Aircraft Colors and Camouflage

article RAF Photo-reconnaissance High Altitude PRU (1940-1945)Beginning in December 1940, tactical aircraft used in photo-reconnaissance began to adopt their own specialized camouflage designs, introducing many experimental colors and patterns of which only a few were …

article Desert camouflage paint scheme.RAF North Africa (1941–1945)RAF Middle East CommandThe Desert Air Force (DAF), also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, the Western Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical …

article F7F Tigercat .FIRE BOMBERSThe Grumman F7F Tigercat was designed to meet a 1941 Navy requirement for a twin-engine fighter that could climb quickly, have a long range, and firepower. The first flight was in …

article US Air Force/Air National Guard 1968-1980U.S. Air Force/Air National Guard.  From 1968 onwards, it was a special command of the USAF charged with the defense of continental U.S. airspace, and existed between 1946 and …

article Tactical Air Command Camouflage 1947-1964The Tactical Air Command was formed on 21 March 1946, a year before the USAF was established, and encompassed fighters, fighter-bombers, ground attackers, and other non-combat aircraft that could be …

article Photo-Reconnaissance CamouflageIn the period 1942-1945, the USAAF was approached by a Boston paint manufacturer known as Samuel Cabot with a proposal for a new white Haze paint that allegedly rendered aircraft close to invisible …

article Aegean Ghost  CamouflageInspired by the camouflage of the USN F-16N Aggressors, Ghost Gray or “Aegean Ghost” developed in the late 1980s, is the variant worn by all Greek F-16 Vipers, F-4E AUP Phantom IIsand …

article Heater-Ferris U.S. NAVY  Camouflage  In 1983-84 another experimental camouflage based on the Ferris scheme was developed by Lt. Cmdr. Chuck ‘Heater’ Heatley of the Naval Fighter Weapons School. The new scheme (popularly called Heater-Ferris) called …

article  Tactical Paint Schemes Camouflage 1976In 1976, Tactical Paint Schemes were adopted, an ambitious new camouflage technique proposed by Keith Ferris, a noted aviation artist. This so-called Ferris Scheme featured high-contrast fragment patterns as well …

article US Navy Vietnam War Camouflage 1971-1980The introduction of MIL-C-18263F(AS) on 29 June 1971 made some modest changes to the prevailing scheme, namely that the entire surface of the aircraft was given a gloss sheen. As …