Just can't argue with a Pink Spit I

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by oboe
Can anyone post a color pic of the real one?   I don't doubt it existed, just wondering when and where it was used, and by whom.

No color photo, but Kev and I made sure the ducks were lined up before he did this one.

It's PR IG R7059 of the RAF PRU Unit stationed at St. Eval in Cornwall.  It was an armed recce modified Mark I Spit used to photograph the French ports.  It carried the PRU Pink paint the same as the later in the war Spit IXs did for armed recce work.  LY was the code for the recce unit

This is the photo that showed the unusual placement of the upper wing roundels.

[Greebo]

Pink was found to be the colour that showed up the least when seen against clouds. These Spits were used for low alt reconnaisance which is why they went armed.

I vaguely recall a story about someone in the USAAF deciding pink was the least visible colour at night for painting F117As. This idea didn't go down to well with the pilots however so they switched to dark grey.

[RATTFINK]

Originally posted by Greebo
Pink was found to be the colour that showed up the least when seen against clouds. These Spits were used for low alt reconnaisance which is why they went armed.

That's exactly why they are pink.  Note the lil window behind the cockpit.

[oboe]

Interesting, I wouldn't have guessed pink was low-vis against a cloud background.  I was going to guess it was used in the desert - I know some of our B-24s were painted a pinkish tan colour.

[Latrobe]

Spit 1's are too fun. They do roll like a bus, engine cuts out in neg G's, and it does shoot .303's, BUT it shoots 8 .303's! At close range that can be devastating, and it's the best turning spit in the game. Able to even out turn a spit 16.

[Bruv119]

I always assumed they would have upped at first light or sunset.  Somedays The clouds look very PINK!!

[Greebo]

Camouflage can be a funny thing and sometimes the opposite of what you would think.

RAF Coastal Command found that white painted aircraft showed up less against the night sky than black painted ones. Black aircraft showed up to U Boats as a dark silhouette against the clouds.

RAF Bomber Command discovered late in the war that gloss black aircraft showed up less when lit by searchlights than matt black ones.

[pipz]

Heres an SAS land rover.Pink was good camo in the desert.



Pipz

[ColKLink]

last i knew f-117's are black.