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MiIitary airGrifr :par{rings and eam e':$helttg3':,,.,.,,:rr, prcsent day from Wor{d War I to the

More than 1,3OCsupedrly detailed aircraft and emblem illustrations in full color

2Ogpages,full color throughout

More than 1OOaircraft, among the most famous fighting planes in history and many variants, are depicted in hundreds of exhaustively researched, brilliantly executed full color drawings, each with a concise and informative description.

Never before has there been such an accurately detailed and beautifully illustrated record of color schemes, camordage and heraldry wlrich have adorned military aircraft throughout over 6Oyears of aerial warfare.

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A Salamander Book Publishe d1 98 1 by Squadron/SignalPublications,Inc., 1 115 Crowle yDrive, Carrollton, Texas 75006. United Statesof America. tsBN 0-89747-121-0 @ SalamanderBooks Ltd.. and Pilot Press L t d.,1981. This book may not be sold outsidethe United Statesof America.Mexico and Canada. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,stored in a retrievalsystem or transmitted in any form or by.any means, photocopying,recording e lectronic,mechanical, or otherwise,without the prior permissionof Salamander Books Ltd. All correspondenceconcerning the content of this volume should be addressedto Salamander Books Ltd., SalamanderHouse, 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AF,

The Gompilers IIIILLIAM GREEN William Green entered aviation journalism early in World War lt wiih the Air Training Corps Gazette (now Alr Pictorial) and has gained an internationalreputation for his many works of aviation reference, covering both aeronautical historv and the current aviation scene, FollowiniJRAF service, he was E uropeancorrespondentto US,Canadian and South African aeronauticaljournalsand British correspondent to several European publications.He was Technical Director to the RAF Flying Review,then EditorialDirector when it became FIying Review International. I n 1971 he a n d G o r d o n S w a n b o r o u g hj o i n t l y created the monthly Air lnternational now one of Europes foremost aviationjournals, and they have also produced a number of books under joint authorship.

GORDON SWANBOROUGH Gordon Swainboroughhas spent his working life as an aviationjournalistand author,with the exception of a year-longappointmentin 1964 as a Sales Publicitv Officer with the British AircraftCorporatioh.From 1943 until 1963 he was a member of the editorialstaff of the weekly magazine The Aeroplane, s p e c i a l i z i n g f o r m u c h o f t h a t ti m e i n a i r t r a n s o o r t a f f a i r sl .n 19 6 5 h e b e ca m ee d i to r o f Flying Review International, and in 1971 joined forces with William Green to create Air lnternational.Asa team, these two authors are also responsibleforthe productionof the thrice-yearly Air Enthusiasf, devoted exclusively to aviation history,and the annual RAF Yearbookas well as a series of authoritative works on both current aircraft and various aspectsof aeronauticalhistory.

Gredits Editor:Ray Bonds Designers: Philip Gorton and Lloyd Martin Artwork: Pages16 to 208.John Weal.RichardCaruana and Brian Knight{@Pilot PressLtd.).Jacket, endpapers,and pages 1 io 5, Terry Hadler 1 o SalamanderBooks Ltd.)

IWM; 2, Pilot PressLtd.;3, CharlesE. Brown; 4, lWM. Pages 10-11: 1 and 2, US Navy; 3, MersserschmittArchiv; 4, lWM, 5, US Navy. Pages 12-13: 1 and 2, US Navy; 3, US Air Force;4,J.G.Moore Collection.Pages14-15: 1 and 2, US Air Force; 3, Lockheed: 4. Dassault-Breguet; 5, US Air Force.

Photographs: Pages6-7: 1, lmperialWar Museum(lWM);2 and 3, Pilot PressLtd.;4, lWM. Pages8-9: 1,

Filmset by Modern Text Typesetting Ltd. Colour reproduction by Positive Colour Ltd., Bantam Liiho Ltd., and GraphicAffairsLtd. Printed in Belgium by Henri Proost et Cie.

such a scheme readily visible or positively identifiableat the greatestpossibledistance, perhapsto increase,forexample,the likelihood of an aircraft being sighted after an enforced descent onto snow-covered terrain, or to ensure wide berth for an aircraftengaged in trainingactivitres. Flying Colourssurveys,by meansof profile drawings of military aircrafi. many of these camouflage and anti-camouflageschemes that have been applied over the past 65 years, together with functional and theatre markings, and naiional, unit and personal markings.Flying Colours makes no pretence to being a definitivetreatiseon this exceedingly complex subject-virtually every air

force of staiure and, , almost every major aircraft type, might well warrant a volume entirely to itself-being intendedas a synoptic overview, a broad outline of the and appticationo{ colour, for both utilitaria-n decorative purposes, to military aircrafl. The compilers' selection of aircraft has been of necessity somewhat arbitrary, being orimarilvmotivatedbv the desire to illustrate bolour finishes and markings, both typical . c r o s s t h ee n t i r esp e ctr u m .Th e a n d a t y p i c a la following pages will reveal that these range from the manifestlypedestrianto the startlingly flamboyant.

Gompilerd Preface Since, some three score and f ive yearsor so ago, the first coats of drab-coloureddope were applied to the naturallinen skinningof militaryaircraftof the day in order that they would better blend with their backgrounds,a need was first seen for some means of endowing aircraft with a national identity, and air and ground crews first began to personalisetheir chargeswith emblems,the camouflage of aircraft has become a science and their decorationan art form. ln times of war and, indeed, during the periods of quasi peace between conflicts, m ilitaryaircrafthave worn camouflage schemes in infinitevariety;schemesthathavechanged with extraordinaryfrequency to reflect differing ideas of means of concealment under specific circumstances,changing scenarios and enhancedperformancecapabilities. The other side of the coin is provided by what may be termed as anfr-camouflage intended to render the recipient aircraft of

Gontents

Aircraft types are presented in the chronological sequence of their initial service introduction.

Th e h i s t or yof f ly ing c o l o u rs Spad 7 Albatros D V N i e u p o r t24- 27 S.E.5 a Fo kke r Dr I Fo kke r D V ll Bre g u et B r e' 19 Ha w ke r F ur y J u n ke r sJ u 52/ 3m G ru mm an G - 5 ( G E - 23 ) ? .2 .L . P . 11( P . 24) Po l i ka rpovl- 15 ( l- 15bis ) Fi a t C R. 32 Bo e i n g P - 26 He i n kel He 51 Avi a 8 .5 34 G l o ste rG aunt let Po l i ka r povl- 16 S l Al (Sav oia- M ar c he tti ) S .8 1 De w o i tineD. 500/ 510 He n schel Hs 123 Fa i re yS wor df is h J u n ke rsJ u 86 S l Al (Sav oia- M ar c hettiS) M .7 9 Sp a rv ier o He i n kel He' 111 C u rti ssSB C Helldiv er M i tsu b i s hiA 5M ( Claud e ) Vo u g h t S B 2U ( V indic a to r) Armstrong WhitlvorthWh itley Fa i re y B at t le Do rn i e r Do 18 Seversky P-35 Bri sto l B lenheim Fi a t 8 R . 20 Cic ogna

6 16 18 20 21 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 53 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 II

72 74 76

J u n k e rs Ju 87 78 M i ts u b i shiType 96 A ttack B o m b e r (G3M) 80 B o e i n g B-17 Fortress 82 H a w k e r H urri cane 84 Me s s e rschmi ttB f 109 86 N a k a j i maK i .27 89 C u rti s sM odel 75 90 Dornier Do 24 92 Su p e rmari neS pi tfi re 94 V i c k e rsWel l i noton 97 M o ra n e - saul ni -er M.S . 406 98 F i a t G.5 OFrecci a 99 L o c k h e e d H udson 100 H a n d l e y Page H ampden 101 P o l i k a rp ovl -153 (t-1S ter) 102 F i a t C R .4 2 Fal co 104 .106 Me s s e rschmi ttB f 1 10 J u n k e rs Ju 88 108 D o rn i e rDo17Z/215 110 Bri s to l B e aufi ghter 11 R e g g i a n eR e. 2000 (and R e.2001) IZ D o u g l a sSB D D aunti ess 14 D e w o i ti neD .520 16 B re w s te r F2A (B uffal o) 18 G ru mma n F4F W i l dcar 120 B l o h m u nd V oss B V 138 122 B re g u e t Bre 693 123 C u rti s sH aw k 81A (Tomahaw k) lz4 H a n d l e y P age H al i fax tto D o u g l a sD B -7 (A -20) 128 Sh o rt Sti r l i ng 130 Mi ts u b i s hi G4M(B etty) tol It/likoyan-Gurevich M iG-3 132 C o n s o li d a ted B -24 Li berator I JZ+ L o c k h e e d P -38 Li ghtni ng tJ o N o rth Ameri can B -25 Mi tchel l 138 N a k a j i m aK i .49 D onryu (H el en) 140 141 M a rti n 8 -26 Marauder F o c k e -Wul fFw 190 142 N a k a j i m aK i .44 S hoki (Toj o) t+3 L a v o c h k i n-Gorbu nov-Gudkov I^A

A

Lil \tr Ltr-.)

N a k a j i m aK i .43 H ayabusa(Oscar) Yakovlev Yak-1 C u rti s sH a w k 87A W arhaw k M i ts u b i s h i 46M(Zeke) D e H a v i l landMosqui to

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148 150 152 154

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N orth A meri can Mustang V ul tee V -72 V engeance Lavochki nLa-5 R epubl i c P -47Thunderbo lt K aw asakiK !.61H i en (Tony) V ought F4U C orsai r Avro Lancaster N orthroo P -61 B l ack W i dow N akaj i maK i .84 H ayate(Fr ank) Messerschmi ttMe 262 Gl oster Meteor Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star E ngi i sh E l ectri cC anberra R epubli c F-84 Thunderstr eak (R F-84FThunderfi ash) H aw ker H unter N orth A meri can F-100 S uoer S abre D assaul tS uper Mystere M i koyan-Gurevi ch Fi shbe d

(MiG-211 SukhoiFitter McDonnell DouglasF-4

P hantoml l D assaul t-B reguet Mi rage | | I (and 5) B A C Li ghtni ng S aab V i ggen N orthrop F-5 (Ti ger l l ) M i koyan-Gurevi ch Fl ogger D assaul t-B reguet M i rage F'l N anchengA -5 (Fantan) l A l K fi r B ri ti shA erospaceH aw k Dassau lt-B reg uet/ Dornier A l pha Jet General D ynami csF-16 Fight ing Fal con P anavi aTornado

144

158 159 t ou tol toz+ too

168 toY

170 171 172 tl + t/o

178 180 182

fta 186 188 190 192 193 194 196 198 200 201 202 204 206 207

The history of FUYINGCOLOURS by Bruce Robertson, author, co-author, editor and compiler of some 20 major works on aeronautical subiects, former lmproved Inspector ot the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate of the British Air Ministry, and lor more than 20 years a member of the recognition training policy team at the British Ministry of Detence.

.FHE COLOURED finishesof service I aircraftare as functionalas their I equipment. Therangeof theircolouring iswidebut,althoughthereareadmittedlyonlysevencoloursin thb spectrum, for the purposesof this survey,flying colours cover every shade,including blackandwhite.Thesecolourscanreflect thetenorof thetimes,withtrendstowards camouflage coloursfor concealment as internationalrelationships deteriorate, whilenaturalfinishesandembellishment expressa lackof tensions. The earlyaeroplanesof WorldWar I were builtof wood,coveredwithfabric. This fabricwas linen,flax or Egyptian cottonrenderedair-andwater-tightby covering with a thin acetyl cellulose film,thatalsotautenedthe covering,in processcalleddoping.To an application protectthisfinishit wasusuallycovered with a so-calledclear varnish,which lookedbrown in bulk and bestoweda yellowishtinge to the fabric.No other colouringwasthenconsiderednecessary and the only markingwas a service identitynumber. Fromthe time that Bleriothad flown acrossthe EnglishChannelin 1909,the internationalimplicationsof aviation becamevery apparent.During1912, delegatesof flyingclubsof '13 countries pressedfor nationalidentityletterson aircraft,but governments andtheirmilitary authoritiessawno reasonto pursue the matter-exceptthe French.

light-coloured finishesof the day.Such werethe mainmarkingsof aircraftof the whenEuropewentto warin belligerents August1914. The neutralDutch,fearfulthat their wedgeof landmightbecomeembroiled in the conflict,took steps to proclaim As early their nationality and neutrality. that as 5 August1914they announced their aircraft would have wings and f uselagemarkedwithorangediscsindicativeof the Houseof Orangeof the Dutch RoyalFamily. atthecore Orangeremains of the Dutchnationalmarkingtoday. Germany's "lron Grosstt

The Germanssoon found a need to mark their aircraftto assuretheir own troops of their identityand the black "lron Cross"markingchosenwas suitably symbolic.The four squadronsof Britain'sRoyal FlyingCorps,reaching Franceon 8 August1914,foundtheir aircraftf ireduponby f riendandfoealike and were quicklyforcedto paintUnion Jacks under their wings. lt was also found expedientto mark the national flag on lateral surfacesas protection from theirAllieson the ground.Forced landingswerefrequentand an absence plusthe barrierof language, of markings, led thosein the localityof the landingto treatanystrandedairmenas potentially hostile. Thefactwassoonbroughthomethat in the visibilityof markings,shape is dominantto colour.At a distancethe France takes the lead Crossof St Georgeon the UnionJack France,leadingthe worldin aviationat wasmistaken for the blackMaltesestyle that time, led also in aircraftmarkings. cross adoptedby Germany.With the The FrenchArmydecreedin July 1912 agreementof the French Allies, the thatitsaircraftwouldbearon theirwings Royal Flying Corps adopted in midan indication of Frenchnationality using December1914 the Frenchcockade. the coloursof the Tricolour,the French but with a reversalof the order of the nationalflag,in the formof acockadeof colours.The RoyalNavalAir Service, one metre diameter.So the roundel makingits own rulings,had apparently form wasintroduced,laterto be adopted reasonedthatthe diametricoppositeto by most countriesof the world using a blackcrosswas a red noughtand so their own combinationsof national adopteda red circle as its nationality marking.However,in oneof thefirstof a colours. thatevenseriesof unificationmeasures All militaryand navalaircraftborean tuallywereto resultin theamalgamation indicationof individualidentity by a numberor letter,but the Frenchwent of the air armsof the Armyand Navyas furtherand madeit mandatoryfor their the RoyalAir Forcein April 1918,the nowfamiliarred,whiteandblueroundel aircraftto bear lettersindicativeof the national manufacturer standard aircraft as well as an individual becameBritain's registration. Also madeobligatorywas markingfrom 1 November1915. Earlier an indicationof maximumload(Charge that year rudder striping in national Maxima)towhichthe aircrafthadbeen colours,andthe additionof roundelson the fuselagesidesin placeof any Union satisfactorily tested.Manynationswere hadcomeintouse. to followsuit by markingthe maximum Jackmarkings, Evenpsychologyhas its placein airloadedweighton their aircraft.For all these functionalmarkings,black was craftmarkings.Pilotsandobserverstook exceptionto the fact that the most appropriateas contrastingwell on the

l. Understandably, flightcrewsfeltsomewhatvulnerable witha "bullseye at their vitals", as represented by the roundelon t hi sR o yalA ir F or c eD. H. 9 a . 2. A clear-doped AlbatrosC lll sportsthe GermanCrossPat6e. 3. Captain EddieRickenbacker [topAmerican "ace"of WorldWarI with26 victories] who becameCommander of 94thAeroSouadron AmericanExpedition Force,poseswitha Spad13 dispaying standard lateWWIFrench camouflage andfamous"Hat-in{he-Ring" e mb l e m , 4. S.E.5a's of No 85 Sqdn,Royal Air Fo rcea, t S t .O m erin J une1 9 1 8 , showingtheunit'shexagonal markings. vulnerable part of an aircraft, its crew, sat besidea markingthat most resembled, of all things,a targetwith the bullseyeat their vitals. The unfeeling regulationto place the roundel at the centre of the fuselage was supersededby instructions to mark roundelsaft of the cockpits. U p to 1916 t he objec t o f m a rk i n g s i, n the main, had been to call attention to na ti o n a l ident it y . Dur in g 1 9 1 6 , a n e w phaseof concealmentcame into vogue. Aircraft on reconnaissanceor bombing

missions, sneaking overenemy-held territory,soughtconcealment from fighters patrolling againstjustsuchan incursion to their bases,whichwere at that time attractivebombingtargets,where the light finishesof aircrafton the airfield werelikea guidingbeacon.Theproblem wasin findinga colouror combination of coloursthatwouldblendwiththe backgroundto renderaircraftinconspicuous, bothon the groundat itsbaseandin the air when viewedfrom above.This took precedence overconcealment intheair, primarilybecause f ighteraircraftwereof a greatermenacein destroyingaircraft guns. thananti-aircraft The Germansand the Allies, both accepting the needof concealmentf rom above,approachedthe methodof the masscamouflaging of their aircraftin two very differentways.After an initial blotching by paintsor distempers, usually in two or three differentshades,the printed Germansin late1916introduced fabricsof irregularpolygonsin four to five shades.Advantagesof this included in painting, thesavingof man-hours and the printingdyes had lessof a weight

penaltythan the pigmentmixed with varnishes adoptedbytheAlliesto achieve a uniformcamouflage colour. The Britishair arms,bothdependent on the RoyalAircraftFactoryfor official innovations, were recommendedto use a concoctioncalled PC10 (Protective CoveringNo 10) producedinitiallyby the Factory and then by industry. lts shadehasbeena subjectof controversy, althoughchemically its ingredients cannot be disputed.No doubtits colouring varied from khaki-greento chocolate brownas reportsand samplesindicate. But its preciseshadewas not all that important. Thecoveringhadbeenintroduced to protect, by its pigmented content,the fabric from deteriorating underthe harmful actinicraysof thesun, which it did more efficientlythan the clearvarnishremaining in usefor undersurfaces.lt was logical to have the pigmentin a camouflaging shadeat this stage of the war in the air, and since khakiwas the basiccamouflage shade for uniformsand battlefieldequipment, thiswasthebasisfortheshadeoriginally chosen.

The history of flying colou Simultaneouswith the trend towards camouflagecamethe very antithesisof concealmentby soTneGermanfighter units which adoptedcolour schemes akin to the plumagesof tropicalbirds. Theleadingaceof thatwar,Manfredvon Richthofen,was colloquiallyknownas the Red Baron from the all-redaircraft that he few, whileothersin his Geschwaderflew red-paintedfighters,butwith someotherdistinguishing colour.Small wonderthat his Geschwader and other paintedfighterunitswerecalled similarly circusesbytheAllies.Althoughtheterm originated from likening the gaudy coloursto thoseof circuscaravans,the term becomeseven moreapt when it is the appreciatedthat the Geschwadern, grouping of fighterunitsfrommid-1917, was to provide units that could be switchedto differentlocationsalongthe frontasrequired. Oneof themostincongruousaspectsof this aircraftcolouring was that it was often paintedover the fabric. camouflage-patterned Unit markings introduced

regardThe Britishmilitaryauthorities, ing uniformityasa militaryvirtue,viewed the unorthodoxin aircraftmarkingswith as muchdistasteasvariationsin airmen's uniforms.Unit markingswere alsofirst introducedon a large scale in 1916. WhileFrenchunitsingeneralandGerman fighterunitsin particular adoptedlarge, motifs,the British colourfuland symbolic squadronswere conditionedto simple geometricshapesor fuselagebandsin blackor whiteto contrast. In April 1916,the RoyalFlyingCorps in the Field had introducedtheir unit marking scheme, black on the light finishesand white when camouflaging became general later that year. The marking scheme was extended to all Britishsquadronsas they arrivedon the WesternFront,includingnavalsquadrons temporarilyunder RFCtacticalcontrol. Bars, triangles,discs, rings, crescents and hexagonsformed the basisof the markings,someof whichcan be seento thisday,perpetuatedby squadronswhich now bear the appropriate number. Changeswere made occasionallyto butthemost confuseenemyintelligence, sweepingchange came on 22 March of 1918,the dayfollowingthe launching the massiveGerman offensive.Some airfieldswereover-runanda regrouping of squadronstook place.To maskthese fighter movesfrom Germanintelligence, markingswere changedand all other unitswere instructedto obliteratetheir squadronmarkings. The gaudyschemessportedby some SopwithCamelshave tendedto give a falsepictureof the rigidBritishstandardisation. Snow-white and chequered Camelswere on the strengthof the 1st (Training)Wing in Britainand Australian some other embellishedaircraft were flown by Canadiansin Britain. The nationalsof thesecountrieshada repubuttheirhanditationfor non-conformity, work was the exception,certainlynot the rule. Duringthe 'twenties,with beliefthat WorldWar I had beenthe war to end all wars and with faith in the Leagueof

Nations, peace in Europe seemed "A", yellow for "8" and blue for "C" assured.TheLeaguehadgivenmandate Flightswere sanctionedin Air Ministry to Britainand Franceto policelraq and Weekly Orders that Decemberfor all Syria respectivelyand both countries aircraft.Later in the 'twentiesthe main had colonial interests in other semiRAF Command, Air Defencesof Great tropicalspheres.To give the increased Britain,regularised the fightersquadron protectionto aircraftfabric from ultra- markingsand permitted,from August violet rays in sunnyclimes,red oxide to displaytheir 1930,bombersquadrons was added to the pigment,but by the squadronnumbersin flightcolours. mid-'twenties this hadbeen replacedby The UnitedStates,havingabandoned in inauguran overallstandardscheme.Fabricwas the Leagueit wasinstrumental policyand, then initiallydopedwith red oxideconating,pursuedan isolationist tent, making red the basic colour of with no worriesother thanthose posed doped fabricshowingon the inside,a by her relativelyweakCentralAmerican practice that remains.The fabric was for camouflage neighbours, abandoned thencoveredwitha powderedaluminium naturalfinisheswithcolouredembellishdopeto reflectheat.Thisfinish,loosely ment.One exception,due no doubtto the fact that it was an Army Air Corps, called silver,becamestandardon all was the camouflagingof aircraft by RAF aircraft,whetherat home or overseas,with proprietorydopesby Cellon, washabledistempersin air exercises. Emailliteand Titaninebeing used.To So farthissurveyhasdealtwithf inishes accord,metalcowlingswereleftin natural in generalby aircraftoperatingby day. metalfinish.The metalwassometimes An overallblackfor a nightoperatingairclear varnishedto give a sheen, but but it was craftmayseemfundamental, rarely polishedas this could adversely provedthatit is finish,notshade,thatis affectthe ratherdull anodisedfinishof all important. As earlyas May 1915,an the duraluminsheeting. Avro 504wascoveredwith blackleadat the fighter Eastchurch, Duringthe mid-'twenties Kent,to assessitseffectivesquadronsof the RAFadoptedunofficial nessat night in a searchlightbeamat to squadronmarkings alongf uselagesides 3,000feet(914metres)incomparison The only and top wing uppersurfaces. a clear varnishedstandardAvro. In officialmandateon colouringwasgiven smoothingthe blackleaddown it had in 1924,when flightcoloursof red for been polishedto give a sheen and,

#

provingeven easierto detect by reflected light than other aircraft,black was dismissed as unsuitableinstead of a nonreflectlngmateriallike lampblackbeing tried. The RFC did use black varnishon ni ght-bombi ngFE 2bs, bu t it s Handley Page 0/400s were in standard PC10. However, the Experimental Station, .1 Orfordness,early in 918, came up with a nitro-varnishof a grey-green shade that they cal l ed N i vo, prom isinggood ni ght " i nvi si bi l i ty"i n condi t ionsof m oonl i ght.l t had a sl i ghtsheen,calculat edt o be equivalent to ihe reflection of calm sea. This became the standard overall fi ni shi ngvarni shfor R A F bom ber ssuch as the V i rgi ni as,H i nai di sand Hendons, 19221o1938.Associatedwith this f inish w as the ni ght roundel of red and blue. This roundel,excludingthe white portion, became standard for all camouflaged upper surfaceson RAF and RCAFaircraft duri ngW orl dW ar l l and i s cu r r ent lyused on the camouflaged surfaces of RAF aircraft. In 1936,w i th B ri tai ncom m it t edt o an expansion programme while Germany continuedunremittinglya policyof "guns before butter",the gatheringof warclouds was representedmore literallyon aircraft as brightfinishesgave way to dull paints. photographed in L Beiieved ai Marckebeeke A ugust1917,thi sFokkerD r I pr ot ot ype (F | 102/17) wasthefirstof several of i hetri pl anes fl ow nbyvonR i ch t hof en and paintedbrightred. 2, A resiored example of theSopwithSnipe asfl ow nby 208S qdn. 3. A B eaufori tLgB TBof l N o 217 Sqdn,RAF Coastal fromSt.Eval, Command,operating i n thetemperate l andschemeo[ dar kgr een andearthof theearlyWWIIperiod. 4. A Mosquito B lV tDK33Blon test,in dark greenandoceangreycamouflage withmediumseagreyundersurfaces adoptedin 1942.

".

The history of flying colours Printedfabricswere out for the metal- merely indicatedwhere it was. For a plan view. This was indicativeof the periodin 1939,Britainwithdrewwhite growingbomberoffensive,in that concoveredGermanaircraft;indeed,itwaq the British with their fabriccovered from the fuselageroundelbut outlined cealmentof attackingbomberstook Wellingtonscoming into service that both this and the conventional roundel precedenceover their temperateland might have considereddyed fabrics. laterby a thick yellowoutercirclethat schemecoloursfor concealment at their While most Europeancountriesat this almosteclipsedthe nationalmarkings bases,so endorsingBomberCommand's time, or soon after, adopteddisruptive within. philosophy-"thebest form of defence camouflagepatternsin varyingcolour BothGermanyand Britainwerefairly is attack". tones, Britain and Germanydiffered uniformin the markingof codedunitand As a matter of morale. American widelyon theirapplication. individualaircraftletters.In both cases bomberscrewsin particularadorned the The Britishstandardised on shades the nationalmarkingprovidedthe focal nosesof theiraircraftwith variousforms: describedas darkearthanddarkgreen, pointfor thisdisplayof codedcharacters, voluptuous females,gruesomeogresand mergingintoeachotherin curvinglines. and in bothcasesthe letterimmediately the screenandcomicstripcharactersof The Germansinitiallystandardised on aft of the cross or roundel was the the day.Suchwasthe world-widesyndithree colour tones meetingwithout aircraft'sindividualletter.Thetwo letters cation of Walt Disney'sart that Mickey merging,in a ratherhaphazard (German) andjagged (British)and twocharacters in Mouseand DonaldDuckgavecolourto way,earningthe nameof splintercamou- frontof the markingcompriseda coded the aircraftof friend and foe alike.The flage.To avoidhavinga line of aircraft referenceto the unit or formation.The Americansin particularbestowednames with uniformpatternscoppromising Germans had the refinementof two upontheir bomberssuchas: "Bat Outa camouflage,bothcountrieshada reversal lettersafterwith the finalletterdenoting of the order of the coloursby making its unit, as distinct from the higher l. During World Warll,mission symbols alternateaircraft from productionthe formationletters. tookvarious forms,butthemostusual mirroredimageof eachother. werebombs,as seenbelowbeingapplied At the time,the needfor securityby a to a DouglasSBD-5 coded referenceseemedobvious.In War clouds prompt camouflage retrospect,it is difficultto understand 2. A s fromJune1943,w hi terect angles augmented U Si nsi gni a, asseenon t hese The Munichcrisisof September1938 why.UnlikeduringWorldWarI whenthe GrummanF6F-3Hellcats. provokedseveralemergencymeasures simple emblemswere changedfrom 3. Ratherobviousawayfromthedesert, in Britain,includingthe hastycamou- time to time, the Britishand German these Bf 11OEsof ll Gruppeof Zerstorerflagingof aircraftremaining silverin the Docu- geschwader codeswere generallyunvarying. 26 arein a sandfinishfor paintsbeingused mentsfrom bothsidessuggestthatthe industrial camouflage NorthAfricanoperations earlyin 1942.Note in aerodromebuildings.The disruptive opponentshad a keenerknowledgeof thewhitetheatrebandstowardtherearof the patterning hadappliedonlyto operational the overallcoded referencesthancom- fuselages, and alsothatthe aircraflat the rear lacksthenoseemblem. aircrafton production,but this crisis patriotshadof theirown! embellishment of combat heraldeduniversal camouflagefor aircraft The Nivofinishfor invisibility to night 4, Theunofficial ll waswidespread, based in South-Eastern and Eastern f ightersby nightbombersprovedpoint- aircraftduringWorldWar example beingthe"Shark'sNose"decorEngland.Germanaircraft,alreadyin less when it came to operations. The one ation RAF of No 1 I2 Squadron's Kittyhawks, camouflage, wereunaffected, buta signi- possibilities of visualdetectionof any 5. MostB-l7s boredecorative nose ficant changecame in January1939. aircraft at night, until airborneradar emblems, oftenveryimaginative andsomeHithertothe swastika, displayed overfin becameeffective,was remote-except timerisqu6,buttaildecoration, suchas and rudder,hadbeenset in a whitedisc whenaidedbytherevealing illumination this,wasrare.Suchadornment wasregarded on a redband.Theredandwhitesetting of searchlights. for bombercrews. As an anti-searchlight as a morale-booster wasthen removedand the lastvestiges finish Nivo was ineffectualsince it 2 of peacetimedisappearedfrom the reflectedlight,anda newlight-absorbing appearanceof Germanaircraft. velvetyblackwasintroduced by Britain, The German nationalmarkingwas RDM2,for undertheofficialdesignation fourwhiteangles, andtheBritishnational nightbombersf rom 1937.TheGermans markingin the early stagesof the war adopteda similarfinish.At first it was was a yellow circle. The books on appliedto undersurfaces only, by the markings andthe officialdecrees,or the RAF, but sincesearchlighttechniques interpretation of them,did not put it this involvedconing by a seriesof lights, way-but for all practicalpurposesof lightconcentration considerable on the identification these sidesof the aircraftwas likelyto result. by the participants, were the facts. The official German As a counter,by the end of 1940,the marking was a black cross on a dark black was extended to the complete setting;outliningthe cornersof the cross lowerhalf of the aircraftand in the next year it wasextendedto all but the strict in white did not show up the cross,it

H el l " , " B oei ng' s B est" , " B ugs Bunny", " C al ami tyJane" ," FancyN a ncy","Flash Dodger", etc, often with an associated moti f. S ome w ere consi der edt oo out rageous and onl y recently has publicati on of photographsof such been permi tted. Different theatres, differing camouflage W i th w ar i nvol vi ng al l fi ve cont inent s camoufl age vari ed accor ding t o t he theatre of war. Britain had five main schemes-TemperateLandof darkgreen and dark earth, Temoerate Sea of dark slate grey and extra dark sea grey, M iddle East of dark earth and middle stone, C ommand ooti onal at di s cr et ion and P hotographi cR econnai ssance( PR) of variousshadesof blue initially-and later i nci uded even pi nk fi ni shes. The PR schemew asoveral lsi ngl ecolour ing,but all the otherswere in a disruptivescheme to six separatepatternsaccordingto the basic configurationof the aircraft,with undersudacesin shadesfor concealment againstthe sky,varyingfrom nondescript grey to bl ue i n the Medi ter r aneanar ea. The U ni tedS tates,w i th co m m it m ent s east and east.adooted oiive drab as the mostsuitablecarnouflageshadefor upper and si de surfaces,w i th neu t r aigr ey or azure for undersurfacesi n Eur opean and Facrfictheatres respectively.Germany, fi ghti nga w ar on se ver alf r ont s, with a needfor switchingf orces,changecl to a rrariety of schemes, to suit the terrai n,by i l si ng pai ntseasiiyr em oved. The S ovi et U ni ontoi l ow edt he G er m an trend of suppl yi ngpai ni si or ! ocalappiicati cn,w i th dark green,earthbr ownand

#; "':.,,f q"

**

%".

The history of flying colours whitepredominant to meettheirseasonal requirements, but availabilitybeing a primaryfactorin the earlystagesof the conflict.Forexample,Lavochkinfighters built in a former tractor factory were givena disruptivecamouflagepatternof blackand green simplybecauselarge stocks of paint of these colours were availablefor the tractorsformerlybuilt by the factory! During 1941,the BritishTemperate Landschemefor dark earthfor fighters waschangedto seagrey,soepitomising Britain'schangingfortunesof warfrom the defensiveroleof the Battleof Britain to a colour appropriateto aiding the concealmentof aircraftcrossingthesea. Fighter Commandaircraft were then flying acrossthe Channello do battle with the Luftwaffe over enemy-held territory. The Japanese influence

Japanbroughtinto the war a varietyof camouflageschemes,largely because the officialschemesdecreed in their temperatehomelandhadlittlerelevance in the tropicalspheresto which rapid advanceswere made,where localcommandschemescameintoeffect.A facet of Japanesemilitary aircraft markings wasthatthe fin and rudderwasthe area for unitandformation, aswellaspersonal, markings.Becauseof their Hinomaru nationalmarking, the reddiscof thesun, red was excluded from the national markingsof Americanand Britishaircraft in the Pacific and South-EastAsian spheresto avoidmistakenidentities.But mis-identif icationsdid stilI occur,bringing home once again that shape is more importantthan colour,leadingin mid1943to white barsbeingaddedto each side of the Americaninsignia,which haveremainedto thisday.Anotherploy, still used,wasthe asymmetricalpresentationof the USnationalmarkingson the wings,beingplacedon the uppersurface of the portwing,and lowersurfaceof the starboardwing. Practicallyall countries, including Japan,agreedthatyellowwasthe appropriatecolourfor trainers.A yellowflag in the International Codedenotes"Fever". with the impilication"keep well away" and the messageconveyedby trainers wasequally apt.Yellowwould,of course, compromise the camouflage of aidields and so uppersurfacesof trainerswere camouflagedin operationalareasduring World War ll. But on the American continent,in Australiaand SouthAfrica, trainerswere mainly an overall bright yellow. Oneof the mostsurprising changesin 1943 was the transformationof RAF CoastalCommandaircraft,by restricting their temperateso*a.scheme of ocean shadesto strictplanviewonlyandhaving the rest of the aircraft white. lt was to reducetheir deemed,by experiment, visibilityfromthe submariners'point of view,and lightshadesaretodayin vogue for anti-submarine aircraftof allnations. Since nationalmarkingswere in matt finishes,to preventthemcompromising camouflage,somethingmoreoutstanding was neededfor the assaultingaircraftof 12 the Allied Expeditionary Air Forcesfor

D-Day,pfannedfor 5 June 1944,and executedthe day following,when massive retaliationwas anticipated.Five whiteandblackstripesaround alternating wings and fuselageproclaimedAllied aircraft.Similarstripingwasto be applied againwherejointforceswereconcerned; by Fleet Air Arm aircraft operatingin Koreanwatersandby Britishand French aircraftin the 1956Suezoperations. Undoubtedlythe moststartlingmarkings of all were the bizarreschemesof the American"assemblyships"of the US EighthAir Force,aroundwhichformations took up stationbeforeflying over enemy-held territory. These exotic pofka-dottedor striped B-24Dsdid not the formations accompany on theirmissions,but conspicuouslymarkedradarequipped"lead-ships" did.Thelatterhad to be conspicuousfor the cue to others of their formationto drop their bombs whenthe leaderswere seento do so by actingon theirsuperiorlocatingaids.As part of a formationthey were defended from enemyfightersby otherbombers f lyingin boxformation and,withGerman anti-aircraft fire beingradar-predicted at thisstageof the war,theirconspicuous providednoadditional markings hazard. Dirrinishing

threat, no camouflage

From early 1944,the Americanssaw littleneedto continuewithcamouflage. Bases in the Pacificwere beyond the reach of the Japanesestrikes and in Britain the threat from the Luftwaffe The overBritainhadgreatlydiminished. absenceof camouflagehelped performanceby reducingweightand surface drag, but of even greater importance was the saving in factory manhours. portionsof aircraftstrucFabric-covered tureswere then given "silver"dopingto matchthe naturalmetalof the remainder. The RAFdid not followsuit untilafter hostilitieshadendedin Europe,except in the secondhalfof 1944,when paint was scrapedfrom somefightersto gain extra speed necessaryto pursue and shootdownV-1flyingbombs. Among the many smallermarkings victories; werethoseproudlyannouncing roundelsor swastikas,dependingupon the side,to showthe numberof aircraft shot down by a pilot.But as only wing leaders normallyretained a particular aircraftthat they could temporarilycall theirown,it wasa far fromrigidsystem. 3

L Markings areoftenappliednotto hidean aircraIl, butto makeit moreconspicuous. A perfectexampleof anti-camouflage during WorldWarll is provided by theseBellP-39 Airacobras whichwereusedto traingunners. 2. ThenormalUS Navymethodof recording "kills"is seenon thisHellcat of Lt (j.g.lE.R Hanks,who reportedly achieved five successes overJapanese aircraftin a single mrssro n . 3. Theextraordinarily flamboyant decoration ot IheB-24Liberator assemblv shiosof the USBthArmyAir Forceis typified by the B-24Hleadaircraftln this458thBomb Grouplormationas it climbsoutof St.Faith, Norfolk,England. 4. A remarkable exampleof suitable camouflageis provided by thisBf lOgE-4/ Tropfighterof I Gruppeof Jagdeschwader27 mergingin withtheLibyan desertoverwhichit is hereseenflvino du ri n gth es um m erof 1941. With bombers, however, it became something of a fetish to record with bomb silhouettesthe number of sorties carriedout. LancasterB Mk lll ED888 of No 103 Sqdn, RAF, is the accredited Bomber Command record holder with 140 bombing missions.American C-46 and C-47 transportson the Burma-China run over "the hump",as the lower reaches of the Himalayas were called, were ma rke d wit h a c am el s i l h o u e tte fo r completing each loaded flight over this route. In a carry-over from bombing Japan to similar missions over Korea, . 15 0 on e Bo e i ng B - 29 had bombsilhouettes marked on its nose, topped by a MiG-15 profilesilhouetterepresentinga destructionclaim by one of its gunners. Search and rescue aircraft, particularly

helicopters, havesimiladyrecordedmore peacefulmissions-a matchstickman silhouettefor each life savedand for someotheremergencymissiona stork silhouettewasconsidered apt. The 'fiftiesbrought in new aircraft f inishes. Withthegeneralintroduction of jet aircraft,with their higher speeds, smoothfinishesbecameessential,not only to reducedrag,but to preventthe paintfrombeingtornfromthestructure. Theidealfinishes hadto be glossdrying direct from the spraygun, eliminating the need for an additionaltransparent cellulosefinishthenbeingappliedasan interimmeasure. Thisentailedan initial "filler",sothatalljoinsin metalcoverings and indentationswere first smoothed over. Polyurethane, now in domestic use,was one such paintschemeintroduced in the 'fiftiesthat wassufficiently hard to resist the abrasiveeffects of dust-laden air. Sophistication broughtnewrangesof coveringsand exceptionsto an overall jet colouringscheme.Someall-weather fightershadto be "tippedandtailed"in a fibre differentcoloursince resin/glass radomes needed paints with special properties, adherenceandanti-tracking while the jet tailpipeneededa special heat-resistingpaint in black so that exhaustdepositswere not so apparent. Withthe comingof the new finishing schemes came a re-introductionof resulting camouflage fromthe"coldwar". The intransigent attitudeof the Soviet Unionin blockingroadaccessto Berlin, leadingto the massiveAnglo-American airliftin 1948andthenthe KoreanWarin

1950,heightened tensionbetweenEast and West.Britainreintroduced camouf lageas earlyas 1947andstandardised in the mid-'fifties, but boththe USAand the USSR resistedthe trend and continuedto operateaircraftin naturalmetal f inishwith transparentprotectivecoverings. There were several reasonsfor this.WhateverleadGermanymighthave had in jet aircraft had been utterly destroyed,leavingBritainto lead the worldfora briefperiodinthisfieldandits associatedfactors, igrcludingfinishes. Othercountriesdid notthenhaveavailable paintssuitablefor the highspeeds beingattainedby jet fighters,and only Commonwealth countriesdisplayedinterestin importing fromBritain.Thiswas nottheonlyreason. TheUSAhaddefence interests worldwide and the Soviet Union'sown territoryborderedon three beyond continents, apartfromitsinterests its borders.So extendedweretheircommitmentsthatstrengthat all pointswas impossibleand their true mightwas in their mobility-the abilityto switchthe forces.Therewasno camouflage colouringsuitableat theconstruction stagefor all the environments of their respective globalcommitments. In the Koreanconflict,Sovietfighter types, mainly MiG-15s,operatingfor NorthKoreadid,however,adoptcamouflage tactics.Sincethe UnitedNations air forces,primarilyAmerican,had air superiority withtacticalaswellasstrategic bomberson call, North Koreanaircraft werecamouflaged bothfor concealment on theirairstrips andagainstdetectionin the air fromabove.Theirdarkand light lo

The history of flying colours greenpatternedcamouflagewasdeemed effectiveby their opposingF-86 Sabre pilotswho,whentheydidspotandattack were at timesthemselvesattackedfrom high{lyingMiG-15sin anoverallpowder blue finishwhich mightbe considered the forerunnerof the paleair superiority finishes of today. Distemperfor such tactical camouflaginghas been consideredbeforeandsince,but becauseof the drag in high speed aircraft it is generallyrestrictedto helicopters. For the countriesof the Middle East and Gulf areas,with largetractsof arid territory,variationson a mid-sto'he shade overall are generalfor what is loosely ". Notonlyare called "desertcamouflage the finishes of the various countries similarbutso aretheirnationalmarkings, for this centreof the lslamworldshows itscult intheirmarkings-whiteforvirtue, red for fiercenessin battle,blackfor the era of the Caliphatesand green, Mohammed's own colour.The country with Meccaas its capital,SaudiArabia, hasitsserviceaircraftbearingthe legend in Arabic,"Thereis no god,butGod,and Mohammedis his prophet".In the WesternWorld,onlyPortugaland Switzerland proclaimChristendom,by a cross,a symbolanathemato lslamso thattheir , air ambulancesdisplaya red crescent insteadof a red cross. Army aviation rapidly expanded duringthe Tifties,particularly in the US Army. The reconstitutedWe-hrmacht requiredeightdifferenttypesof aircraft and Britain gave Corps status to its Army'sair arm. From'1940 it had been usual to give army aircraft an overall ground camouflagescheme in matt (lustreless in Americanparlance) finishes. Golourf ul display teams

14

Mitigatingthe trend to dull colouring from the mid-Tiftieswere the service aerobaticteams,some coiningnames based on their unorthodox colour schemes,such as the "Black Arrows" and"BlueDiamonds", flyingRAFHunters, and"Diavoli Rossi"from ltalyand"Golden Hawks"f romCanadaf lyingSabres.Alternativelycolour schemesin national colourswere in vogue.In the 'sixtiesit wasdeemedextravagant to dressa front line squadronin this way and a misemploymentof operational aircraft.By the endof the 'sixtiestfie nationaldisplay teamswerepracticallyall of traineraircraft types and are so today,althoughthe USAF's"Thunderbirds" areto relinouish their T-38 trainersin favour of F-16 FightingFalconfightersin the future. Another problem was the conflict betweenthe dull operationalfinishes and a need for high visibilityto avoid collision.For this reasonfighteraircraft in particular havebeenalloweda certain degreeof embellishment oversmallareas that could be'quicklyobliteratedin an emergency.Fortrainers,exceptin war, brightcolourshave alwaysbeen used and the introduction of Daygloflexible f inishes enabled trainers in natural f inishesto haverashesof colour. The US Navy, over the years,has shown how views on camouflagecan change radically.A wartimescientific studyadvocated lighterfinisheson areas

2 definishadedby wingswithmeticulous tionsof shadeintensity, butthe scheme was impractical in temperateclimes.In 1944, Americancarrier-borne aircraft, including thosesuppliedto Britainunder Lend-Lease, weregivenan overalldark "midnightblue"finish,whichgaveway to lightgreysafterthe war.Withpostwar patrolaircraft,Neptunes andearlyOrions, there wasthe extraordinary schemeof the lowerhalfdark blueand upperhalf grey, the very reversalof colours for camouflageagainstsea and sky backgrounds!lt originatedfrom a need to have a lighter heat-reflecting surface thanthewartimedarkblue.FromOctober 1964this schemegave placeto white uppersurfacesfor thefunctionalpurpose of heat-reflecting andgreyundersurfaces for concealmentagainstthe sky from navalvessels.

