     http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq2-1.htm

then squads had Nose Art  and/or emblems  squad insignias/decals  etc.........

hope this helps

[1701E]

Well I couldn't really think of a better word then "skin", Paint scheme didn't come to mind, thanks.

As for the Nose-art/emblem, That is what my Avatar is, the patch that VBF-18 Bearcats used.

[Masherbrum]

Any accuracy to this?

1941 = Overall light gray was revived in February and, except for the following, was standard until early 1943.

1941 - Matte-finish (non-specular) gray-green ("sea green") for tops and sides and light gray for undersides appeared in mid-1941 initially for aircraft flying in sea duties. The undersides of folding wings of carrier aircraft were painted with the sea green for camouflage integrity in lateral and aerial views.

1942 - Overall red was standard for aircraft used as flying targets during WW2 and until replaced by Day-Glo orange and red in more recent times. Overall white was applied to flying boats on patrol in Arctic areas. Transport aircraft in natural metal had tops painted white to reflect sunlight and reduce cabin heat, an idea that carried through until now.

1943 - Combat aircraft were repainted with non-specular dark blue for top surfaces, with a lighter grayed blue for lower sides, and white undersides. Until war's end this was standard for all combat aircraft except carrier planes (see next). Some aircraft used specifically for night operations were painted an overall non-specular black, and gloss black for transferred USAAF aircraft.

1944 - Overall gloss midnight blue was applied to carrier aircraft.

http://aerofiles.com/USNcolors.html

[TequilaChaser]

Any accuracy to this?

http://aerofiles.com/USNcolors.html

I was not to sure, Mash... is why I added the other link    http://www.history.navy.mil/  to possibly help verify its validity....