Why did they...

[BaldEagl]

... paint the leading edge of wings yellow?  I've seen it on Spits, Zekes and IIRC 109's.  Why?  And why so widespead a practice?

[PAKFRONT]

Span of the Prop, danger zone!

[BaldEagl]

Span of the Prop, danger zone!

Well there you go.  I figured there must be a perfectly good explanation.  Thanks.

[715]

I thought it was Friend of Foe identification for head ons.  The Spit yellow is way outside the zone of prop danger.

[lyric1]

RAAF IN the Pacific changed the leading edges to white to avoid confusion with Yellow leading edged Japanese aircraft.

[Saxman]

I thought those were deicing boots. At least I've seen those strips identified as such on pictures of B-17s and other bombers.

[colmbo]

I thought those were deicing boots. At least I've seen those strips identified as such on pictures of B-17s and other bombers.

De-icer boots are made of black rubber.  US fighters weren't equipped with anti-ice gear.

[AWwrgwy]

I thought it was Friend of Foe identification for head ons.  The Spit yellow is way outside the zone of prop danger.

This.

The Yellow stripes on U.S.A.A.F. planes in the MTO, the White stripes in the ETO and the spiral on the nose cones of German planes all served the same function.



wrongway

[SectorNine50]

This.

The Yellow stripes on U.S.A.A.F. planes in the MTO, the White stripes in the ETO and the spiral on the nose cones of German planes all served the same function.



wrongway

I think he's talking about on the wing's leading edge, not the prop edge.

For example:

[Shifty]

I read years ago it was for friend or foe recognition on Japanese aircraft.

[Krupinski]

I thought I read somewhere that the spiral on the German aircraft was a superstition type deal, the idea was to confuse enemy ground gunners or something weird like that.

[AWwrgwy]

I think he's talking about on the wing's leading edge, not the prop edge.

For example:
(Image removed from quote.)

I know.

But I'm talking about:
MTO:Yellow Stripe on each wing


ETO: White Stripe on each wing, Black on NM
Horizontal Stab and Tail:

Wings, Horizontal Stab and Tail.


P-51s were being mistaken for Bf109s and Jugs for Fw190.

wrongway

[SectorNine50]

Ooooh gotcha.

I guess I didn't realize that the nosecone on the German planes was used for identification, misread and thought you were talking about the prop span (aka "danger zone").  My mistake.

[BaDkaRmA158Th]

Its so ground crew not wearing helmets wouldn't bonk there heads on the wings and leading edge.

[BaldEagl]

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