Perhapsthe ultimatein lightfinishes were thoseof the RAFV-bombersin the 'sixtiesof highglosswhiteoverallas an anti-radiation f inishintheirnucleardeterrent role.Withthe Navytakingoverthe nuclear role by submarine-launched Polarismissiles, theV-forcewasswitched to conventional bombingandtankerroles, so once againstdisruptivepatterned camouflage wasreintroduced for bomber uppersudaces. The trend for camouflagecontinued throughoutthe 'sixtieswithUSAFaircraft in Europeadoptinga disruptivepatterned camouflage, a reductioninsizeof national insigniapresentation andthetoningdown of unit and serial markings.In the 'seventieseven the RAF's Lightnings wentunderthespraygunsforcamouflage shades.The SovietUnioncontinuedto use naturalfinishes,except for some

5 f igh te rs i n t he ' s ev ent ie sw h i c h w e re g ive na n ov er alllow- v is ib i l i ty g re y f i n i s h as an air-to-aircamouflageshade. At the dawn of the 'eighties,when the

l . U SAi r F o rceF-5ETi gerl l spai nted in various"Aggressor"finishes apparentiy genuine resembling finishes to oneor applied anotheroperatorof Sovietcombataircraft. Theseaircraftparticipate in Dissimilar Air CombatTraining of USAFandotherNATO alrcrews,to improvetheirair-to-air "by realistic combatcapability simulation of theenemythreat". 2. Expected to operate at "treetop height, th i sF a i rc h i lAd-10AThunderbol l l ti s therefore appropriately camouflaged in the USAF's so-called llzardschemeof twoqreens andcharcoal.

3. Currently thereareseveral variations of maritime aircraft finishes. Thatadooted for thisP-3FOrionof thelranianlslamic ArrForceseemsappropriate enoughfor operation oversea.butwouldrenderthe aircraftsomewhat whenit conspicuous returned to itslandbase. 4. Anothervariation isthe high-gloss seablue-grey andwhiteof the French A6ronavale SuperEtendard. 5. ThecurrentUSAFtactical camouflage of twoshadesofgreenandtanlooksappropriate on thi sF-111E crui si ng a t er r ain agai nst w i thsi mi l ar col ouri ng.

FairchildA-10AThunderboltll was introduced as a low-levelanti-armourattack aircraft,a new overallthree-tonecamouf lage of dark grey, light and dark green was applied.The patterningand shades are not far removed from those advocated for Soowith Salamandersover 60 y e a rs e a rl i er w hen they w ere bei ng produced as trench strafing aircraft, a l th o u g htoo l ate for operati ons. A new development in the 'eighties, involvingexperimentation with both RAF and USAF aircraft,has been a revivalof a low visibilitygrey overall camouflage scheme. But why in this sophisticated age of electronicdetectionshouldvisual detection be considered at all? In an internationalemergencyit is anticipated that there may be a period of "radar silence", meaningthat detection equipment might be switched off to prevent

defenceradarlatchingon to the source of emissionsand revealingredeployment of forces,so that at this most criticalof times the humaneye would againbe the primedetector.Also,some of themodernairdefencemissilesystems aretrackedoptically, underhighmagnification,wherevisibilityof the targetto the eye is of importance. So onceagainwe turnf ullcircleuntil the trend is arrestedand reversedfor safety considerations of the collision risks.Thereare irreconcilable factorsfor conthe dull finishesof camouflage postureandeyecealmentin operational catchingcoloursto advertisepresence in the interests of safety.Sincetheflying coloursmirrorthestatesof international tensionoverthe years,let us hopefor a trend towardsbrightnessin the flying 15 coloursof the f uture.

SPAD 7 [1916] Rememberedtodayas one of the most efficaciousfightingscoiJts fieldedby the Alliesduring WWl, the Spad 7 was created by the Soci6t6anonymepour l'Aviation et ses D6riv6s.the productsof which were to become universally known by the acronym Spad [thus writtenJ.A shapelylittleaeroplane,it firstflew [as the

T y p eV ) e a rl yi n Ap ri l1 9i 6. l t wasnotoutstandingly agile,it forofferedratherrestricted wardvisionandit presented a dauntingly steepglideangle, butitssoeedoerformance and greatstructural strength were advance seento offera pronounced andit therefore immediately By 1 August enteredproduction.

(21Spad 1917,50 escadri l l es de chasse blackon someaircraft. weremountedon theSpad7 and 7 of Lt de Turenneof Escadrille some3,500w erebui l itn France, SPA48 Noteclear-dooed fabric witha further220 beingprodafiof cockoitand reoetition of ucedi n theU K and100i n R ussi a, aircraftnumberon aftfuselage i eP AB 1 decking.[3J Spad7 (46662]of [r) S pad7 of E scadri lS in theoverallFrenchGreyfinish N o 19 S qdn,R oy alFlying Cor ps, whichwasfavoured bytheAviation S t Mari eC appi l l eFr, ance, in mi l i tai re i n 1917.TheS P AB 1 D ecember 1917.Not et hekhaki" Greyhound" embl emappeared i n dopedsi desandto pdecking,

i....

Bt52

allothersurfaces beingclear doped.[4J Spad7 (B1524Jof No 23 Sqdn,RFC,La Lovie,France, July1917.Notered-and-white trontcowlstripingandtheaft fuselage bands.[5) Spad7, 9 1" Squadriglia, XXlllGruppo, Italian Aeronautica delRegio Esercito, Centocelle, November 1923.Noteolivefuselage, clear-

dopedwings,andwhiteaftfuselagebandincorporating fixed portionof tailplane, the rudder andelevators beingstripedin national colours.(6JSpad7 of theCommandante of theXXlll Gruppo,LonatePozzolo ,1924,fhe shieldon thefuselage contains theemblemsof thefourcomoo(7) Spad7 of nentsquadriglie.

theCzechoslovak ArmyAir Force, beige,withyellowish-cream Cheb,Western Bohemia, crrca undersu rfaces. Thestarboard 1920.ts) Duks-built Spad7 of sidepatternof theSpad7 is seen Fi nni sh l l mai l uvoi mi[A envi ahere,togetherwith(9a) those ti onForceJ, 1921.tgl l n 1918, for theuppersurfaces and a standard camouflage wasad[9bJlowerwing.(lOJ An optedfor France's Aviationmilitaire; ex-SPA86 Spad7 aftercapture thiscomprised irregular anduseat Germanfighterschool segments of chestnut brown,dark at Valenciennes, 191B.Standard green,lightgrey-green and Frenchcamouflage is retained.

Albatros D V [1917] Backboneof theJastasfrom late su mmer1917unt ilear lys u m m e r 1918,theD V anditsmorerobust b ut externally similarderivative, the D Va,werebuiltin large numbers,900 o{theformerano 'I,612ofthelatterbeingproduced by Albatros andOAW.TheD V beganto reachthe Jastasin Mav1917.butsuffered structural

deficiencies whichledto theD Va, wood(birchplyJ,butvariedand the latterprovidingalmosthalfthe f requently flamboyant colour totalGermanfrontlinefighter schemesweresubsequently c o mp l e m e ni nt A p ri l1 918.The appliedat unitlevel.Theirregular patchesof drabmauvishpurple Albatrosfighterswereelegantly streamlined andwereremarkable and darkolivegreenoriginally in thattheyintroduced twin-gun appliedto thefabricskinningof armament. When synchronised wingsandtail(withpaleblue gaveplaceto a delivered, the D V and D Va undersidesJ fuselages werevarnishednatural patternof irregularpolygons-

1

:,

fabric. widelyknownas "lozenge" Thisconsisted of eithera four-or a five-colour that combination, appliedto theuppersurfaces usingdarkershadesthanthat Differorintedfor the undersides. ing dyebatchesproducedconand siderable shadevariations, dictatedthe use supplysomeiimes ol a singletypeof fabricrather

thantheusualtwo.[ll D V with Edelweiss emblernflownsuccessivelyby ObltnPaulBdumerand LtnWilhelmLehmann, Jastafuhrerof Jasta5. (2) D Va "Blitz" flownby LtnHansJ von Hippel, alsoof Jasta5, in thespringof 1 9 1 8 the , upperwings urfa c e beingdividedroughlyhalfand halfin mauvishourpleanddark

olivegreen(2a),a three-segmentstyleBalkankreuz. (4) D V flown (lowerJ arrangement of these by LtnDingel,executive officer coloursbeingappliedto some of Jasta15.[5] D V flownby Ltn (3) D V flownby Hptm aircraft. FritzRumeyof Jasta5 whowasto RichardFlashar. oredecessor of claim45 "kills"beforelosinghis Lehmannas JastafUhrer of life,ThelronCrossgaveplaceto "mailedgauntlet" the Balkankreuz Jasta5, sporting on thisandother motif,and[3a) illustrating lighter D V sduri ngearl ysummer1918. "lozenge"patternappliedto wing (61D V fl ow ni n autumn1917by and tailundersides. Noteearlv VzfwClausnitzer of Jasta4. Note

thevarnished naturalplywood (7) A D V Ipilotunidentif uselage. fiedlat Boistrancourt, summer 1917.Thi sai rcrafspor t t ed a si mi i ar chevronIi n black]on upperwingto thatof Flashar's (8) D V IpilotunidentifiedJ aircraft. of Jasta5 withan elaborately decoratedfuselageand a stylised Bavarian Lionmotif.

Nieuporl24-27

(1917)

Closelyrelatedto theextremely su cce ss f Nie. ul 7, 1 t heNie .2 4 and 27 represented refinedperpetuation of thebasicNieuport fi g h tefo r r m ula. T heNie. 2 4w a s fl o wne ar lyin 1917,ent er i n g A6ronautiq ue militaire service in thesummerof thatyear.The climband levelspeedperformanceweregood,butthe Nie.24

provedunpopular owingto heavy ailerons and ooorcontrolin tu rn i n gT. h eN i e .2 7 fo l low ed soon closelb y e h i n dth eN i e . 24, itspredecessor in outnumbering Embodying somefurther service. perforimprovement, aerodynamic mancewas,fromseveral aspects, inferior, neithertypeemulating the successof itsprogenitor.

( l l N i e . 2 4t N 5 0 2 4 ) o f U S A i r Serviceconstruction[training) s q d n , F r a n c e ,e a r l y 1 9 1 8 . N o t e retentionof French national i n s i g n i a (. 2 1 N i e . 2 4[ N 3 9 6 1 ] o f E s c a d r i l l eN . 9 1 , F r e n c hA v i a t i o n m i l i t a i r ei,n 1 9 1 7 .( 3 ) N i e . 2 7 ( 8 6 7 6 8 1 ,N o 1 S q d n , R o y a lF I y i n g Corps, Builleul,France,October 1 917. Note retentionof French

t{',llt*ry1..:.'i

5800

three{one camouflage.(4) Nie. 27 (83637) as flown at Royal ment, FarnA ircraftEstablish b o r o u g h , M a r c h 1 9 1 9 , N o teth e standardRAF PC10 overallfinish ( 5 1 N i e . 2 7t N 5 B 0 0 l o f th e Bl a sq uadriglia,ltaiianAeronautica M i l i t a r es, u m m e r 19 1 7 ,N o teth e retentionof Frenchinsigniaand th ree{one camouflagescheme.

S.E.5a [1917) Created at the RoyalAircraft Factory,Farnborough,where the prototype first flew late in '1916, the S,E.5awas to emerge as one of the truly greatcombat aircraftof WWl. lts initial service career was marred by some structuralweaknessof the upper mainplanecentresection, problemswith the power plant

reductiongear and troublesome gun synchronisation, but once thesedifficulties had been overcome,the S,E.5awas to prove itselfa formidableand extremelyrobustlighter,easy to fly and popularwith its pilots,and, most important,the equal of the superlativeFokker D Vll when the Germanfighter

overtheWestern appeared Front Firstcommitted to combatin A pri l1917,theS .E .5a reached peakmid-1918 itsproduction 1,423werebuiltd uringthe secondquarterof theyearand morethan5,500werebuilt of whichsome2,700wereon RAFstrength at timeof Armistice (rl S .E5a (E S B OBNI o 56 S qdn,

RAF, Bethenecourt,France,in J a n u a r y I 9 l 9 . ( l a ) H e a d - o na n d (lb) topsideviewsof E5B0B. [ 2 ] S , E . s a( D 2 7 6 ),N o 7 4 Sq d n RAF, Teteghem,France,April 191B. This was one of the S.E. S a sf l o w n b y " M i c k" M a n n o ck. [ 3 ] S E . 5 a[ F 8 0 1 0 ) ,"C " Fl i sh t, 2SthAero Sqdn, US Air Service, L a n g l e yF i e l d ,c i r c a 1 9 2 0 .

I

Fokker Dr I il917) The Dr I fightertriplane the moreskilledpilotsconbeganto arriveat thefrontin October1917, sideredit a joyto fly,lt wasa slow, performer,however, afteroperational Iow-altitude trialswithtwo prototypesin August-September, and itsmeasure wasquickly Ltn WernerVossof Jasta10 takenby Alliedfighterpilotswho beingshotdownin oneof these refused to engagethe Dr I in the on 23 September. Verysensitive classicdogfightwiththeirless aboutallaxesand mosttaxingto agilebutmorepowerfulaircraft. A possessed totalof 320 Dr ls wasbuilt.When fly,theDr I nevertheless qualities superbaerobatic delivered bv Fokker.the Dr ls and

weredopeddarkolivegreen overall, themethodof dyeingthe fabricresulting in an uneven, streakedeffect.Manyflamboyant finishes wereappliedto the Dr ls oncedelivered to theJastas. Theseweremostlyconfinedto f uselage andtailsurfaces, buta numberof triplanes weregiven decorative overallschemes, the

best-known beingthe examples all-vermilion aircraft flownby ManfredFreiherr von Richthofen. Otherexamples weretheallblackDr I of LtnJacobsof Jasta7 andtheDr I bedecked overallwith black-a nd-white diagonal striping of Ltn Kirchstein of Jasta6. (f ) Dr | 213/17of LtnFritzKempf of JastaBoelckein finishof dark

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olivegreendopedfabricas applied by factory.Ltn Kempfadopted the unusualpractice of havinghis nameon thetop wing(la) and the legend"kennscht mi noch?" (lb) painted on themidwing,this literallytranslating as "still rememberme?"(1cJHeadon viewof Kempf'saircraftshowing white-painted frontcowl

plate.(2J Rearfuselageof a Dr I of Jasta12 withsimilarfinishto thatof Kempf'saircraft.lronCross markingmaystillbe seenbeneath (3) Dr l of diagonalstriping. Jasta26 on whichthe early-siyle c rossesmayagainbe seen beneaththe laterBalkankreuz on fuselage andtail.(4) TheallblackDr I flownby LtnJosef

Jacobsof Jasta7, theninth rankingGerman"Ace".Note non-standard whitefuselage crosseswhichwererepeated on the wlngs.(51TheoverallvermilionDr | 425/17in whichRittmeisterManfredFreiherrvon losthislifeon 21 April Richthofen 19'1B. Notethatthe old-stylelron Crossmaystillbe seenbeneath

the whiteoutlineof the Balkankreuz.(6) A Dr I operatedby Jasta18 andacquiredby the FrenchaftertheArmisiice. i7J The rearf uselageof a Dr I operatedby an unidentified Jasta.Theremainder of thisaircraltwassimilarto thatflownby Kempfas seenon oppositepagewithstreaked darkolivegreendope.

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Fokker D VII [1918) Reputedly capableof translating a mediocrepilotintoa goodpilot, and undoubtedly themostfamous of allGermanfighters of World Warl, the FokkerD Vll wasa comparatively easyaircraftto fly, extremely responsive and highly controllable at itsceiling,being ableto "hangon itsprop"and shootat theenemvwhenother

contemporaryfighterswould havestalled andspun.lt wasto soldieron in theinventories of a numberof airforcesfor many years,in somecasesintothe 'thirties.Suchwas itsawesome reputation thatit wassingled outfor mentionin theArmistice Agreement. Winnerof thefirst D-typecontestat Adlershofin

January1918,theD V l l beganto reachthe Frontin thefollowing April,Fokkermanufacturing 861 and Albatrosat leastas many again.Mostfirst-line Jastashad receivedat leastsomeof the agileD Vllsbeloretheendof hostilities, operatingthemwith considerable success.Early Fokker-built D Vllshadthesame

darkolivegreenfabricapplied to theirfuselages as was used overallby the Dr I (seepages "lozenge" 22-23),theso-called printedfabricbeingappliedto wingsand horizontal tail surfacesonly.Albatros-bu ilt D Vllshadthe"lozenge" fabric overall, as did somelaterFokkerbuiltexamples. Themetalnose

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panelling andallstrutting were painted darkgrey-green or dark olivegreenbeforeleavingthe factory.ManyD Vllswerelater painted withbothunitmarkings andinsignia chosenby thepilot. trl D Vll flownby UffzPielof Jasta13,thisunitaffecting greennoses.Thewings(aswith allexamples on thispageapart

from No 3Jwerecoveredby the "lozenge" pre-printed so-called fabric.[2J D Vllflownby Ltn Veltejns whenJastafuhrer of Jasta15.(3) D Vll llownby ObltnBrunoLoerzerat Sissonne withJagdgeschwader 3, late s u mme r1 9 1 et4 . l D Vl lof RudolohStark.Jastafuhrer of Jasta35 at Epinoy.(5) D Vll of

JosefRaesch, (9) D Vll6693/ 18of Jastafuhrer, Jasta unti 1934. l 43. (6) MAG-built D Vll withall the Belgian Aviation Militaire at armament removedastrainerwith B ruxel l es-E ve r e, 1919. July Not e Czechoslovak ArmyAirForce,mid "LeChardon"emblemand reten'twenties. tionofwartime [7J Oneof 20 D Vlls German"lozenge' of Netherlands Marineluchtvaart-typefabric.(rOl D Vll 6162/18 purchased dienst,1919-20. by VictorSimonetin [8J SwissD Vll purchased for Fliegertruppe 1920,andthefirstaircraft in to 1921viathe AlliedControl be listedon Belgian civil Commission, thistypeserving register. Noterudderstriping.

Breguet Bre {9 [1924) A sturdy,fabric-covered metal possessing biplane, whatwasat timesto be described as a most alarmingly flexible structure, the Bre 19 wasintendedasa replacementfor theoutstandingly successfulBre 14 of WorldWarI in thelightbombingandrecceroles. In theevent,it wasto eclioseits sirein almosteveryrespectand

be builtin whatwerefor itsday quantities. andagephenomenal It wasto establish innumerable records,be adoptedby almosta scoreof air forcesand become the world'sbeslknownaircraftof itsgeneration. The prototype Bre 19 wasfirstflownin March 1922,deliveries to France's AviationMilitaire beginning in

theautumnof 1924,by which reccemodelandtheBre 19 82 timelicencemanufacture wasalso lightbomber,licenceproduction beingundertaken by Farmanand takingplacein Belgium, Spain Amiot,despite which,the parent and Yugoslavia, a widevarietyof company's Bre 19 outputwasat enginesbeingfitted.Beforethe timesto peakat fivedaily,more oroduction of theBre 19 was than1,800Bre19sleaving French phasedout in 1932 by the parent factoriesin thefirsttwo-and-a-half company,severalimproved yearsof production. Therewerg models,suchasthe Bre 19.7and '19.8,appeared. two mainversions, theBre 19A2 Remarkably,

some Bre 19 aircraftsurvivedto see servicein WWll,notablywith Croatia.(lJ Bre 19 A2 (No 226) of the 2eEscadrille, 5le Escadre of the AviationMilitaireat Tours, early1932.(laJ Emblemof the 2eEscadrille[ex-Sal39]. (2J Bre 19 82 (No 1 20 31of 5 eEs c adr ille, 1 le Regiment,Metz-Frescaty, 1928,and (2a l e mble m of t he 5e

Escadrille [ex-Bre29).(3) CASAbuiltBre 19 operated by Spanish Republican nightflyingschoolat ElCarmoli, circa1938.(41CASAb u i l tBre -1 9o f Gru o oNum23 of theSpanish Aviaci6nMilitar at Logrono,circa1935,and (4al theGrupoemblem.(51CASAbuiltBre 19 servingcirca1938 witha SpanishNationalist obser-

ver'sschool, and(5aJtailemblem (GrandRaid: LargeEndurancel retainedfrom pre-CivilWar fl ow nby C mdtGi rierandCm dt Grupo.(6) A Yugoslav-built Bre Weissfor a woridspeedrecord Air overa 5000kmdistance, 25 May .19.8servingwithCroatian Forceon anti-partisan operations, 1929 (l O) TheB re 19G R "Point d'lnterrogation" (Question ci rca1943.(7) A B re19A 2 (No 1330)servingwiththe MarkJin theformin whichit Yugoslav Air Force,circa1935, wasflownfrom Paristo NewYork, 1-3Seotember 1930,Notethe [8) Bre 19,7of theTurkishAir "Stork"emblem. (9) B re 19 GR Force,1934-35,

Hawker Fury (19311 TheFurysingle-seat fighterset newstandards in elegance when it enteredservice in May1931 withNo 43 Sqdnas the RAF's firstfrontline aircraft capableof a levelspeedin excessof 200mph (1 2 4 km / h) . ltdelic s acof y c o n to u r belieditssturdiness; itsclimb anddivecharacteristics were particularly goodandit allegedly

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in control setnewstandards for fightersof its sensitivity generation. Theprototype Furyoriginally namedHornetby its - firstflewin manufacturer Ma rc h1 9 2 9 a, n d 11 8o f the initialmodelfor the RAFwere thesebecomingknown delivered, as Furyls whena morepowerful and refinedversionmadeits

debutas the Furyll,the RAF receiving 112 of thelatermodel. Smallnumberswereexoorted to lran,Portugal, SouthAfrica, SpainandYugoslavia, thelast two mentioned countries obtaining production licences, although, in theevent,onlyYugoslavia builtFuries, actually thedelivery of 50 commenci ng i n A ugust

not1937.Theirobsolescence withstanding, theseFurieswere flownagainst theLuftwaffe when Yugoslavia wasinvadedby the W ehrmacht i n 194 1, Sout h AfricanFuriesalsosawcombat in 1940-41 , flyingagainstthe RegiaAeronautica in EastAfrica. D uri ngI938,al lFur iesr em aining on RAFchargewerehurriedly

camouflagedwith a disruptive patternof dark green and dark earth over upper surfaces,the undersidesbeing half black and halfwhite [in a few casesthe undersidesof fuselageand tailplaneremainedsilver),but by the time W Wll co mmen ce d,the Fury had all but disappeared from the RAF. tfl The second of

t hr ee Spanis hFur iesin R e p u b l i can colours,this aircrafthaving painted i nitiallyflown operationally aluminiumoverallwith red wing bands and large red panelson t he f us elage.( la) Top s i d e p l a n view of same aircraft.[2J Fury I of No 43 Sqdn, SAAF, 1942, with (2aJ upper surfaces of same aircraftand [2b] emblem of

No 3 Sqdn,SAAF.[3J FuryI Furyof 35th [6J Zmaj-built (K 56731 of N o 1[F] S qdn,ar Group,5th FighterRegiment, R A FTangmere 1936-37, RoyalYugoslav and Air Force, Kraljevo, April1941.Thisaircraft [3aJtheemblemof No 1 Sqdn. wassubsequently [4) Oneof threeFuriesof the captured at Portuguese Armada Aeronautica, Niksicby ltalian forces,[7] A Fury 1935.N ote" greyhound" capturedby theSpanishNationuni t embl em.(5) Furyl l of N o 43 alistsafterhavingbeenrebuiltby Sqdn,RAF,1938,and(5a) emHispano-Suiza, and(7aJdetailof bl emof N o 43 S odn.R A F thew i ngmarki ngs.

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Junkers Ju 5213m [1933) lf anytransport aircraftmaylay complextrailing flappery of the wasto playag reaterrolein shaping claimto immortalitythen Germany'sJunkers"double-wing" type,this thecourseof WorldWarll lusty,all-metal Ju 52/3m angulartrimotorhad,aswasto thanwasanyfirst-line combat m ustsurelybe so entitled , With beexpected, ThefirstJu 52/3m a sedateperformance. aircraftl itsheavily-braced undercarriage. It wasexceptionally docile,very wasflownln April1931. thetype betweenthe rearlegsof which stable andcouldbeflown service entering withthest,,,"dustbin" an immense couldbe virtually hands-off. But,if slow Luftwaffe clandestine in 1933, suspended to housebomb-aimer/ andnoisy,it wassupremely and severalhundredhadbeen gunnerfor theauxiliary bombing reliable, andtheunpretentious builtby 1939,whenreallylargerole,corrugated skinning and andmanifestly obsolescent Ju 5213m scaleproduction began,a further

3,255thenbeingbuiltuntilmid1944,Viewedby the Luftwaffe withaffection as "TanteJu",the Ju 52/3mwasto be dubbed"lron A nni e bytheA l l i e of s WW, , (tJ Ju 52l3mg4e(1Z+AF)ofStab lV/KGzbV1 (Kampfgeschwader zur besonderen Verwendung, or Battle Groupfor Special DutiesJ which partici patedin Balkan/C retan

campaigns ofApril-May 1941, Note yellowareassignifying theatre of operations. na) Topplanview o I 1 Z+ A F(. 21J u 52l3mg 6 e (G6+APIof ZlKGrzbV102in the Mediterranean areaunderKGzbV "N" (Naples), 1942.(3) Ju 52/3m g6e(G6+APIoflVlKGzbV 1(1Z+HXl on Stalingrad Front,winter194243.NoteD1Htactical codingon

rudderandwhitewater-soluble paintfor temporary winterfinish (4) Ju 52/3m on uppersurfaces, g6e(MSl(3K+lBlminesweeper of Stab/Minensuchg ruppe,Malmi, Gulf of Finland, winter1943-44 (5)Ju 52l3mg7e[12+NA)ofStab lVlTransportgeschwader 1 on the Courland Front,winter1944-45. (6 1J u 5 2 l 3 mg 3 e(10 5 ),Grupode

Bombardeamento Nocturno of the Nocturno1-G-22,Nationalist Arma Portuguese Armada Aerondutica, de A vi aci on, spring1938.f lO ) Ju circa1938.(7) Ju 52/3mg4e 52/3mg4e(2299 Joft heG r upode (2262)"MariaMagdalena" of the Bombardeo Nocturno 2-G-22ofthe Escuadrilla 2-E-22"Lastres (1aB r igada l a E scuadra HispanaJ, Mari as"S,pai n, summer1937, Nationalist Armade Aviacion, 1938.[l Oal Topp lanviewof [aJJu 52l3mg3e(2276)of the 22 99 Kampfgruppe 88,LegionCondor, showingGerman-style splinterSpain,late1936.(91Ju 52/3m typesegmented camouflageand St g4e(22'59)ofGrupode BombardeoAndrew'sCrosswingmarkings.

GrummanG-5 (GE-23)t1933) The firstshipboardaircraftto combine f ully-enclosed cockpits and a retractableundercarriage. the G-5 was first in a long line of Grumman carrier-based fightersoperatedby the US Navy to this day. Consideredepochmarking at the time of its debut, when the prototypeof this twoseaterwas found capableof out-

flyingand out-performingthe smallerand lightercontemporary single-seatshipboardfighters.the G - 5 c om binedgood m a n euv r abilit ydoc , ilehandl i n g , excellentdive characteristics and exceptionalsturdiness.The prototype(XFF-11flew on 29 Dec em ber1931,and t h e d e l i v e r y oI 27 FF-1fightersto the US

N a v yb e g a n i n A p r i l 1 9 3 3 ,t h e s e being followedby a totalof 33 SF-1 scoutsa year later,but as a resultof changesin US Navy tacticalthinking,both FF-1and SF-1 had been withdrawnfrom Fleetserviceby the end of 1936. M e a n w h i l eG , rumman had been promotinga Iand-basedversion for export.This,the GE-23,had

featuresof both the FF-1and SF-.1 , and was intendedfor the combined fighterand assault r o l e s ,S p a n i s hR e p u b i i ca n i nterest prom pted arrangements for licenceassemblyby Canadian C a r & F o u n d r y ,G ru m m a n p r o d u c i n g t h e f u s e l a ge sa n d Brewsterthe wings and ta,, surfaces.The initialSoanish

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a ordercalledfor 40 GE-23s, follow-on contractcallingfor a f urth e 1 r 0 ,I nt heev entonl , y3 4 to Spain.the weredelivered GE-23beingnamedDelfin s e rv i c e . I D o l p h i nin ) Republic an Ofthe GE-23sbuiltagainst and notdeliSpanishcontracts vered,16 weretakenon charge by theRCAFandwereflownas

t he G oblin.t ll FF- 1( Bu A e r N o 93571of the 3rd SectionLeader of VF-SB"Red Rippers"aboard USS Lexrnglon(indicated by blue t ails ur f ac es )1934- 3 5 ,a n d I la] head- onand ( lbJ to p s l d e planview of same aircraft, I t c J The "Boar ' sHead"a n d s hieldot VF- 5B.t 2l SF- 1[ B u A e r No 94761o{ sth SectionLeader

of VS-38 aboard the USS Lexingt o n , 1 9 3 5 ,a n d [ 2 a J t h e " l n d i a n Head" emblem of Scouting Three.[3J GE-23 Goblin [344J ol N o 1 1 B [ F )S q d n , R C A F ,D a r t m o u t h , N o v a S c o t i a ,1 9 4 1 ,a n d [3aJ topsideand (3b) underside planviewsof Goblin No 344, t4l GE-23 suppliedto the N i c a r a g u a ng o v e r n m e n ti n 1 9 3 8 .

t5l GE-23 Delfinof the 2aEscuad r i l l ao f S p a n i s hR ep u b l i ca n Grupo N0m 28 operatingfrom Cardedeu-LeGarrigaairfield, e a r l ys u m m e r 1 9 3 8 ,[5 a J H a l fand-halfplanviewof same aircraft.[6) GE-23 Delfinof la Escuadrillaof Grupo N0m 28 a n d ( 6 a J t h e " l n d i an H e a d " emblem employedby 1aEsc.

PzL P.ttlP.2n(t933) Fora briefoeriodin the mid'thirties, ZygmuntPulawski of the State-controlled P.Z.L. carried Polandto theforefrontof internationalf ighterdevelopment withhisgull-winged P.11. Flown as a prototype in August1931, it firstenteredservice(asthe priority P.11b)withRumania, beinggivento export,reaching

Polishservice [asthe P.11aJin autumn1934.Licencemanufacturetook placein Rumania (P.110,thedefinitive Polish m o d e lb e i n gth eP.1 1c, and despiteobsolescence it equipped the Polishfighterforce(12 squadrons with125aircraftl whenGermanyinvadedin September1939.TheP.24wasan

greenandyellow-gold exportequivalent of theP.11c was to Greece,Bulgaria, supplied appl i ed. R umanian P. 11sand (andlicence-built by)Turkeyand P.24s,and Bulgarian P.24sused (theformera Rumania. As delivered fromthe similarschemes factory, the P.11c wasfinished in lightershadeof oliveandthe darkolivegreenwithpaleblue lattera darkgreen).(l) P.11'bof wingandtailplane undersurfaces theRumanian FighierFlotilla. lmmediately beforeandduring Pipera-Bucuregti, 1935-36. firstdaysof WWll,a camouflage (21P .l 1c (8.39)o f No 113 of darkforestgreen,meadow Sqdn,lVthDyonof 1stAir Regi-

ment,Warsaw-Okecie. (2a) Underside and(2b) upper surfacesof sameaircraft,the lattershowingwhitestripeon starboard wingsignifying squadronCO'saircraft.[2c) The " Owl "e mblemof No 113 S q d n . of No 12 1 S q d n , t3 l P.11 c ( 8. 631 lllrdDyonof 2ndAir Regiment, Krakow,1938,thediagonalrear

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threefighterflotillas of the f uselage stripingsignifying Rumaniah RoyalAir Forces, souadronCO'saircraft, (3 a ) U n d e rs i doef P.1 1c(8.63), 1937-38, thisbeingthelastof (6) P.24F aircraft. and [3b) P.Z.L.emblemappear- 70 licence-built ingon tailand(3cl No 12.1Sqdn IDelta129)of the22ndFighter in Sqdn,RoyalHellenic Air Force, e mb l e m[4 . ] P .1 1 c(8 .131 1941,and[6aJupper r camouf lageapplied Lari ssa, three-colou surfacesof sameaircraft. AugusfSeptember of 1939. (4al Uppersurfacesof same (7) P.24Cof TurkishAir Force's aircraft. 4th R egi ment, K utahya, 1939. tsl P.11f of oneof the

Notescrapviewof wingtipunderside(7a).{A) P.24Fof 1stOrliek Air Force, RoyalBulgarian late1939. Sofia/Bojourishte, viewof same [8a] Underside national aircraft and(8cl Bulgarian insignia untilOctober employed 1940,withenlarged detailof the rampantlionof theBulgarian RoyalHousein centreof insignia.

