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Camouflaged Aircraft and related topics
- Thread starter TheBubba
- Start date
I'll third that.
Where?
markkyle66
Active Member
Effectiveness of camouflage paint
One more, how come camoflauge paint schemes never really caught on in the navy? I remember reading about some A6's and F4G's that had it for a short time, but thats about it.
One more, how come camoflauge paint schemes never really caught on in the navy? I remember reading about some A6's and F4G's that had it for a short time, but thats about it.
Camo paint schemes are actually pretty much useless for aircraft, with the exception of the real low-and-slow bubbas (helos, FAC(A)s). Otherwise dark paint just makes you stand out against the sky.
During the latter half of WWII, when the Army stopped painting up the bombers (saved a lot of weight, and "didn't need" camo paint anymore with the Luftwaffe and IJAF OOC), they discovered that bare metal actually made pretty good camo. Unless you directly catch sunlight reflection, you just tend to reflect and blend in with the surrounding sky color. They learned that the hard way after a sudden spate of mid-airs during bomber group rendezvous over England.
During the latter half of WWII, when the Army stopped painting up the bombers (saved a lot of weight, and "didn't need" camo paint anymore with the Luftwaffe and IJAF OOC), they discovered that bare metal actually made pretty good camo. Unless you directly catch sunlight reflection, you just tend to reflect and blend in with the surrounding sky color. They learned that the hard way after a sudden spate of mid-airs during bomber group rendezvous over England.
We had the same argument at another airline, in another lifetime.
Does the extra weight you haul around in paint (it was a LOT) actually cost you more w/ rising fuel prices than the extra maintenance & materials associated w/ corrosion control -- in the long run?
I guess the last airline left standing can tell us all the answer ...
/threadjack
The point has been made before on the board that the NADEP gray that Navy helos are painted in is a much better color than the Army's OD for almost all environments.
Noticed all the Warthogs are gray these days, too. I should have said, it's completely useless except for the low-slow bubbas, and of only limited utility for them.
Though I thought that gray was primarily for IR suppression, not camoflauge...?
What I was always taught was that the gray was the best all-around color for camouflage (gray on top, light on the bottom) and that the type of paint is what gives the IR reduction (the rough texture w/ additives that help). Often times the battle that gets fought is when someone up the food chain sees gray patches everywhere and says the aircraft needs to be painted. Tactically, maybe, but the ensuing discussion about how paint is not for looks, but for corrosion would get through only sometimes.
Gray paint in inself doesn't reduce IR signature. There are specific paints that do so, such as this one for ground vehicles. The gray combo works very well, though I wonder if they would do even better with the zigzag patterns designed to break up outlines, though those would be more difficult to maintain.
Yeesh. That sure makes vis recce a pain.
CWJones411
IRR
This kind of camo might not be effective but dammit, it looks cool
B
