Painting aircraft. Be safe, be seen?

[blue up]

Related to the topic on the recent collision near EGNX.

Has there ever been a study into the best pattern or colour mix for visibility?

RAF has gone away from 'Trainer Yellow' to painting Hawks all Black for maximum visibility, presumably as a result of some study? I have a silver dope finish to my homebuilt and wondered if there was any advice as to best colour or pattern to use? 2 contrasting colours with straight edges? Invasion stripes?

I've got a 'blank canvas' to work on.

http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j279/foggythomas/?action=view&current=fredinclose.jpg

[EvilKitty]

The thing to remember is that bright does not mean it will be seen. What you need is contrast.

Silver is generally bad, as is that preserve of light aircraft - white. These provide little or no contrast against most sky colours.

Black on the other hand does show up very well (yes I know the CIA had this strange idea of painting all their spy aircraft black, why do you think they get shot down?).

Try getting a large sheet of paper and paint it starting white at one end, going through shades of grey to blues at the other. (or a large sky poster). Then cut out some silhouettes of your aircraft and colour these in. Place on different areas of your "sky" and see which ones show up best. Oh, and when doing this, squint. Squinting puts it all out of focus and highlights the contrast.

Colours that will probably work well are black, dark reds and oranges, dark blues, and greens. Neutral and light colours will probably work less well.

[Kerosene Kraut]

Just curious: Are dayglow colours (like bright orange) legal to use for civilian a/c in the UK? In Germany they aren't. Even for details like wingtips. Only permitted for military a/c.
Colourwise the yellow Cubs (and Auster down there) seem to be most easy to spot. Would discourage greys and light blues.
http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford/collections/aircraft/auster-t7-antarctic.cfm

[BackPacker]

And obviously if you have a composite aircraft, use colors that do not absorb a lot of light energy. Otherwise you might heat up the airframe beyond the temperature where the composite loses its strength, particularly on hot, sunny days. For the DA-40, as an example, the only color it'll be delivered in is white.

("Sure, we offer various colors on our cars. You can order any color, as long as it's black." Attributed to Henry Ford when discussing the features of the Ford model T.)

[Kerosene Kraut]

How about the Boeing 787?

[airborne_artist]

Kraut - as far as I am aware you can paint an aircraft any colour you like in the UK, so long as it's correctly marked with the registration. It's even legal (with special permission from the CAA) to retain an aircraft's military colour scheme.

I'd have thought that a combination of black and orange would look pretty good, and be visible under most conditions.

http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/BA4BBA26-053E-4915-8901-8139EB57555F/0/PollyVacher1.jpg

['Chuffer' Dandridge]

Avoid black topsides, as even in the UK it can get mighty hot in the summer....For use in the Antarctic, no problem

Contrast is the way to go, so dark blue, with yellow topsides a la the military helicopters for the European countryside. But would look a bit silly on a Spitfire

Strangely enough, both aeroplanes involved in the recent mid-air collision were painted in high contrast colours. The PAC750 was black with yellow accents, and the Luscombe was a dark shade of blue..... However, without adequate lookout or scans, any aircraft becomes invisible:ugh:

[hoodie]

Strangely enough, both aeroplanes involved in the recent mid-air collision were painted in high contrast colours. The PAC750 was black with yellow accents, and the Luscombe was a dark shade of blue..... However, without adequate lookout or scans, any aircraft becomes invisible:ugh:

Chuffer, you've informed the AAIB of your conclusions and advised them that they therefore need spend no more time on the investigation, I trust? :mad:

[stillin1]

As has been said - modern composite / plastic last longer if white
The black Vs brightly coloured issue =
VERY simplistically - the best one to see is a primarily a matter of range. At long range all you see is the silhouette of the ac, which is why the RAF's training ac are black. At shorter ranges where you can see colour = bright colours are the best so long as they do not blend in with the background (contrast). Sadly however. The human eye has evolved to best (initially) see objects that appear to be moving. An ac on a collision vector does not appear to move and is therefore very difficult to see until it gets orribly close. Once orribly close Vc will determine the time left to react. Its a bugger then cos even perfect look out will not be enough sometimes. It is a lot better than the heads in Lemming's Big Sky theory though.