Polikarpov I-l 5/l-l 5bis t1934) Although thoroughlyorthodox, the l-15,de sig ne db y a tea m led by NikolaiPolikarpov,raised Sovietf ighter developmentto world standard.Flown in October 1933, the l-15 be ga nto en t er V-VS servicelatein 1934, proving itselfa sturdy,agileand wellarmed fighter.Committedto the Republicancause over Spain,it

was masterof the He 51 (see pages 42-43),and although slowerthan the CR.32(see pages 3B-39) in leveland dive speeds, it could out-turnand out-climb the ltalianfighter.The l-15bis [aliasl-152Jwas an extensively redesignedderivativein which the gulledwing gave placeto a more orthodoxcabane.This saw

s e r v i c ef r o m m i d - 1 9 3 7 ,m a k i n ga brief appearancein Spanishskies and seeingmuch combat over China. lt was being phasedout of V-VS servicewhen the Wehrmacht invadedthe SovietUnion, l-.15 and l-15bisfightersexfactoryhad olivegreen upper and pale blue undersurfaces. but irregularpatchesof earth brown

were oftenaooliedat unit level conflict, earlyin the German-Soviet white distemperbeing appliedas a wintercamouflage.(l ) An l-15 of an unidentified V-VS regiment in standardmid-'thirties finish with insigniain the styleof the p e r i o d ,[ 2 ) l - 1 5 f l o w n b y th e C O of the 1a Escuadrillade Cnaros (circa 1937Jof the Spanish

RepublicanGrupo de Caza num 26, t3) l-1 5 of th e 2 aEs c uadrillade Chatosat Cartagena, January 1 93 9,an d [3 a] the "penguin"e mble m o f the Es c uad rilla.(4) l-15 servingwith Spain's Ej6rcitodel Aire [circa mid'forties),possiblywith the Escuela de Caza.Note "yoke-and-arrows" emblem .t5 ) l-15 of Sp an is h

Regimiento de Asalto33, Finlandduring"WinterWar"seen Valladolid-Villanubla, early'forties. in finishand markings thatwere of l-15 assigned standardised for "Continuation [6J Rearfuselage to Regimiento de Asalto31 with s S pani sh W al ' ,t9l A n l -15bi of non-standard overallsilverdope Republican Fuerzas 46reasat finishandstandard blackcowl V i l l aj ui ga, January1939. (rO) l -1S biof ring.(7) l-1Sbis of Air Forceof s Grupo24,R egtChineseCentralGovernment in mientode CazaNLm23 of the Nankingarea,early1938.(al One SpanishEj6rcito delAireat Reus, of fivel-15bisfighters obtained by early'forties. [1 1) l-15bisof the

LeningradVO, V-VS,winter 193940, capturedand deliveredto the F i n n i s hL L v 2 9 [ a s VH - 1 0a n d s u c c e s s i v e lV y H - 1 a n d l H - 1 1i n February1940.(12) Rearfuselage of l-15bis (withsimilaroverall finishJof the 70 IAP of V-VS d u r i n g t h e " N o m on h a n In ci d e n t" on the Manchkuoan-Mongolian borderin the summerof 1939.

Fiat CR.32 (1934) WiththeCR.32,thefighting biplanelinecreatedby Celestino Rosatelli reacheditsaoex.The interplane strutting arrangedin theformof Warrentrusses that had becomevirtually a hallmark fighters of Rosatelli and had firstbeenusedby theS.V.A, scoutof 1917, wasretained for th eCR.32whic hf ir s ft lewo n

2B April1933.Firstentering RegiaAeronautrca servicein the s u mme ro f 1 9 3 4 th , eC R .32soon thatit oossessed demonstrated few peersin agility.lt offered provided superlative handling, a good platform for itslongra n g i n g1 2 ,7 m mg u n sa ndw as robust,beinga outstandingly provenwarplane when thoroughly

itjoinedcombatoverSpainin 405 weresentto Soain,Four August1936,as thevanguard of versions werebuilt,theCR.32bis theAviacion de el Terciothat havingan improved engineanda wascontributedby ltalyto the heavier armament, theCR.32ter gun Nationalist cause.Forfiveyears and quaterhavingimproved theCR.32wasto providethe but sightsand instrumentation, mainstay of theRegiaAeronautica reverting to original armament, fighterelement, and production (rl C R .32[M.M.2 830) oft he155a w asto conti nue unti May l 1939, squadrigiia, 30 Gruppo,60 Stormo 1,211 beingdelivered "DiavoliRossi"(RedDevils) of which at

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Campoformidao, Udine,early 1 9 3 6 (l . a) T aildet ails ho w i n g national tricolouron horizontal (aboveand belowJ, surfaces and (lb) the"Diavolo Rosso"emblem. (2) CR.32of XVIGruppo"La cucaracha" of ltalian Aviacron de el Te rci o, S pain,1937,t hisa i rc ra ft beingflownby SgtTarantella, (?-a)"Lacucaracha" emblemof

XVIGruppoandtopsideplanview of sameCR.32.Notebasicterrafinishwith cottauooersurface olivegreendapple.(2bJDetailof (31CR.32 wingunder-surfaces. o f X G ru p p o" Ba l e a ri( "1014 squadrigliaJ, Spain,1937,in threesegmentuppersurfacedisruptive s c h e m et4 . l C R .3 2(M . M.28561 l o f 8 5 as q u a d ri g l iXaVl , l Gruppo,

30 Stormo,Bresso,Milan,spring 4666)of 160asqu adr iglia, 120 1936,andcoatof armsof the Gruppo,50oStormo,Tobruk, Housepf Savoy,normally super- October1940,withemblemof imposedon rudderstriping, 50oStormo, thelegendreading and "Mi Fannoun Baffo"(Theybluff (ttal emblemof XVlllGruppo. (51CR.32ter emblem. of 360asquadriglia, withmeJ.(6a) Fasces 520Stormo,Pontedera, Pisa,mid- (7) C R .32of 1./1Sqdn,1, / 1 '1939.Notetemperate FighterGroupat zoneolive Hungarian g reenfinishwithdarkergreen BorgOnd, Veszpr6m, summer (6) C R .32quater (M.M. dappl e. 1939,andembl em of t he1. / 1Sqdn,

Boeing P-26 tl934) V/ithits multiplicityof bracing wires,fixed undercarriageand open cockpit matedwith metal constructio nan d mo no pl anec on figuation,the P-26 represented a transitorystagein fighter evolutionwhich was obsolescent withina year or so of service debut. Firstflown in prototype form on 20 March 19 32 ,i t m ight

be saidto haverepresentedboth vanguardand rearguardin the dev elopm entof f ight er sw h e n deliveryof 136 aircraftof this t y pec om m enc edin J an u a r y1 9 3 4 Destinedto become affectionately and unoffrcially known as the "Peashooter",the P-26 was responsive,manoeuvrableand sturdy,but suffereda very high

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landingspeedfor itsday and a troublesomesidewaysrolling m o t i o no n l a n d i n gw h e n e v e ra w h e e lt o u c h e du n e v e ng r o u n d , t l l P - 2 6 Ao f 9 4 t h P u r s u i tS q d n , 1 s t P u r s u i tG r o u p , S e l f r i d g e F i e l d ,M i c h , 1 9 3 7 . N o t et h a ta l i aircraftof this Group featured a diagonalfuselageband painted i n t h e s q u a d r o nc o l o u r w i t h u n i t

emblemsuperimposed. [1a) "Sioux I n d i a nH e a d " e m b l e mo f 9 4 th P u r s u i tS q d n . ( 2 1 P - 2 6 4 ( FAG 0 B 1 6 e x - A A C3 3 - 1 3 5 Jo fth e Escuadron de Caza, Fuerza Abrea de Guatemalteca, Campo de la Aurora, GuatemalaCity,late 'forties.(2aJ Upper surfacesof F A G 0 8 1 6 i 3 ) P - 2 6 Ao f 1 g th P u r s u i tS q d n , 1 B t hPu r su i tGr o u p ,

WheelerFie ld,Ha waii,in 1 939. Notethat diagonalf uselage stripeindicatedCO of flight and P R11 taild esign ato rs ignifiedIP:) Pu rsu it(R:J l Bt h G roup [ 1 1=) 1 lth aircraf tin Group. [3aJ Upper surfacesof P Rl 1 (3 bl Emb lemof the 19t h PursuitSqdn. t4l P-26Aof 95th P ursuitSq dn . No tetha t squadr on

number appearedon the fuselage underside.Olivedrab fuselage precededstandardisation on blue, [4a) Emblemof 95th PursuitSqdn [5] P-264 of CO, 20th Pursuit G r oup, Bar k s daleField .L o u i s iana,1936. Not ec owl s t r i p i n g in G r oup c olour sI r ed, y e l l o w and bluel and t he G r ou p e m b l e m s uper im pos edon blue l o z e n g e .

[5a] The emblem of 20th Pursuit G r o u p . ( 6 J P - 2 6 Ai n c l u d e di n t h e i n v e n t o r yo f 1 B t hP u r s u i tG r o u p , Wh e e l e rF i e l d ,H a w a i i ,D e c e m b e r 1 9 4 1. T h e G r o u p h a d r e - e q u i p p e d with P-40Bs,but P-26Asremained as trainingand hack atrcraft. (7) P-264 of 34th PursuitSqdn, '17th PursuitGroup, involvedin disruptivepaintschemeevaluat-

i o n i n 1 9 3 5 . N o t e r e d d i sh - p i n k tone (referredto as DesertSand) had randomly-applied areasof olivedrab and neutralgrey superimposed.[8 and 8a] P-26A o f 3 4 t h P u r s u i tS o d n , 1 7 th Pu r su i t G r o u p , M a r c h F i e l d ,C a l i f, 19 3 4 . Note aircraftand squadron n umberson thetoosideand underside of fuselage,respectively.

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Heinkel He 5f [1935) TheHe51 wasthefirstsingleseatfighterto be builtin large numbersfor thefledgeling Luftwafie, andwhensentto Spain in th esu mm erof 1936bec a me thefirstGermanfighterto fireits gunsin angersinceWorldWarl. Flownas a prototype in 1933,the He 51 enteredservice duringthe summerof 1935,mostaircraftof

thistypebeingpaintedlight greyor RLMgreyoverall, the being lattersubsequentiy TheGeschwader standardised. colourwasusuallyusedto decorate theenginecowlingand, theupperfuselage sometimes, d e c k i n g[e g ,re dfo rJ G 132,bl ue fo r J G 2 3 3 ,e tc JS . o m eHe51s participating in theSpanish

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CivilWarwerepainted withan irregularpatternof lightgrey, greenanddarkbrowncamouflage appliedoverall uppersurfaces and adoptedpalebluefor the undersides. TheHe51 wasfinally wrthdrawn fromfirst-line service i n theautumnof 1938,and relegated to thefightertraining task.MostretainedoverallRLM

greyfinish,buta smallnumber wererepaintedblack-green (schwarzgrunJ overuppersurfaces andpal ebl ue(hel lbiauJ on t he undersides, andthe He5l wasto remainin service withthe Jagdfliegerschulen throughout WWll.TheHe51 wasnota very in theairoutstanding warplane air roleand provedmanifestly

inferiorto thel-15[seepage 36Jby whichit wasopposedin Spanishskies,butit performed a usefulservicein closesupport. (rl He51A-1of 3.Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 233at WienAspernin autumn1938,with(lal uppersurfaceplanview andIlb] JG 2 3 3e m blem(.2) He5 1 8 -1o f 2.Stafielof Jagdgeschwader 132

Richthofen in 1937. at Doberitz (2a) upperplanview of same aircraft(3) He518 servingin the f ightertrainingrolewithA/B Schule123at Agram(Zagreb)in springof 1942,and(3aJthe e mb l e mo f A/B 1 2 3 .[4] H e518 for fightertrainingin 1942 by A/B Schule71 at Prossnitz and (4a) theA/B 71 IProstdjovJ

emblem.[5] He518-1of 2.Staffel of 3./JBB,(6bJupperplanview of Jagdgruppe 88, LegionCondor, and wingunderside detail, surface spring1937,with(5a) the and (6c) the"Pikas"emblemof "ZylinderHut"emblemot 2lJ88 4./JB8and(abovelthe"Cadena" and(below)an individual emblem fchainJemblemof Spanish appliedto an example withsimilar Nationalist closeair support overallRLMg reyfinishandcoded Grupode Cadena1-G-2carried 2-102.(6)H e51C -1of4.S taffel of by an He51B-1coded2-107and Jagdgruppe BBin latesummerof havingsimilaroverall finlshto 1938,w i th(6a) i nsi gniot a 2.102 thatof {./JBB.

Avia 8.534 (19351 Widelyconsidered thefinest fighterbiplanein Continental Europein itsday,theB.534 producedby theCzechoslovak Aviaconcernwastheultimate production modelof the8.34 flownas a prototype summer 1932.Extensively refined, the 8.534enteredservicein Czechoin 1935.thefinalproducslovakia

tionmodelsbeingtheBk.534and Republic, some65 of these 8,534-lVwiththreeandfourguns provided theequipment nucleus of respectively. Thesewerevery theSlovakAir Force,theseiater sturdyfighters, excelling in highbeingflownoperationally in the speedmanoeuvres andhaving SovietUnion.Theremainder were outstanding climbanddive takenintothe Luftwaffe, 72 capabilities. and328of theAvia laterbeingsoldto Bulgaria, fighters wereinfirsflineuse thesebeingusedin August1943 in September 1938.Withthe to interceptUSAAFB-24sen d issolution of theCzechoslovak routeto Ploesti. Factoryfinish

comprised darkolivegreenupper andpaleblueundersides, surfaces and thiswaslargelyretainedby thevarious8.534operators. (l J 8.534-lV Air Forceat of Siovak Zitomir-Kiev, Ukraine, 1941-42, with(lal underside viewof same aircraftwithscrapdetailof upper (21B.534-lV wingsurfaces. of 2nd Regiment, RoyalBulgarian

Air Force,1941-42, with[2a) topsideplanview andscraodetail of wingundersurfaces of same aircraft.(3J Rearfuselage of (360-deg modified visioncanopyJ 8k.534of Luftwaffe servingas trainerat Olomouc-Holice, su mmer1941. [ 4] S lov aAi k r Force8k,534[similarly modtfied)serving at Trendin, August

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1941. [ 5) 8. 534- r V( 8. 5 3 4 . 19 5 ] of the CzechoslovakAir Police, 1938, with enlargeddetailof Avia emblem thatapoearedon tailfin. (6J EarlyHungarian(leftJand earlySlovakIright)nationalinsignia appliedto B.534-lVt7l A B 534-lV of 3.Staffelof Jagdgeschwader71 at Eutingennear Stuttgartin November1939,displayingcrude

personal emblem. Thisunitwas redesignated as 6.Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 in following monthandre-equipped withthe B f 109,t8l 8.534-l V fl ow nas towplane at Ferihegy, Hungary, withcivilregistration during 1941-42. Captured fromthe SlovakAir Force,thisatrcraft hadpreviously flownin the

communications role(asG-1921 withtheHungarian Air Force. by the operated [9] A 8.534-lV Slovakinsurgent airarmfrom the"TriDuby"(ThreeOaks) airfield, nearZvolen, in September1944,duringtheSlovak National Uprising. Noteinsurgent (9aJbasedon the airarm insignia Czechoslovak natiohal insignia.

Gloster Gauntlet t19351 Possessing thesomewhatd ubious distinction of havingbeenobsolescent by thetimeit first enteredseryice,the Gauntlet wasthe lastof the RAF'sopencockpitfightingbiplanes. lt wasviceless, it wasextremely manoeuvrable and it oossessed qualities, delightf ul handling butitsevolution hadnotkeot

pacewiththeaccelerated (astheSS.19B), tempo it wasfinallythe verymuchsuperiorbutstill of fighterdevelopment elsewhere. recipient ol a production order somewhat anachronistic Gladiator TheGauntlet wasthedefinitive for theRAF.NamedGauntlet, it ln all,228Gauntlets werebuilt d e v e l o p meonftth es S.1Bw hi ch, enteredservlcein May-June 1935 lor the RAF.A few of thesewere designed to meetthedemandsof Fora briefperiodit wasnumerlaterpassedto the SAAFand to (F.10/27) a 1927specification icallythe mostimportant of the the RAAF,andothersto Finland. (l J Gauntl et fighter, RAF'sfirst-line fighters, callingfor a multi-gun and, l l (U V- R)of No 17 hadflownin January1929,For i n 1937,equi pped 14 squadrons, Sqdnat RAFKenley, late1938. fiveyearsthe basicdesignwas but by theend of the yearit Theapplication of darkearth refined, 1934 until,in February hadbegunto giveplaceto the upper anddarkgreendisruptive

surface camouflage duringautumn of thatyearhadobscuredthe aircraftserial.NoteTypeB mattblue-and-red roundels, (la) Underside pianview of UV-R showingblack(port]and white (starboardJundersur{acesof winghalves, remainder of unoersidebeingsilver.(21Gauntlet ll (GT-405)servingas advanced

trainerwithT/LeLv35,Finnish l l m a v o i m i dinn,s p ri n g1 942. [2a) Uppersurfacesof GT-405 "Continuation showingstandard War"black-and-g reendisruptive (3JA Gauntlet camouflage, ll (K5272)of No 111 Sqd,RAF Northolt, March1937.Notethe standardisedspearhead{ype framecontaining squadron crest

on fin.Blackbaron aftfuselageIrepeated acrossupperwing betweenroundels) denotedNo 11 1 Sqdn,Blackfin signified flight leader.[4J Gauntlet ll (K7890] of No 151Sqdn,RAFNorthWeald, 1937.Narrowblackbarcentred on broadbluebardenoted No 151 Sqdn.(51Gauntlet ll (K78431 of No 3 Sqdn,RAAF,Helwan, Egypt,

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November1940.(61Gauntlet I (J-21)of DanishHrerensFlyvertropper[ArmyAviation Troops)al Vaerl@se, 1937. (7) Danish-built Gauntlet Haerens of 1 Eskadrille, Flyvertropper at Vaerlose, early 1940,afterapplication of upper surfacecamouflage of greenishyellowanddarkgreyish-green, withlightgrey-blue underside.

Polikarpov I-16 tl935) Precursorof a new vogue in that it was the f irstsingle-seat cantilevermonoplanefighter with a retractableundercarriage to achieveservice,the l-16, designedby NikolaiPolikarpov, brieflycarriedSovietfighter deveiopmentaheadof the state of the art. Firstflown (as the T sK B -12J o n 3 1 De ce mber1933,

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the I 16 beganto reachthe V-VS fightereskadrilii[in its Type 5 f or m Jear lyin 1935.Wi t h i t s oonderous,abbreviatednoseand uniquetruncatedfuselage,the l- 16was bloodedov er S p a i ni n the serviceof the Republican gov er nm entbut , whenc a l l e du p o n to participatein WWll,the apex of its developmentwas long past.

Representingslightlymore than 65 per cent of the entireV-VS fighterinventorywhen the Wehrmacht attackedthe SovietUnion, the l-16was obsoleteand outclassed,but remainedthe most f requentlyencounteredSoviet fighteruntillate 1942.A totai o f 7 , 0 0 5 l - 16 s w a s b u i l t ,p l u s 1 , 6 3 9 i n t w o - s e a t r a i n i n gf o r m .

tl ) l-16Type 1B flown by Capt Boris F. Safonovof the 72 AP Polk - Aviation [Aviatsronnye RegimentJof the VVS SF INorthern FleetAir ForceJ.Keg-Ostrov, M u r m a n s ks, u m me r 1 9 4 1. Sa fo n o v was an "ace" and the inscription on the portsidereads"Za S t a l i n a ! ("F o r S t a li n l )On . the starboard side was painted

"Smert fashistam!"IDeathto fascistsll(lal Haltand-half planviewof Safonov'saircraft showing both upper and lower surfaces of portside.[2] Scrap view of rearfuselageof l-16 Type 10 of AP of Leningrad MilitaryDistrict,summer 1939. t3l l-16f ype 24 of 4 lAP, Lake Ladogaarea,winter 1940-41.

(41l-16Type6 0R-101) usedby 3./LLv6 (3,lentue/Lentolaivue 6, or 3rd f lightof 6th SquadronJ withfixedwheelundercarriage, latesummer1942.Thisaircraft hadbeencaptured at Suursaari on 2B March1942.(5) l-16Type 10of 4th FighterWing,Chinese CentralGovernment Air Force, Chankiakow , a n s wi Sh i . nter'9371

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1 9 3 8 t 6 l l - 1 6T y p e . l 0 " S u p e r Mosca"tCM-2251of the 7 Escuadrillade Moscas.Spanish AviacionMilitarRepublicana, autumn 1938. [6a] Topsideplanview of CM-225. [7] l-16Type 10 flown by Jos6 Bravo Fern6ndezas CO of 3aEscuadrillade Moscas. Note "Double Top" emblem of the 3aEsc,(7aJ Emblemsof related

escuadrillas,F (left)and 2a (rightl. (7bl Scrapview of captured 3aEsc l-16 retaining(7cl " D o u b l eT o p " e m b l e m .t8 l l - 1 6 Type 10 (CM-177)of 4aEscuadrillade Moscas,and [8aJ scrap view of CM-274 showingvariation in styleof "Popeye"emblem of Escuadrilla.[8bJ Alternative stylesof 4aEscuadrillaemblem.

SlAl (Savoia-Marchetti) S.81 tl 935) Thefirstin a distinguished line of trimotormediumbombers that wascreatedundertheaegisof Alessandro Marchetti and evolved fromthecommercial S.73,the mixed-construction S.B1 was alreadysuffering a degreeof technical obsolescence whenit firstenteredservicewiththe RegiaAeronautica. Withits

immensefixedand spatted u ndercarriage, it washardlyto be eXpected thatperformance wouldsetnewstandards, and in the eventit wasto be rapidly overtaken bytheS.79.This notwithstanding, theS.B1wasto playan important partin ltalian military aviation annals. First fiownon B February 1935,it

beganto enterRegiaAeronautica in thefollowing service April, seeingservicebeforetheyears end in theEthiopian campaign. Butitsprimary claimto famewas to resultfromtheprominent role thatit playedin theSpanish CivilWarin whichit wasto qualities demonstrate exceptional of reliability and robustness.

Production continued untilMarch 1938,w hen534 hadbeendeliveredof which304wereon the strength of theRegiaAeronautica whenltalyenteredWWll,productionbeingresumedin .l943 for thetransport role(S.81/TJ, some B0 additional aircraftbeingbuilt. (rl S B 1 of X X VG r uppo( 2154 squadri gi l i25o a, G r uppo,21o

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Stormol "Pipistrelli"[Bats] of (ltalianJAviacionde el Tercio, Talaverade la Reina,Spain, Oct ober 19 36 .[1a ] "Pipist r ello" emblem of 2 10Sto rmo.t2 ) S B1 of 50asqua drig lia, 3 BoGruppo, 320S t ormo ,Sa rdin ia,19 39. [2aJ Topsideplanviewof same aircra{t.Note camouflage of terracotta,and dark ochre and dark

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g reen,and reversal[black to whiteJof the fascesemblemson t he wings .[ 3) S. 8. 1of 1 l a s quadr iglia,260G r uppo ,9 Stormo, operatingfrom Macelle, Ethiopia,early 1936. Notecolonial cream-whiteoverallfinishand (3a) "anti-camouflage" radiating red stripingon wing topside to facilitatelocation of aircraft

in eventof a forcedlanding. Transportgruppe10 |talien] aeroof the AeronauticaNazionale t4l S.B1lS[SanitarioJ medi cal transport, Li bya,1941. Repubblicana,Riga,Latvia,1944. squadri gl i a, T h e u n i t c o d i n g ( B Q) i n b l a ck i s t5l S .B 1of the2O2a 40oGruppo,3BoStormo,operat- barelydiscernibleagainstdark ing overAlbania,1941. Note olivegreenfinish.[7] S.81 "quickidentification" yellow of 245asquadrigliatrasporto, engi necow l s.(6) S .B 1/T KrivoyRog, Ukraine,September 1941 (8) S.B1of 600asquadriglia, of 1o tM M.609841B Q+ GH "Terracciano"/ North Africa,spring 1943. GruppoTrasporto

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Dewoitine D.5OO/51O (19351 Representinga dramaticadvance in fight erd evelo pme ntin b eing a flush-riveted metal-skinned monoplanewitha monocoquefuselage,t he D.50 0fle w on 1BJ une 1 932,en terin gservicemid - l 935, and beingfollo wedin 1 93 6 by the similar,more heavilyarmed D.501and a more powerfulcannonarmed derivative, the D,51 0,

( 11 D. 500 No47 of t he ld r e Escadrille,Groupede Chassel/4 (4eEscadrewas previously42e EscadreMixteJ,Reims,earlyin .1 937. Note upper surfacesof wings and tailplanewere green. "R-O" aooearedbeneathstbd and "46" beneathport wing. (lal ExSPA-95emblem of l dre Esc. t 2l D. 501 No170, Es c a d r i i l e3 C 3

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of MarineNational,Marignane. RegionalDefence Esc,J une1940. Note palegrey upper and pale Noteweathered and camouflage blue lower surfaces.[2a] Emblem national insignia centredon theoverpai nted of Esc 3C3 and [2b] insigniaof unitem blem . M a r i n eN a t i o n a l e[,3 J D . 5 1 0 t5l D 510of 1dre,G C l/ 8 N o 2 1 9o f 3 d m e E s c a d r i l l eG, C l l l 1 , Mari gnane, w i thMunichcr isis (September E t a m o e s .1 9 3 8 . " R - 2 " 193BJthreeJone (61D. 510Cof 41st appearedbeneathstbd and "49" camoufl age. beneath.port wing. [3a) Emblem Sodn.Chinese Central Government o f 3 d m e E s c .( 4 ) D . 5 1 0 N o3 1 7 , A i rForce. Y unanju. aut um n1938.

Henschel Hs 123 (1e361 A sturdyall-metalsingle-bay sesquiplanedesignedto fulfil an officialrequirementfor a dual-role(fighterand dive bomber) a ircra ft,th e Hs 1 23 f lew on 1 Ap ril 19 35 .e nte r ing Luftwaffeservicein lateautumn '1936. lts configurationbeing consideredpasse,the Hs 123 saw a productionlifespanningbut a

year,some 260 being built.lts Luftwaffeservicecareer was to be prolonged,however,when the Hs 123 was proved outstandingly successfulin the close support r ole.lt f ought in Poland ,t h e Low Countriesand France,and untilautumn 1944 on the Eastern Front where it achievedsome successwith the Schlachtflieger.

i r l H s 1 2 3 4 ( 5 2 + H 3 7 ) , T , S t a f f e l , ( C B +A F I o f A / B S ch u l e7 1 a t Stukageschwader 165 "lmmelmann",P r o s s n i t zM , o r a v i a,su m m e r 1 9 4 .]. FUrstenfeldbruck, ( 4 1 H s 1 2 3 A o f 4 . /Sch l a ch tOctober 1937. (la) Upper surfacesoI 52+H37 geschwader2, Russia,winter and flb) starboardcamouflage oI 1942-43.[4a) Intanteriep a t t e r n (, 2 ) H s 1 2 3 A ( L 2 +E N l o f Siurmabzeichen"(obscuredby 5.[SchlachtJ/LG 2, StTrond, interplanestrutl.[5] Hs 123A B e l g i u m ,M a y 1 9 4 0 .( 2 a J E m b l e m (24 4), Grupo 24, Arma de Aviaof 5.Staffel[partlyobscuredby c i o n ,T a b l a d as, p r i n g '3 9 .[5 a J Pl a n interplanestrut).[3) Hs 123A and [SbJ starboardoI 24'4.

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Fairey Swordfish (1e36) The Swordfishshipboardtorpedobomber was obsolescentwhen it enteredserviceand anachronistic when Britain'sFleetAir Arm went to war, lt neverthelessserved througho utWWll with d istinc t ion in a varietyof roles,seeingalmost continuousoperationand participatingin a numberof epic actions. Extraordinarily easyto fly, with

vicelesshandlingcharacteristics, the Swordfishwas essentially simpleand very robust.Much of its successwas undoubtedlydue to this lack of sophistication and the inherentsturdiness,coupled with the fact that it ooerated pr im ar ilyin an env ir on m e n itn which the fighteropposition was conspicuousby itsabsence.

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Once committed to a torpedo run it was supremelyvulnerable.The true prototypeof the Swordfish,the TSR ll, flew on .l 17 April 934, and it entered s e r v i c ee a r l ys u m m e r 1 9 3 6 , remainingin productionuntil 1944, and first-lineservice u n t i l M a y 1 9 4 5 . I n i t i a l l yp a i n t e d a l u m i n i u mo v e r a l l i,t a d o p t e da

disruptivepatternof dark sea greyanddarkgreenfor upper surfaces and palegrey[SkyGreyJ for sidesand lowersurfaces in 1939.Thegreenlatergaveplace to darkslategrey,theunder surfacecolourwaschangedto palegreenish duckegg [thesocalledSkyTypeSJandthe camouflage demarkation ljnewas

l o w e re d( .l) S wor df isl(hK 8 4 4 0 ) of No 822 Sqdn,HMSCourageous,1939,with(1a) detailofthe ro u n d elpos it ioning on up p e ra n d lowermainplanes. (2JDetailof ( alum in m ru s i mi l a rly finis hed paintoverall)floatplane (L2742) of No 701Catapult FIight, Gibraltar, 1938.t3) Swordfish I tK5 9 7 2lof No 823S odn ,H M S

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Glorious,.1936. NoteFlightCO's fi n s tri p i n gb,l a c kto pd ecki ng and cowlingring.(4) Swordfish I tKB 4 19 l o f N o 8 2 4S q dn,H MS Eagle,1940,and (4a) detailof upper(topsideland lower[under (5) SwordsurfaceJ mainplanes. fi s hl l IH S 2 7 5oJ f N o 1 NavalAir GunnerySchoolat Yarmouth, NovaScotia,1943.

and(6a) upper [6J Undersurface surfacescrapviewsof Swordfish ll showingrocketrailposition. (7) Swordfish ll INFl 17] of No 811 Sqdn,HMSBlfer.Notethe (81Swordfish invasion striping. | (L2731)of No 820 Sqdn,HMS Ark Royal,1939.[9) SwordfishI (P4210)of No 821 Sqdn,HMS Ark Royal,1940.(iOl Swordfish

l l l [N F410]of N o 119Sqdn,RAF Coastal Command, 1945.Notethe personal embiem. fl 1) Swordfish ll (HS26B]of No 1 NavalAir GunnerySchool,Canada, 1944. Notethiswinterised version sometimes erroneously referred to as Mk lV t12l RoyalNavy Swordfish | (V43671 of Catapult Flight,HMSMalaya, 1940.

Junkers Ju 86 [1936) A dimorphicdesignin thatit in the latespring of 1936. Some provided thebasisfor a military shortcomingsin stabilityand bomberanda commercial transport range resultedin modlfications whichevolvedin parallel, Germany's leadingto ihe Ju 86D, the most Ju B6wasfirstf lownon 4 Novembersignificantproductionmodel and 1934as a bomberprototype, fiveexamplesof which served Of comparatively advancedconcept, operationallywith the Legion the initialoroduction Ju 864-1 Condor in Spain.Serviceability problemswith the Jumo 205C bomberwasfirstissuedto the Kampfgeschwader 152 Hindenbu rg Dieselenginesled to replacemenl

b y t h e a i r - c o o l e dr a d i a lB M W 1 3 2 F in the Ju 86E which provideda basisfor the exportJu 86K, the licencemanufactureof which was undertakenin Swedenwhere 16 were buiit.Some 390 Ju B6s (in all versions)were produced,235 being in servicewith the Kampfg r u p p e n o n l I S e p t e m b e r1 9 3 8 , but a year lateronly one f irst-

lineLuftwaffe Grupperetained thetypewhichwassubsequentiy relegated to training and other second-line duties.TheJu 86 remained ooerational withthe Hungari an A i r For ceunt ii1942, asdemonstratedat [l) AJu 86K-.1 Vienna-Aspern inSeptember 1937 i n A ustri an mark ings. Thiswasin facta Swedishcontractaircraft,

t he genuin e"3 11" no t arri v ing at Vienna-AspernuntilFebruary 1938.T his,a Ju B6 E-2o rder ed by the Austrian Luftstreitkrdfte for Fliegerregiment 2, employed a standard Luftwaffesolintertype finish astot 42+F25. [2) Ju B6D-1of S.Stafielof Kam pfgeschwader254, Eschwege, September1937. The nose band

and s oinnerindic at ed" B l u e Force" in autumn manoeuvres. [ 3] J u B6D- 1"Fum o 2" o f t h e KampfgruppeBB,LegionCondor, Spain,lat e 1937,and [ 3 a ) u p p e r planviewshowingthe splintertype three-colour camouflage. [a) Ju B6E-2with a C-Schulefor bom ber c r ew t r aining,c i r c a 1 9 4 1 . (5J Ju B6K-l (B3) of Flottill1

of SwedishFlygvapen, spring 1937.Noteretention of German camouflage colours.[6) Ju 86K-2 of the H ungari an 1stB omber CombatProficiency Sqdn,summer 1939 tZ) Ju 86K -2of H ungari an 4thBomberRegimentoperating in SovietUnionin early1942. [7a) E mbl emot 3./11Groupand, subsequentlthe y. 4/0 S qdn.

[ a ] J u B 6 K - 13 [ B 3 D ] o f2 n d Sq d n , Flottilj17, operatingas a torpedo-bomber(T 3J, Ronneby, 1944 t8al Upper planviewof the same aircraft,and [ab] "Sea eaglewith mine" emblem on aircraft"M" of 2nd Sodn. (9J Ju 86K-13 (B 3C) transport o f F l o t t i l1j 1 ,c i r c a 19 5 5 ,a n d ( 9 a ) t h e e m b l e m use d b y F 1 1 .

SIAI lSavoia-Marchettil SM,79 Sparniero [1936] Undoubtedly to be numbered amongthe mostefficacious warplanescreatedby the ltalian aircraftindustry,respected by its antagonists and laudedby its qualities crewslor itshandling and sturdiness, theSM.79 (SparrowhawkJ Sparviero medium bomberwas,likeitspredecessor, th eS.B1( s eepages50- 51 ),a

derivative of a commercial type, which,theSM.79P, hadflownin October1934.Theprototype of thebomberversion followed on '1935,and production 2 September deliveries to thesquadrigli of the RegiaAeronautica commenced in October1936.Withinlessthan a year,theSparviero wasbeing employed operationally overSpain

with the Aviacionde el Tercio, enjoyingconsiderablesuccess, and by the time ltalyentered WWll,this warplaneequippeda total of 14 Stormi[594 aircraft of which 403 were serviceableJ, representingalmosttwo{hirds of the offensivecapabilityof the RegiaAeronautica.Employed widelyfor both diurnaland

nocturnal bombing,it achieved itsgreatestfamein the roleof torpedo-bomber, theexploits of gruppiaerothe SM.79-equipped siluranti becominglegendary in Italianmilitary aviation annals. Whenproduction in terminated 1944,a totalof 1,330Sparvieri hadbeenbuiltin several models withvariousengines. Forty-five

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had beensupplied to theRoyal el Tercio,operatingfrom Palma, Yugoslav Air Force,anda twinM ajor c a,M ay 1938.( lal E m b l e m e n g i n e vd er s ion, t heS M . 7 9 B, h a d of 52asquadrigliaand F bJ topside planviewof same aircraft,Note achieved someexportsuccess, four beingpurchased by lraq, whitewingtips.Fcl Detailof threeby Brazil and24 by Rumania. outer wing underside.(2) SM.79 (f ) SM.79of 52as quadri gol ifa of the Gruppo Aerosiluranti "Buscaglia"of the Aviazione XXVIIGr uppo" F alc hi dell e Baleari" IHawksof the BalearesJ, NazionaleRepubblicana,Gorizia, BoStormo,(ltalianJ March 1944.(3) SM 79C (Corsa= Aviaci6n de

SpeedJl-5 (l-BlMUl which took third placein 1937 lstresDamascus-Parisrace. [3a) The "Sorci Verdi"(Green Micel emblem of the 120Gruppo. (41 SM 79 of 193asquadriglia,87o Gruppo, 30o S t o r m o ,S i c i l y ,1 9 4 1 . N o t e n o n standard extensiono{ tail cross. [4a] The "ElectricMan" emblem of 1 9 3 4s q u a d r i g l i a(.5 J S M . 7 9o f

2 5 7 as q u a d r i g l i a1, 0 BoGr u p p o , 3 6 0 S t o r m o ,S i c i l y,e a r l y 1 9 4 1 .

t6) 130oGruppoAutonomo, operationalintheMediterranean in 1942 i n theanti-shipping role.[7) Oneol four SM.79aircraftoperated untilthe mid-'fifties by the Lebanese Air Force.Thesewere obtainedin 1950for transportuse.

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Heinkel He 1lf [1936) An aerodynamically efficientand shapelyaircraft with very good flyingcharacteristics, the He 1 1 1 was a classicdesignand an outstandingwarplaneof the mid'thirties.Regrettably for the Luftwaffe,it had lost some of its potency by the time it was committedto WWll,Firstflown as a prototype on 24 February

1935, the firstseriesmodel, the He 1 1 1B-1, joined the Luftwaffe in the early winter oj 1936. W it ht he He 1 1 1 P a n d H series,the steppedwindscreen was supplantedby an unstepped, asymmetricand almostcom pletely glazednose which becamea uniquecharacteristic of He 1 11s em ploy eddur ingW W ll .P r o d u c t i o n

of all versionsexceeded7,300 aircraft,othersbeing builtin Rumaniaand, post-war,in Spain. fl l He 11 1P-2 of Kamplgeschwader 55 basedat Dreux,Chartresand Villacoublay for night sorties a g a i n s tU K , a u t u m n 1 9 4 0 . N o t e KG 55 emblem [coat of arms of GiessenJand the temporaryblack overallfinishobscuringthe

swastika andfuselage coding. National markingand individual aircraftletterrestricted to whiteoutlines, anddarkgrey d isruptivepatternsuperimposed crudelyoveruppersurfaces. (21H eI 11H -3[6N+CKoI 2. / KG r 100,Vannes, Brittany, winter 1940-41. Equipped withX-Gerdt for pathfinder rolein nocturnal

B lit zon UK. (2a ) "VikingLongNote "VestigiumLeonis"emblem boai" emb lem of KGr.10 0.( 3) He of KG 26. [5] He 1 11H-B/R2of 11 1H-6 t7A+ FAI of Gefechtsver- Schleppgruppe(Towing Wingl 4 band (CombatFormationJ Kuhlmey, basedat Pskov-South,February l mmola, Fin lan d,July 1 94 4. Not e March 1942. NoteGruppeemblem. that coding was of Stab LLG 2 to [6] He I 1 1H-20[SJ+GH] of l/KG 4 "GeneralWever",supply-dropping which aircraftwas previously at t ached,[4 J He 1] 1H-6[1 H+ FK] f rom Dresden-Klotzsche, April ot 2./KG 26 "Ldwen-Geschwader",1945. t 6al Em blem of K G 4 . O t t ana,S ardin ia,Aug ust 19 43. [ 7) He 1 1 1H- 3 of Slov a k i a nA i r

Force,Trendi n, spri ng1943. ating in Taporozh'yearea of (aJHe111H-3(V4+AMIof lllKG1 Ukraine,early 1943, [9a] The " H indenburg"Montd , i di er, France, forward uoper surfacesof same August1940.[8a) Forwardupper aircraft and (9bJ alternative of V4+AN/showingthe surfaces rudder stripingstyle.flOl A formationmarkingon c A S A - b u i t tH e 1 1 1 H - 1 6( 9 3 - 3 4 ) temporary wingrepeated from starboard of Ala 94, SpanishEjercitodel rudder.(8b) E mbl emoI 4]K G 1. Aire, late'fifties.(lOaJ Upper surfacesof 93-94 showing pre[9] H e 111H -3of Grupul5 of Rumanian Corpul1 Aerianoper- WWll style"splinter'finish.

