1980s/90s RAF Conspicuity Trials
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1980s/90s RAF Conspicuity Trials
Hello All,
I have heard that in the late 1990's a number of RAF aircraft had their fins painted for High Conspicuity Trials. Can anyone tell me a bit more about the trails and which aircraft where involved.
Information on the www is sparse. I have read in a number of places that there was a Tornado with a red fin one with a white fin along with a white finned Harrier.
Was this it or was there any other specially painted aircraft involved. Can anyone furnish me with more information including pictures please?
Regards
I have heard that in the late 1990's a number of RAF aircraft had their fins painted for High Conspicuity Trials. Can anyone tell me a bit more about the trails and which aircraft where involved.
Information on the www is sparse. I have read in a number of places that there was a Tornado with a red fin one with a white fin along with a white finned Harrier.
Was this it or was there any other specially painted aircraft involved. Can anyone furnish me with more information including pictures please?
Regards
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I remember elements of the RAFG Harrier GR3 fleet getting a quick paint job. Red and white ring a bell and it truly looked as if some poor chap had been tasked with painting the tails with a 4 inch brush.
4 Sqn then came up with their black/yellow/red lightning bolt which was far more professional and became the standard for the sqn.
A few links to photos
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1461253/etuo...ienaber_tb.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1461253/etuo/XV758V_Zetsche.jpg
http://www.sg-etuo.de/bilder/XV760K_RMueller.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1461253/etuo...elscher_tb.jpg
4 Sqn then came up with their black/yellow/red lightning bolt which was far more professional and became the standard for the sqn.
A few links to photos
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1461253/etuo...ienaber_tb.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1461253/etuo/XV758V_Zetsche.jpg
http://www.sg-etuo.de/bilder/XV760K_RMueller.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1461253/etuo...elscher_tb.jpg
Last edited by Cows getting bigger; 17th Dec 2011 at 15:55.
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There were some complete aircraft that went through various colour schemes. The Wessex of 72 Sqn comes to mind with a sky blue one, an overall black one and various shades of camouflage. The two tone green in lieu of green and grey was the outcome.
That red and white training aircraft were painted black was the decision based on information provided by a psychologist. Never quite agreed with that one and the system must also have been unimpressed which is why DHFS and Police helicopters have large yellow elements in the colour scheme.
Air Defence grey (Matt) in lieu of bare metal makes sense but soon changes with reverse thrust and groundcrew boots making the airframe a mess. Matt paint is also short lived compared to gloss. Even the Lightning went through phases: Bare metal > camouflage grey/green > Two tone grey single tone grey. The short lived phase of adorning squadron colours on the tail was an exploitation of formal recognition that the air to air collisions that had occured were inevitable. The most dramatic was the two Harrier GR3 attacking Otterburn from differing direction in theory separated by a few seconds but in reality (and sadly) proving a fatal mistake when they hit each other in a most dramatic fashion.
High Intensity Strobe lighting has probably contributed more to Flight Safety then any colour scheme, and an adoption of the american green strips that are bound to have a name, but I do not know it.
That red and white training aircraft were painted black was the decision based on information provided by a psychologist. Never quite agreed with that one and the system must also have been unimpressed which is why DHFS and Police helicopters have large yellow elements in the colour scheme.
Air Defence grey (Matt) in lieu of bare metal makes sense but soon changes with reverse thrust and groundcrew boots making the airframe a mess. Matt paint is also short lived compared to gloss. Even the Lightning went through phases: Bare metal > camouflage grey/green > Two tone grey single tone grey. The short lived phase of adorning squadron colours on the tail was an exploitation of formal recognition that the air to air collisions that had occured were inevitable. The most dramatic was the two Harrier GR3 attacking Otterburn from differing direction in theory separated by a few seconds but in reality (and sadly) proving a fatal mistake when they hit each other in a most dramatic fashion.
High Intensity Strobe lighting has probably contributed more to Flight Safety then any colour scheme, and an adoption of the american green strips that are bound to have a name, but I do not know it.
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Martin, I've added some links to my first post.
TM, Flt Lt Dave Sunderland & Lt John Carver USN at Otterburn (1987).
ISTR that during the 80s there were a significant number of close calls and a notable number of mid-airs. Others that spring to mind are the T4/Starfighter collision near Osnabruck (1985?) and the RAF Tornado that managed to run into 8 Alpha Jets near Wittmundhafen only managing to miss 6 of them (1989).
TM, Flt Lt Dave Sunderland & Lt John Carver USN at Otterburn (1987).
ISTR that during the 80s there were a significant number of close calls and a notable number of mid-airs. Others that spring to mind are the T4/Starfighter collision near Osnabruck (1985?) and the RAF Tornado that managed to run into 8 Alpha Jets near Wittmundhafen only managing to miss 6 of them (1989).
Avoid imitations
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I recall the Buccaneer / Hunter very close shave in Wales (in 1977 I think, I was helping to run the ops desk at the Bucc. OCU at Honington at the time). The Bucc pilot pulled 13G and the aircraft broke (tail came off, IIRC). The crew successfuly ejected and landed in Lake Bala.
Mirror Patches
Wasn't there once an idea to fit the moving control surfaces of an aircraft with a mirrored finish vinyl wrap? The idea being the controls surfaces are constantly being moved and causing glinting.
I'm sure there was a trial but might have been on civvy gliders.
I'm sure there was a trial but might have been on civvy gliders.
