Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: oakranger on November 19, 2009, 10:21:50 AM
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It has occur to me last night and maybe somebody can educate me on it. By 43-44, we start practicing less paint on our bombers and fighters. I understand they did this because it cost less to build, less drag, decreased weight and less time from the factory to the front line. Mostly all ACs in the European theater has done this and some in the Pacific. However, our Navy AC they never did this. WHY? Was it for blending to the sea if there are cons above them?
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I can't say for certain but I would think that it was probably to seal the metal from the salt water atmosphere as much as anything else.
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I can't say for certain but I would think that it was probably to seal the metal from the salt water atmosphere as much as anything else.
Never thought of that and you could be right about that. But what about the other AC that fly in the same environment?
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That's why it's pretty much as guess. As far as I've seen all the planes in the fleet were all painted, yet some of the aircraft stationed on islands in the pacific featured the bare metal. I don't know how much it would effect it would have otherwise. For all I know it could have no practical reason at all other than simple camouflage to keep the planes painted.
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Was a corrosion issue, at least eventually. After the war, in the early 50s, they tried making bare metal standard - -but experiment only lasted a brief time before it became obvious that corrosion was a major issue, and more than outweighed any benefits.
During the war, not sure. The USN was far more strict about markings and colors than the USAAF, which is why the nose art is so muted on naval plaens. Might be that they were just so conservative that they never considered the change. In the USAAF, the change was made for weight and speed reasons.
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In AHII, do the all metal P-51's (for example) go faster and higher than the painted ones?
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No. All of the skins have no impact on flight performance. The skins serve only for appearance and historical immersion.
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""the change was made for weight and speed reasons"
It's also a lot less maintenance. Weathered planes look like crap and need a lot
of man hours and material to keep up.
Also, silver planes screamed out "Hey! Here I am" cause by 44 the Allies wanted the
LW to find them and to fight so they could clear the air over the invasion beaches
and also gain air superiority over Western Europe.
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No. All of the skins have no impact on flight performance. The skins serve only for appearance and historical immersion.
Just as it makes no difference what size our pilots are :neener:
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Just as it makes no difference what size our pilots are :neener:
My pilot can beat you in a pie eating contest... :bolt:
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My pilot can beat you in a pie eating contest... :bolt:
\
lol
As far as USSAF wanted bare skin, was there a member on the "Black Sheep" sqad that had his FU4 bare skin. So the Japs can find him?
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so the which?
;)
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Most likely the corrosion issue and the innate conservatism of the Navy. Even now on modern US Navy aircraft seem to be a patchwork of greys at times. Particularly around removable panels. To me it looks like every time a chip appears out comes a can of paint and it's covered up. The old F14 could look very scruffy after a cruise.
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"a member on the "Black Sheep" sqad ..."
The Black Sheep squadron were a land base Marines outfit which was famous for doing
things thier own way. Hey. Maybe that's why they have that name for the squadron? :)
"that had his FU4 bare skin. So the Japs can find him?"
Which pilot was that? Would really like to look into the scheme for skinning?
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"a member on the "Black Sheep" sqad ..."
The Black Sheep squadron were a land base Marines outfit which was famous for doing
things thier own way. Hey. Maybe that's why they have that name for the squadron? :)
"that had his FU4 bare skin. So the Japs can find him?"
Which pilot was that? Would really like to look into the scheme for skinning?
I really dont know who the pilot was. I remember hearing it on on Oliver North show.
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In USAAF units, camouflage paint schemes were controlled by the theater commander. When there was a credible threat of enemy attack, they kept paint on the aircraft so while they were on the ground, the would blend into the terrain. So, you'll note that through 1942-1944 in ETO/MTO, most USAAF aircraft maintained camo paint schemes. IN the Pacific, it lasted even longer, depending on theater. Once the Allies had established air supremacy in their respective theaters, they began to leave the aircraft unpainted, but it wasn't for performance reasons, otherwise they would have polished the aluminum. For the Navy/Marine Corps, corrosion control was the primary reason the aircraft were painted. Even today, corrosion prevention is a huge part of the aircraft maintenance effort, as aircraft that are exposed to the flight deck of a carrier or amphibious assault ship are constantly exposed to salt water.
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"Most likely the corrosion issue and the innate conservatism of the Navy."
And the US Navy's not the only one. There's a simple rule in the Royal Navy as to what needs painting: 'If it's shiny and it moves, salute it; if it doesn't move, paint it.'
;)
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I really don't know who the pilot was. I remember hearing it on on Oliver North show.
I've read quite a few books on VMF-214 in fact I'm reading one right now. "The Black Sheep" The Definitive Account of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in World War II.
By Bruce Gamble who also wrote Black Sheep One. This book covers the squadron from it's inception and first tour in F4F Wildcats and after the Pappy Boyington era when they did a cruise on the USS Franklin. The most colorful pilot other than Major Boyington seems to be Cris Magee. I'm nearly finished with the book and there's no mention of a bare medal Corsair in it or any other book I've read about VMF-214. I'm not saying there wasn't but as celebrated as the Black Sheep are surely a bare metal Corsair would have shown up in a picture, painting, or even as a model if one existed.
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I've read quite a few books on VMF-214 in fact I'm reading one right now. "The Black Sheep" The Definitive Account of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in World War II.
By Bruce Gamble who also wrote Black Sheep One. This book covers the squadron from it's inception and first tour in F4F Wildcats and after the Pappy Boyington era when they did a cruise on the USS Franklin. The most colorful pilot other than Major Boyington seems to be Cris Magee. I'm nearly finished with the book and there's no mention of a bare medal Corsair in it or any other book I've read about VMF-214. I'm not saying there wasn't but as celebrated as the Black Sheep are surely a bare metal Corsair would have shown up in a picture, painting, or even as a model if one existed.
I don't know. I remember listen to "War Stories with Oliver North". Unless i misunderstood it, i thought they said something about it.
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Well. Not saying North is wrong buuuuuuut his name has never struck me as any type
of authoritie on WWII aviation. Maybe when it comes to back room deals, eliminating
parchment and playing cold-faced poker I would! ;)
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Another thing to consider. The aircraft would have shipped painted to the front. It takes a long time to strip down to bare metal.
Especially if your're a ground crew in a combat zone as were the guys in the Solomons. The 8th AF ground crew in the UK may have had time for these types of things. However in a hot zone like the Solomons your priority is going to be making the aircraft servicable to fly and fight again. Not stripping paint off an entire aircraft for the vanity of a pilot.