Gurtiss SBC Helldiver [1937] The S B C He lldiverbro ug htt o an end both the most colourfulera in US shioboardaviationand that of the US Navy'scombat biplane, Known as the Helldiver,although this was a generic name assigned to all Curtissaircraftemployed in the dive-bombingrole rather than officialNavy nomenclature, this carrier-basedbiplane

paradoxically beganlifeas a monoplane. Thefirstbiplane prototype, theXSBC-2, flewon g December1935,withdeliveries to the US Navyof thefirstseries m o d e lth , eSB C -3c, o mmenci ng i n J u l y1 9 3 7 D . e s p i te ra pi dl y a pproachingobsolescence, some lingeringUS Navyconservatism towardsshipboard aircraftled

to follow-on contracts being placedin January1938for a reenginedversion, theSBC-4,the delivery of whichdid notbegin unti lMarch1939,by w hi chti me it wastacitlyadmittedto be obsolete.The Navyplacedorders production for 124SBC-4s, being compl eted i n A pri l1940,but50 of theseweredivertedfor France

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and replaced in 194.1 withanother 50.Twosquadrons of SBC-4swere aboardtheUSSHornetalthe time of PearlHarbor,andthe US Marines wereto keepa squadron of land-based SBC-4suntilJune 1943.buttheCurtissbiplanewas to playno activerolein the conflict. Thosediverted for the were A€ronavale useof France's

off-loaded at Martinique whenthe Frenchcapitulated, apartfroma batchof fivewhichreachedthe UK and wereassigned the name Cleveland. TheRAFfoundno use for theseaircraft, whichwere promptlyassigned theground instructional role.Il] SBC-3 IBuAerNo 0563]of VS-Saboard USSYorklown in 1937.Natural

metalfinishoverall.aoart from chrome yellowupperwing top and red tail surfaces,the latter signifyinglhe Yorktown.The full enginecowl and fuselageband in blue signified3rd sectionleader. Note the black "Man O'War Bird" emblem of ScoutingFiveon redoutlinedhorizontalwhitediamond. (21 SBC-3 in [post MayJ1942 US

insignia styleIie,redcentre spotof starand rudderstriping discarded) in reserve squadron All uppersurfaces service. were by nownon-specular blue-grey and undersudaces werenon= specularlight grey. (31 SBC-4 IB uA erN o 1287Jservi ng as commandliaison andtransoort aircraftwithl st MarineAviation

W i ng,S anD l egq. 1941 . In conformity withorderof 30 December1940applyingto all shipboard aircraft, a lightgrey overallfinishwasemployed. l(45468l t4) SBC-4Cleveland and (4a) topsideplanview of same aircraft.[5 and5a) SBC-4in (French)46ronavale g reen-and-g rey and skybluecamouflage.

Mitsubishi A5M (Glaude)il9371 Layingclaim to the distinction of havingbeen the world'sfirst shipboardsingle-seat low-wing cantilevermonoplanefighterto haveachievedservice,the A5M, or NavyType 96 carrier-based fighter,did more than any other aircraft to raiseJapanese originalaeronauticaldesignand ma nufacturing capabilityto

worldstandard, althoughthis factwasnotimmediately obvious to the WestwheretheJapanese werestiliregardedas copyists. An extremely cleanall-metal stressed-skin aircraftdesigned by Jiro Horikoshi, whowaslater to achieveinternational recogfighter nitionfor hisZero-Sen (seepage153),theA5Mwasone

of the most manoeuvrablefighter monoolanesever built.Flown as .1 a prototype on 4 February 935, it entered servicewith the lmperialNavyas the A5M1 early in 1937and, in A5M2koform, was deployedoperationally for the firsttime in Septemberof that year in the Shanghairegion where it establishedimmediate

ascendancy.The more powerful A5M4 appearedin the following year,butthis had been largely phasedout of firsf line service when the PacificWarcommenced those remainingaboard carriers quicklygiving placeto the .1 Zero-Sen.A totalof ,085 A5Ms of all types[excludingprototypes) was manulactured.

(l lA5M2ko flown by Lt JG Hideki Shingo assignedto the carrier Kaga engaged in operationsoff Chinesecoast,mid-1938.Note use of Roman letter"k" to signily Kaga, this having replaced the Katakanacharacter "ni". (laJ Upper surfacesof K-125. Note lighttan and dark olive green disruptivepattern

uppersurface which camouflage wascombinedwithmid-grey underside andadoptedfromlate 1937.Naturalmetalfinishwas restored frommid-1938.t2) A5M4 flownby Lt TamotsuYokoyama (leader, or Buntaicho, of the fighterelementlfrom carrier's carrierSoryuon EastChinaSea blockade duties,November 1939.

palegreyfinishandchangeof Soryuwas identified by the Roman"W , theaccompanying carrierlD to "Vll".(4aJUpper Arabicnumerals indicating the surfaces of Vll-111 . t5l A5M4 individualaircraft.(2a) Upper fightertrainerof Kasumigaura surfaces of W-101. t3l A5M4 Kokutai, Omura.Kanjicharacter "ka"andaircraftnumberwere flownby NavalPilot1stClass MatsuoHagiriassignedIo Soryu repeated[5a] beneaththe wings, i nsummer1939.(41A 5M4aboard (61A5M4flownby Lt Motonari SoryuatKasanbaruNavalBase, Suhoof the 14thKokutai, 1941.Noteadootionof overall W i chowl sl and. C h ina.in 1940,

Vought SB2U [Vindicatorl (1937] Theadventin service withthe US Navyof theSB2Uscout-bomber at theendof 1937hadsignified a noteworthy advance in shipboard aircraftdevelopment, introducing to thecarrierthecantilever mo n o plane wit hf oldingw i n g s . Suchwasthe paceof development,however, thatit wasto be outmodedwellbeforeitscombat

committal, Theprototype, the XS B2 U -1 , h a dfl o w no n 4 January 1 9 3 6a . n dth efi rs tp ro ducti on modelbeganto enterservicein D e c e m b e1r9 3 7 ,5 4 SB 2U -1s b e i n gfo l l o w ebdy 5 8 S B 2U -2s, and 40 examples of an export versionof thelatter, theV-156-F, orderedfor France's Aeronavale, beingaccepted fromJune1939.

Thepedormance oftheSB2Uwas notto be described as vivacious, and pooraileroncontroladversely itsbombingaccuracy. affected H i gherw ei ghts w i thout any commensurate increase in power whichcharacterised theS82U-3 and itsexportequivalent, the V -156-81, bui l ti n paral l el , exacerbated theshortcomings,

take-off andclimbbeingsluggish and manoeuvrability The marginal. SB2U-3,57 of whichwereproducedfor the USMarineCorps, wastheonlymodelnamedVindicatorand sawsomeactionin the P aci fi c. Thefi ftyV- 156- 81s deliveredto the RoyalNavywere namedCheasaoeake. butwere considered unsuited for ooera-

ti o n aul s e.F ) S B 2U- 2 [ B u Ae rN o g reentailsignifyingUSSFanger. (31SB2U-1(BuAerNo 0739)of 1337Jof SthSectionLeaderof VB-2deployed aboardUSSLexrng- VB-3deployedaboardUSSSaraton,July1939.Lemonyellowtail foga(signifiedby whitetailsursignifiedIheLexington. Notenon- facesJ, May1939.Notewillow greeninclinedlanding standard greencowland bandof 5th (21SB2U-1 assistance stripes. SectionLeader.(3al Topsideplan (Bu Ae rNo 0773)of Com m a n o e r viewof sameaircraft. t4) SB2U-2 RangerAir Group.Noteneutrality of VS-42aboardUSSr9anget patrolstaron enginecowlingand and [4aJ underside planview of

sameaircraft.ln accordancewith 13 October'1941 directive, this had non-specular blue-grey upper thiscolourbeing surfaces, extended to theundersides of the foldingwingsurfaces, and light greyundersurfaces. (51V-156-F No1Oof Escadrille AB 3 at Cuers i n Jul y1940,and(5a)topsi de planviewof sameaircraft,

(6) V-156-81C hesapeake (41924) of No 811 Sqdn,RoyalNavy,Leeon-Solent, Autumn1941.(6aJTopsideolanview of AL924. (7) SB2U-1ofVS-41aboardUSS Ranger,August1942,immediately priorto relegation to trainingrole t8l V-l56-FNO13 of Escadrille AB 1 of France's A6ronalaleat Lanv6oc-Poulmic, October1939.

Armstrong Whitworth Whifley il9371 Angularlyugly,with a ponderous slab-sidedfuselageand thick, broad wings,the Armstrong Whitley was aestheticallyone of the least appealingof warplanes.Classed as a heavynight bomber-the Ierm heavy being purely relative - it was significantin being the RAF'sfirst bomber to offer a stressed-skinlight alloy

monocoque fuselage, completely aircraftenteredRAFservicethe auspicious (f I Whitachievements. year;in March1937;a turreteddefensive armamentand following l ey| (K 71B 5l of No 10Sqdn,Disha retractable mainundercarriage.totalo11,812wasto havebeen forth,Y orks,193 7,shownin t he A docile,matronly aeroplane, the builtwhenproduction wasended standard darkgreenanddark Whitleywaspleasant i n Jul y1943.Formi ng and easyto oneof the earthuppersurface camouflage fly,withno seriousvices,being mainstays of RAFBomberCommandwithblackundersides and serial noteworthy for itsdistinctive duringthefirsttwowaryears, numberin whiteunderbothoort and disconcerting nose-downatti- it waslargelyresponsible for and starboard wings.(2) Whitley tudein flight.TheWhitley wasfirst layingthetoundations uponwhich ll (K7207)of No 78 Sqdn(as fl o w no n 1 7 Ma rc h1 9 36,andthe thatCommandbuiltitslater deliveredto Airworkat Heston

in 1937 for installation of the Frazer-Nashnose turret). [3) A Whitleyll (K7231) modifiedfor serviceat the CentralLanding School,Manchester,in 1940. [ 4J A Wh itleylll [K9 01 3] o f No 10 OperationalTrainingUnit, Abingdon.Note overpaintingof yellowroundeloutline.(5J A WhitleylV (K92021of No 10 Sqdn

(a) W hi tl ey withthecode lettersadoptedin V tN 1347lof N o 77 codeletters andtheoriginal 1938 [butchangedto "ZA" when Sqdn,Linton-on-Ouse, Yorks, roundelstillvisiblebeneath hostilities October1940.Noteextension commencedJ. up newfinish,(1Ol Whitley Vll [6JA (291901of No 502 Sqdn,oneof Whitley sidesof blackfinish. V (T4149)in daybomber fuselage (8a) Uppersurfaceplanview fi n i s hi n 1 9 4 3 w , i tha g l i derand two RAFCoastal Commandsquad(8bJscraphead-on towingyokeon rearfuselage. viewof N1347. ronsto operatethistype.Note V (BD3B3las G-AGCJ [9] Rearfuselage of Whitley V darkgreenandoceangreycam[7] Whitley (26640)of No 7B Sqdn,Croft,Co ouflageappliedto thefuselage of the BritishOverseas Airways .1 Durham,late1941. Notetheoverall andenginenacelle Corporation fleet, 5 Whitleys upperdeckhavingbeenusedby BOACin 1942. application of blackfinishwith ingand upperwingsurfaces.

Fairey Battle (1937) The Battlethree-seat lightday timeit firstenteredservicein bomber,conceived to fulfila May 1937,Underpowered, slow requirement for,mulated in 1932 and lackingin manoeuvrability, it andfirstflownon 1OMarch1936, wasto provehighlyvulnerable to wasan elegantand viceless bothfighters andgroundfire. As a aeroplane withamiablehandling keytypein the RAFexpansion programme, characteristics. production Regrettably, the couldnot tempoof international be haltedwithoutunacceotable combat aeroplane development wassuch disruotion, andmostof the2.184 thatit wasobsolescent bv the burltwererelegated to training.

(K7639)of No 106Sqdn [1J Battle at A bi ngdon, Oxon,A ugust1938. [2) Battle[953] or SAAF,Atgaro, EastAfrica,July 1941. (31Batfle Groupe [T63] of 5eEscadrille, lll,3eRegiment, Belgian Aeronautique Militaire. at EvereBruxelles, May1940.(4JBattle (8282)of the33 MiraVomvardismou,RoyalHellenic Air Force,

October1940 (5) BattleTrainer 194C. IR7365],September Trainer(16961of No B [6] Battle Service FlyingTraining School, i'lloncton, Canada, mid-i943. [7J BattleTrainer(] 9661of N o 3 B ombi ngan dG unner y School,Macdonald, Canada,1943, Noteoriginal camouflage showing throughfinishbeneath turret.

Dornier Do 18 [1937) W h e nf i rs tf lownear lyin 1 9 3 5 , the Do 18 setnewstandards in f lyingboatelegance. A supremely gracefulmachine, it wasprobably the mostadvancedwater-borne aircraftconceivedto thattime. Th emi l i t arvyer s ion, t heD o 1 B D , wasorderedfor theequipment of the Kustenfliegerg ruppen,or CoastalAviation Wings,for long-

rangereconnaissance, entering servicespring1937.A more powerfulversionwithimproved defensive armament, theDo 1BG, appeared latein 1939,butfrom 19 4 1 ,th eD o 18 D sa n dD o 18Gs wereprogressively convertedas D o 1B H sa n dD o 1BN sfor useby the Seenotstaffeln, or air-sea rescuesouaorons,

(rl D o 18Dof 2,/K u.Fl ,Gr.506 embl em, andS taffel spri ng1939 (2) Rearhullof similarly finished Do 1BDof 2./Ku.Fl.Gr,406, with Staffel emblem,at List,summer 1938 [3) Do 18D of FFS[See), summer1939,w i thembl emand (3a) upperwingsurfaces. (4) D o 18Dof 2,/K u.Fl Gr.906 (withemblem)at Kamp/

P omerani w a,i nte 1939and r 40 (4aJtopsideplanview of same boat.(5) Do 1BDof3./Ku.Fl.Gr.406 and at Li st,S yl t,A ugu st1939, , (5al embl emof 3,/ Ku. Fl. G r , 406. (6) Do 18G,6.Seenotstaffel, 1941-42, CentralMediterranean, withStaffel emblem.[7) Rear hul lol D o 18Gof 2 , / Ku, Fl. G r . 106, 1940,w i thuni temblem .

4a

Seversky P-35 [1937) Subjectof an extraordinarily convoluteddevelopmenthistory, the P-35single-seat fighterwas end productof a strangeseries of metamorphosesundergonebya design that saw birth as a threeseatcom mercialtwinJloat amphibian !Flownas the SEV- 1XP prototypelatein 1935,the P-35 possessedthe somewhatephemeral

claim to beingthe first"modern" fighterof the US services.The deliveryof 77 P-35sbegan in May 1937, but the Seversky lackedthe two most imoortant attributesof an effective f ig hter: adequate performance and firepower.lt was too stable for its intendedrole;inverted flightand outsideloops were

prohibited,and it tendedto fall away in a spin when near its officialserviceceiling. However,the P-35 was popular for its undemandingand sturdy characteristics, and capacious cockpit.An improvedexport model, the EP-.l, was ordered by Sweden,60 beingdeliveredand a similarnumber being taken over

by the USAAFfor useas P-35As. CO [r] P-35Aof Lt BoydWagner, of 17thP ursuiSt o dn,Nichols Fi el d,Luzon,P hilippines, 1941. Notefuselage bandsindicating CO'saircraftand "4MP"tail designator for Philippine-based 24thGroup.[l aJ Em blemot 17t h PursuitSqdn [2] P-35flownby C O of 27IhP ursu it Sqdn,1st

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PursuitGroup, SelfridgeField, Mich, 193 8-3 9.[2a ] Emb lemof 27th PursuitSqdn. (3) P-35 of Major H. H. George,CO of 94th P ursuitSq dn , 1st Pursui tG r oup, S elf ridgeFie ld,19 38 -39 ,a nd [3a] upper planviewof same aircraftshowingdesignatoron topsideof port wing, with [3b) scrap viewsof undersides

of starboardand 0owerJport wings.[4) P-35of 94thPursuit (solublepaintl in temporary two-tonecamouflage for war games,1939.Notethecrudely appliedtailnumber.tsl EP-l (aliasJ 9Jof Flygvapnet in initialdelivery finish,early 1940.Seealso(5aJwingscrap viewshowingpositioning of the

nationalinsignia.(61 EP-l of 3rd Sqdn, Flygflottilj B, at Barkarby,1942-43.[6a] Port top surfacesof EP-1"43" and [6b] "Falcon"emblem of F B, the circularbackgroundof which was paintedin the Sqdn c o l o u r ( 1 s t r e d ,2 n d b l u ea n d 3rd yellow). [7] EP-] of l st Sqdn, F B, in finishstandard-

ised in 1944. (7a) Starboard top surfacesof EP-l "J" with f ull-chordnationalinsignia, ( 8 1 E P - ] o f l s t S q d n , F B, i n "ltalian-style"earth brown ano green dappleappliedto some aircraft,with (8al scrap view of wing upper surfaces.Outer panel undersideswere black to port and white to starboard,

Bristol Blenheim [1937) Hailedas a majoradvance in the designof combataircraft at its debut,beingtheRAF'sfirstallmetalstressed-skin monoolane to achieveproduction. the Blenheim wasfatedneverto fulfilthe high hopesplacedin it.Suchwasthe paceof combataircraft evolution priorto WorldWar immediately ll th a tth eB lenheim wasno

weaponwhen longera redoubtable the RAFwentto war,offering performance inadequate andbeing woefully to fighter vulnerable attack,Flownas a prototypeon 2 5 J u n e1 9 3 6 i,t e n te r ed RAF Mk I servicein itsshort-nosed v e rs i o n i n M a rc h1 9 3 7,Ii cence manufacture o{thismodelbeing undertaken in Yugoslavia and

Finland. lt wassucceeded bythe Mk lV,fighterconverlong-nose sionsof bothmodelsbeingused asMkslFandlVF,anda Canadian equivalent of the Mk lVwasknown as theBolingbroke, At thestart of WWll,all Blenheims worematt darkgreenanddarkearthupper surfacecamouflage withblack undersi des, buti n 1940,theR A F

adoptedpaleblue(Sky)under si des.B y mi d-1941, som eant ihadreplaced shippingBlenheims thedarkearthareaswithdark seagrey,andin the MiddleEast were a darkearthand mid-stone with usedfor theuppersurfaces azureblueundersides. [l) A B l enhei m I tK 7059)ofNo90 Sqdn, Bicester. Oxon.winter1938-39.

Noteoverpainting of yellowouter ro u n d elr ingas M unic hcri s i s me a su r e. lF (L l 4 3 7 ] [ 2J B lenheim of No 25(FlSqdn,NorthWeald, Essex, early1940.(31Blenheim lF of No 54 Operational Training U n i t,su m m er1941.Not ey e l l o w outlineof aircraftletterand partoverpainting of outer roundelring.t4) Valmet-built

BlenheimI of llm av oim a tM , almi, 1956,t his beingone of t h e l a s t survivingexamples,[5) Blenheim lV t R3612)of No 40 Sq d n ,Wy t o n , Hunt s ,J uly 1940,and [5 a J u p p e r plan of same. [6) BlenheimlV ( 29601)of No 55 Sqdn , F u k a , Egypt,early 1942. Note blue Mediterranean camouflagescheme [ 7) Bolingbr ok elV of N o 1 1 5t B R )

Sqdn,RCAF,Patricia Bay,August ( B L - l 2 9 ) L e L v4 2 ,l a te 1 9 4 2 ,w i th 1943.(8) B ol i ngbroke l V targettug (lla) upper surfaceplanview of N o 1 Trai ni ng C ommand showingstandard"Continuation B ombi ngandGunnery S chool , War" black-and-g reencamouflage. R C A F,1944.[9J B l enhei m (llb) "Ace of Hearts"emblem lV A i r partlyobscuredon nose,and [29583]ofGR B1,FreeFrench Forces, Abu-Sueir, Egypt,October ( l l G ) B l a c k " E l k " e m b l e m o f L e L v 1941(rOl Blenheim N J2249) oI 42 appearingon verticalfin. The No 84 Sqdn,Aqir,Palestine, April' white missionmarkersappeared 1941. en fl l l l l mavoi miB l enheilrn V on portsideof rudderonly

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Fiat BR.2O Gicogna [1937) In theyearsimmediately before enginedbomberwasbuiltin some exceptional rapidity,delive ries WorldWarll,the ltalian aircraft numbersfor theRegiaAeronautica,commenci ng i n thefol l ow i ng industry excelled in thedevelop- however, andthis,the8R.20 autumnand initialservice being mentoftrimotormediumbombers, Cicogna(Stork],equipped four achieved early1937.It wasto but ratherlesssuccessattended Stormi Bombardamento Terrestre haveitsbaptismof fireover the paralleleffortsto evolve whenltalyenteredWWll,serving S pai ni n thefol l ow i ng summer, twin-engined warplanes in this untiltheArmistice of September and 72 wereto be exportedto categoryowingto a lackof 1943.Firstflownon 10 February Japan,but,somewhat underadequately powered, reliable enginesof 1936,theBR.20wasto attain the8R.20offeredan power.Onetwinsufficient performance oroduction statuswithouite i nauspicious and

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poor defensivecapability.Production continueduntilJuly 'l 943, by which time a totalof 51 2 had been delivered.The BR.20Mhad more extensiveduraluminskinning,a redesignednoseand structural modifications. [ll BR.20Mof 56a squadrigliaof 860Gruppo at Casteiventrano. Aoril 1942. Note overpaintingof insigniafor nocturnal

operationsagainstMalta.(2J 8R.20 o f 2 30 asq ua drig liaof t he XXXV Gruppo Autonomo, ltalian Aviacionde el Tercio,Tudela, S pain,Novemb er1 93 7,and (2a) emblem oI 23Oasquadriglia. [2bJ Undersideand [2c) upper wing surfacedetailof 23Oaaircraft (3J 8R.20,or Type| (Y-shikil of 12th Sentai,7th Hikodan,

JapaneselmperialArmy Air Force, operatingover the Nomonhan plateauagainst Sovietforces, s um m er 1939,and ( 3a l t o p s i d e planviewof sameaircraft.[4J BR.20 t M M 21719) ot 235as q u a d r i g l i a , 600 Gruppo,410 Stormo Bombardamento Terrestre,Jesi,July I939, and (4aJ emblem of 410 Stormo. Note tricolourrudder (51 8R.20

I M M . 2 1 7 1 B )o f 6 5 a s q u a d r i g l i a , 310 Gruppo, 1BoStormo,Catania S i c i l y ,J u n e 1 9 4 1 ,a n d [ 5 a J 1 B o S t o r m o e m b l e m .[ 6 ] B R . 2 0 Mo f 277 asquadriglia,1 160 Gruppo, 370 Stormo,operatingon GrecoAlbanianFrontfrom Grottaglie, Iate 1940.Note high-visibility e n g i n ec o w l i n g s .( 7 1 B R . 2 0 M ( N 4 . M2 1 8 9 4 1o f 4 a s q u a d r i g l i a ,

110Gruppo, 130Stormo,attached to Corpo Aereo ltalianofor operationsagainstUK from M e l s b r o e kB , e l g i um ,l a te 1 9 4 0 . [7aJ Emblem of 4a squadriglia. [8] BR.20M of la squadriglia, 4 3 0 G r u p p o , 1 3 0Sto r m o ,a t Bi r Dufan,Libya,February1942,and [8a] emblem of 1asquadriglia, Note extendedventralgun.

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Junkers Ju AZ (937) Nowarplane of WWllaroused more controversy thantheJu 87 dive bomber:noneenjoyedgreater r6clame. Synonymous withthe "Stuka"fromthe abbreviation termSturzkampfflugzeug which was,in fact,descriptive of a// divebombers, theJu 87 enjoyed an almostlegendary reputation untilit entereditseclipsec.rver

th e U K ,re a c h i nrts g n a dj r overtheSovietUnion,Flownin th es p ri n go f 1 9 3 5a n de nteri ng servicein itsinitialJu B7A fo rmi n 1 9 3 7 th . eb a s i cdesi gn wasto be thesubjectof years of incremental development and wasto be retained in production u n ti th l es u mme o r f 1 9 4+ ,by w h i c hti m e ,m o reth a n5,700had

beenmanufactured. Cumbersome,wasoptimised for theschlacht. poor flugzeugfclosesupportJ poorlyarmed andpossessing role. (11JuB 7R(S 2+ M2)of T. St af f el, manoeuvrability, theJu 87 was woefully vulnerable to fighters 77, Balkans, Stukageschwader formuch A prl l1941.N oteyellowcowl, andw asananachroni sm life.lt was, of itsservice w i ngti ps andruddersignif ying (la] Emblemof 7./StG a supremely however, sturdy theatre. warplane andalmostcertainly 77.(2) Ju B 7B -1[6G +JRJof the mostaccuraledivebomberof 7./S tG51 0ater4, / St G1) , W W l l From . theendot 1942.i I 1940. Frenchcampaign, May-June

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[2 a JEm blemof 7, / S t G51 ,a n d (2bJTopplanview of6G+JR.Note individualaircraftletteratwingtips. (3 1Ju B7B - 2( 6c + A Cl of StablllStG1 [originallyJ l l l l StG5 1)on E as t erF n r o n t, l a te1 9 41.Not eapplic ati oonf paintas whitewater-soluble temporary wintercamouflage. (3a) Emblemof lllStG[retained

fro ml l l /S tG5 l ). (4 ) J u B 7B -1 Africain supportof theAfrika 1stA i r C orps,S oviet Union, (29 9l of theso-called Staffel Korps,early1942 (6al Emblem summer1943.[9] Ju 87G - 1oft he J o l a n th eKa , mp fg ru ppe B BLegi , on of l/StG3 (exl/StG76Jand Versuchskommando f Ur PanzerC o n d o r,Sp a i nw, i n te r1 938-39, [6b) topsideplanview of 57+KH. bekampf ung [Experimental Detach(5 ) J u 8 7 B-1o f 2 0 9 as q uadri gl i a (7) JU B TD -1/Trop (S 7+ K S Jof mentfor TankCombatl,April o f 1 0 1 0G ru p p oa u to n oma, R egi a B /StG3 Libya,mid-1942. Note 1943(9a)E mbl e m ofKom m ando, Aeronautica, Garsel Arid. non-standard darkearthanddark (l O) Ju B 7D -3(86 +31)oI 1O 2. / 1 S e p te m b e1r9 4 1, [5 a ) E mbl emof sand-brown d isruptivecamouflage (H ungari anJ D i veBom berSqdn, 2O9a sqd.[6) Ju 878-2lTrop (al Ju 87D-3 1943.(l rl Ju 87D- 5of Royal on uppersurfaces. (S7+KHI of 1./StG3, North of D i veB omber Group6,R umani anB ul gari an A i rForce, sum m1944, er

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Mitsubishi Type 96 Attack Bomber (G3M) [1937) The Navy Type 96 Attack Bomber, or G3M, to become known to the Alliesby the reportingname of Nell,was withoutdoubtamongthe most significantwarplanesever created by the Japaneseaircraft industry.lts servicedebut was to signifythe attainmentby Japanesemilitaryaviationof a levelfavourablycomparablewith

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that achjevedby the westernair powers.The G3M was the product of Rear of the far-sightedness Admiral lsorokuYamamotowhen chiel of the TechnicalDivision of the lmperialNavalBureauof Aeronautics,and it was to be resoonsiblefor the firsttransoceanicbombing attacksin the historyof aerialwarfare.The

Backboneof the lmperialNavy's f irst prototypewas llown in July firstline strikingforce when 1935, and the initialoroduction the PacificWar began,the G3M v e r s i o n ,t h e G 3 M 1 , e n t e r e dN a v y remainedin productionuntil1943, service early in 1937, a batch of the parentcompany building58.1 34 of thesebeingfollowedby the improvedG3M2 with which the G 3 M 2 s a n d N a k aj l m ab u i l d i n ga further412 G3M2sand G3M3s,the firsttrans-oceanicbombing raid w a s m o u n t e do n 1 4 A u g u s t 1 9 3 7 , latter having higher-powered a week afterthe commencementof enginesand more fuel capacity. the second Sino-Japaneseconflict. tll G3M1 o1the KisarazuKokutai

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basedon Kisarazu, Chiba,April 1937.Thisunitsubsequently flewagainstChinesetargets from Chejulsland,Korea, (2) G3M1of thesameKokutai afterapplcations of camouflage as fromOmura,Kyushu, operated mid-August 1937,for attacks on C hinese targets, includ ing (31G3M1ol NankinandSuchow.

OminatoKokuhibasedat Ominato in autumn1937.(4) G3M2of the MihoroKokutaibasedat Hankow for operations overtheSzechwan Province of China,April-May 1941.[4a) Uppersurfaces of sameaircraft showingirregular application of darkgreenover naturalmetal.[5) G3M2of the TakaoKokutai, 23rdKokuSentai,

basedat Takao,Taiwan,April 1941t6l G3M2of Genzan Kokuhi fromSaigon,Indooperating C hi na.D ecember 1941.and participating in sinkingof HMS PrinceofWalesandHMSRepulse. Kokutai t7) G3M2of Yokosuka assigned to Marianas in February 1944,oneof lastareasin which G3Msawextensive use.(8JG3M2

alsoof YokosukaKokutaibased at Yokosuka for training,March 1944.tgl L3Y2[transpofi to conversion of G3M2lattached the 221stIFighter)Kokutai,midI944.(1OlG3M2of TakaoKokutai with21stKokuSentaioperating March from Hanoi.Indo-China, 1941,and(lOa) topsideplanview of thesameaircraft.

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Boeing B-17 Fortress [1937] Numberedamong themostfamous bomberso{ all iime, the B-17 Fortressrepresenteda quantum advancein combat aircraftdesign w hen f lown o n 28 July 1 93 5. Enteringservice(as the Y1B-171 in 1937,it wa s to g ain th e u niversalaffectionof its crews, a tot alof 12 ,67 7B-1 7sbe ing built . {t ) B -17D 1 4th Sqd n, 1 gth Bom b

Group,Clark .1 Field,Luzon December 941.Noteretention ol thetailstripinganddeletion of (2) B-17E thetaildesignator. (41-9023)"YankeeDoodle"of 4 1 4 thSq d n ,9 7 th B o rn bGroup, GraftonUnderwood, September 1942.Notemediumgreen/earth disruptive camouflage andazure (31B-17F-40 blueunderside.

(42-5177), 359thSqdn,303rd Jul y1944.(51B -17G - 40 BombGroup,Molesworth, summer (42-97976) ot 447thBombGroup, 1943.Notemediumgreenblotch- Rattlesden, Norfolk, early1945.The ingon olivedrabuppersurfaces. aircra{tname"A BitO'Lace"maybe (4) Rearfuselage of B-17G-60 seenabovereclining femalefigure withevidence of [44-8398]of 602ndSqdn,398th on nose,together BombGroup,Nuthampstead, 83 missions. Thegreenfuselage autumn1944.N ote" W "Grouo bands,yellowwingtips andiail marking. Theredfin,(4a) wingtips surfaces wereadoptedlateJanuary and [4bJ tailplanewereadopted 1945[thisparticular aircraft

jamming havingolivedrab replacement Norfolk, landedin Franceon 12 December Kampfgeschwader on electronic 200for r udderl.I nsig niab lue wrn g andintelligence duties. 1942,aIIetattackingRouen clandestine operations. [1 OJ chevrons[starboardupperand port [8 ] R e a rfu s e l a goef B -1 7G-15 yards. marshalling Sotteville B -17F-1 15 t42-306611, or iginally "VeniVidiVici"of 38BthBomb (42-97503),533rdSqdn,381st lowerJappliedlate 1944 and Subsequently flighttestedat retained.[6) FortressllA tFL459] BombGroup,Ridgewell, in Essex, Rechlin Groub,Knettishall, whichlandedat [as DL+XC],it was (in thefinishillustratedJ Rinkaby, of No 220 Sqdn,RAFCoastalCom- e a rl y1 9 4 5 .R e dfi n ,ta i l pl ane and employed Sweden, on 29 February mand, Ballykelly, (as in N lreland, wingtipsadoptedJuly1944. fordemonstrations toJagdgruppen1944.Subsequently .1 converted (9) B-17F-27(41-24585),originally and,i n S eptember lale 1942. [7) FortressB I 1943,assi gned illustratedl as a 4-passenger " Wu l fH o u n d "3, 0 3 rdBomb (afterrepainting in night tKJ 1091- B-17G-55 (44-8240)transport, servingwithAB Aeroo f No 223 (SD) Sqd n, Ou lton,in Group,Molesworth, whichforce- camouflage) to I Gruppeof transport from6 October1944.

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Hawker Hurricane [1937) The RAF'sfirstfightermonoplane and the service'sfirstcombat aircraftcapableof a levelspeed exceeding300mph,the Hurricane was somethingof a compromise betweentraditionand the demands of a new era in aerial warfare, Destinedto carry the bulk of the burden of Britain'sdefencein the most significantair conflict

ever fought,the Hurricanenever achievedthe truly legendary statusof the numerically- so far as the Battleof Britain was concerned - lessimportant Spitfire,which it complemented to a remarkabledegree.lt is to be num ber edam ong t h e t r u e immortalsof aviationhistory's annals,nevertheless, laying

claim to versatility exceededby few if any warplanesin WWll, lt f i r s tf l e w o n 6 N o v e m b e r1 9 3 5 , enteringRAF servicein December 1937,and was to provea first rategun platform,extremely manoeuvrableand very robust.lf slowerthan its primaryopponent, the Bf 109, it was a far superior dogfighter,and productionwas to

conti nue unti S i e pt em ber 1944, 12,780bei ngbuiltin t heUK, by 1, 451builtin suppl emented was Canada.Licencemanufacture undertaken in Yugoslavia and Belgium,but,in theevent,only in theformer 20 werecompleted andthreein thelattercountry. (l ) H urri cane | (L l5551,No '111 t, Not eSqdn S qdn,N orthol 1937.

Ldr's pennanton fuselage. (2J Hurrican eI tL 19 90 l o f No 56 S qdn, No rth We ald ,19 39 .N ot e 1938-allocated f uselagecoding. [ 3J Hurrica neI tV66 11 ] of No 85 Sqdn operatingfrom Debdenand Croydon,August 1940.NoteSqdn white hexagon.(41 The only Hurricaneoperatedin Australia with RAF serial(V74761and RAAF

colours, Used by Nos 2 and 3 Communications FIights. [5] Zmajbuilt HurricaneI of Royal Yugos lavAir For c e,Zem u n ,A p r i l 1941. ( 61 Hur r ic ane| ( o r i g i n a l identityunknown) repainted after capture for Luftwaffetest at M agdebur g,[ 7J Hur r i c a n el l B (23768) as operated by No Bl Sqdn at Vaenga,SovietUnion,

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a u t u m n 1 9 4 1 ,w i t h B r i t i s hc o d i n g and V-VSidentiiynumerals. ( 8 J H u r r i c a n el l B [ 8 D 9 3 0 ) o f N o 73 Sqdn,WesternDesert,1942. Note unofficialversionof pre-war Sqdn markingon fuselage. [9) HurricanellB of Esquadrilha RV, PortugueseArma de Aeron d u t i c a ,E s p i n h o ,O p o r t o ,1 9 4 8 , and (9a) emblem of Esquadrilha

R V .i t O l H u r r i c a n el l C [H L 6 0 3 ] o f .1 N o S q d n ,A c k l i n gto n su , mmer 1942. Note newly-adopted day f i g h t e rf i n i s h ( l l l H u r r i ca n el l D nat LG 91, t B P l B B )o f N o 6 S qd.1 WesternDesert,July 942. (12) H urricaneX IBWB50Jwitharresterhook for RN serviceas Sea Hurricanebut retainedin Canada for servicewith No 440 Sqdn.

Messerschmitt Bf lOe t1937) Withoutdoubt the world'smost t he Bf l09E t hatt r ulyc a r r i e d advancedsingle-seat to the fore of fighter the Messerschmitt when firstflown as a prototype fighter developinternational in May 1 9 35 ,the Bf 1 09 en t er ed ment. Remainingin production Luftwaffeservice in its initial unt ilear ly 1942,t his m o d e l w a s Jumo-eng ine dform e arlyin 1937. to prove master of the Spitfire T he Jum o 2 10 was reta inedf or in the verticalplaneand in level .1 t he B f 09 B, C an d D mod els ,but speed,but it lackedthe agility possessedby the Britishfighter, it was the matingof DaimlerBenz DB 601 with the airframeas tr I Bf 1098 of 6. Staffelof

Jagdgeschwader132 "Richthofen" a t J u i e r b o g - D a m ma, u t u m n 1 9 3 7 . Black bar indicatedll Gruppe. [ l a l J G 13 2 e m b l e m 0 a t e rJ G 2 ) . t2) Bf 109B of LuftwaffeSchule (indicatedby S I of Luftkreiskommando(LocalAir Com mandl ll [ i n d i c a t e db y " 2 " ] , B e r l i n , e a r l y 1 9 3 9 .( 3 ) B f I 0 9 C o f I 0 . [Nacht]/JG 77 interimnight.

fightingStaffel,Aalborg,July 1 9 4 0 .[ 3 a ] E a r l y fo r mN a ch tj d g e r e m b l e m .( 4 ) B f 1 0 9 D o f Ja g d Iliegerschule 1 , We r n e u ch e n i,n 1940. Note ejector-type exhaust. [4aJ Emblemof JFS 1 [5) Bf 109C-2 o t 1 . / J G 1 3 7 , B e r n b u r g ,i n s u m m e r 1 9 3 8 .[ 5 a] Th e "Be r n b u r g e r Hunter"emblemot 1./JG 137 (laIer1]ZG 2l i6l Bf 109Dof

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Flugzeugfuhrerschule A/ B 123 [kroat.)at Agram, Zagreb,March 1942.(6a) EmblemoI A/B 123. t7l Bf 109D of Hptm Gotthard Handrick,Gruppenkommandeur, JBB,LegionCondor,Calamocha, Spain.February1938.Notethe "ZylinderHut" (Top Hatl emblem of 2./JBB.[7aJ Olympicringdecoratedspinnerof Handrick's

Bf 109D.t 8l Bf 109E- 4 8o f L t n Steindl, Geschwader-AdJutant [seef uselagesymbolJJG 54 "Grunherz",Leningradarea of the EasternFront,spring 1942. [8a] Vienna-AspernCoat of Arms usedas ll/JG 54 emblem,and [8b] personaiemblem of Steindl. t gl Bf I 09E- 1 of lVlJ G 1 3 2 (laterl/JG 77), Werneuchen,in

early1939.[9a] "Wanderzirkus Jahnke"emblem of lVlJG 132. [O) Bf 109E-3of Hpt Henschel, G r u p p e n k o m m a n d e u lrl,/J G 7 7 , Aalborg,Norway,in July 1940, tlOal lllJG 77 emblem trr) Bf 1 0 9 E - 7 8o f l l G r u p p e ,S c h l a c h f geschwader1, Stalingradarea. winter 1942-43.Fla) InfanterieS t u r m a b z e i c h e nn,2 l B f1 0 9 E - 1 ,

lllJG26 "Schlageter", Dusseldorf,August1939.Whitesoluble paintwasappliedto thetailfor exercise. [t2a] JG 26 emblem, 9./ JG26,at trsJ B f 109E -3, Caffiers, France, August1940. (r 3al 9./JG26 emblem(.r 4) Bl 109E-1 of lll/JG 52,Hopstddten, August1940.(r4al "Winterfield'scherWolf''lll/JG52 emblem.