[javelin]

Blue Up - don't you count as a stationary obstruction in a Fred - perhaps a belisha beacon would be appropriate :ok:

[DB6]

This is about the best I've seen - yellow stands out against the ground and black against the sky. Doesn't work when you're inverted of course but better than the all-white 'stealth Tutors' of the UAS's.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n107/DB6Mk2/Poster.jpg

[LowNSlow]

Yellow seemed to work well on my L4 Cub so much so that I didn't even consider painting it in it's original camouflage. The only downside with yellow is that when you land on a grass field in summertime it attracts EVERY flying insect within 500 yards!

[blue up]

Javelin. I'll have you know that I've gone to 60mph in that Fred! (backwards)

http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ent=moggi2.jpg

That pic shows just how bad that silver is against a clear day. I've had a go at polishing the Alclad panels to a high sheen but they dull quite quickly. Is there some means of maintaining a high level of reflectivity without promoting corrosion?

Contrast. Hmmmmmmm. Invasion stripes? If you want contrast on a moving object then surely you want the stripes perpendicular to the motion of the airframe? I keep coming back to the idea of puffs of oil into the exhaust manifold and leaving a faint trail of 'breadcrumbs' for the eye to follow.

[Tiger_mate]

The phsycologist employed by the MOD insists that Black & Yellow are the best options, hence military trainers and Police being so coloured. For me, the most effective way of having a helicopter seen is to paint a single rotor blade yellow or white with the remainder dark. The props painted red and white on one side and white and red the colour (this does make sense if you think about it) causes a stroboscopic effect which is good. As has been said, white or light grey is real bad, especially on limited vis/hazy days. The RAF, French AF and Luftwaffe used dayglo panels against silver or camouflage to good effect, but silver in isolation is bad. Contrast and movement is what you should strive for.

Personally, I would go for 'trainer' red and white if I owned my own aeroplane, a la many a Chipmunk. I guess any dark colour against white or cream would do the same. A good strobe system, ideally upper and lower would be a good step in the right direction, and those with the double flashes appear to be the most effective.

I am also a fan of not flying at precise heights, ie 1970ft QNH is better than 2000ft QNH, but I guess I am not alone in that theory.

In summary, colours, strobes and flying techniques all play their part in collision avoidance.

['Chuffer' Dandridge]

Chuffer, you've informed the AAIB of your conclusions and advised them that they therefore need spend no more time on the investigation, I trust?

Hoodie,

If you'd have read any of my previous posts on the pointless speculation regarding air accidents on Pprune, you'll know i don't speculate.

The phrase "However, without adequate lookout or scans, any aircraft becomes invisible" applies to any scenario, and not necessarily this one.

Merry Christmas:ok:

[Rans Flyer]

My Rans S6 is bright yellow & black with a red stripe and twin strobe lights.
Yet it seems I'm still invisible to most traffic flying towards me :ugh:

http://www.flightforlife.co.uk/rans-colour.jpg


Rans,
www.FlightForLife.co.uk

[RatherBeFlying]

It depends on the background. I do not always spot white gliders as soon as I would like. Relative sun angle does come into play. Our towplanes are yellow and orange and are easy to see against the sky. But when you're looking down, you're more likely to spot the glider on tow before the towplane;)

[Sam-MAN]

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5751618&nseq=5

That was the aircraft which crashed near EGNX. Possibly one of the most brightly painted aircraft around in my opinion!

[S-Works]

~No that was the aircraft that landed safely albeit with some impact damage from a collision. The Luscombe crashed....

[Sam-MAN]

I meant crash landed :\ Sorry!