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My father was the MO at RAF Credenhill when the Bala thing happened. I remember him telling us on the day that a large search party had been formed and dispatched.
IIRC, both crews saw the other at about the same time, and as butch as the Bucc was, it just wasn't about to do what was asked.
IIRC, both crews saw the other at about the same time, and as butch as the Bucc was, it just wasn't about to do what was asked.
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That red and white training aircraft were painted black was the decision based on information provided by a psychologist. Never quite agreed with that one and the system must also have been unimpressed which is why DHFS and Police helicopters have large yellow elements in the colour scheme.
Studies by the FAA and USAF showed that HISLS are ineffective in good daylight unless you can get over 100,000 candela. (most aircraft ones are about 400 !). A strobe of about 36,000 may help on very dull days. Obviously at night their great...very very high intensity headlights may help low level (easier to get high contrast against a hill) and were due for fitting to everything pointy but the funding never materialised and the risk changed at the end of the cold war.
The mirrored control surfaces trial was done using RAF gliders (@ syerston I think), work in a similar way has recommenced funded by the CAA, again using RAF gliders.
Ultimately electronic conspicuity is the only solution to the fallibility of the human powered see-and-avoid. Unfortunately there seems to be no silver bullet.
XV Sqn flew a red-finned Tornado from Laarbruch as part of these trials, ZA446 according to the link below.
http://www.ukserials.com/images/ukimages/za446.jpg
http://www.ukserials.com/images/ukimages/za446.jpg
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I've got an air to air photo of a F3 Tornado with bright red droptanks- I'll try and scan it to upload when I can, if anyone is interested. Does anyone know if that was part of the same trial? I never did find out. I think that it was in the late 1990s? Maybe it was so that the Nav could confirm whether they had missed the school after punching them off??
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In the early 70s, RAF Wessex in Northern Ireland still had red, white and blue roundels and tail flashes, and crews still wore white bonedomes and cream cape leather gloves. A lot of our time was spent in forward landing sites, and it was easy to feel uncomfortable climbing out of or into the aircraft at these locations.
Locally, we painted the white parts of the roundels and tail flashes black, but couldn't get MOD approval to change the bonedomes and gloves. The BASO in Lurgan (?) sent us a bucket of land rover paint, and we applied it to our bonedomes.
During this period, we examined our aircraft camouflage to see if there was a better combination. Some old boffin in MOD told us that the undersides of bombers in WW2 were painted in gloss black so that if searchlights illuminated the aircraft, the light would be diffused and make the aircraft less distinct.
Locally, we painted the white parts of the roundels and tail flashes black, but couldn't get MOD approval to change the bonedomes and gloves. The BASO in Lurgan (?) sent us a bucket of land rover paint, and we applied it to our bonedomes.
During this period, we examined our aircraft camouflage to see if there was a better combination. Some old boffin in MOD told us that the undersides of bombers in WW2 were painted in gloss black so that if searchlights illuminated the aircraft, the light would be diffused and make the aircraft less distinct.
I seem to remember Tornados in Germany having their fins painted one colour or another, I understand, for some kind of recognition exercise. There were straight forward Green, White, Black, Red and whatever else. Only on a few, it was around 1988/89?
FB
FB
I must look at my logbook but I think I flew the 31 Sqn GR1 into Brize for those photocall pics. The paint scheme had nothing to do with conspicuity and everything to do with wanting to turn stomachs!!
I have heard that in the late 1990's a number of RAF aircraft had their fins painted for High Conspicuity Trials.
I seem to remember Tornados with various fin colours and looking at a line of them (at Valley?). Everyone expected light/bright colours to be best but all made a similar comment about the one with the white fin - at first glance it looked like it didn't have a fin at all! More structured tests were flown and actually matt black was deemed to be the best in most circumstances, but more difficult to maintain than gloss.
Back in the late 1970s, I was involved in a conspicuity trial for the Vulcan. This involved charging around at low level whilst another aircraft took photos:
This was fine for the Goose Bay area, but the white underside was a bit of a giveaway on Red Flag, so the later wraparound grey/green finish eventually became standard.
Many years later, to make the Brize Flying Club aircraft more conspicuous, I devised a 'flag blue and solar gold' scheme which, according to the air-traffickers, made the aircraft a lot easier to see against the sky:
The budget back then stretched to one aircraft re-paint per annum - and very smart they looked too! The last time we were able to put that 4-ship in the air was 15 Jul 2005 as part of a 'prizewinners' event for RIAT helpers organised by Brize ATC. Just as I was climbing in to lead the herd back from Fairford, I saw the infamous TypHoon near-disaster. "I don't think WE need to be quite THAT spectacular!", I mentioned to my passenger....
This was fine for the Goose Bay area, but the white underside was a bit of a giveaway on Red Flag, so the later wraparound grey/green finish eventually became standard.
Many years later, to make the Brize Flying Club aircraft more conspicuous, I devised a 'flag blue and solar gold' scheme which, according to the air-traffickers, made the aircraft a lot easier to see against the sky:
The budget back then stretched to one aircraft re-paint per annum - and very smart they looked too! The last time we were able to put that 4-ship in the air was 15 Jul 2005 as part of a 'prizewinners' event for RIAT helpers organised by Brize ATC. Just as I was climbing in to lead the herd back from Fairford, I saw the infamous TypHoon near-disaster. "I don't think WE need to be quite THAT spectacular!", I mentioned to my passenger....