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Messerschmitt Bf 109 [continued) Characterised by a morepowerful engine,theBf 109Gcarrieddevelopment of the Messerschmitt fighterto itszenith.Whilethe higherweightand powerloadings adversely affected handling and performancewas manoeuvrability, g reatly enhanced, a process which wascarriedstillf urtherby the definitive model.theBf 109K.

tl l Bf 1 0 9 -2o t 4 ./J G5 4 "Grunherz", northern Siverskaya, Front,summer sectorof Eastern 1942.NoteVienna-Aspern Coatof (see Armsahead ofthewindscreen pageB7J,horizontal barsignifying ll Gruppeon rearfuselage andthefield-applied camouflage. (2 1 Bf1 0 9 G -2 /T roopf l l l JG51 "Molders" at CasaZeppera, Sard-

i ni a,i n summer1943.(2aJThe "Molders' Jagdgeschwader emblem and[2bJthatof ll Gruppe. (31Bf 109G-10/U4 of kroat,JagdEichwalde, staffel, November 1944,w hi l eoperati ng under Jagdfliegerf uhrer Ostpreussen. Notethetallerwoodenfin-and(41Bf 109Grudderassembly. 5/U 2(Mr-422W erk-N4l r 1 93B l

of H LeLv31,Fi nnish llm avoim ien, urti ,1948,tsl B f 109G - 14/ U2 of H ungari an 101Fight er G r oup, S outhGermany, Apr il1945.Not e non-standard spinnerandtheFuG 16ZYantenna(61Bf 109K-4of l /JG27, R hei ne, Decem ber 1944, Note"Defence of Reich"band. (7) B f 109K -4otl l / JG 77aI B onni ng hardt,D ec em ber944. '1

Nakajima K1.27[1938] Lightlyconstructedand lightly armed, Ihe Ki.27 (or Type97 FighterJwas almostcertainlythe most agilecomb at mon op lane ever producedin quantity Supremelysuccessful from its operationadl eb ut o ve r Chin a in April 1938 ,th e Ki.2 7was co nceptuallyoutdatedby the time that the Paclficconflictbegan.

Firstflownon 15October'1936, a totalof 3,396wasproduced. [tJ Ki .2 7 -O tsouf C h u talieader, 1 O thD i re cC t o mma n dC hutai , M a n c h u ri a1,9 3 8[2 ) K i.27-Otsu of Lt ColToshioKatoh,CO of .1 st Sentai, Kagamigahara, June 1 9 3 9(3 . 1K i .2 7 -Otsouf 4th C h u ta i1, 1 thS e n tath i , e" R edleggedHawks",operating over

t h e K h a l k h i nR i v e r ,M o n g o l i a n M a n c h u r i a nb o r d e r ,d u r i n g t h e "NomonhanIncident", summer'l939. Note "LightningFlash"Sentai i n s i g n i ai n C h u t a ic o l o u r . (41 Ki.27-Otsuof 2nd Chutai,24th Sentai,flown by SgtGoro Nishihara d u r i n g" N o m o n h a nI n c i d e n t " . The horizontalstriping(in ChutaicolourJsignifiedthe

numberstwo and four, the katakana characteron the rudder b e i n ga n i n d i v i d u am l a r ki n g . [ 5 ] K i . 2 7 - O t s uo f 1 s tC h u ta i , 5oth Sentai,Burma, early1942. (61 Ki.27-Otsuof 3rd Chutai, 246th Sentai,basedat Kakogawa for defenceof Osaka-Kobearea, early 1943.Notethe traditional Jaoaneseoinetreeemblemon tail

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Gurtiss Model 75(19381 Conceivedin 19 34 ,an d des igned underth e ae gisof Don A. Ber lin, the Model 75 was to enjoy very considerableexportsuccessas the Hawk 75A, more than 750 being sold abroad.Deliveries a gainstan o rde r fo r 2 10 fo r t he U S A rmy Air Co rps be ga nin t he spring of 1938 as the P-36A,the final30 being completedas

P-36Cswithwingarmameni, The principal foreignrecipient was France's Arm6ede l'Airwhich beganto receive Hawk75A-1sin February 1939,Franceordered 335TwinWasp-and285Cycloneenginedexamples, the majority of thelatterbeingdiverted to the RAFas MohawklVs.The Curtissfighterpossessed light,

beautifully harmonisedcontrols, good handlingcharacteristics and was sturdybut, while more manoeuvrablethan the Bf 109E, its principalopponentover France,it was oufcllmbed and oufdived by the Germanfighter, and much slower.(ll P-36A of 79th PursuitSodn, 2OthPursuit Group, MoffettField,Calif,

November 1939,Notetaildesignatorindicating 21staircraft of 20thPursuittPTl.(lal Emblem of 79thPursuitSqdn.(2) P-36C in olivedraband neutralgrey, early1942.Notethetaildesignatorrestricted to aircraft numberl w i thi nGr oup]and , lastfourdigitsof serialnumber (38-1911 [3] H awk754- 5of t he

Nationalist ChineseAir Force, K unming,19 42 .(4) Ha wk 754- 3 GC l/5 , A r m ee of 2nd E scad rille, de l'Air,Casablanca,Morocco, s ummer 1 94 1, Noteth atth e "Charognard" (styllsedeaglel emblem of this escadrilleis accompaniedby "PetitPoucet" emblem [enlargedabovetailJ of 2nd Escadrille, GC lll4,

whic h was dis bandedJ u n e 1 9 4 0 . [5] Hawk 75A1 of 1si Esc,GC lll5. wint er 1939- 40,with t h e "Lafayette"[Sioux IndianHeadJ emblem,and [5a) upperandlower surfacesof the same aircraft, [6] Hawk 754-3 of 2nd Escadrille of G C ll15,Cas ablanc aM , orocco, s um m er , 1941,wilh ( 6a J " S t o r k " unit emblem. Notedeletionof

green component of camouflage. [7J Hawk 754-3 of 2nd Escadrille of GC l/4, Dakar,Senegal,in summer oI 1942. Note so-called "Vichy" identification striping and introductionof sand brown to camouflage,[7aJ Upper and lower surfacesof same aircrafi, and [7b) "GypaeteEgyptien" Istylisedvulture)unit emblem.

[8J Hawk 75A-B of Norwegian flyingtrainingcentre,lsland A i r p o r t ,T o r o n t o ,1 9 4 1 .( 9 ) H a w k 754-7 flown by Col Boxman of l . V l i e g t u i g a f d e l i ng , IL KN Luchtvaartafdeling, Madioen, NetherlandsEastIndies, D e c e m b e rI 9 4 1 ( fO) H a w k7 5 4 - 3 o f F i n n i s hL e L v3 2 . Su u l a j i i r vi . S e p t e m b e r1 9 4 1 .

Dornier Do 24 (19381 Through most of the 'twenties and throughoutthd 'thirties, D orniergain edmu ch acc laimf or a seriesof robustand efficient flyingboatscharacterisedby inherentlystablebroadbeam hullsand sponsons.The lastof theseto be builtinquantitywasthe Dornier Do 24 trimotorflying boat bearinga closefamily

resemblanceto the twin-engined Do 1B [ s ee page 71] . D e s i g n e dt o meet a Dutch Navy maritime reconnaissance-bomber requirement,it was to be adoptedin World War ll by the Luftwaffe f or the air-searescuerole in which it excelledas a resultof its outstandingrough-watercapabilit y .Fir s t f lownon 3 J u l y

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1 9 3 7 ,t h e D o 2 4 w a s l i c e n c e b u i l ti n H o l l a n da n d F r a n c e , 1 9 5 b e i n g b u i l ti n t h e f o r m e r countryand 48 in the latter,a furthelI 2 havingbeen previously built under Dutch contractby Dornier'sSwisssubsidiary,The Do 24 firstenteredservice w i t h t h e D u t c h N a v yi n 1 9 3 8 , and the lastwere withdrawn

fromSpanish rnthelate service 'sixties-aspanof 30 yearsl (r) D o 241-1tC D+UTlof t he3 (AirStaffel of Seenotgruppe SeaRescue WingJoperating under Seenotbereichskommando ISBK]||| fromBoulogne-Wimereux, summer 1941. Note"Gulland Lifebelt" emblemof the3./Seenotgruppe (2) Do 24T-1(CM+lV)ol theB.

Seenotstaffel. SBK Xll, Black Sea area, 1942. Note non-standard use of colour for fourth letterof radiocall-signand "Skull"emblem of Staffel. (3) Do 24r-2 (KO+JTI ot the 7 Seenotstaffel, SBK Xl, Aegean, 1942 (sub se qu en tly to SBK Xll i n B lackSea minu s wh itew ingt ip and rear hull theatremarkings).

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gruppe81,w hj chal i ghted Notename"AsbachUralt"on bow at and the Staffelemblem (4) The Hdllevik on 31 October1944). Do24fi ID-AEAV]operatedbythe (6) Do 24K-2[X-17]of Dutch (Naval Reichsdienst MarineLuchtvaartdienst [StateServiceJon aeromedicalduties.Note civil Air Service], Surabaya, Java, regrstrationand presentationof i n summerI939.t7l D o 24K -2 (449-4)ex-MLDservingwithNo swastika.(51 Do 24T-i operated asf p 24 by Flottilj2, Swedish 41 Sqdn,RAAF,in thetransport (A) Do 24I-2 ot Flygvapenfrom Hegernas,1945-50. role,1942-43. (OriginallyCM+ RY of the Seenot- Escadrille 30S[{ormerFlottille

9F Tr),FrenchAdronavaie, ASR rolefromSt Mandrier, 1946.Note emblemof Esc30S.[9) Do 24T-3 as operated by Spain'sEjercito delAirefor ASRfrom Pollensa, (f O) Do Majorca, early'fifties. 24T- 2 (ex-A6ronavalel, Ejercito delAire,Pollensa, in theearly 'sixties. NotetheSARservice embl emIbow Jandunitem blem .

Supermarine Spitfire tl 93Bl More than a supremelysuccessful fighter,the Spitfirewas the materialsymbol of final victory to the British.A ballerina-like aeroplanewith immenseaesthetic appeal,the Spitfirewas the distillation of yearsof experience with SchneiderTrophy racing seaplanes;aircraftthat endowed it with a disiinguishedpedigree.

F i rsflt o w no n 5 Ma rc h1936, it beganto enterservicein July 1 9 3 8a , n da to taol f 2 0 .351 hadbeenbuiltfor the RAFby thetimeproduction wasfinally comoleted in October1947. (r) Spitfire | [K9794)newly fittedwiththecurvedcanopy subsequently standardised, and fiownby SqdnLdr HenryCozens,

C O of N o 19 S qdnat D uxford, October1938.t2) SoleSpitfire I supplied to theArmeede l'Air, late1938;believed to have beencapturedby theWehrmacht i n thesummerof 1940. at Orl eans lA [371Jof the [3J Spitfire Esquadrilha XZ, ArmadaAeronduticaMilitar, Tancos,Portugal, 1943.(4) S pi tfi re llA

tP 7666lof S qdnLdr D O Finlay, C O of N o 4 l S qdn,Hor nchur ch, i n D ecember 194 0.Thiswasan Observer Corpspresentation aircraft. Noteuseof so-called Sky[Camotint or palegreenishblueJfor the underside, coding rearfuselage bandandspinner. llB (PB342J of No [5J Spitfire 306[P ol i shJ S qdn ,Nor t holtin,

August 194 1. Note emblem of the Polish"Torunski"unit on lower front cowling.[6) SpitfirePR Type F (X4498)-later PR Mk Vl -of No 3 Photo RecceUnit,RAF OakingtonJu , ly 19 41 .(7 J Spit f ir e V B [E P 6BB),No 40 Sqd n,S AAF, Italy,August 1943. Note Aboukir tropicalfilter,obliquecamera in fuselageand orangecomponent

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of theSouthAfricanmarkings. (81Spitfire VC tLZB46lof No 54 Sqdn,RAF,basedat Darwinfor defence of northernAustralia, .1 943,as partof I FighterWing. (9JSpiifire Vlll [A58-615]of No 457 (Australlan) Sqdn, 1 FighterWing,Livingstone, in i 943.IlO] Spitfire Vlllof Lt L P M o l l a n dC, O o f 3 0 8 thS qdn,

31stFighterGroup,USAAF,ltaly, IXEusedas personal aircraftby (thirdCO ot No 101 1944,w i thIl OaJ personal EzerWeizman (l lJ Spitfire premierfighter emblem. IXC(MJ23Bl, Sqdn,lsrael's N o 73 S qdn,H alFar,Mal ta, 1945. unitJandairworthy until1976. Notedistinctive unitmarkingcarried Notealignment withgroundline throughout mostof WorldWarll, of the 'Starof David"insignia, (12) Spitfire IXE[ex-Czecho[13aJTheHeylHaAvircrest. ( I 4) SpitfirelXtwo-seat slovak)of HeylHa'Avir, the conversion lsraeliDefenceForce/Air Force, undertaken bythe1 Aircraft Depot, circaearly1950s.[13] Spitfire Leni ngrad, i n 1945 .

Supermarine Spitfire [continued) (l) S pitfireVll (MD11 1 ) o f No 131 S qd n in hig h-a ltitudday e fighterfinish[introducedJune 1943) of MediumSea Grey upper surfacesand PRU Blue under surfaces.Notethe Sky Grey code letteringand Type B roundel, and undersizedinvasionstripes. (21 SpitfirePR X tMD194Jas it was operated by Nos 541 and 542

f rom Lympne,Septem , 1945, patrols ber s q u a d ro n Be s , n s o nOxon, 1944.(5) Spitfire FR 1BJ2214) Notespecialpinkfinishused for somephoto-reconnaissanceof N o 32 S qdn,E i nS hemer, (3) Spitfire i n theS uezC anal Zone,1947PRXl Spitfires. (PAB92)of the7th PhotoGroup, 48.N ote" H unti ng H orn"embl em .1 USAAF,MountFarm,Oxon, 943- of squadronbeneath windscreen 44. Notenaturalmetalfinish. and oortfor obliouecameraaft XIVIRB]591of of cockpit,[6J Spitfire PR19 [4) Spitfire CO of No (PM660lof No 2 Sqdn,FurstenSqdnLdr R A Newbury, 610 Sqdnoperating anti-"Diver" feldbruck. WestGermany, circa

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PRUBlue 1948.N oteso-called finishoveralland redcoding. 2] [14224)of No [7J Spitfire spr ing , f olk, 91 S qdn,LudhamNor 1945.N o 91 w ast heonlysquadronto employthisSpitfire variantoperationally beforethe flyingarmed endof hostilities, reconnaissance overNW Europe missions, andanti-shipping

Vickers Wellington [1938) Utilising an ingeniousfail-safe geodeticstructurecoveredby fabricat a timewhenmeta stressedskinninghad becomethe acceptedformulafor the modern bomber,the Wellington was,from someaspects, an anachronism whenit firstflewon 15 June1936. yieldedhighstrength Geodetics for comparatively lowweight,

2

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(rJ Wellington however,and thusthe abilityto | [14235)of No ingin Burmaduringthe lmphal absorbfantasticbattledamage 38 Sqdn,Marham,Norfolk, summer crisis,June-July1944.(5) Welyetstayairborne.Characterised 1939.(2) Wellington , 415 lA (L7779), l i ngton X l l l(MF63 9)No by an unusualamountof structural No 37 Sqdn,Feltwell, Norfolk, within Sqdn,operating [CanadianJ flexingin turbulence, and April1940.(3) Wellington lll No I6 Group,BirchamNewton, accompanied by erraticwandering (X3763),No 425 [Alouette] Sqdn, early1944.NoteASVMk ll radar of thecontrolcolumn,theWelan RCAF-manned unitin No4 Grp, aerials.(6J Wellington XIVof lingtonestablished a brilliant Dishforth, in Seotember 1942. No 304 (PolishJ Sqdn,Chivenor, (4JWellington battlerecord.The1 1,461stand X (H2950J, No 99 lale1944.NoteASVMk lll nose lastwasdeliveredOctober1945. (MadrasPresidency) Sqdnop_erat-radomeandventralLeighLight,

Morane-Saulnier M.S.4OO[1938] An inelegantand decidedlyunderpoweredfightermonoplane,with armamentand equipmentleaving much to be d esired th , e M . S.406 representeda synthesisof pre. viousfighterexperiencetranslatedinto low-wingcantilever monoplaneterms and retaining classictubular metalconstruct ion w ithfa bricskinn ing .F ir s t

fl o w n[a sth eM .5 ,4 0 5on ] B A ug- as MOrko(Werewolf] Moraanis. (11M.S .406 ust1935,it enteredArm6ede l' of l e E sc, [N o704J Air servicelate1938,andsome GC l /2, N i mes, Jul y1940,w i th 1 ,0 8 0w e reb u i l t.T h eM .5.406 of thesame fiaJ uppersurfaces provedinferiorto the Bf 109E aircraftshowinggreen,dark on allcountsapartfromturning earthand blue-grey camouflage. (lb) The(SPA3l "Cicogne"of circle,lt waslicence-built in SwiLerland astheD-3800and the le Esc.[2] D-3801of a D-3801, andsomewerere-enginedUberwachungsstaffel ISurveili n F i n l a n (w d i thKl i mov'M-105) s lancesquadronJ of theSwiss

Fliegertruppe, 1944.t3l N/lS. 406(N o775), E scadr on de E ntrai nement, To ulouse, 1941, and (3aJuppersurfaces of same aircraft. Notesienna, dark earthanddarkgreencamouflage (4) Morko-Moraani (MSv-657) of H LeLv2 i , Fi nnish llm avoim ien, R i ssal a, 1946.N o t e'Cont inuationWar"camouflaoe scheme.

Fiat G.5O Freccia [1938] The firstitalianall-metallow(r ) G 50 tM |\/ 35801of 10Gruppo wing cantilevermon op lan es ingle Sperimentaleof ltalianAviacion seatfighter,the G.50 Freccla de el Ter c io,Es c alonaS , pain, (Arrow] flewon 26 February1937, M ar c h 1939.f la) Half - a n d - h a l f enteringRegiaAeronauticaserplanv iewof M . M . 3580d e p i c t i n g vice in the followingyear,prostarboardupper and lower surduction totalling778 aircraft. faces,[lb) "Asso di Bastoni" The G,50was ratherunderpowered em blem of 23oG r uppoo f R e g i a and inadeq ua tely arme d, b ut it ( 21G 50 ( N / . M3 5 8 2 ) Aer onaut ic a. was sturdyand very manoeuvrable. of G r upo Num 27, Reg i m i e n t o

Mixtode Africa,SpanishEdA, 5lo Stormo,operatingas compoM e l i l l aM , o r o c c o ,M a r c h 1 9 4 0 . nent of 560StormoCacciaTerrestre [2a] Falangist"Yoke and Arrows" of Corpo Aereo ltaliano.based e m b l e m .( 2 b J " G r e y h o u n d "e m a t U r s e l ,B e l g i u m ,Octo b e r1 9 4 0to b l e m o f G r u p o N u m 2 7 . [ 3 ] G . S O b i sA p r i l 1 9 4 1 .( 4 a l " Ga ttoN e r o " (M.M.4744)S , c u o l aC a c c i al l o (BlackCat)emblemof 510Stormo. (4bl Coatsof Arms of House of Periodo,RegiaAeronautica, in the summeroI 1942.Notewhite S a v o y .( 5 J G . 5 0 [ | V1 .M .3 5 9 fl own 91 w i n g b a n d ss i g n i f y i n gt r a i n i n g by Sen Lt Kalkkinenas FA-17 of r o l e .[ 4 ) G . S O b i so f 2 O o G r u p p o , 2 / L e L v 2 6 a t M a l m i ,Ju l v 1 9 4 2 .

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Lockheed Hudson tle3B) FirstUS-builtaircraftto see RAFoperational servicein WWll, the Hudsonwasone of the rare examplesof a successful militarytypebeingevolvedfrom an existingcommercialaircraft (ie,Lockheed14 SuperElectra). It wasdeveloped expressly to meet Britishcoastalrecce-bomber reouirements and orderedfor the

RAFin June I938 on thebasisoi sessedRAFHudsonlll (8W454), ri des,l ate1941.[4 ) HudsonVl TheHudson engagedon WestCoastantia mock-upfuselage. iFK6B9]with matlwhitevertical patrolfrom Portland, andglosswhiteundersurfaces firstflew 1938,and submarine as on 10December justover2,000Hudsons weresub- Oregon,April1942.Noteretention adoptedbyCoastal Commandfrom sequently to be delivered to the of RAFtemperatelandscheme. A ugust1941.N o t et hedar kgr een RAF,theRAAFand theRNZAF, some [2) Hudsonlll (NZ20B3) and oceangreyuppersurfaces. of No 2 repossessed bytheUSgovernment (GR)Sqdn,RNZAF,Nelson,New (5) Hudsonlll (V915Blof No 279 servingwiththeUSArmy[asthe Zealand,in 1942.(3) HudsonV engagedin Sqdn,Sturgate,1942, A-29JandUSNavy(asthePBO-1). (AM579), No48 Sqdn,RAFCoastal air-searescuedutieswithven(r) A-29(41-23325),a reposStornoway, ntedairbornelifeboat. Command, OuterHeb- trallv-mou

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Handley Page Hampden [1939) Of uniquedesign,withitsdeep but narrowfuselagepod and slendertailboom, theHampden offerednearperfecthandling characteristics andalmost fighter-like manoeuvrability, butitscrampedaccommodation ledto crewfatigueand itsdefensivefirepowerwastotally inadequate. Flownon 21 June

1936,it enteredRAFservicein autumn1938,a total(including Herefordverthe Dagger-engined sion)of 1,584beingproduced. (l ) H a m p d e Ini P1 3 2 0lof N o 106 Sqdn,Finningley, Yorks,April I940.Noteoverpainting of the yellowroundeloutlineand nonstandardcodingstyle.(2J HampdenTB | (X3015)(notedeepened

weaponsbaytor torpedo)of a Scottish-based OTUin 1942. (3) Hampdenl(AE2O2)of No 44 (Rhodesial Sqdn,Waddington, Lincs,September 1941.(4) HampdenTB | (AN172)of No489Sqdn, RNZAF,Leuchars, Fife,autumn 1942.(5) HampdenTB l, V-VSSF [NorthernFleetAir ForceJat Vaenga, nearMurmansk, October

1942,aftertransferto Soviet Unionby No 455 IRAAF)Sqdn. (6JSoleHampdensupplied to Sweden as operatedby Flottili .l I fromNykdping as P 5 in 1941. Delivered to Swedenon 22 September 1938,it wassoldto SAABin November 1945,and(asSE-APB) servedas an electronictesfbed, 1947. surviving untilNovember

2

6

l

Polikarpov l-153 (l-l5terl tl939) Difficulties experiencedin 1937 over Spainby Sovietpilotsin combatin gth e FiatCR.3 2 biplane [see pages38-39) when flying t he l-16 m o no pla ne[se e p ages 48-491convincedthe SovietUnion that there was stilla placein the first-llneinventoryof ihe modern air arm for fightersof biplaneconfiguration.Aleksei

Shcherbakov,one of Nikolai Polikarpov'steam leaders,was, accordingly,assignedthe task of developinga more advanced fighterbasedon the l-15bis[see page 371,Retainingthe basic structureof the earlierfighter, Shcherbakovdiscardedthe cabane for a gulledarrangementof the wing, added manuallyretractable

main undercarriage members,and a s t h e l - 1 5 3 ( a l i a sl - l s t e r ) , p rototypescompleted acceptance testsautumn 1938. Deliveries began latespring 1939, priority being assigned to forcesfighting the Japaneseover the Nomonhan plateau,but it was quickly manifestthat the reasoning behindl-153developmenthad been

unsound; thefi gh t erbiplane was obsolete. Twofactorieshadbegun production, full-scale however, andas thesecouldnot re-tool, therewasno recourse butto bui l di n lg 153s, and conti nue duri ngan 1B -mo ntpr h oduct ion life,no fewerthan3,437were built.Ninety{hree weresupplied to Chinaearlv1940.andwhenthe

Wehrmacht attackedthe Soviet Union,almostone in two V-VS f ighterregimentswere fiying the l- 153. lt was totallyoutclassedby the Bf 109E,although presenteddifficulties if flown by an experiencedpilotas a result of its exceptional agilit y.(lJ l-1 53o f the 7 1 IAP attached to Baltic Fleetand

flown by MajorBiskun,an eskadril CO, from Lavansaari,Gulf of Finland,Augus t 1942.( l a J U p p e r planviewof sameaircraft[2) l-153 0T-20) capturedby Finnsat Sommaro (see 4J, October 1941, and deliveredto 3/LeLv 6 of Ilmavoimatin July 1942. (2a) Upper planviewof same aircraft.[3) l-.153 of the 71 IAP

f lownbyCaptSolovyov at Suomen, sequentlytransferredto llmal ahtii n 1942.(4) l -153forced voimat,December'1942. lt was down on 3 October1941 at subsequentlyassignedto 1/LeLv Sommaroand impressed bv 3 0 i n A o r i l 1 9 4 3 a s l T- 3 1 .L u ftllmavoimat lsee2) as lT-20.Note waffe coding indicatesstaffflight finish.(5J l-153in tem- of l/Luftlandegeschwader dilapidated 1 by porarywinterfinishof unidentifiedwhich presumablyflown before IAPforceddownon Eastern t r a n s f e r t. 7 l l - l 5 3 ( P- 7 2 7 1 ) ,2 7 Ih (6) l-153captured S o d n . N a t i o n a l i sCh FronI1941-42. t i n e seAi r Frontandsubon Eastern F o r c e , K u n m i n g ,1 9 4 2 .

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Fiat CF,.42 Falco [1939) Italy'sCR.42Falco(FalconJhad, togetherwiththe Sovietl-153, thedistinction of beingthe lastsingle-seat fighterbiplane introducedintoservice. Flown as a prototype on 23 May1938, it enteredservicein Mayof the followingyear.Provinga superbly manoeuvrable warplane, it had the misfortune to be born intoa

scenedominatedby monoplanes. Gruppo,in markingsof theAegean Despiteconceptual obsolescence, theatre,on lsleof Scarpanto, itsproduction Aprif-May 1141.(b) "Fasces" continuedinto emblem(leftJon fuselage 1943,reachinga totalof 1,781. and (1) CR.42of 9F squadriglia, (right)162asqd emblem, 90 the dialectlegendreading Gruppo,40Stormo,Benina,Libya, Venetian 1940.(lal "Cavallino Rampante" "Beware,I willscratchyou!" emblemfleft)of 4oStormo, scrapview and [3) Rearfuselage (right)emblemof the 97asqd. (to5J depictingalternative presentation (2 ) C R .4 2o f 1 6 2 a s q d161o . of 377asqdemblem,

f ull unitcodingand the overall blacknightfightingfinishof someaircraft.(41CR.42of the Cmdte(notepennant)of B3aSqd, l SoGruppo, 30Stormo, Libya,in early1941.Notethethree-colour camouflage remaining as usedin Belgium theprevious The autumn. dark bandwasoveroainted white stripe[usedto signifyCmdtein

Belgium). Note180 oGruppo emblem.t5) CR.42of 377asqd autonoma,Palermo-Boccad ifalco, Sicily,summer1942.Gh) 377a sqd emblem(leftJ,with[right] coatof armsof Houseof Savoy. (61CR.42of 20asqd, 460Gruppo Assalto,150Stormo,September.l November942ontheElAlamein front.(7JCR.42of auxiliary

assaultgroup,Ravenna area, 1942.(7a) Scrapviewof 704 sqdCR.42,Tirana, Albania, 1942,showingCmdtefuselage stripe(practice discontinued in followingDecemberl.(8) CR.42 of SezioneAutonomaCollegamenti.Rome-Centocelle. winter 1945-6.(8a) Subsequent CR.42 trainerfinish[overallsilver],

(91CR.42of the2. late'40s. Staffel,Nachtschlachtg ruppe 9, Riminiarea, early1944.(f O)CR.42 of 4emeEscadrille, lldme GroupedeChasse, 2emeRegiment, A6ronautique Mititaire Belge,at Nivelles, May1940.(11) CR.42 of 1./4S qdn,1/l lGroup,1st FighterRegt,RoyalHungarian Air Force,Budapest, 1941, and

[t la) the 1./4Sqdn"StGeorge" 1/ll emblem.fl lbJ Alternative GroupCR.42finish.(12) CR.42 of 1./3Sqdn,1/llGroupwith HungarianFastCorpsin Soviet Union,late1941.Note"Aceof Hearts" emblemof 1./3Sqdn. (r3l CR.42(J 11l of 3 Division of Flygflottilj 9, at Sdve, Gothenburg,Sweden,lale 1942

Messerschmitt Bf lro [1939) A supremelyelegantwarplanefor which a formidablereputation had been assiduouslyfosteredby Germanpro pa ga nd ists, th e Bf 1 1O proved an abysmalfailurewhen it was committedto the "Battleof Britain".But the lvlesserschmitt twin was not the indifferentwarplanethat the debaclein British skiesin 1940 suggested,The

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near drsastrousmaulingthat the r e m a i n d e ro f WWl l w i t h s o m e Bf 1 10 receivedtrom the more distinctionin a varietyof n im bles ingle- engined o p p o s i t i o n d i u r n a la n d n o c t u r n a lr o l e s - a was the resultof inadeouate thoroughly tractableairc raft understandingof the limitations with pleasanthandlingcharacterof its strategicfighterconceptand istics,a very good performance incorrectdeploymentas a and considerableagilityfor its consequence,Once theselimita- sizeand twin-enginedconfigurations were appreciated,the Bf tion, Firstflown on 12 May 1 1Owas to servethroughoutthe 1936, the Bf 1 10 beganto enter

s e r v i c ee a r l yi n 1 9 3 9 ,a n d i t was to remain in production u n t i lM a r c h 1 9 4 5 ,b y w h i ch ti m e approximately6,050 of all versionshad been built.lts basicdesign provedamenableto power plantchangesand to the a p p l i c a t i o no f e q u ip m e n ta n d armamentfar beyondanything envisagedwhen it was conceived.

tl) B J1 1 0C-4 /B[G9 +lN]o f 5 / ZG 1 , Caucasus,October1942.Known as the Wespen(Wasp)Geschwader, the aircrattof thrsu nit bore an elaborate"Wasp"design(ta) on t he f use la gen ose.Th e ll Gr uppe, of which 5.Staffelwas a part, was formed in 1942 by the red esignatio no f SKG 2 10 whos e aircrafthad also borne the

"W as p"des ign,it s nuc l e u sb e i n g providedby l.Staffelof the or iginalZG 1 ( 1b) Halta n d ha' fplanand ( lc J head - o nv i e w s of G 9+ lN. Not e unus u a lc o m b i n a tion of the splinterand dapple patternson wing upper surfaces. ( 21 Bf 110G - 2of 5J ZG7 6 a I G r os enhain,wint er194 3 - 4 4 . ( 3) Bf 1 I 0C- 2 [ A2+ AH) o f l / 7 G 5 2

operating f rom Charleville France, i une 1940.(3a) E mbl em of I Gruppeot ZG 52,(4) Bf 1' l 0G-2(3J + Y W Iof 12 /N JG3, S tavanger, N orw ay, spri ng1945. J B ,/N JG i 5l B f 110G-4(D 5+ D S of s 3. N ote" S hark'Mouth" decorationinherited fromoriginal Hai fi schgruppe(l l/ ZG 76). tz" emof [5a) " E ngl andbl i embl

the Luftwaffenightfighting arm carriedbeneathwindscreen o f D 5 +D S t 6 ) B { 1 1 0 G- 4( 3 C +BR ) of 7./NJG 4, North-WestGermany, 1 9 4 3 - 4 4 .( 7 ) B f 1 1 0 D - 3tM B+GM l o'f4./7G 76 flyingin supportof i nsurgentIraqiforcesf rom R a s c h i d ,l r a q , M a y 1 9 4 1 . N o te crudelyoverpaintedrear f uselage a n d t e m p o r a r yl r aq ii n si g n i a ,

Junkers Ju 88 [1939) Perhaps exemplifying theGerman philosophy of adapting a sound basicairframefor a multitudeof tasks,theJu 88 wasarguablythe mostversatile warplaneof WWll; it wascertainlythe outstanding Luftwaffe bomber,long-range heavyfighterand nightfrghter.The Ju BB'sstartlingly broadrepertoire includedanti-shipping strike

(9K + GL)ofl Gruppe, "Wellenm and torpedoattack,tankbusting fl l Ju B B A -1 uster"camouflageover it wasa and reconnaissance; Kampfgeschwader 5 1 "Edelweiss",standardMediterranean two{one pilot'saeroplane firstand last. basedat Melun-Villaroche, in schemefor anti-invasion tasks Flownasa prototype on 2 1 Decem- autumn1940.Notethetemporary overSicily/Salerno beachheads. ber 1936,it enteredLuftwaffe blackundersides and overpainted (A) "Totenkopf" emblemof KG54 servicein bomberformin August insignia for nightblitzon UK. appliedimmediately aftof nose 1939.By thetimeproduction (3) Ju 884-4 [exofKG51. transparencies. [{a) "Edelweiss"emblem (2) Ju BBA-+iB3+FL)of l/KG 54 LuftwaffelservingwithGroupe finallyterminated in 1945,a "Totenkopf", totalof 14,676Ju BBsof all Bergamo,ltaly, I/31 "Aunis", de Bombardement versionshad beencomoleted. September1943.Noteso-called withthe ForcesFranqaises de

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l'Atlantiq ue.Bordeaux-Merig nac, Note that this aircraft was March1945.[4] Ju BBA-4/R engagedon Mediterranean antishippingoperationsbut retained tJK-251)of 1. lentue(flight), Lentolaivue 44 (1./LeLv44)of desertfinishfrom earlierNorth Finnishllmavoimien, Onttola, African service.[5a) Emblem of su mme1943. r [ 4a] T hee mb l eomf lllLG 1. ( 6) J u BBA- 14t Q 1 +J C ) 1./LeLv44. [5] Ju 88A-10 believedto be of Stab Il Gruppe/ Le h rZerstdrergeschwader'1, Mamaia, i L 1+EN l of ll G r uppe, geschwader 1 0llLG 1),at Rumania,April 1944. [6aJ Scrap Heraklion. Crete.October1942. view showing"SkeletalHand"

emblemas alsocarriedbv Bf Y-Gerat radio-beamsorties.Note 1 1Osoi I Gruppe.(7) Ju eeC-O small coding on tailfin. (9J A J u B B G - 6 b( 9 W+C L ] o f I/N JG 1 0 1 , tFl +XM) of Zersllrerstaltel4./ KG 76,Taganrog, lngolstadt,late 1944. Note reUkraine, late placementrudderand "Schrdge 1942.Noteoainted simulation of nosetransoarencies musik" obliquegun installation. to confuseopposition. [7aJEmblem (lOJ Ju BBG-7a(22+AW) ot lV/ oI 4.(7)/KG76.[a] Ju BBS-1 NJG 6. SchweibischHall.winter (26+DL)of l/KG 66,Dedelsdorf, 1944-45.Note paintingof the winter1944-45, for individual verticaltail to resembleJu BBC.

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Dornier Do {72,1215[1939] A derivative of theoriginalDornier D o 1 7"F ly ingP enc il" wit ha n e w torwardfuselage, IheDo 172 enteredLuftwaffe serviceearly 1939,an exportversiondifferingessentially in enginetype b e i n gd es ignat ed Do 215a n d ,i n the event,alsoseeingLuftwaffe service. Although essentially medium bombers, theyalsoappeared in

4

nightfighterformas the Do volunteers. [3] Do 177-2(U5+BH) 1 7 2 -7a n d Z -1 0 ,a n D d o 215B -5, of l/KG 2, Tatoi,Greece,in May fl I Do 172-2(5K+FDJof Stablll 1941. [3a) Emblem of 1.Staffel/ Gruppe,Kampfgeschwader 3,based KG 2. (41 Do 172-3 of PLeLv43 (formerlyPLeLv44J photographic at Heiligenbeil, EastPrussia, i n Se p te mb e1r9 3 9 t2 l D o 172-2 f l i g h t ,F i n n i s hl l m a v o i m i e na, t M a l m i ,J u l y 1 9 4 8 .[ a a ] U n o f i i c i a l t5 K+ H U lo f 1 0 .[k ro a t,]/K3G deployed on CentralSectorof the emblem of PLeLv43 photo flight E a s te rn F ro n t,D e c e mber 1941. and (4bJ PLeLv43 "Bison"emblem. [2aJ Emblemof CroatianUstachi [5) Do 17Z-10 Kauz [R4+LK] of

l/NJG 2, Gilze-Rijen, in October '1940 for nocturnalintrusion missionsover UK.(5a) Emblemof N a c h t j a g d - D i v i s i o[6 n .J D o 2 1 5 B- 5 K a u z l l l ( R 4 +D C ) o f Sta b l l l N JG 2 basedat Leeuwarden,in the s u m m e r o f 1 9 4 2 ,an d fl o w nb y H p t HelmutLent,Gruppenkommandeur. Notetheventral MG FFcannonpack and Lichtensteinradararray.

Bristol Beaufighter tl 940) An outstandingexampleof improvisationin being essentiallyan adaptationof the Beauforttorpedo-bomber,the Beaulighterwas to be numberedamongWWll'smosl versatilewarplanes.Displaying a measureof handlingprecocity,it was nevertheless a formidable aircraft,lirst seeingservice in the nocturnalinterceptrole

- it was the only RAF aircraft capableof carryingthe Al Mk lV radarwithoutsacrificingeither endur anc eor f ir epowe r F . l o w no n 3 J uly 1939, it f ir s tent e r e d RAF servicein August 1940,and by 21 Sept em ber1945 ,w h e n t h e 5,562ndand lastBeaufighterwas completed,it had fulfilledmany tasks,among its most successful

being the anti-shippingstrikerole. r k l F [ R 2 0 5 9 Jo f F J B e a u f i g h t eM No 25 Sqdn, North Weald,late s u m m e r 1 9 4 0 .( 2 ) B e a u f i g h t eM r k C 14767) of No 252 Sqdn,RAF CoastalCommand, Edcu, Egypt, m i d - 1 9 4 2 .N o t e M i d d l eE a s td a r k earthand mid stonecamouflage. r k V I F( K V g 1 2 ] [ 3 ) B e a u f i g h t eM o f 4 1 6 t h N i g h t F i g h t e rS q d n ,

(4) A USAAF,Corsica,1943-44. Beaufighter TF l\1kX INE237]of No455Sqdn,RAAF,basedin UK, late1944.[5) Beaufighter Mk X of Escuadrilha B, Portuguese F0rqaS A€reas du Armada,Portela de Sacavem, 1945 t6) A Beaufi ghterTF Mk X ,C u er pode Aviaci onMi l i tar, Trul i llo AB,San l si doro, D omi ni can Republic, 1948

4

Reggiane Re.2OOO(and Re.2OOll t19401 Without doubtthemostmodern 1939,but only27 wereto enter Italianfighterof itsera,the RegiaAeronautica service, 130 Re.2000introduced theltalian beingbuiltfor exportto the aircraltindustryto the latest Hungarian andSwedish airforces, UStechnology. Aerodynamically service withtheformercommenand structurally advanced,it cingin summer'l940.Hungarian embodied integral wingfuel licencemanufacture totalledI 9l . tankswhich,at thetime.were TheRe.2001 Ariete[Ram)| was considered revolutionary. The an adaptation for a liquidRe.2000firstflewon 24 Mav cooledenginewithfirstflightin

July1940,and237werebuill. (lJ Proiotype 8e.2000tM.M.40Bl fiownat Reggio, as origrnally and(2Jin definitive form.Note ihe irregularpatternof yellow ochresprayedon darkolive greenbase[adoptedin 1940J. (2a) Upperand lowerstarboard surfaces of M.M.408. Notethe reversed style[ie,whiteon

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black]of theunderwing fasces. S eriellt a( M . M . [3] R e.2000 8284)oI 1asquadriglia, Aviaperla Regia zioneAusiliaria (LaSpezia), Marina, 1942 Sarzana [3aJ"Duck"emblemof Aviazione (3b) Coatof Armsof Ausiliaria. theHouseof Savoy.(41Re.2000 (V.412)HejaI of 1./1 Szazad (Sqdnl,1./l Oszlaly (Grouplof

l.VadaszEzred(FighterRegtJof the RoyalHungarianAir Force, S zolnok,summe r 1 94 1. Not et he yellowcowl, wingtipsand aft fuselageband servingas theatre lD marking s,a nd we dg e - t y pe nationalinsign ia[a utu mn 1938 untillate 1941).(aa) Half-andhalf planviewo1 V.41 2.[5] Re. 2000 Heja | (V.428) oI 1./ 1

Independent Fighter Szazad, Group(On6lloVaddszOstdly) of Air Brigadeattached to 2nd H u n g a ri aAnrm y ,So vi etU ni on, summer1942.(5a) Planview of V.428.tsb) "Wasp"emblemof 1./1 Szazad.(6) Re.2000[J 20) of 1stdrvision, Flygflottilj 10, Angelholm, Sweden,early1945, planview and[6a) half-and-half

of same aircraft.(71 MAVAGb u i l tR e . 2 0 0 0H 6 j al l t V . 6 1 3 ) , home defence,Ferihegy,spring 1943. Note Hungariannational i n s i g n i aa d o p t e df r o m l a t e 1 9 4 1 . (8) Scrapviewof Re.2000of F 10 showing[aal "Ghost" emblem of l s l d i v i s i o n .[ 9 ) R e . 2 0 0 1o f 3624squadriglia,22o Gruppo "Spauracchio"52o Stormo,at

362

(9al Emblem Capodichino, May1943. of 22oGruppo.(r O l Re. 2001 150asquadri glia, 2o G r uppo "Golletto", 6o Stormo.Pantellaria,August1942.(1Oa)Emblem of 2o Gruppo.(l l J Re. 2001, B2a squadri gl i21o a, G r uppo,51o Stormo,Italian Co-Belligerent A i rForce,P ugl i alat , e1943,and F f a) topsideof sameaircraft.

Douglas SBD Dauntless [1940) The principalshipboardUS Navy dive bomber throughoutthe war in the Pacific,and the only US aircraft to participatein all five navalengagementsfought exclusivelybetweencarriers,the Dauntlesswas an underpowered and painfullyslow aircraft.lt was short on rangeand woefully vulnerableto fighters,but its

h a n d l i nw g a si n n o c u o us andi t sealing fueltanksandsomearmour wasresponsive; it wasdependable wereaddedwiththeSBD-3,while and sturdy,but,mostimportant, it an upgraded electrical system wasan accurate characterised divebomber. theSBD-4,the The prototype [XBT-2)firstflewon SBD-Sand-6 havingprogres22 Aoril1938,anddeliveries sivelymoreenginepower.A total of th ei n i ti am l o d e lth , eSB D -1, of 5,321S B Ddi vebombers w as b e g a ni n Se p te mb e1r940.A rma- bui l t,i ncl udi ng 953forthe mentandfuelcapacity were USAAFas theA-24,theseenrerincreased withtheSBD-2,selfi ngservi ce fromJune1941, and

seeinglimitedactionin the Pacific. (r) S B D -Iof V MSB- 232 of US MarineCorps [ex-VMB-2) A i rGroup21 base dat Ewa,O ahu .1 IHawaii]in December941,at thetimeof PearlHarbour.Note overalllightgreyfinishas per directive of 30 December 1940. t2l SBD-3ofVS-41aboardUSS RangerduringOperation"Torch"

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in Novemb er19 42 .Th e out line of nationalinsignia[appliedby hand and ragged)was carriedby all US Navyaircraft participating in operationsagainst French North Africa.[3] SBD-3 of VSB-6 on the USS Enterprisein February 1942, and (3aJ topside view of same aircraftshowing the assymetricinsignia.t4l SBD-4

of VMSB-243of the l st MarineAir Wing operatingfrom Munda,New Georgia,August 1943.Whitebar was addedto nationalinsigniaand red outlineadooted in accordance with 28 June 1943 directive. (51 4-248 (42-54459) of 312th Bomb Group (Dive),USAAF,Makin ls, Gilbertlslandsin December 1943.( 6) SBD- 5of VM S - 3 ,U S

MarineCorps,in theCaribbean, May1944.Notedarkgullgreyand whiteschemeadoptedfor Atlantic Theatreearly1944.(7) SBD-S IB uA erN o 36897)of R N ZA F (N250491basedat Piva,Bougainvillels,April1944.(q A-248 (42-54543)of FrenchGroupede C hasseBombardement [GCBJ 1/1B"Vendee" flyingf romVannes,

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France,in November1944,with faal unit emblem and [8bJ starboard topsideshowingstriplng. tgl SBD-Sof Flottille4FB, French A6ronavale,Cognac,January 1945,with [9a) unit emblem and [9bJ port topside.(rO] SBD-S of EscuadronA6reo de Pelea 20O,FuerzaAdrea Mexicana at Piede la Cuesta.1946.

Dewoitine D.52O(19401 An aerodynamically refinedand structurallyrobustfighter,the French D.520 could not comDete withthe opposingBf 109Ein terms of levelspeed,but it enjoyeda marked edge over the German fighterin manoeuvrability and it it possessedexcellentdiving characteristcs. TheD.520'sorincioal shortcomingswere a lack of

damplng in yaw, over-sensitivity to turbulenceand any abrupt use of the throttle,and a tendency to ground loop, but it acquitted itselfwell in the desperate fightingin Frenchskiesin the s um m er of 1940.The fi r s to f three D.520 prototypesflew on 2 .1 October 938, but when the devastatingWehrmachtassaulton

Francebegan 19 monthslater,only one Arm6ede I'AirGroupewiththe D.520 was readyfor combat. By the time of the 1940 Armistice, 437 had been completed,product i o n b e i n g r e s u m e di n V i c h y F r a n c ea , f u r t h e r4 7 8 D . 5 2 0 sb e i n g built prior to and subsequentto the German occupationof the so called"UnoccupiedFrance".

ti) D 520 No277 oI Adj-Chef P i e r r eL e G I o a no { th e Se m e Esc, G r o u p e d eC h a s sel l 1 1 6Ar , m 6 ed e I'Airde l'Armistice,Rayak S y r i a .J u n e 1 9 4 1 .N o ted i a g o n a l tricolourfuselageband denoting the pilot's"ace" status,the s i e n n a ,g r e e n a n d l i g h tg r e y upper surfacesand yellowrear f uselageand tailsurfaces[the

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red stripingof the Vichy identificationmarkingsremainingto be applied ).(1a l "AfricanM as k " emblem of Se meEsc.(2) D. 520 No245 o f 3 eme Esc,GC l l/ 7, Gabes,Tu nisia,in au tum n 1942. Nole unusualappiicationof the stripingo n no sean d 'Cicogne emblem of 3e me Esc.[3 J D. 520 No 190 of 6e me Esc,GC ll116,

Ray ak ,in J une 1941. N o t et h e definitiveVichystripingon nose, rearf uselageand tail. (3a ) "StageMask"embiemof 6eme Esc,and [3bJ half-and-half planviewof same aircraft. t 4) D. 520 No48 of G C l / 3 a t Cannes-Mandelieu, April-May1940. pianviewof [4aJ Half-and-half same aircraft.Notethe primarily

g r e e n a n d k h a k id i s r u p t i v e c a m o u f l a g e [. 5 ) D 5 2 0 N o B 2 7o f G roupede ChasseDoret,ToulouseB l a g n a c ,i n S e p t e m b e r1 9 4 4 . de i6l D.520No31of Escadrille Chasse,SNCASEfactory,Toulouse, J u n e 1 9 4 0 .[ 7 ) D , 5 2 0 o f t h e J a g d g e s c h w a d e1 r 01, a Jagdtliegerschuleunit at Pau-Nord, M a r c h I 9 4 4 t B ) D . 5 2 0o f J a g d

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geschwader105, Chartres,May 19 4 4 . t 9 ) D . 5 2 0 of 3 r d Sq d n , 6 th F i g h t e rO r l i a k( b u l g .l l l l JG6 ) ot RoyalBulgarianAir Forceat B o j o u r i s h t OF,e b r ua r y19 4 4 . t l O l D . 5 2 0 N o 5 10o f l 6 4 a sq u a d r i g l i a ,1 6 1 0G r u p p o Au to n o m o Caccia,RegiaAeronautica, at ReggioCalabria,Southern I t a l y ,i n M a y 1 9 4 3 .

Brewster F2A lBuffalo) t1940) Possessingthe distinctionof being the firstof the US Navy's shipboardfighte r mon op lanes , the Brewsterfighterachieveda measureof notorietyfor its mostlydisastrouscombat assays In fairness,it offeredgood control responseand pleasant flyingcharacteristics, but its power-to-weight ratiowas poor

and it was usuallyflown by com parativelyinexperienced pilotsunder conditionsof much s uper iorenem yair pow e r g i v i n g Iittlemargin for success.The prototype,the XF2A-1[Model 239Jf lew in Dec em be r1 9 3 7 ,a n d 54 were orderedby the US Navy as F2A-1s, 43 of thesebeing relinquishedin favourof the

F i n n i s hA i r F o r c ew h i c h w a s t o p rovethatthe B rewsterd id possess ai leastsome of the qualities requiredfor success.These aircraft were replacedby 43 of the irnprovedF2A-2 which was offeredfor exportwithoutcarrier e q u i p m e n ta s t h e B - 3 3 9 ,w i t h contractsplacedby Belgium(40J, t h e U K ( 1 7 0 1a n d t h e N e t h e r l a n d s

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East Indies[72J,the lastmentionedorder laterbeing s u p p l e m e n i e db y o n e fo r 2 0 B- 4 3 9 aircraft,ln RAF servicethe B-339was namedBuffalo.The US .1 Navyordered OBimprovedF2A-3s and thesefought in the Battle of Midway,but,significantly outclassedby the opposition, saw no furtherUS activeuse.

(1) F 2A-2(Bu AerNo 14 101of VF-2 "FlyingChiefs",aboard USS Lexington,March 1941, and [|al uppersurfacesof 2-F-16, Noteglossychrome yellowupper wing surfaces,6th Sectionlemon yellowfuselageband and cowl, and lemon yellowtaildenoting Lexington.(1bJ Emblemof VF-2, (21 B-439 in USAAFinsigniaas

used brieflyin Australia,midt442. [3) F2A-3of VMF-221,US MarineCorps,Ewa,Hawaii,mid1942, in non-specularblue-grey and lightgrey. Note red-andwhite rudderstripingdispensed with from 15 May 1942 (41 8-339 Buffalo(AN210) of No 453 Sqdn, RAAF,Sembawang,Singapore, November1941. (h) Topsideof

AN210, (51B-339Dof 1 Afdeling, Vliegtuiggroep V. ML-KNIL(Royal Netherlands Indies ArmyAir Semplak, CorpsJ, Java,summer 1941.t6l B -339Dof ML-K N IL uni tatA ndi r,B andung, combi ned March1942.NoteDutchnational markingsadoptedFebruary1942. of No 21 tWB153) [7] Buffalo Sqdn,RAAF,in Dutchnational

markingsas capturedat Andir by Japanese.(8) 8-239 (BW-354) of Sgt.H. Lampi of 2,lentue lflightJ,Lentolaivue [SqdnJ24, Finnishllmavoimien, Tiiksjeirvi, September 1942. (ea) Topsideof BW-354.(8bJ "Lynx"emblem (leftJadopted by LLv 24 and (rightJ"Elk" emblem of 2.lentue/ LLv 24 (whichappearedon taill,

119

Grumm an F 4F Wildcat tl 9401 When the Wildcatenteredservice !t representedwhat was probably the bestcompromiseachievedto that time betweenaeronautical andnaut ica ld ema nd sin as hipboard fighter.lt was a corpulent and aesthetically unappealinglittle warplane,and it lacked somethingof the speed performance of shore-based contemporary

fighters.Howeverit offereda very good climb rate,an excellent patrol range,superbditching characteristics and, perhaps m os t im por t ant , t hes t u r d i n e s s necessaryfor intensivecarrier operations.Firstflown las the XF4F-2)o n 2 September1939,the Wildcatwas ordered by the US l.Iavyas the F4F-3in August of

that year,simultaneousproduction being undertakenof a model f or export.The latterentered Britishserviceas the Martlet fromSeptember1940,theF4F-3 first enteringUS Navyservice in the followingDecember.From lvlarch1944,the name Martletwas discardedby the FAA in favour of the US Navy'sname of Wiidcat.

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Easternlvlotorswas responsible for manufactureof more than half of the Wildcatsbuilt, producing4,777 of the grand t o t a lo f 7 , 8 1 5 a s t h e FM I a n d FM-2,the productionprogramme finallyterminatingin 1945.The outstandingdeck behaviour of the Wildcatpermittedextensive use f rom smallescortcarriers.

(rl F4F-3of VF-7aboard the USS lzlasp,December 1940. Notethe basic non-camouflagescheme of gloss lightgrey with gloss chrome yellowupperwingsurface .1 [see la] authorisedOctober 940, and nationalinsigniaon forward f uselagein accordancewith the March 1940 directivefor types participatingin the Neutrality

Patrol.Blacktailsignifiedthe Waspand lower halfof cowling in RoyalRed indicatedthird aircraftof l st Sectionof VF-7. FbJ Scrap view of undersideof wing. [2) WildcatVl [JV706] of No 835 Sqdn, FleetAir A r m , i n August 1944, HMS A/alrana.Note twolone grey finishstandardised latein the war [y RoyalNavy,

[2a] Upper surfacesand wing scrap view of JV706. (3) F4F-4 of VGF-29,USS Santeeduring Operation"Torch" [signifiedby y e l l o wi n s i g n i as u r r o u n d Ji n November'1942. Notenon-specular blue-greyand lightgrey finish. [4J Martletll iAJ 10B) of No BBB Sqdn, HMS Formidable,with US markingsfor participation in

Operation"Torch". (5) F4F-4ot VF-41 aboard USS Fanger,early 1 9 4 2 . F r o m 15 M a v th e r u d d e r stripingand the red disc in the centreof the nationai insigniawere erased.(5a) The e m b l e m o f V F - 4 1 .( 6 1 An FIV- 1 aboard USS B/ock lsland, 1944. Note semi-glosssea blue and insigniawhiteoverallfinish.

Blohm und Voss BV 138 [1940) Arguablythe most inelegantof reasonable standardof effecf 7R + R L.t2) B V 13B C -1 of 1.(Fl l of 3./K u.Fl .Gr. 406 [ 4) BV 13BCWWll'sflyingboats,the BV 138 iveness in service, althoughits S A Gr131,V arna,B ul gari a, May 1/U1 oI 1.[F]/SAG r 130 operating was causticallyknown to its handling remained somewhatshort1944.Notecrudelygr:eyed-over in Trondheim area,northernNorcrews as der FliegendeHolzschuh of pleasant. A totalot 276 prowhiteareasof markings for dawn- way,April1944.Notetemporary -the FlyingClog! Conceived ductionexamples wascompleted. and-dusk convoydutiesoverwest- wintercamouflage. [4aJ Emblem as an ocean-goingreconnaissance (1) BV 138C-1[7R+RL)of 3.Staf- ern BlackSeacoast.(2aJEmblem of 1 [F]/S A Gr130.t 5l BV 138M S aircraftand firsi fiown fas the fellSee-Auf kldrungsgruppe125, of 1.[F)/S A Gr 131.t3) B V 13B C -1 tEB+UA),6/MSGr1,Grossenbrode, H a 138 VIJo n 15 Ju ly 19 37,t he Mamaia, Rumania, Constanza, in [K6+BK]o'f2./Kn.Fl.GrIKusten- for Balticmine-clearance tasks, BV 138 surviveda catalogueof (5a) Uppersurfaces A p ri l1 9 4 3 (l . a ) E m b lemo{ 3./ fliegergruppe) 406,northern of 1944-45. teethingtroublesto achievea March1942.(3aJEmblem EB+UA.Notemine-degaussing SAGr125.tl bl Uppersurfaces of Norway, ring.

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Breguet Br 693 (19401 A sturdy,manoeuvrable combat the Bre693two-seat aircraft, assault-bomber achieved servtce statusshortlybeforecommencementof theWehrmacht assault on France.Evolved fromthe Bre690, a three-seat fighterflownon 23 Ma rch1 938,it s awlim it e sde rvi ce ,2 5 4beingbuiltplu , s5 0 wi thUSengines as B r e6 9 5 s .

attackon Germanarmourin the l i vered to [l l Bre6 9 1N o 5 a sd e .1 Tongeren area.[3a) Emblemof Orl6ans-Bricy, October 939,for GB Al /54 (4JB re693of 2eE sc, service trialsby the le Escadnlleof the54eEscadre. GB Al /51,A rm6ede l ' A i rde [2J Bre L6zignan, 6 9 3N o 1 0 1 3o f th e4 eE scadri l l e, l'Armistice, mid-1942. Groupede Bombardement d'Assaut (4aJUppersurfaces of sameair, 1940, V i chyl D stri pi ng. craftshow i ng [G B A)l l l 5 4 ,R o y eMay [2a] TheSAL259emblemof GBA (4bJEmblemof 2eEsc,GBAl/51 l l l 5 4 (3 1B re6 9 3o f G B Al /54, [5J Bre693 No34,Villacoublay, Mo n td i d i eM r,a y1 9 4 0 l, osti n an April1940.[6] Bre693.[ex-GBA

.1 l/51), Orange,March 943, after transferto RegiaAeronautica. Note ltaiianmarkings[see also 6a) wiih incorrectapplication of fasces [facing same direction both port and starboardland reiention of the red of the French roundel.[7] Bre 695 of 1e Esc, G B A l / 5 1 , L 6 z i g na n ,1 9 4 2 , a n d [ 7 a ] e m b l e mo f 1e Esc,GBA l /5 1

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Gurtiss Hawk 81A [TomahawkJ (1940) A straightforward extrapolation of Hawk 75 A [see pa ge s9 0- 91J designexperience, the basisof its inceptionbeingsubstitution of liquid-cooled for air-cooteo engine,the Hawk B1A provided the first seriesP-40sof the USAAFand the Tomahawkof the RAF.Whileretainingthe outstandinghandlingof its pre-

cursor,it lackedperformanceat altitudeand was thus invariably inferiorto the lightersby which it was opposed.lt did manage to establisha reputationfor sturdiness,however.The prototype [XP-40]flew on 14 October1938 as a conversionof the 1OthP-36A, and as the P-40it saw US servicefrom May 1940,the P-4OB

and C introducingmodifica tionswhichenhancedcombat worthiness;524 weredelivered to the US Army Air Force.A totalof I,2BOwas suppliedto the RAFas TomahawkIs,llAs and l l B sI H a w k B l A - 1 s ,- 2 s a n d 3 s ] , and 100 were suppliedto China for use by the AmericanVolunt e e rG r o u p f o r m e dd u r i n g 1 9 4 1.

(1) TomahawkllA (AH925) with standarddark greenand darkearth temoeratescheme.and unusuai combinationof azureand black undersideswith Sky f uselage b a n da n d s p i n n e r i,n m i d 1 9 4 0 . (lal Undersideof AH925 showing black port wing. [2J Tomahawk llB (AX900l in non-standard finish,Yeovil,Somerset,194

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(3J TomahawkllB(AN4131,No 1 12 S qdn,S id iHan eish,a utu m n 1941, (3aJ Upper surfacesof AN4'l 3 showingdark earthand mro srone MiddleEastcamouflage. [4J Tomahawk llB tAK35 4l of No 1 12 Sqdn, .1 Sidi Haneish,October 941, showing sqdn code letters"GA" and variationof Shark'sMouth decoration.(5) TomahawklB

(AH806l of No 400 (CanadianJ Sqdn.Odiham.spring 1942.and (5al upper surfacesof AHB06. (61 TomahawkllA [AH972) of No 349 (BelgianlSqdn,lkeja,West Africa, February 1943, and [6a) the uppersurlacesot AH972. (7) P-40of 55th Sqdn, 20th PursuitGroup, Marsh Fieid,California, 194 1. Designator repeated

in yellowon upper port wing surface.(7al Scrap view of the undersideof the same aircraft. (81 P-40C of 39th Sqdn, 31st PursuitGroup, SelfridgeField, M i c h , 1 9 41 .( 9 ) T o m a h a w kl l B o f '154 lAP, Red Banner BalticFleet Air Force,Leningradarea, 1942. flOl Hawk B1A-2(P-B168lflown by CharlesOlder,3rd Sqdn "Hell's

Angels"A , V G , K u n m i n g ,C h i n a , s p r i n g 1 9 4 2 .( l O a l Th e u p p e r surfacesof P-Bl68. [tOb] Emblem of AVG, and flOcl one of several versionsof "Hell'sAngels" emblem.(l I J HawkBlA-2 (P-813Bl flown by Henry Geselbracht,2nd Sqdn,AVG, Toungoo,February 1942.(17a) "PandaBear"emblem. fi2) TurkishTomahawkllB.1942

Handley Page Halifax (1940) Conceivedinitiallyas a twinenginedmedium bomber and buill eventuallyas a four-engined "heavy",the Halifaxfirstflew on 25 October 1939,and beganto reach RAF squadronsbarelymore than a year later.Unlikethe Lancaster,by which it was to be joinedwithina furtheryear and with which it was to share the

majorburdenof RAFBomber prolonged nightoffenCommand's siveoverGermany,the Halifaxwas notan unoualified from success the outset.lts earlycareerwas marredby manyaccidents, which, temporarily inexplicable, were tracedto rudderovereventually balance. lt wasunderpowered as a resultof weightincreases

subsequent to thedesignbeing every10 heavybombersbuiltin frozen,which,together withuntheU Kduri ngW WI wer I et o be highdrag,resulted expectedly Halifaxes. WhenthelastHalifax in seriousperformance 1946, wasdelivered in November degradation.andooerational attrition a grandtotalof 6,176aircralt wasinitially alarming. Persistent of thistypehadbeenproduced. improvement andjudicious 1 S rs1 [ L9530)No Il J H al i fax , gradually innovation, however, 76 Sqdn,Middleton St George, overcamethe mostworryingof its A ugust1941.N ot et heunof f icial "crest"of pilot[P/O Christopher vicissitudes, andfouroutof

fat

Cheshire).[2] HalifaxB ll B l l Srs 1 A (1 W 2 2 3 1N,o 78 S qdn, Srs 1 (W7676),No 35 [Madras Breighton, Yorks,September 1943. Presidency) Sqdn,Linton-on-Ouse, (6 1H a l i faB x l l l [M 2 9 7 1 ),N o " Yorks, May i942. [3J Halifax 1 7 1(SD )Sq d no n " M a n drel[radi o B ll Srs 1 (Special)[88324), No countermeasuresJ sortiesin No 10 S qdn, Melb ou rneYorks , ,Apr il 1 0 0Gro u p N , o rthC re ake, 1945. I943. [ 4] Ha lifaxGR ll Srs 1 (7) Halifax B lll [MZ2B7],No (Special),No 502 Sqdn, Holmsley 466 Sqdn,RAAF,Driffield, Yorks, Sout h,mid-1 94 3,o n Atla nt icand 1944,ascomponent of No4 Group. Biscayarea patrol. (5) Halifax Notetailmarkings appliedto No

4 GroupHalifaxes in I944 fsee 158S qdn,Li ssettYor , ks,1944. al soN osB , 10 and 12J,[8J H al i fax F l J H al i fax B l l l IPN369)of B VI(RG590)of No346[GuyenneJN o 1341 Fl i ght, D igr i,I ndia, Sqdn,a FreeFrenchunit May1945,equi pp ed t o m onit or operating from Elvington, 1944. enemyradartransmissions. (9) Halifax MetV Srs I A B l l l IPN451/ Gof ) F2J H al i fax (LL296lof N o 51B S qdnon No 462 (SDlSqdn,RAAF,flying meteorological reccesortiesfrom with"AirborneCigar"for radio Ti ree,l nnerH ebri des, jammingfrom 1944. transmission B V I (P P 163),N o [1O)H al i fax Foul sham, N orfolk, ear ly1945,

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Douglas DB-7 [A-2Ol (1940] Bothdependable andversatile, andamongthe mostpleasant of WWll'scombataircraft to fly, th eD R7 f ir s ft lewon 17 A u g u s t 1939as a derivative of the 1938 Model78. lt enteredservice wi thth eA r m €ede l' A irin 1 9 4 0 , andwiththe USAAFas theA-20 in 194.1 . KnownastheBostonto the RAF,theDB-7wasbuiltin

verysubstantial numbers, 7,385 havingbeendelivered whenthe lastwascomoleted in Seotember 1 9 4 4a , l mo sht a l ffo rth eU S S R . (11 DB-78-3(No24) of Groupede Bombardement l/19 (ex-ll/1 91, Arm6ede I'Airde I'Armistice, B l i d aA, l g e ri aAu , tu mn1940, fia) Wingcamouflagepatternof No24 in darkgreen,lightearth

TheundersurfacesAL296,and(3bJpersonalemblem and blue-grey. (2) DB-7 werelightblue-grey. of pilot.(4) BostonlllA Havoc| (BD112l of No 32 Sqdn, (ALB77)of No 24 Sqdn,South Ford,S ussex, E ngl and, A pri l1941. AfricanAir Force,Souk-elof Apr il1943. K hemi s, Tuni si a, [2a) Upperwingsurfaces 8D112.Notebadlyflakingmatt Notestandard desertfinishof blacknightfinlsh.(3) Bostonll darkearthand midstonewith (A L2961, N o 107S qdn,Great azureblueundersurfaces. Massingham, Norfolk, March1942 (4a) Upperwingsurfaces of (3a) Upperwingsurfaces of AL877. [5J BostonlllAiBZ357]

of N o BB( HongK ongJS qd n a, t HartfordBridge,Hants,June 19 4 4 ,N ot eUS A A Foliv edr a ba n d greyfinishwithwhitesoluble painton nosesection. [5a) Top surfacedetailof 82357showing non-standard widthfour-band invasion striping. [6J Boston lllA(82261)of No 342 "Lorraine" Sqdn,HartfordBridge

i n J u n e1 9 4 4 .N o teo v erpai nti ng knownas "desertplnk"owingto w i ngsurfaces of A 2 B- 15, and of invasion on upper striping effectof sunlight on paint's [9c) emblemcarriedbelow pigmentation. fuselage, thecockoiton starboard slde. [6aJ Upperwing [8) A-208 surfacesoI B2261.(6b) Free 341,B 4thB ombS qdn,47th tf O) A-20Bof NorthernFleetAir t41-31 French"Crossof Lorraine" BombGroup,Mediouna, Morocco, ForceIVVSSFJ,ArcticFront, D ecember 1942.(91B ostonl l l emblem.[6cJ Coatof Armsof winter1943-44.(l I ) 4-208 of (A 2B -1 Lorraine, 5) of N o 22 S qdn,R A A F, BlackSeaFleetAir Force(VVS [7] A-208(41-3241) of47thBombGroup,Souk-el-Arba, V i vi gani S tri p,Goodenough l s, ChFl,spring1944.NoteSoviet March1943,(9a) Personal Tunisia, May1943,NoteDesert emblem dorsalturret.(l l al Unitem blem Sanduppersurfaces, commonly carriedon portside.(9b) Upper of BlackSeaandWildGoose.

Short Stirling [1940) TheRAF'sfirstfour-engined (1)S ti rl i ng capability. Agilefor itssize, I S rsI (N 6003)of b o mb e rm onoplane, t hea n g u l a rl y theStirling suffered somewhat No 7 Sqdn,RAFOakington, early perforuglyStirling wasnoteworthy for 1941 (2) S ti rl i ng ooorclimbandaltitude l S rs 2 itsdisproportionately short mance,andby early1944was tW7455)of No 149 Sqdn,RAF wingspanresulting fromthe beingrelegated Mi l denhalearl l , y1942.N ote to glidertug demandthatit mustfitexisting andtransport roles,ManyMk lll extension of theblackfinish. hangars. Flownasa prototype bomberswerein factconverted to (3) StirlingI Srs| [N3705)of o n 1 4 May1939,it ss er v i c e Mk lvs for thispurpose; the No 7 Sqdnafterrepainting for debutin 1940markeda wateri a s t1 6 2o f 1,9 1 0Sti rli ngs by E-Stelle evaluation Rechlin. shedin RAFstrategic offensive werebuiltas Mk V transDorts. Notetarpaulin coveringdamaged

nose.(4JStirlingI Srs2 (EF369lof No 7 Sqdnoperating withPathfinder Force[B GroupJ fromOaki ngton, sum m er1943. [5) StirlinglV of No 620 Sqdn, D -D ayl andi ngs andAr nhem assault and as glider-tug (61Stirling transport. V (PJBBTl in t he of N o 196S qdnser ving transport rol e,i n e ar ly1945,

Mitsubishi G4M lBettyl t1941) Thecorpulent butaesthetically pleasing G4M,or NavyType.1 AttackBomber,wasnumerically the mostimportant lmperialNavy shore-based bomberof WWll.lt waslargebutverylightas it lackedanyprotection for crew, e n g i n eos r f uel,bec om in kgn o w n as the"FlyingLighter"owingto itsproclivity for flamingwhen

attackedbyfighters.Flown on 23 O c t ober1939,t he G4 M w a s builtthroughoullhe wat, 2,444 being deliveredto the Navy. [f ] G4M1 of Takao Kokutai|ater redesignated753rd Kokutai)at Rabaul,October 1942. Note light applicationof dark green dapple to naturalmetalfuselageskin, this being intensifiedon upper

wingandtailsurfaces. t2l G4M1 of 705thK okutaiR, abaul1943, , Noteomission of yellowwing leadingedgelD stripandthe superimposition of Hinomaruon squarewhitefield.(3) G4M1 Kanoya, of76 1stKokutai, 1943.The Katakana symbolsidentified the unitandthefirstdigitof tail numberindicated the role.Note

darkgreenfinishextended to (41G4M3of the allsurfaces. Yokosuka Kokutai. Atsugi,in September 1945.TheKana"Yo" (5) G4M2a Kokutai. signified of Air Technical Arsenal(Koku GijitsuSho)indicated by Kana "Ko".The"G4-33"indicated 33rd G4Mdevelopment orange aircraft, finishindicatino research,

131

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 [1941) Small,heavyandveryfast,the MiG-3wasthefirstof the new fighters single-seat evolving in theSovietUnionimmediately priorto WWllto achieve service for thehigh-altitude Optimised intercept mission. it suffered poorlongitudinal and stability spinningcharacteristics, its controlresponse wassluggish

and it was taxingto fly.The designwas primarilythe work of Artem Mikoyanand Mikhail Gurevich,with developmentbeing initiatedunder the aegisof the doyen of Sovietfighterdesign team leaders,NikolaiPolikarpov, and the first of three prototype aircraftflew on 5 April 1940. Productionwas commencedas the

M i G - 1 ,b u t p o o r h a n d l i n ga n d a n unacceptablyshort enduranceled to changeswhich, introduced with the 101staircraftoJfthe line,were accompaniedby a change ln designationto MiG-3, no fewer than 3,322 havingbeen builtby the time the lastleft t h e a s s e m b l yl i n e i n s p r i n g 1 9 4 2 . The MiG-3was at a distinct

d isadvantage in fighter-versusfightercombatas thismostly tookplaceat altitudes much lowerthanthosefor whichthis Sovietfighterhadbeendesigned Thedisruptive uppersurface camouflage of darkearthand medi umgreenstandardur d ing thefirstyearof theconflict gaveplacein 1942to an overall

olivegreen upper surfacefinish and vanoustemporarywashable f inisheswe re a lsoa pp lied . t ' ll MiG-3of 7 IAP (Figh ter AviationRegimentJof PVO [Air Def enceJ,L en ing radJuly , 1 94 1. Notecamouflagecrudelyapplied in the fieldand omissionof cockpitcan op y.(21 MiG-3of 12 GvIAP(Guards FighterAviation

R e g i m e notJf 6 IA K[F i ghter Air CorpsJ,MoscowAir Defence Zone.in thewinter1941-42. Notenaturalmetalenginecowl, (2aJhigh-visibllity outerwing paneluppersurfacesand [2bJ a m a n u fa c tu ri n u g mb e o r n the starboard sideof cowlingonly. t3l MiG-3of CaptS, N, Polyakov, 7 lAP,VVSKBFf RedBanner

BalticFleetAir Force],on the Legendunder cockpit reads"Za Front, i nsummer194.1 Leni ngrad , Stalina!"(For StalinlJ.Note Noteearlytemperate camouflage. addedUB machineguns underwings. (5a) Detailof wing outer panel t4) MiG-3of 16 GvIAPflownby l . P okryshki1942, n, A l eksandr u pper surface(Shlopov'saircraftJ, Notethree"kill"starsbeneath t6) MiG-3 of 7 lAP,VVS KBF, w i hdscreen andol i vegreenupper 1 9 4 4 . 1 7 ) M i G - 3o f 3 4 l AP,6 l AK, surfacefinish.[5) MiG-3of M o s c o w ,w i n t e r 1 9 4 1 - 4 2 ,N o te , Zone, again,the widely-used"Za 6 lAK,MoscowAir Defence flownbyA,V,Shlopov, early1942. S t a l i n a l e g e n do n th e fu se l a g e ,

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Gonsolidated B-24 Liberator [] 941) lnevitably, Ihe B-24 Liberator invitescomparisonwith the B-17 Fortressby which it was overshadowedrn fame if not in achievement,and with which it sharedthe strategicbombing role in the USAAFfor most of WWll.The B-24 lackedthe nicety of handlingthat endearedthe B-17 to its pilots;its controls

were heavyand it was precocious in ev en m ild t ur bulenc e l.t w a s also inferiorin altitudepertormance, but it olferedan appreciably betterrangeand a marginally higherspeed performance.The B-24 also possesseda more c om m odiousf us elage r, e n d e r i n g it amenableto a wider variety of tasksthan came withinthe

repertoi re of theB -17.Fl ow non 29 D ecember 1939,i t w as10be bui l it n l argernumbers thanany othersingleUSaircraft type duri ngW W l lthe , extraordi nary totalof 18,482[excluding the ratherdifferenIPB4Y-2 and RY-3 derivatives] beingdelivered, of w hi chtheR A Frecei ved 1,889. [1] LB -308Li berator [40-2369]

requisitroned fromRAFcontract and utilised as transport, basedat B ol l i ng Fi el d, October1941.The RAF-specified nightbomberfinish wasretained, theUSflags[on topof centrefuselage andon each sideof noselservingas neutrality identification, The painted-out RAFroundel[applied atfactory)isjustdiscernible.

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Liberator GR | IAM926)of No 1 9 4 4 (4 . ) L i b e ra toGR r V [FL9Bll [2J .1 1942. 20 Sqdn,RAFCoastal , o v e mber Command, o f N o 2 2 4S q d n N "The Aldergrove, N lreland, late1942, [5) B-24J-1 90 [44-40973) withextradarkseagreyanddark D ra g o na n dh i sT a i l "4, 3 rdB omb slategreyuppersurfaces. Note G ro u pl,e Sh i m a1, 9 4 5,(61 ASVMk ll aerials GRVl (KGB69) of No547 andfour-cannon Ljberator Fife,late1944. ventralpack.(3) B-24D-90 Sqdn,Leuchars, (42-40722) " LittleGramper" (71PB4Y-1 of PatrolBomberSqdn a sse mbly s hipof t he491stBo mb VP B-I1 0 ,U S N a v yD w i nter , evon, Gro u p N , or t hP ic k enha m seablue a u, tu m n 1944.Notenon-specular

intermediate landedat Pachino, topsurfaces, blue inadvertently 1943,after vertical surfaces andinsignia 20 February Sicily, Naples. whiteunderside. attacking [9a] Individual [7aJTopsideof (8J Liberator side thesameaircraft. aircraftnameon starboard B V l (TS 520) of N o 223S qdn,N o of nose,and [9bJindividual 100Group,Oul ton, N orfol k, A ugust emblemappearing on theportside, after 1944.[8a) Topsideof TS520. Thisaircraftrsillustrated " B l onde theapplication of RegiaAero[9] B -24D -l[41-23659] for flighttest B omberl l " of 98thB ombGrouo, nautica insignia Libya, andevaluation in ltaly. USAAF,basedat Benghazi,

Lockheed P-38 Lightning [1941) Viewedas radicalat thetimeof itsdebut,the P-38Lightning wascertainly innovatory in the features thatit combined. The firstfighterin theworldwith a tricycleundercarriage, it was thefirstfighterof twin-boom configuration adoptedby the USAAF,theservice's firsttwinenginedsingle-seater fighter

and the firstsquadronfighterwith turbo-superchargers. lf slightly slowerand somewhatlessmanoeuv r ablet han it s s ing l e e n g i n e contemporaries, the P-51 M ustang and P-47 Thunderbolt,it matedan excellentcombat radiuswith the safetyfactor offered by two engines.Initialmodeissuffered inadequat eenginec ool i n ga n d

compressibility effectsproved problems troublesome, thatwere notto be finallyresolved until theadventof the P-3BJmodel, buttheLightning wasto serve withdistinction on everybattlefrontoverwhichthe USAAFwas engaged i nW W l lFi . rstfl owon n 27 January1939,theLi ghtni ng beganto enterUSAAFservice as

theP -3B D i nl atesum m er1941,and wasto proveamenable for a wide variety of tasks,including that (F-4and of photo-reconnaissance F-5),A totalof 9,923hadbeen delivered whenproduction ended i n A ugust1945,l f out classed in air-to-air combatagainstmore nimblesingle-seats, the P-38 nevertheless accounted for more

Japaneseaircraftdestroyedthan did any other Alliedfighter. tl) P-38F-5of 347th Fighter Group (New Caledonialon detachment to 13 thAAF, Gua da lc anal, February1943 t2l L-322-61 Lightning| [AE979) evaluatedin spring1942at RAFBoscombeDown. [2a) Top planviewof AE979, t3) P-3BE(T9+XBl, Sonderkom-

mandoRosarius for demonstrations338thFighter Sqdn,55thFighter to Luftwafie units,1943-44. Group,Nuthampstead, UK,spring (4) P-3BJot 432ndFighter Sqdn, 1944.(7) P-3BJ-5(42-67298)oI 475thFighter Group,NewGuinea, 79thFighter Sqdn,20thFighter winter1943.(51P-3BJof 401st Group,Kingscliffe, UK,spring Fighter Sqdn,370thFighter 1944.@) P-3BL-5 of Fuerza Group,Florennes, Belgium, in A6reaHondurefra, Tocontin AB, November 1944,[5a] Aircraft H onduras, 1948(9) P -3B L[M.M. letteron theinboardfaceof 4386Jof 40Stormo,Aeronautica verticaltail.(61P-3BJof Militare ltaliana, Capodichino,

1946.(9a) "Cavallino Rampante" emblemof 40Stormo.(f O) F-5E (44-24082)of Nationalist Air Force,China.summer.1945. ofGroupe tf 1 ) F-58-1(42-68213J 2/33,Armeede de Reconnaissance l'Air,Bastia-Borgho, Corsica, July1944.(r2l F-5G(44-25953) of GR2/3,C ol ma rspr , ing1945. Note3eEsc"Double-headed Axe"

North American B-25 Mitchell (1941) Operationally efficient,docile and amenableto adaptationfor a varietyof roles,the Mitche,' offeredextremelygood handling characteristics and excellent all-roundperformance.lf it had never attackedanother objective afterits memorableattackon Japanesetargetsfollowinga launchingat sea from the flight

deck of the USSHornet,it would stillhavefounda placeamong the ranksof thetrulyhistoric combataircraft of alltime. Flownas a prototype in January 1 9 3 9 th , eM i tc h ewl l a st o be b u i l ti n l a rg e n r u m b e rtshanany bomber:, otherUStwin-engined a totalof 9,816beingaccepted by theUSAAF,althoughmanywere

for Ailiedairforces, destined the USAAFMitchell inventory peakingat 2,656.Engaged on everyWorldWar Il battlefront, theB-25established an unrivalled reputation. [1] B-25Aof 34th B ombS qdn,17thB ombGroup,at Pendleton, Oregon,in September 1941, Tai desi l gnator show i ng Groupandaircraftnumberwithin

Groupwasdeleted a fewmonths later,Bluecowlringidentified d" blem sqdn,and" Thunder birem [seepage4 1) appearedon the forwardfuselage, t2l B-25C-10 (42-32304) of 487thBombSqdn, Sicily, 340thBombGroup,Catania, in September 1943.Notethe RAF stylefinflash,and DesertSand upperandS kyB l ueunder sides.

Desert Sandwascommonly known as "desertpink"as theyellow pigmentfadedafterprolonged exposure to sunlight, resulting pinkishshade. in a pronounced (31 B-25C-15(42-32496)of 4BBth BombSqdn,340thBombGroup,at Sfax,Tunisia, April1943.Note patternof olivedrab disruptive appliedovertheoriginal Desert

Sand finishand yellowsurround to insigniaappliedto USAAFin the MiddleEastuntilJune 1942. (3aJ Upper surfacesof the same aircraft.[4) Mitchellll tFR397] of No 226 Sqdn, RAF,operating f r om G ilz eRijen,Holla n d ,i n J une 1944, Not et he bl a c k - a n d white invasionstriping. (rla ) Upper surfacesof the same

(5) Mitchell aircraft. ll (FR197l of No 320[NethJSqdn,Dunsfold, England, Surrey, in April1944, (61B-25C-20 (42-645141 of Blst B ombS qdn,12thB ombGroup,at Gerbi niS, i ci !,A ugust1943. tZ) B-25Jof 498thBombSqdn "Falcons", 345thBombGroup,San Marcelino, Luzon,Philippines, April1945.(81B-25J-32 of

499thBombSqdn"BatsOutaHell", 345thBombGroup,le Shima,July 1945.[9] B-25Jof No 18 Sqdn, Netherlands EastIndiesAir Force,Bachelor Field,Darwin, Autumn1944,withan enlarged representation of Sqdnemblem. trO) B-25JtA47-25)of No 2 Sqdn RAAF,North-West Australia, in thespringof 1945.

Nakaiima Ki.49 Donryu [Helen) [1941) Createdas a heavybomber abie to operatewithoutfighterprotection by combiningspeedwith defensivearmament,armour and self-sealing fuel tanks,the Ki.49 Donryu [Storm DragonJfirst flew in A ugu st 19 39 ,a nd e nr er eo servicein au tumn 19 41, m or e t han BO0bein gb uili.In the e ve nt , it was underpoweredand proved

to lack the speed necessaryto evadeinterceptionsuccessfully. (f l Ki.49-lof HamamatsuArmy Fly ingSc hool,lat e 1943 ,T h e tail markingwas a stylised representation of the Kanji charactersidentifyi ng the s c hool.( 2) Ki, 49- ll- Koo f 3 r d Chutai,62nd Sentai,operating over Burma, Dutch Eastlndies

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andN ewGui nea, Jan-Oct1944. i n darkgreenon nat ur al m et al. o 3rd C hutai , o 3 r d Chut ai, [3) K i .49-l l -Kof [5) K i .49-l l -Kof 61stS entaithe , tai lsymboli n 9S thS entaiN, orth- East China, theC hutaicol ourbei ngan March-S eptem ber 1I 44.lnclined abstract representatton of the stripeaftof whitecombat A rabi cnumeral"s61" .(4J stripewaspaintedin theChutai K i .49-l l -Kofo l st C hutai7th , colour.Notethefield-applied S entai1943, , thesentai emorem " pal mfrond"camouf lage, representing MountFuji.Notethe [6] Ki.49-lwithsegment-type disruptivesnake-weave camouflage camoufl age, C hi na,ear ly1944.

1

Martin B'26 Marauder .194 Whenflownon 25 November1940, the Marauderestablishedtotally newstandardsin bothaerodynamic cleanliness and speedfor aircraft in its category.Viewed as a quan tuma dvan cein m edium bomber designwhen it entered servicein 19 41 ,it de man deda high standardof pilottraining but offereda levelof operational

immunityunapproached by any France, S eptember 1944.D i agonal456thS qdn,323rdBom bG r oup, produc- yellowtailstripesignified contemporary, Marauder the Laon/Athies, France, winter tiontotalled 5,157aircraft. 397thBG.Noteparterasionof 1944-45. Notesemi-gloss blackfor grey lA tFK375)of No 14 invasion stripingleaving nocturnal useovertheArdennes. F J Marauder primerundercoat. (3JB-268-40 (5) B-26G-25 (44-681 Sqdn,RAF,Fayid,Egypt,late 19Jof 5B5th (42-43304)ot 4441hSqdn,320th S qdn,394thB ombG r oup, I942, operating in thetorpedobombingrole.Thisaircraft was B ombGroup,D eci momannu, Cambrai/Niergnives, France,in n e venge" , n a me d" D o mi n i oR 1944,N oteori gi nal S ardi ni a, N ovember 1944.[ 6) B- 26G - 25 (218-268-55(42-961 52Jof 598th aircraftletterbeneath olivedrab ofGBl/32"Bourgogne", [aa-68165) Sqdn,397thBombGroup,atDreux, fi ni sh,[4) B -26G-1[43-34133], A rmeede l ' A i r.S t Dizier1945. .

Focke-Wulf Fw l9O tl9411 A compact,well proportioned machine ,th e Fw 1 90 ca m e,at t he time of its operationaldebut,as closeto perfectionbythe standards of the day as any fighter could. Possessingsuperlative controlharmony,and beingbotha good dogfighterand a good gun platform,it could out-perform the contemporarySpitfireon

everycountapartf romturning circle,ltsmanoeuvre margins werelimitedby harshstalling characteristics. However, it wasto establish a broadoperational repertoire, and in itsbasic BMW801 radial-engined formit wasalsoto be producedin versions optimised for theclose air support(Fw '190Flandthe

fighter-bomber IFw 190GJroles. Fi rstfl ow non 1 June1939,the Fw 190enteredservicein its i ni ti al Fw 1904-1formi n the summerof 1941. A total16,724 Fw 190sof alltypeswasdeliveredby theendof 1944,anda further2,700or so thereafter. (1) Fw 190A -5/Uof B I Gruppeof (SKGJ10 Schnellkampfgeschwader

at Poix,France, summer'1943,in temporary mattblackfinishfor dawn/duskJaboattackson UK. (2) Fw 1904-3of Ergdnzungsjagdgeschwader IEJG)1 (Replacement FighterGroup)at B adA i bl i ng. May1945.t his earlymodelservingas a fighter trainer.Notethe latestyleof (3JFw 1904- 5of thei nsi gni a.

ll Gruppeof Jagdgeschwader 54 "GrUnherz", at Petseri, Estonia, spring1944.Notetwo{onegreen uppersurfacefinishin planview andyellowtheatremarkings, (SaJ"Grunherz" emblemofJG 54 (41Fw 190A-4/U3of the (or Battle Gefechtsverband FormationJ Druschel(ll/Sch.G.1 ) operating in KurskSalient,

(6] Fw I90A-B s u mme r1 9 4 3 ,N o tec o mbi nati onpilot[ObltKrauseJ, of fighterarm staffmarkings and of Stab/JG2 "Richthofen" at '1944. Merzhausen, individualaircraftletter, in December (5) Fw 190A-6/R1 1 of 1,Staffel, [7] Fw 190A-Bof llllJG 1 1 at Nachtjagdgruppe 10, Werneuchen,Gross-Ostheim, December1944. summer1944,NotetwoJonegrey Noteyellow"Delenceof Reich" bandwithsuperimoosed camouflage on upperwlngand lll Neptunradararrays(5a) The Gruppesymbol.(al Fw 190A-Bof "WildeSau"[WildBoarJemblem l/JG 6 at Delmenhorst, winter " l l l o"of 1944-45, withthered-white-red i n c o rp o ra ti n gi c k n a me

"Defence of Reich"band,[9) Fw 190A-Bof lllJG4 at Babenhausen inthewinter1944-45,andlheJG4 emblem, of l/JG 1 flOl Fw190A-B at Twenthe, Netherlands. ln December, 1944.Notered"Defence of Reich"band.(l ll Fw 190F-B 4 at Kolnof Schlachtgeschwader Wahnand KOln-Ostheim for " B odenpl atte" , nuar y1945. 1 Ja

Focke-Wulf Fw l9(} [1941)[continuedJ T he Lang na se n-Do ra, o r D or a- 9, the principalderivativeof the basicradial-engined Fw 190 fitted w ith a liqu id-coo led in line engine,jo ine dcomb at in O c t ober 1944,restoringfor a brief period the capabilityof the Jagdflieger so equippedto at leastparity w ith A lliedun itsflyin gthe most recentlycom mitted

types,lt was claimedto be more than a match for the vaunted P- 51D M us t ang,( r ) Fw 1 9 0 D - 9o f 1.Staffelof Jagdgruppe 10 at Redlin,a s at ellit e of Par c h i m , Febr uar y1945. Not et he d a r k g r e e n and br ightm edium gr e e n u p p e r surfacecamouflagewith mottle extendingto palegrey undersurfaces.(2J Fw l90D-9 [Werk-

N r 210079)of 10./JG54 w hi ch crash-l anded atW emmelB,el gi um 1 January1945.N otei rregul ar sprayi ng of medi umgreenover sharply-defined demarkation line to greysi des.(3JFw 190D -9of , l l /JG26 " S chl ageter" N ordhorn, nearOsnabrU ck, 1945, January [4] Fw 190D-9of Stab/JG4 at B abenhausen, earl y1945.N ote

" Defenceof black-white-black R e i c h "b a n d s i g n i fyi n gJG 4 . ( 5 1 F w 1 9 0 D - 9o f l l l /JG2 "R i ch f hofen",Altenstadt,December 1 9 4 4 . N o t e b l u e - g r e yfi n j shw i th d a r k g r e y d a p p l e .( 6 ) Fw 1 9 OD - 9 c a p t u r e da t M a r i en b u r g Ea , st P r u s s i aa, n d s e r v in gw i th a n IAP of ihe Red Banner BalticFleet A i r F o r c ei n t h e s pr i n go f 1 9 4 5 .

NakaiimaKi-44 Shoki [Toiol [1941) The resultof radicalrethinking on the part of the JapaneseArmy, lhe Ki.44Shoki IDevil-QuellerJ symbolizeddisenchantmentwiih what had beenan almostpathological beliefin manoeuvrability beforeall else in fighterdesign. Placingemphasison speedand dive-and-clim b capabilities, the Ki.44firstflew in August 1940,

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and enteredservicejn preproduction form in autumn1941. lf lackingtheagilityof other Japanese fighters, the Ki.44was gun veryfastandan excellent platform. A total1,225wasbuilt. of Instructors' Ir) Ki.44-l-Hei Chutai,AkenoAir Training Divi s i o n1, 9 4 4 .N o teth ei rre gul ar greenblotching overnatural

metal.[2] Ki.44-ll-Otsu oI 23rd Sentai,homeislanddefence[as indicated by whitepanelJ, 1944. Noteabstract rendering ol unit numberas Sentaitailmarking: (31Ki.44-ll-Otsu of Captain Hideakilnayama, 2nd Chutai, BTthSentai,EasternDefence Sector,Japan,early1945.Note unusualblackuppersurfaces.

(41Ki.44-ll-Otsu of Shinten [SkyShadow)airsuperiority unitof 47thSentai, Narimasu, Tokyo,summer1944.(5) Ki.44ll-Otsuof MajTogoSaito,CO of B5thSentai, Canton,China,in Ki. summer1944.(6) Pre-series 44 o'tCapIYauhikoKuroe,leader of 3rd Hotai.47thlndeoendent Chutai,Malaya,January1942.

Lanochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 [1941) Althoughwoodenconstruction for so-called f rontalfighter- a general-purpose fighteraircraftwasalready tacticalfighter consideredpasseby the early for low-to medium-altitude 'thirties,it was resurrected in operation-theLaGG-3firstflew theSovietUnionat thebegin[asthe l-22]on 30 March1940, ningof the 'fortiesfor the enteringservicein thespringof LaGG-3, albeitwoodimpregnated 1941.Regrettably, however, it withplastic andthuspossessing provedoverweig ht and underpowered; specialstrength andfir+resisf an unforgiving aircraft, proneto developing antqualities. Conceived as a an unherald-

ed andviciousspinfroma steep banki ng turn,nosi ngup duri nga landingapproachand stalling at the leastprovocation. Furthermore.it possessed a weakundercarriage and lackedfirepower. Buttheexigencies of thetimes dictated continuedproduction, despitetheseshortcomings, and LaGG-3outputaveraged 12.7air-

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craftdailyduring the second halfof 1941,a grand totalof 6,528 havingbeen builtwhen productionwas terminatedin the latesummer oI 1942.Additional airframes were adapted for a radialenginedversion,the La-5 . tl l LaGG-3of 6 IAK (FighterAir Corpsl, MoscowAi r Defence(PVO) zone,summer 1942.Notethe legend

"Moskval"IMoscowl) beneaththe windscreen,and black-and-g reen camoullageresultingfrom the use of pajntstocksheldfor tractorspreviouslybuiltby the factoryin which this aircraft was manufactured,[2J LaGG-3as flown by Capt (laterCol) Gerasim A Grigoryevas deputyCO of 178 IA P o1th e 6 lAK, Mo sc ow,

winter 1942-43. Note 15 "victory" starson rearf uselageand temporarywinterfinishof white solublepaint,[3J LaGG-3flown by Yuri Shchipovof the 9 lAP, V-VSChF (Black Sea FleetAir ForceJ,May 1944.NoteShchipov's per s onal"Lion' sHead" e m b l e m and the eight"victory"stars beneathcockpit sill,[4] LaGG-3

(c/n 3121357)capturedby Finns aftera forced landingat AlaSedoksaon 14 September1942. This aircrattwas subsequently repairedand placedin service b y l l m a v o i m aat s L G 3 . s e r v r n g successively with LeLV 32 and HLeLv11.(51 LaGG-3(c/n070171) of an IAP of the V-VS KBF IRed Banner BalticFleetAir Force)

s h o td o w n o v e r F i n l a n do n 6 l va r ch 1942.A thick layerof polish had been aooliedto smooth the exteriorof this aircraft,the uoper surfacesof which are shown below [5a), togetherwith scrap views(Sbl of undersideof starboardwingtipand tailplane, and (5cl forwardand centrefuselage.[5d) Head-onviewoI 07 0171.

147

Nakajima Ki.43 Hayabusa [Oscar) [1941) Representrng an attemptto transIatethe lightlyconstructed. lightlyloadedand lightlyarmed fighterbiplaneinto terms of the monoplane,the JapaneseHayabum (PeregrineFalconJflewin December 1938 and was obsolescent by the time it enteredlmperial Army servicemid-1941. lt was supremelymanoeuvrable,but its

fundamentalcomoonentsdid not permit major increasesin power or armament,or the introduction of protectionfor pilotor f uel. Nevertheless, 5,919 were built. F) Ki. 43- l- Heiof HQ Ch u t a i , 64th Sentai,Chiengmai,Northern Thailand,M ar c h 1942. N o t et h e red-brownand oliveg reencamouflageappliedlocally,natural

metalbeing retainedfor undersurfaces.The Sentaiarrowlype symbol{blue indicatingthe HQ Chutail was repeatedon upper wing surfacesof some aircraft. [2) Ki.43-l-Heiof 1st Chutai, 50th Sentai,Tokorozawa,in June 1942. Note lack of outlineof Hinomaru(so-called"Sun's Red Disc" nationalemblemJ.(31 Ki.

4 3 : l l - K oo f M a n c h u ku oAr m y Ai r C o r p s ,M u k d e n[ S h e n ya n g J, 19 4 4 . Inscriptionon fuselagenoted the donar [in this case a petrol company),(3al Nationalinsignia of Manchukuo(aliasManchuria), [4] Ki.43-ll-Otsuof 3rd Chutai, 25th Sentai,Hankow,in China, January '1944. Notestripeahead o f H i n o m a r ui n C h u ta ico l o u r

(yellowJ andextensive wearing of olivegreenuppersurface finish.[5J Tailof Ki.43-ilof 3rd Chutai,20thSentai, Formosa 1944-45. Sentaisymbolwasan abstract rendering of "20" and paintedin samecoloursfor arr Chutais. Notethedarkblueuooer surface finish.[6) Tailof Ki. 43-l-Hei of 2nd Chutai,77th

Sentai.The seagullmotifon the tail(which was appliedin many forms see 9l appearedbetween bands of Chutaicolour. (7) Tail of Ki.43-l-Heiof 1 lth Sentai, Net her landsEas tI ndies ,I 9 4 2 . [ 8) Tailof Ki. 43- llof2nd Chutai,59th Sentai,Manchuria, '1943. Kana charactersabovethe "lightningflash"were pilot's

initials.(9J Ki.43-ll-Otsuof H Q C h u t a i ,7 7 t h S e n t a i B , urma, 1943-44.Diagonalfuselageband indicatedthe Chutaileader. [9aJ Upper surfacesof the same aircraft.Notecamouflagescheme of dark green blotcheson olive g reenbaseand thechrome-yellow w i n g l e a d i n g - e d g el D s t r i p i n g . ( 1 O l T a i lo f K i . 4 3 - l lo f H Q

Chutai,64th Sentai(showingthe colour shade and styievariation t o l ) . ( l l l T a i lo f Ki .4 3 - l lo f 13th Fighter-Attack Sentai,New Guinea,1943-44.fl2J Tailof K i , 4 3 - l l l - K o f 4 8 t h Se n ta i , C h i n a ,1 9 4 5 .( l 3 l T a i lo f Ki .4 3 l l o f H Q C h u t a i ,1 3 thSe n ta i , 1944.(14) Ki.43-ll-Kaiof GC l/7, Phnom-Penh, Cambodia,1945

Yakovlev Yak-i [1941) The first combat aircraftfrom the designbureauheadedby A. S Yakovlev,the Yak-l providedthe basisfor a familyof lowtomedium altitudefighterspar excellence; an outstanding exampleof incrementaldesign involvinga fundamentalairframe leadingto a seriesof combat aircraft providingin excessof

58 percentof fighters builtin theSovietUnionduring1941-45. Rudimentarily lacking equipped, refinements commonto western contemporaries, theYak-]was simpleto buildandto maintain in thefield, andideally suited to thecombatscenario to which it wascommitted. Firstflown as .l thel-26in March 940,it began

.1 to re-equipthe lAPsin spring 941 as the Yak-l , the improved Yak-1M entering servicein the nexl year,theirvirtuesbeinggood stabilityunderall conditions and outstandingcontrollability at high attackangles.A total oI 8,721 Yakl and -1Mfighters was built.fll Yak-t of an IAP IFighterAviationRegiment]

operatingovertheCentralSector, in winter1941-42. Notethe temporary winterfinishprovided bysolublepaint.(2JYak-.lof S nrLt M,D . B aranov, 183lAP, "Deat h summer1942.Ins cr ipt ion to Fascists" crudelyappliedaft oI 27 "kill"stars.Noteblacka nd-greencamouflage stemmed originally from useof available

tractor paints,(31 Yak-1flown by LilyaLitvak,73 lAP,the most successfulSovietfemale pilot. (41 Yak-l flown by Lt Col A, E. Golubov,i B lAP, Khationki, spring 1943.tsl Yak-lM flown by AlekseiM. Reshetov, summer 1942 The legendreads 'Collective workers of Shatovskovovillage soviet,lvanovskovoDistrict,

Zaparozhskoy Oblast, [to] HSU G uardsMajorReshetov".[6J Yak-lM of an IAP operatingin the Uk r aine,in s um m er 194 2 ,t h e inscriptionreadlng"The railway workers of Rtishchevko' (7) Yak1M f lown by B. N. Yev e m e nt,h e inscriptionreading,"To the pilotof the StalingradFront G uards Malorcomrade Yevemen.

From the collectivefarm workers of CollectiveFarm 'Stakhanov', comrade F. P. Golovatov.(al Yak1 M flown by SergeiLugansky,the inscriptionindicatingthat the aircraft had been presentedto HSU Luganskyby the Youth and Young Communistsof Alma Ata. Luganskyhad,at the time,a score of 32 "kills",a fact

recordedwithinthe laurel wreath. (9) Yak-lM of the 1dre escadrilleof the Normandie Ni6men regiment.Notetricolour spinnerand cockade beneath windscreen.(lO) Yakl M of the 1st "Warszawa"FighterRegiment, operatingin the Warsawarea, lateautumn 1944. Note Polish insigniabeneathwindscreen.

Gurtiss Hawk A7AWarhawk (19411 Despiteretentionby the USAAF of theP-40seriesdesignation for the HawkB7A,thiswasa verydifferentfighterfrom the preceding Hawk81A [seepages 124-5). Thethrustltneof the enginewasraised, thefuselage recontoured and reducedin cross section, and numerous other changesmade.Flownon 22 May

.l 941, it wasfasterat altitude and morecombat-worthy thanthe HawkB1A, butsuffered inferior performance, take-off climband manoeuvrability. To be dubbed Warhawkby theUSAAFand Kittyhawkby the RAFandAlljedair forces,it provedto be a mediocre combataircraft,but wasnevertheless retained in production

untiltheendof November 1944, SeptembelI942.Notewhite morethan11,800bei ngbui l t. codingandtheearlystyleof (4J Kittyhawk of N o roundel. lV [l ) K i ttyhawl lkl (FR 241J 112 S qdn,N o 239W i ng,R A F, tFX 561lN , o 112 Sqdn,Cut ella, llaly,1944.t2) P-40E Cutella, Italy,early1544.(5) P-40L-5 W arhawoi k 11thS qdn,343rd Warhawk of Lt ColG H Austin,HQ Fi ghter Group,A l euti ans, 1942, Fl i ght, 32S thFi ght er G r oup, I (AK57B)flownby Tuni si a, 1943,B l ackandyellow [3J Kittyhawk Fl gOffN evi l lD e uke,N o 112 checkstandardised for tailof Sqdn,atLG9.1, southofAiexandria,Groupai rcraft l romJuly1943.

Mitsubishi A6M (Zeke) tl941) The ,46M Reisen[Zero Fighter) was uniquea mon g WWll c om bat aircraftin creatinga myth,The Alliescreditedthe Reisenwith almostmysticalpowersof manoeuvre,fosteringa myth of Japaneseaerialinvincibility. Everythingto the Japanesethat the Spitfirewas to the British, the Reisenwas a lightlycon-

structedbut extraordinarily capablefighterfirstflown on 1 April 1939,seriesaircraft ent er ings er v ic eear lyin 1 9 4 1 . Excludingfloafequippedand trainingversions,a totalof 10,449 Reisenswas manufactured ( ll 46M 2 of f ight erc om p l e m e n t of carrier Hryu fsignifiedby t ailc oding "Bll"l dur ing a t t a c k

on P earlH arbor,D ecember 1941 Cobaltbluetailbandindicated flightleaderandtwinfuselage bandssignified secondcarrierin 2ndCarrierDivision [1stAir FleetJ [2) AOM2of 6th Kokutai, Rabaul, NewBritain, November 1942.N otemi d-green dappl e overbasicskygreyfinish. , st t3) A OM2of 4O2ndC hutai341

'- - -

M anila, K okutaiC, IarkFi eld, w i nter1944.(4) 46M 2,I 2t h r eg'on K okutai, Hankow C ombi ned Notethat China,winter1940-41. thiswasa pre-series Reisen. (5) A OM3of 251stKokut ai [ signifi edby the" U 1" ),Hom elslands, November 1942.(6) 46M5 of North GenzanKokutai, Wonsan, Korea,for training, winter1944.

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t:a::,,1:t'l.

De Havilland Mosquito (1941) The Mosquitowas withoutdoubt one of the most outstandingly successfulWWll productsof the Britishaircraftindustry.lt was conceivedalong linesthat were in directcontradictionto then-prevailing officialviews and it was apparentlyretrogressivein usingwood in the day and age of all-metalstressed-

skinstructures. Butit captured p o p u l airma g i n a ti ofro n mthe momentitsfirstsortiesbecame knownanditssensational wartime exploits continued to sustain enthusrasm to a greaterdegree thanthoseof anyothercombat aircraft. Envisaged initially as an unarmedhigh-speed bomber, thisextraordinary aircraft was

to offerprodigious versatility; indeed, the Mosquito wasto excel in allitsmultifarious roles. Fl ow non 15 MayI941,i t enteredRAFservicein both bomberand recceversions before theyear'send,a fighterversion following earlyin 1942.A grandtotalof 7 ,781wasbuilt and6,710del i vered duri ngW W l l .

(l ) Mosqui to N F l l ( W40B2J of No 157Sqdn,Castle mid-1942 Camps, Note"LampBlack"RDM2A matt non-reflective Special Night Finish, TypeA.1 roundeland red codingletters(adopted November 19401t2) Mosqu itNF o ll ( DZ230l of No 23 Sqdn,Bradwell Bay, lale1942.Noteso-calledSmooth Nightblackunderside, Dark

Greenand OceanGreydisruptive Sqdn, RAF,and (4b) uppersurfaces1944,equi pped w i th" Oboe"for patternon uppersurfaces missions. of RS679.(51 Rearfuselageof Pathfinder Noteextenand TypeC.1roundel. sionof theblackSmoothNight [3J Mosquito M os quit oFBVI ( 452- 52 6 1 ,N o 1 , 105 Sq d n , Sqdn,RAAF,Labuan,NorthBorneo, finishup vertical B l V Srs2 ( DK 292)No tail.(8J Mosquito mid-]945. [6J Rearf uselageof B X V IIM1963)of N o 371S qdn, HorshamSt Faith,Norfolk,late 1942.NoteMedium Cambs,Iatein SeaGreyunder MosquitoFB Vl (RFB23lof Czecho- Oakington, surfaces withSkyfuselage 1944.(9) Mosquito PRX\ band, slovakAir Force,1949. Notethe (N S 51 spinners andcoding.(4JMosquito retentionof originalRAF finish, 9l of 653rdB ombS qdn FBVl tR S 679l,No 4 S qdn C , e l l e , [7J MosquitoB lX ILR50B)of No [Light)USAAF,Watton,Norfolk, , a r c h for weatherrecceandvisual latein 1949.[4a] Emblemof No.4 105 Sqdn,M ar ham ,Nor f o l k M

Note coverage of targetstrikes. finishandthe PRUBlueoverall letteron tailfin identifying (9a) Undersurfaces of squadron. i nvasion N 5519show i ng st r iping. (l OJ Mosqui to N FXI X[ M M 650]of No157Sqdn,Swannington, Norfolk, lale1944,whichwasusedfor intrudermissions overLuftwaffe night fighterairfields,

North American Mustang (1942) Eventually to emergeas arguably the bestall-roundsingle-seat piston-engined fighterof any of WWll'scombatants,the lVustang largelyowed its existenceto fortuity it was conceivedin responseto the urgentneedsof the RAF ratherthan any USAAF requirement,Occupyingonly sevenmonthsfrom design

initiationto flighton 26 October i940, it under wentphe n o m e n a l l y rapidgenealogicalprocesses. Its poor altitudeperformance wit h it s or iginalAllis one n g i n e (with which it saw USAAFservrce as the P-51 and P-51A,and for the attackrole.4-364, and RAF serviceas the MustangI, lA and ll) was rectifiedby matingwith

theMerl i n, andmorethan15,000 Mustangs beingthe [themajority Merl i n-engi ned P -518,C , D , et seq,andR A FMustang l l l andi V l in totalwereto be manufactured. (r) 4-364(42-84071) of the27th Fighter-Bomber Group,Corsica, in July1944.Notetheoriginal applicationof 190missionsymbols andthepositioning of theserial

numberon therearfuselage, (laJ Detailof missionsymbols. t2l P -51A -10 [43 - 6]99) of Col P hi l i pC ochrane, CO of l st Air C ommando Grou p,Hailakandi, Indi a,March1944.Not ediagonal whitelD stripingappliedover serial.(3J F-6A[oneof four borrowed from USAAFJ operated byN o225S qdn,RAF,f r omSoukel

Kh e mi s, T unis ian (43-69131 lale1944.[9a] Groupcheckerc am paig nAp , ri l flownby CaptAtkesof lsrael i n 1951 (7) P -51B -5 "Shangri-la" 1 9 4 3N . ot et hedar kear t ha n dmi d - Defence Force/Air Forceduring of CaptDonS.Gentiie, boardtailmarkings. [1O) P-518stonecamouflage withazureblue 1956Arab-lsraeli conflictand 336thFighterSqdn,4th FG, 15 (42-106942) of 374thFS, .l (41Mustang undersurfaces. I shotdownnearSharmel-Sheikh. Debden, in March1944.(7a)3341h361stFG.Bottisham. June 944. slateblue Sqdnemblem,thisbeinganother FOal. Theinvasion lAG522),No 613 Sqdn,Ringway, Notethe newly-adopted stripingas Manchester, 1942,flyingTac-R (l l) Musandtanuppersurfaces, andthe component of 4th FG.t8l P-518- appliedIo 42-106942. "Rhubarbs". (4aJPersonal yellowlD bands Panda black-edged 10(42-106447 of No 316 ) "ShooShooBaby" tangl l l B(FB 223) Bearemblemcarriedon starboard aroundwingsand rearfuselage. of 364thFS,3571hFG,Leiston, [P ol i sh) S qdn,C ol t ishall, June si d eo f AG522c owling[ asi n d i spri ng1944.tgl P -518" D orothy- 1944.(12) Mustang lll [ F2190) , t6l P-51Dof Air Forceof the cated).[5J P-51D(ex-Swedish) as People's Liberation Army,China, II" ,31B thFS ,325th,FG,l tal y, N o 19 S qdn,Ford,sum m er1944

lfultee V-72 Vengeance [1942) Inspiredby the JunkersJu 87 "Stuka",theY-72 dive bomber was ordered"off the drawing board" by the BritishPur:chasing Commissionin 1940,the first exampleflyin gin July 1 94 1. Named Vengeanceby the RAF, it began to enter Britishservice latein 1942, by which time the RAF was thoroughlydisenchanted

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withthedivebomberconceot. andin theeventtheV-72was to seeoperational serviceonly in SEAsia.SomeBritishcontract aicrafl weretakenoverby the USAAF,andotherswerebuilt, primarily for Lend-Lease supply, withthe USAAFdesignations A-31andA-35,thegrandtotal o I Y -7 2 sb u i l b t e i n g1,9 31.

(1)V -72[bui l tasV engeance ll AFB29for RAFJrequisitioned by USAAFandusedasanairgunnery trainerin 1942.Noteretention of ihe RAFcamouflage andserial. (2JVengeance ll (ANB36J of No 45 S qdn,R A F,Indi a,l ate1943. NoteFarEaststylenational i nsi gni(adopted a June1943)and the"Saint"personal emblemon

(3JVengeance forwardfuselage. | (A27-9) of No 7 Operational Trai ni ng U ni t,R A AF,in Novem ber 1944.aflermodifications for itsuseastargettug.[4] A-358 usedb y USAAFin UK [41-31589] as station"hack"during1944. t5l 4-358of GBI/32,FreeFrench Air Force.Thetypewasused brieflvin NorthAfricain 1943.

Lavochkin La-5 (1942) An adaptationof the LaGG-3 (see (l ) L a -5o f 5 2 3l A P,3 0 3IA D pages 146-7Jto take a radial Aviation Division, or [Fighter engine,the La-5 firstflew in lstrebitel'naya Aviatsiya DivisiyaJ, March l 942, and enteredservice winter1943-44.Noteblackand greencamouflage beforeyear'send. Possessing thatoriginated exemplaryhandlingcharacteristics,withtheuseof available the La-Swas austerelyequipped (2JLa-SFN tractorparnts. of and unsophisticated but H SUVl a d i miIrPo p k o v5, GvIA P enjoyedconstderablesuccess,a or GuardsIAP). [Gvardeiski (3) La-5FNflownby HSUlvan totalof 9,920 being produced.

K ozhedub w hi l ew i th240IA P , April-June 1944.Kozhedub wasthe top-scoring Soviet"ace",his aircraftbearingthestarboard inscription [3a] "Fromcollective farmworkerKonev,Vasily Viktorovich", with[3b) "Heroof theSovietUnionLi Col KonevN" to port.(41La-5FNpresented by Mongo[an P eopl e'Rs epubl i as c,

indicated(4a) by the inscription beneathcockprt.[5] La-5FN flown by LadislavValousekof the 1 CzechoslovaklAP, at Proskurov,Ukrajne,in September 1944.(5a) Stylisedcyrillic " F N " w h i c h a p p e a r e do n co w l r n g to indicateenginevariant. [6) La-5FNof Czech Operational TU at Malacky,Slovakia,1945-6.

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (1942) The largestand heaviestsingle seatfighterever builtat the time of its servicedebut,the massiveP-47Thunderboltd warfed all precedingwarplanesin its category,its sheersize prompting bestowalof the unofficial appeilationof "J uggernaut"soon to be shortenedto "Jug" and widelyadoptedas the P-47's

c olloquialnam e.Fir s tf l o w n i n prototypeform[XP-478]on 6 May 1941, t he Thunder bolet n t e r e d servicelatein 1942. When it joined operationsover Europein April of the followingyear,it was found incapableof matching the climb ratesand manoeuvrability of opposing Luftwaffe fighters.But what it lackedin

agilityit compensatedfor with a formidabledivecapability, good altitudeperformance,and the abilityto absorb and survivepunishment.Once its pilotslearnedto take advantage of its intrinsiccharacteristics, the Thunderboltbegan to build an enviableoperationalrecord. The grand totalof all P-47s

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b u i l tc a m e t o 1 5 , 68 3a i r cr a ft, the sublype producedin largest n umbersbeingthe P-47Dof which n o f e w e rt h a n 1 2 ,6 0 2w e r e b u i l t. (1) P-47D-20(43'25429) oI the 1 9 t h F i g h t e rS q d n ,2 1 BthFi g h te r G r p , S a i p a n ,M a r ia n a s,Ju l y 1 9 4 4 . (2 and 2a) P-47DoI B6th FighterSqdn, 79th FighterGrp, Fano, ltaly, in February1945. t3l P-47D-25

(42-26459)of 352nd FighterSqdn. (5) P-47D-25(42-26756) oI the 353rd FighterGrp, Raydon,Suffolk, Br az ilian10G r uppo de Ca g aa t England,Ju ly 19 44 .[3 aJ Up per Tar quinia,lt aly ,Nov em b e r1 9 4 4 . surfacesoI -26459,(4) P-47D-30 Not et he y ellow[ bom b) m i s s r o n Thunderbo ltll (HD2 47 ) of No 79 m ar k er sappeanngon po r t s i d e S q dn, R A F,a t Wa ng jing ,Bur m a, only .( 5aJ The G r uppo em b l e m . NovemberI944. Notenon-standard i6l P-47N/-1(44-211lBl of 63rd SE A sia ins ign iao f me diu m and Fight erSqdn, 56t h Fighte rG r p , d a rk blue.an d the atrestrip ing. Boxted,Essex,spring 1945. Note the non-standardupper surfaces [,fa] Upper surfacesol HD247.

of medi umanddarkbl ue-grey. (Reconnaissance SqdnJ103,Orly, (7) P -47D -30 (44-33240) of366th spring1944.Noteretention of pilot'spersonal Fi ghter S qdn,358thFi ghter Grp, original emblem. Toul ,France, i n w i nter1944. P-47Dusedby [lOJ A captured (8) P-47D-30 ot 5 12th the 2.Staffel of Versuchsverband [44-33373] Fi ghter S qdn,406th Fi ghter Grp, ( Experi mentalFormationJ OberNordholz,summer1945 (9) P-47D befehlshaber [Commander-in-ChiefJ (ex-3s8th Fighter Sqdn)usedby der Luftwaffe operating from Sonderkommando Detach- Hustedt forfamiliarisatron [Special '1944. ment)of theAufkldrungsstaffel purposes in September

Kawasaki Ki.61 Hien lTony) (1942) Retaining in somemeasure the agilitytraditionally associated withJapanese fighters and mating thiswithmostof the better characteristics thathad,priorto itsdebut,beenexclusive to Western fighters, theKi.61 Hien[SwallowJ wastherefore radicalinsofaras thelmoerial ArmyAir Service wasconcerned.

Theservice's firstfighterwith a liquid-cooled enginefor many yearsandthefirstproviding pilotandf uelprotection, the Hiendid muchto dispelbelief heldin the WestthatJapanese combataircraft were"lightweights", incapable of taking punishment andsurviving. Flrst flownin December1941, theHien

provedcapableof masteringmost (l l K i .61-l -K A l- Hei of t he 1st Alliedfighters thatit met Chutai,244thSentai, at Chofu, untilopposedby suchpotentfoes fokyo, 1944-45. TheSentai as America's Mustang and Hellcat. marking(in theChutaicolourJ A totalof 1,380Ki.61-lHiens wasa stylisedrenderingof the had been built when production arabic"244".Theuppersurfaces phasedouti n Jul y1944to gi ve (seelaJ featured a darkgreen placeto theKi.61-ll. mottleon a lightgrey-green However, barelymorethan60 of the later base.Notechromeyellow"combal modelwereto reachthe Sentais. identification stripe"on wing

a nd flb) aircra ftnu mbe r on t he mainwheelfairingplates. i the HQ t 2) K i 61-l-KAl-Heof Chutai,244th Sentai,Chofu, T okyo,w inte r l94 4-4 5. Th e fuselageand wing [2a and 2b] H inomarusare sup erimp os edon white bands signifying"Defence o f t he H ome lan d",an d the u pper surfacecamoullaoeconsistsof

ir r egulardar k gr een blot c h e s apoliedto the naturalmetal bas e.[ 3) Ki. 61- l- KAl- Heoif t h e 23r d I ndependentChut a i ,Y o n t a n , O k inawa,Apr il 1945.The C h u t a i emblem is a stylisedrendition of "23 and the uDoersurfaces displaya dark green snake-weave of varyingintensityover the naturalmetal.Notethe unusual

c h r o m e y e l l o wo u t l i n eo f t h e H i n o m a r ua n d e r o s i o no f p a i n t beneaththe anti-dazzlepanel a n d a l o n g t h e l o w e rc o w l i n gl i n e . i4l Ki 61-l-KAl-Heiof the 1st C h u t a i ,5 5 t h S e n t a i a , t Chofu, Tokyo,winter 1944-45.Notethat this aircraftwas formerlywith the 53rd Sentai,hence overpaint o f t a i li n s i g n i a(. 5 1 K i . 6 1 - l - O t s u

l

of the 3rd Chutai, 59th Sentai,at A s h i y a ,J a p a n ,i n A ug u st 1 9 4 5 . Notethe replacementrearfuselageand rudder with montageof i n s i g n i a(. 6 J K i . 6 1- l - KAl - H e i o f 3 r d C h u t a i ,1 9 t h S e n ta i , Okinawa,1944-45.Notefieldappliedpalm trond camouflage a n d s t y l i s e d" 1 9 " t a i li n si g n i a in 3rd Chutaicolour [yellow).

Vought F4U Gorsair (1942) Uniquein p erfo rman cean d, by virtue of its reverse-gulled wing, appearancealso,the Corsaircommenced prototype flighttrialson 2 9 Ma y 1 94 0, heraldinga q ua ntu mad v anc ein shipboardfighter capability. Regrettably, some oi the problems apparentduring thesetrials had still not been resolved

whentheseriesmodeltlewon 25 begancombatmissions 7 ,829wercbuilt(1) F4U-2night withthe . i n c i p i ent l andi ng Corsairf rom landbases,however, fighterof USMC Sqdn VN/lF(NlJ u n e1 9 4 2 An bounceandan almostunheraldedi n February 1943,andoncei ts Kwajalein At oll, 532,R oil sl and, torquestallin landingconfigura- pilotshadlearned to takefull 1944.N otenon-specular f inish tionwerecompounded by some advantage of itssignificantly blue of seablue,intermediate instability directional after superiorlevelanddivespeeds, andgul lgrey,thef oldingwing to u c h d o w n :a l a c ko f s hi pboard theCorsairenjoyedenviable beingintermediate blue, sections finesse thatexcluded Corsairs combatsuccess (2JC orsaiIrQf 172)of No 1835 anda longprof rom US Navycarrrerdecksuntil ductioncareerwhichdid notend Sqdn,RoyalNavy,Brunswick, NS, summer1944.TheUSMarine l ecember Corps unti D 1952,bv w hen late1943.NoteOceanGrevand

DarkSlateGreyuppersurface camouflage andSkyundersides. (3 ) F4 U-lA ( N2531 5) ,No17 S q d n , RNZAF, Guadalcanal, August1944. (4) F4U-4of FuerzaA6rea Salvadorena, SanMiguel, El Salvador, 1958.[5) CorsairlV (KD345lof No 1850 Sqdn,Royal Navy,HMSVengeance, August1945. Noteretention of US Navyhigh-

glossseablueoverall finish. (5aJAircraftnumberwasusually repeated on mainwheel legflap. alsoof [6) CorsairlV IKD6B1J N o 1 8 5 0Sq d n e, a rl y1 9 4 5.N ote "U7"codingandthediffering presentation of roundel, a furthervariation beingseen (6a) on upperwingsurfaces of. (7) F4U-4Cof USN thisaircraft.

Reserve, NASGlenview, signified by "V" of tailcodingandorange banddenotingreserve status, 1948.(81F4U-7(BuAerNo 133703)of Fl otti l l12F, e French A6ronavale, 1954.tgl F4U-1D from USSEssex, April 1945.The carriermarklng[CV-9)on the verticaltailwas repeated above starboard and belowportwing

(see9a). Note"washed-out" shadeof aircraft finishdueto prolonged exposure to elements, (rOl F4U-5NLwinterized night fighterof NavyComposite Sqdn VC-35aboardUSSAntietam, 1951. [lOa) Carriercodeandaircraft numberwere reoeated belowthe portandabovethestarboard outerwingpanels.

Avro Lancaster [1942) Of ali the RAF'sb omb ers,none achievedgreateracclaimthan did the Lancaster.Born oJa compromiseand derivedfrom the designof a me diu m b omb er ,it emergedas probablythe most successfulheavybomber of WWll. F irstf lown o n 9 Jan ua ryi 941, it enteredserviceat the begrnning oI 1942, wilh 7 ,374 havingbeen

builtwhen the lastexamplewas deliveredin Februaryof 1946. 0J LancasterB I (RA542l of No 463 Sqdn, RAAF,at Waddington, Linc s ,s pr ing 1945.Thi sa i r craft was lostto nightfighters during the lastLancasternight attackof WWll,againstan oil refineryat Vallo(Tonsberg)in Norwayon 25/ 26 April1945. Note

y e l l o wo u t l i n i n go f c o d i n g ,a standardpracticein No 5 Group, and repetitionof individua letteron the tail.[2) Lancaster B I tHK793) of No 149[East I n d i a lS q d n , M e t h w o l d ,N o r f o l k , e a r l y 1 9 4 5 .N o t ed e e p e n e db o m b bay and yellowfin bars denoting G-H radar-equipped flight leaderin No 3 Group. [3) Lan-

c a s t e rG R M k 3 i RF3 2 5 l , Sch o o l St of MaritimeReconnaissance, .1 9 5 6 , M a w g a n ,C o r n w al l , and withdrawnin Octoberof that year as the lastservingRAF Lancaster.(4J The rear fuselageof , o 97 L a n c a s t e rB l l l ( P 8 4 1 0 1 N S q d n ,C o n i n g s b y,L i n cs,e a r l y .1945. Note repetitionof coding [4aJ on upper tailplanesurfaces.

[5) Rear f uselageof Lancaster B lll(ME 499) No 1 66 Sq dn , Kirmington,Lincs.The yellow verticaltailand (5a) wingtip were a No 1 Group exoerimentfor improvingformationvisibility. [ 6] Lanca ste rB l[NG]2Bl of No 1 01 S qdn, L ud fordMa gn a,L inc s , '1944,carrying"AirborneCiga/' [ABC] jamming equipment[as

denotedby aerialsJ. [7J LancasterB 1[FE),ex-RAF(PA342] of Flottille24F, French46ronavale,late 1953 t8l Lancaster B lll t ED912/ G ) ,No 617 S q d n , Conings by ,Linc s ,M ay 19 4 3 .T h i s was specially-modified aircraft f or "Upk eep"dam - bus t in gm i n e and flown in 17 May 1943 attack on M ohne.Ederand Sor o ed a m s .

(9) LancasterB I (SpecialJ ( P D ] 3 3 ) , N o 6 1 7 S q d n ,Wo o d h a l l Spa, Lincs,early 1945,with "Grand Slam"bomb suspendedbeneaththe fuselage.(1OJLancaster B V l ( N D 6 7 3 1 ,N o 6 3 5 S q d n ,a component of PathfinderForce [ N o B G r o u p J ,D o w n h a m M a r k e t , Norfolk,late 1944. Notethat the noseand dorsalturretshavebeen

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deleted,and tailfin is stripeo. (lt) LancasterB Vll (NX750l of No 9 Sqdn, Salbani,India,early 1946.Notetypical"Tiger Force" finishof aircraft.fl2J Lanc a s t e rB X ( K B B 6 1 )of N o 4 3 1 (lroquoisJSqdn, RCAF,at Croft, C o D u r h a m ,e a r l y1 9 4 5 ,a s a co m ponentof No 6 [RCAFI Group. This aircrafiwas Victory-built.

Northrop P-61 Black Wdow (1944) TheonlyAlliedfighterdesigned fromtheoutsetfor thenocturnal roleto achieve servicein WWll,theP-61BlackWidowwas as bigas a mediumbomber,but despiteitssizeit wasboth docileand manoeuvrable. First fl o wno n 26 M ay1942,t h eP-6 1 pioneered theuseof spoilers rn placeof conventional ailerons,

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permitting theuseof nearfullemblemcarriedby 42-5528. " H ussl i n (2) P -61A -5 (42-5536) spanflapswhichbroadened the speedrangeandpermitted opera- Hussey" of 422ndNFS,Scorton, tionfromsmallairfields, The Yorks,summer1944.(2a) Hall planview P-61enteredservicemid-1944, a and-half showingport totalof 706 beingmanufactured. topand underside of 42-5536. "Jap-Batty"(31P-618-15(42-39713J (42-5528) "Ladyin Il) P-61A-1 of the6th NightFighterSqdn, theD ark"548th , N FS l, e S hi ma, EastField,Saipan,Marianas, in R yukyu l s,C hi naS ea,A ugust s u mme r1 9 4 4 (1 . a ) T hepersonal 1945 [3a] E mbl emof 548thN FS ,

i.

Notenon-reflective mattblack (4) P- 61B- 1 overalfil ni sh, " Moonlight Ser enade" t42-39468) of 550thNFS,Tacloban, Leyte, P hi l i ppi nes, June1 945.Not e thesquadron tailstriping. [5] P-61A-5 (42-4464)" Jukin Judy"of 422ndNFS,Scor t on. Notelate-1944 high-gloss overal lbl ackdefi ni ti ve f inish.

Nakajima Ki.84 Hayate [Frankl 1944) By consensus themostformidable of itsWestern contemporaries, fighterfieldedby theJapanese andit couldout-climb andout(Gale] Army,the Ki.B4Hayate manoeuvre the USfightersby possessed respectable firepower, whichit wasopposed, turning outstanding manoeuvrability and insidethemwithease.First an ability to withstand battle fl o w ni n Ap ri l1 9 4 3 th . eHayate damageto an extentpreviously enteredservicein March1944, fighters. unknownin Japanese and production of thisoutstandItshandling andcontrolcharaci n ga n ds u p re m e a l yg i l ewarpl ane teristics weresuperiorto those wasto total3,470aucralt.

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(l J K i B 4-l -K o, H QC hutai29rh , Sentai,Formosa, 1945.Notethe naturalmetalfinishwidely-used in closingstageof the Pacific conflict, andtheSentaiemblem, a stylised breaking wave,(2J Ki, B 4-l -K o, l st C hutai73rd , S entai , P hi l i ppi nes, i n D ecember 1944. [3) K i .B 4-l -Kofo 183rdS hi mbutai[Special AttackGroupJat

Tatebayashi, Japan,August1945. Noteirregular application of medi umgreendappling on f usel aqe.[4J K i .B 4-l -Ko, 1stChut ai, 102ndS entalK, yushu, Apr ilI 945, (5) Ki B4-l-Ko, 1stChutai,47th Sentai, Narumatsu, Japan,August 1945.Thew hi tepanelsignif ied " H omeD e{ ence" [6, ] Ki. 84- l- Ko of S 8thS hi mbutaAugust I 944. i,

Messerschmitt Me 2fjr2 (1944) One of the comparatrvelyfew truly epoch-markingfightersin aviatron's annalsand arguably the most formidablewarplaneto attainservicestatusin WWll, the Me 262 launcheda new era in aerialwarfare.Firstflown on turbojetsalone (V3) on 1B July 1942,Ihe Me 262 was to enter servicewith the Luftwaffein

170

thesummeroI 1944,anda total speedgainoveranypredecessor:.2624-2aof 1./KG51, March1945. (1) Me2624-2a,I Gruppe/Kampf-(5) Me 2624-1a/U3of Einsatzkomof 1,378wasto be comoleted. geschwader Despite itsradicality andif 5l , Achmer,in spring mandoIOperational Detachment) marginally underpowered, theMe 1945.(2) Me262A-2a/U 1 of the Braunegg, Northernltaly,March -1945. (TestDe262 wastrulya pilot'saero(6) S-92"Turbina" (TurbineJ, Erprobungskommando plane;responsive anddocile tachment) Schenck, commanded an Avia-assembled Me 2624-2, withpleasant harmonyof control. by MajWolfgang Schenck, in originally flownby SthFighter Although it wasdemanding on runway autumn1944.(31Me 262A -2a Sqdn(5.stihaci letka),Czech length,anditsenginesweretem- (W erk-N1r11625,9K + FH )of l /K G Air Force.in 1950-51. afterreperamental, it offereda marked 5.1, A chmer,i n spri ng1945.[4J Me coding(PL-O1J for grounduse.

Gfoster Meteor (1944) Aerodynamically lesssophisticatedihanitscontemporary, the M e2 6 2 ,a ndt heonlyA lliedl e t to seeoperational aircraft use in WWl lth , elM et eor waspe rh a p s the mostsuccessful of wesiern jetfighters. lirst-generation F i rstfl o w non 5 M ar c h194 3 i,t achieved service statuswiththe R AFa t a b outt hes am et im ea s

U K and300i n theN etherl ands, th eMe2 6 2 ,b u td i d n o ta ttai n quantity production No statusso F) MeteorF N /k3 (E E 270), l ate1945. form,the 245S qdn,C ol erne, rapidly. ln developed Meteoroffereda soundperlorm- (21lveteorF lMk3 [EE455)modifiedfor a worldspeedrecord anda a n c e i,n n o c u o uhsa n d l i ng '1945. lt attemptin November highstandard of reliability. (3) MeteorPRIVlkI0 (VS979)of wasto remainfirsflineRAF from N o 541S qdnoperati ng e q u i p m e nfot r 1 7y e a rsandbe B U ckeburg, Germany, w i th2nd exported to a dozenforeignair Tacti cal A i r Force,i n 1952. fo rc e s3, ,5 5 0b e i n gb u i l in t the

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[4J MeteorF Mk B (WF714]of de Villier s C O,S qdnLdr D esmond tail)of No Ihencedecorative y 500S qdn,R oyalA u xiliarAir Kent 1954. , Force,W estMal l i ng, (5) MeteorF Mk B of Eskadrille 742,R oyal D ani sh Ajr For ce, K arup,1954.(6) M et eorU M k 16 iWH2B4ltargetdronedelivered i n June1960. to Ll anbedr

ia

Lockheed P-8O Shooting Star [194S) Such was the tempo of fighter developme ntin the imme diat e post-Wwllyears,that the P-80 ShootingStarsaw barelyfive yearsof servicebefore,in N ovembe r19 50 , its ob so les c enc e was renderedmanifestby the debut in Koreanskiesof the lvliG -15In , de ed ,so se riou swas the adverseperformancedisparity

thatit wasonlythesuperior skillof itspilotswhichenabled it to survive encounters withthe Sovietfighter,ThefirstAmerican jetajrcraftto achievema1or servicestatus, theP-80Shooting Starsuffered highattrition duringitsearlycareer,Built in theremarkably shorttimeof 'i43 days,thefirstprototype,

the XP-BO,flew on 9 January 1 9 4 4 ,t h e f i r s tp r o d u c t i o nP - B O A beingcompletedin February1945 Earlyaircraftfeatureda highly polishedlightgrey overallfinish, b u t t h e s c u f f i n ga n d c h i p p i n g to which this was prone resulted in a deteriorationof performance and consequentstandardisation on polishednaturalmetal.

PN-g44

Redesignated F-80 aftermid-June 1948,the ShootlngStar served primarilyin the ground attack and armed reconnaissance roles i n K o r e au n t i lm i d - Ap r i l1 9 5 3 , 525 being orderedas P-BOAs (240 oI which were eitherconvertedto or completedas P-BOBs) and a further798 as P-BOCs, the latterbeing delivered1948-49.

-LO (44-85022) of the planviewof PN-226.t3l P-BOB-5 tr lP-BoA-1 62 n dFi g h t er S qdn,56t hF i g h te r t45-85901of 94th FighterSqdn, G ro u pd, eploy ed t o G er m a n yJ ,u l y Ladd Field,Fairbanks,Alaska, 19 4 8 (l . a J E m blem of 62ndS q d n 1947, Not et he high- v is i b i l i t y [2] P-BoA-1-LO [44-85226]ofthe markings.(3a) Topsideplanview 41 2 thFi g ht er G r oup,1946 th , is of PN-590,and (3bl "Hat-in{hebeingthefirstunitto equip. Ring" emblem of the 94th FS. Notelightgreyoverall finish [4] P-BOA-1(44-85044) of Flight and P-80"PN"buzzcoderetained Test Division,WrightField, un tiJu l n e1948.( 2al T opsi d e 1948,with overallwhitefinish.

(5) P-BOA-1 thearresterhook.(71P-80C-5 [44-85033]of 61st Fi ghter S qdn,56thFi ghter Group, (47-547)of 36thFighter-Bomber Fi el d,Mi chi gan, S el fri dge in S qdn,B thFB W K , orea,in 1949. (44-B508Bl summer1948.t5a)61stFSemblem [A) P-BOA-] serving and (5b) 56thFGemblem,these for transitional trainingwith on portandstarboard lowaAirNational appearing Guard.(91RF-80A (44-85467), sideof thenose,respectively. havingbeenconverted from P-B0A-5for photo-recce [6) P-B0A-5(44-85462)after to QF-BOF conversion standard task.Noteretention of fighter "FT"buzzcode. for pilotless operations. Note category

English Electric Ganberra (1951) lf longevity of serviceis any thaneightforeignairforces, criteria, thentheCanberra rs F i rsflt o w no n 1 3 Ma y1949as to bejudgedoneof the most theinitialBritishessayin jet jetcombataircraft successful b o m b e dr e s i g nth . eC anberra, in yetflown.MakingitsRAFservice Mosquito bombertradition, carried d e b u it n M ay1951,ii was no defensive relying armament, continuing to fulfila variety instead on speedto evadeinterof taskswiththeRAF30 years ception.lt wasto emulate the l a te r,i n 1 981,r em aining fi rs t M o s q u i to fu rth eirn p ro vi ng to be lineequipment withno fewer outstandingly versatile. The

wasmanufactured Canberra con- boneson crrcul agr r eenf ield) trnuously for a dozenyears,902 superimposed on black-andyellowcheckerboard. bei ngbui l it n theU K ,503bei ng [2] Canberra licence-built in the USA(asthe T 4 IW J861 ) of N o B5Sqdnat 8-571and56 morei nA ustral i a. B i nbrook, A pri l1971.Not epolyB 2 IW J67Bof greyoverall finishand urethane Il ] C anberra J No 100S qdn,Marham, 1978.N otethe Day-glo noseandtailbars,and black-white shadowed singlewingleading edge.[2a) Hexagonai letterfin codeandsquadron marki ng of N o 85 Sqdn ( 3) emblem(whiteskullwithcrossed C anberra B 2 i W H640)of No 10

Sqdn deployedto Nicosia,Cyprus, in October1956 for Suezcampaign (home-basedHonington,Suffolkl, Note "Suez striping"comprisrng two blackand three whtte[owing to temporaryshortageof yellow paintJbands.The speedbird emblem of RAF Scampton[which was the unit'spreviousbase]was retainedon the nose,the white

pheasantemblem of RAFHoningtonN oteP R UB l ueoveralfil ni sh. Maw gan, 1 974,and C ornw all, on thetail,andthe B 52 [354]of the appeared of sameair [6J Canberra [8aJ undersurfaces " Wi n g e Arro d w "e mb l e mof N o 10 lmperialEthiopian Air Force, craft,(8bl TheUrsaMajor on thetip tank. Asmara,1970.(7) Canberra Sqdnappeared B2 Constellation emblemof No7 Sqdn (3a) Uppersurfaces 30]of Erprobungs-(91C anberra of WH640. B (l l 66 ( F1028)of [99+36 ex-WK1 (4 1 C a n b e rra B(l l 5 8 (1 F910) of stelle(testCentre)61, Koln/ , theIndi anA i r Force1970. N o 5 8 " Bl a c kEl e p h a n t S s"qdn, W ahn,1978-79, forcartographi c IlO] Canberra B 2 [2085] No 5 l n d i a nA i r F o rc eAg , ra ,i n 1959. taskson behalfof the Military Air Force,New Sqdn,Rhodesian (5 JC a n b e rra B(l )1 2 (4 5 2)of N o Geographic Office.[a) Canberra S arum,1970.N otep ost - UDl 1 2Sq d n S , AA FWa , te rkl oof, 1975. TT 1B[W J721J of N o 7 S qdn,S t national insignia, laterdeleted.

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Republic F-84F Thunderstreak [RF-84F Thunderflashl (1954) Providing manyof thevertebrae of NATO'sEuropean air oower backbone frommid'fifties until early'seventies, theF-B4F fighter-bomber and itstactical reconnaissance counterpart, the RF-84F, weredemanding on field lengthand possessed whatwere. at thetimeof theirdebut, q uitedauntingly highlanding

speeds.With externalloads, the F-B4Ftendedto wallowin the climb-outand lacked acceleration.lt was also prone to high-speedstalling,but both F-B4FandRF-B4F wereruggedand stable,the fighter-bomberbeing able to liftformidablestores loads.Evolvedfrom the mating of the fuselageof the straight-

wingF-B4EThunderjet withswept surfaces,a prototype(YF-B4Fl fl ewon 3 June1950.A fterreengi ni ng andmaj orredesi gn, the F-B4Fenteredproduction and joinedthe USAFinventory early 1954,2,713 w erebui l t.Therecce RF-B4F derivative, withsimilar airframebutwithwingrootintake ductlocatron, enteredservice

almostsimultaneously, a total of 715bei ngmanuf act ur ed. (rI F-B4F-51 (52-7166)of lere Escadrille, 2dmeWing,basedat Fl orennes, B el gi u m1,969. ( laJ Topside planview of 52-7166. t2l F-B4F(52-8842)ofthe 3e "Ardennes", Escadrille the3e Escadre de Chasse, Arm6ede I'Air,home-based at Reimsand

deployedto Akrotiri,Cyprus, during Suez operation,November 1956. Note black-and-yellow Suez lD stripingand "Boar'sHead" emblem of EC 3/3. [2aJ Topside planviewot 52-8842. Note yellow wingtipssignifying3eEsc, (31 F-B4F-25t53-6721) of "Getti Tonanti" (Thunderjet]aerobatic team of Sa$erobrigata,Aero-

\

nauticaMilitare ltaliana, Rimini, in 1960.Notethatthe"Goddess Diana"emblemof Aerobrigata side.The appeared on starboard Olympic symbolmarked1960Rome venueof theGames.[3a] Starboarduppersurfaces oI 53-6721. (4) F-B4F-25 (53-6657) of the "DiavoliRossi"(RedDevilsJ team, 6aAerobrigata aerobatic

(tl a) P ort Noteemblemof 729 ESK,and A Ml ,Ghedi1958 , (6a) uppersurfaces ot 52-7283. of 53-6657. uooersurfaces (52-7327), (51- 19121 (51R F-B 4F-26 of N o 1 12 (7 andTa)R F-B 4F ForceAerienne 42dmeEscadrille, Sqdn,1stTacAir Force,Turk 1971. E ski r, Belge,Bierset-Lidge, H avaK uvvei l eri , sehi1971. oftheleEscaNote"Scorpion" emblemof No 112 (81RF-84F(53-7633J of Sqdn.(5al Uppersurfaces drille"Belfort",33 Escadrede (52-7283) Reconnaissance, Armeede I'Air, 52-7327.(6) RF-B4F-26 Luxeuii,1966.Note"BattleAxe" Kongelige of 729 Eskadriile, DanskeFlyvevdben, Karup,1969. emblemof the 1/33Escadrille.

Hawker Hunter (19541 lf greatness in a combataircraftequateswithoutstanding servicelongevity, extreme operational flexibility combined popularity, withuniversal thenthe Hunterwasindeedtrulygreatand surelylheclassicfighterdesign of the 'fifties.lt wasaestheiically unsurpassed anda thoroughbredaircraftin everysense.

TheHawkerHunterwasalwaysa pilot'saeroplane, manifesting flawless handling andveryfew limitations, and it wasextraordinarily robust.lt sawalmost twodecadesof firstlineRAF service, andas laieas I981,three decadesafteritsfirstflight, it remarned in theooerational inventories of a numberof air

forces.Flownfor thefirsttime and convertedfor a varietyof on 20 Jul y1951,theH unter rolesfor theRAFand RoyalNavy, enteredservice[in its F Mk 1 andformorethanadozenoverseas i n Jul y1954,andproversi onJ TheHunter's last customers. ductioncontinued into I959,with ooerational roleswiththe RAF a totalof 1,972beingcompleted, werethoseof groundattack of which445werebuiltunder fighterand reconnaissance fighter licencein the Netherlands and asihe FGAMk 9 and FRMk Belgium. Ofthese,almostone-third 10 respectively, bothof these werelaterto be refurbished beingconversions of thefinal

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production model, single-seat in t heF Mk 6 , andr em aining inthefirstlineoperational ventoryuntiltheearlyyearsof t he'se ve n t ies [ 1). Hunt erF Mk 6 (XF383lof No 4 Flying late TrainingSchool,RAFValley, 'seventies, for useby FTS'sNo 3 low-level Sqdnin thehigh-speed trainingrole,Notethestandard

RAFtrainingcolourscheme. Establishment at Farnborough for development trials(for [2J HunterGA lt/k11 [WV382)of equipment FleetRequirements controlsystem & Air Direction examplefly-by-wire i n I980-81J. Unit,RoyalNavy,RNASYeovilton, testsundertaken r Mk l a te ' s e v e n ti [3 e sJ.H u n te F of XE531. [4aJ Uppersurfaces (5) H unterMk 51 (427)o1724 RA F 5 (W P ]Bs iJn th es ta n d a rd FighterCommandfinishof the E skadri l lR e,oyalD ani sh Air Force,Aalborg,1957.(6) Hunter late'50s/early'60s. [3a) Upper l ndi anA i r s u rfa c eosf WP ]8 5 ,(4 1H unterMk F l V k56 (B A 3601, I2 (XE531J usedby RoyalAircraft Force,1960.t7l H unterFGAMk

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7BIQA 10Jof QatarE mirAir i Force,D oha,1972,[8 ) Hunt er F N/k58, 1 Fliegerstaffel, Swiss Flugwaffe, 1968.(9) HunterFR lvlk764 (7081,Abu DhabiAir Force, 1976.I lO J Hunt er S harj ah, F Mk 6 (Ll 75),Leban ese Air Force, 1960.Irl ) H u nt er TM kBM (XL6021, RoyalNavy,RNASYeovilton,1980,for radarte st ing.

North American F-IOO Super Sabre [1954) One of the true epoch-markersof militaryaviation'sannalsin being the firstWesternfighter capableof genuinelevel-flight su personicperformance,the F-l00 Super Sabrewas also noteworthy for the brevityof its p rototypeJo-production cycle. Flownin prototypeformiYF-l00A) on 25 May 19 53 , ita pp ea r edin

production F-l00Aformbarely fivemonthslater,on 29 October, and thefirstUSAFTactical Air C o mma n du n i tto w h i chthenew fighterwasassigned beganto takedelivery in September 1954. Shortlyafteritsintroduction, however, theF-l00Awasfoundto sufferinertiacouplingwhich, producinguncontrollable yaw,

was the resultof inadeauate directionalstability. This was rectifiedby a major increasein verticalfin area,coupled with an increasein wing span,and the SuperSabrewassubsequently to enjoya long and particularly distinguishedcareer.The F-100A was essentially an air superiority fighterand the F-l 00C that

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succeededlt featuredinJlight refuellingand increasedinternal fuel derivedfrom use of a "wet" wing which was also strengthened to Dermitsix externalordnance stations,therebysuitingthe Super Sabrefor the fighter-bomber mission.The definitivesingleseat model and penultimateproduction model of the Suoer Sabre

was the F-l00D which was a more soohisticatedand versatile fighter-bomber,the lastversion being the F-l00F tandem-seater combining the fighter-bomber role with that of proficiency training.When productionended in October 1959,a totalof 2,192 F-l00s had been delivered to the USAFTacticalAir Command.

) E sc- FighterSqdnof the Kansas Air withina few fas illustratedJ tr) F -1 0 0 D -1(50 4 -2 1 6 0of monthsof application, was Guard.Notestylised a d ro n1 /l 1 " R o u s s i l o nA"r,m6ede National finish l ' Ai r,T o u l i,n 1 9 7 2 (l . a J U pper replaced by high-gloss mapof Kansason thetailband. 60.t2) F-l00C-5 [4] F-l00D-15(54-2244)oI Esk with betteranti-corrosion surfaces of -21 .l DanskeFlyvev8benproperties from 1979untilfinal , 730,Kongelige t5 4 -1 7 9 8o1f 1 1 thS q d n Turk 1st JetAir 1975.[.la) Scrap w i thdraw ial HavaKuwetleri, n 1981.(5) F- l00D- 6 at Skrydstrup, Turkey,i 973, Base,Eskisehir, viewof -2244upperportwing of 308thTactical t56-29101 Fi ghter S qdn,31stTFW,TuyHoa, surfaces.Notethatmattgreen [2a) Scrapviewof -1798upper portwingsurfaces. (31F-100C-20finishappliedto DanishF-]00s, Vietnam, 1970 tsal Topsideplan Tactical a wornimpresslon viewof 308thTFSF-l00D-6. oI 1271h whichimparted [54-1939)

Dassault Super Mystire (19581 Claimingthedistinction of having beenthefirstcombataircraft producedin Western Europecapableof attaining supersonic speed in levelflight,theSuperMystdre suffered themisfortune of bninn overshadowed ov tn" u"rvlir.i morespectacular Mirage(see p a g e sI90- l)whic h,f r omth e samestable, followed closelv

uponitsheels.As a consequence de I'Air,Thefirstprototype, E scadron 1/10" Valois"J beganin the SuperMystere enjoyedonlya designated SuperMystere B1 and May1958.TwentyJour of the poweredby the Rolls-Royce briefproduction comparatively Avon SuperMystere B2sweresupplied life.However, thestrictly limited engine,wasflownon 2 March to theIsraeliDefence Force/Air quantity of fighters of this 1955,thefi rstS N E C MA A rarForce(LaTsvahHaganaLelsrael/ poweredmodel,theSuperMystOre HeylHa'Avirl, typebuiltreflected in no way being attrition upontheintrinsic capabilities 82, fol l ow i ng on 15 May' 1956. madeuo fromArmeede I'Air of thetype,whichwasto seeno Contracts followed for 180 stocksandthetypedistinguishproduction fewerthan 19 yearsof firsf SuperMystdre B2s, ing itselfin boththe 1967and (to lineservicewithFrance's Arm6e andthefirstdeliveries 1973MiddleEastconflicts.

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(l ) SuperMystdre 82 No113 of MystdreB2 of lsraeliHeylHa' Escadron 2/ 12 "Cornouailles", Avir at Hatzor,nearRehovot, summer1972.fla) Upper southof TelAviv,summer1972. Cambrai, surfaces oI 1Z-ZKwithmedium Notenaturalmetalskinning green,darkstoneandchestnut behindindividual aircraft b rowndisruptive camouflage. 82 of number.(3) SuperMystere (lb) "Scorpion" emblemappearing HeylHa'Avir,Halzor,1972.Note on starboard and (lcJ "Dog's camouflage schemeof green,tan Head"emblemappearing from on port andcaf6au laitintroduced of tailfin ot 12-ZK.(2) Super 82 late1971. (4JSuperMystdre

Nol 36 [ 12-YHoI Escadron 1/'12 thishavingbeenappliedto some "Cambr6sis") painted specially Arm6ede l'AirSuperMysteres to faciliiate interchangeability for the "TigerMeet"hostedat withthoseof HeylHa'Avirprior Cambrai,July1972.[5) Super to 1973MiddleEastconflict. MystereB2 No99of Escadron (5aJ Uppersurfaceplanviewof at Cambrai, 1/ 12 " Cambr6sis" autumn1971.Thel srael i -styl e 12-YB.(5b) "Wasp"emblemon (green,tanand portside three-colour of tailfin of 12-YB, cafeau laitJdisruptive and (5c) "Tiger'sHead"emblem schemeisnoteworthy,appearing side. on starboard camouflage

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Mikoyan-Gurevich Fishbed (MiG-2f ) t19591 Providing manyof thevertebrae of theWarsawPact'stactical air powerbackbone fromthe early'sixties themid'se ve n t iesthrough , t heM iG - 21, k n o w ni n theWestas Fishbed, wasfor a longperiodto rankasthe most widely-used fighterin theworld. gained A fall-out of experience in the Koreanconflictandan

outstanding lightweight fighter, theMiG-21hasbeenthesub1ect proof a complexgenealogical cesstranslatrng theunsophisti c a te d M i G-2 1 F i s h bed-C w ,hi ch enteredproduction in 1959,with ligha t rm a m e natn ds i m pl eradar ra n g i n gi n, toth eMi G -21Mbi s Fishbed-N all-weather dual-role fighterof themid-'seventies,

littlemorethana retaining configurational similarity to producttheinitiallarge-scale ionmodel.An RD-9Ye-powered prototype, aerodynamic theYe-4, fl ewon 14June1956,thi sbecomingtheYe-Sin thefollowing yearwhenre-engined by the R-11, a productionprototype, the Ye-6 withtheR-11F-300following in

pr oduct ion 1958,andentering as . TheYe- 7of 1960 thel V i G-21 introduced all-weather a Iimited capability, beingbuiltin large numbers PFFishbedastheMiG - 21 D. An extremely agilefighter, butsuffering an overlymodest acti onradi us, som e6, 000M iG - 21s havebeenbuilt,withproduci j onconti nui ng in 1981at

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f orex por t. some2 0 0a nnually ( r) N /i G-21PFFis hbed-initi D al production seriesInotenarrowchord[inand lackof parabrake bulletfairingl,earlyFrontal Aviation camouflage, circa1964. ( 2) Mi G-2 1F[1T y pe77) F is h b e d D (C9931of theIndianAir Force "RedArcher"aerobatic team, 197 0 [3 . ] l V iG - 21FF1is hbe d -D

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(C746)of IndianAir Forcejn thesameaircraft. [5) N/iG-21N/F of regiment assigned d n b a sedur- Fishbed-J c a mo u fl a gaep p l i e o District to KievMilitary conflictof ing Indo-Pakistani [5th ArmyJ,1973-4. . ) M i G-21Mbi s FrontalAviation D e c e m b e1r9 7 1 (4 unitof a F i s h b e d -N o f re g i me nats si gned (Sal Symbolindicating standardof efficMilitary Disorescribed to Trans-Baikal Fi shbed-J i ency.(61Mi G-21MF trict.Notethe randompatternof (76111,7thA i rA rmy,C zechod a rkg re e ns, i e n n a n dl i g ht plan sl ovakA i r Force,1974.[7] Mi Gbuff.[4aJ Half-and-half ofthesame 21MFFi shbed-J viewof t15021 view,and(4bJhead-on

ai rarmy,w i th[7aJsq dnem blem . (425)ot Fishbed-J t8) N/iG-21MF l st Air BthFighterRegiment, Air Marxwalde, Division, Defence Forceof theGermanDemocratic PF i n 1975.(91M iG - 21 R epubl i c, Fishbed-D tC992lwithcannon packandhaphazard camouflaging aooliedat lndianAir Force . 1 uni tl evelduri ngD ece m ber971.

Sukhoi Fitter t1959) The PavelSukhoi-designed family of tacticalfighters, assigned the reportingnameFitterin the Westby theAir Standards Co-ordinating Committee,offers the mostextraordlnary example of incremental development in the historyof combatarrcraft design.Thefirstprototype of thislargesingle-seat warplane,

theS-1, wasflownin 1955.An aerodynamically improvedsecond prototype, theS-2,followed, and this,withfurtherchangesas theS-22,wasorderedintolarge in 1958as scaleproduction theSu-7B,to becomeknowninthe Westas Fitter-A. Variousfurther modifications wereintroduced, resulting in theSu-7BM, the

Su-TBKLand theSu-7BMK, thetwo last-mentioned embodying changes enhancing rough{ield capabjlity. In 1966,an experimental version, the S-221(Fitter-Blwasflown, thishavingvariable-sweep wing outerpaneis.A production derivative of this,theSu-17 (Fitter-C), withuprated engine and deepened dorsalspine,made

itsappearance in servicein 1971, beingexported as the Su-20,thisdiffering in equipment standard butbeing externally similarandtherefore retaining the reportingdesignationFitter-C. A longernose withterrainavoidance radar anda laserrangerresultedin the Fitter-D. andan exoortSu-22

versionwitha larger-diameter rearfuselagebecameFitter-F. Fitter-E wasa two-seat trainer introducing version a drooped nose,andmid-1979 twofurther versionsappearedin servicethetwo-seatFitter-G witha deeperandbroaderfuel-housing dorsalfairinganda newvertical tail,andan equivalent single-

1971.Noteworndarkgreenand Fitter-H. seater, Fl Su-7BMK grey-green field-applied finishand Fltter-A of a V-VSFrontovaya Aviatsiya regiment,Trans-Baikal largelyobscurednational (51Su-7BMFitter-A Military District, 1978.(2) Su-7BM insignia. of Egyptian Air Force,1976, Fitter-A of theAlgerianAir transition Force,1977.(3) Su-7BMK Fitter-A [6] Su-7UMMoujik-A Air Force, trainerof Egyptian Air Force.in of theCzechoslovak 1976.(7) Su-20Fitter-C of the of 1980 t4l Su-7BMFitter-A .1974.tB) Su-20 PolishAir Force, IndianAir ForceduringIndoFitter-C clf55thStrikeSqdn, Pakistan conflictof December

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Air Force,1977.The Egyptian planview (8a) of sameaircraft showsminand maxsweepangles, Notethatthe probesextending f rom the nosearedepictedas seen view frombelow,(8b) Head-on of thesameaircrafifullyswept, of Libyan t9l Su-20Fitter-H Air Force,Okba ArabRepublic BenNafiBase.in 1980.

McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom ll (19601 The most significantand most successfuljet fighterof the 'sixtiesin the westernhemisphere,the Phantomll was first conceivedin 19 54 as a sh ipboard attackfighter,flyingfor the firsttime on 27 May 1958. Characterisedby a ratherobese, buibousfuselage,with sharply cantedouter wing panelsand a

one-piece tailplane withpronounced a n h e d rath l , eP hantom ll wasscarcely an exampleof aeropulchritude, nautical butit was to provesupremely versatile and to enjoytwodecadesof continuousproduction. Beingthefirst production aircraftwithvariableareaintakes and provision for a semi-recessed missilearmament,

thePhantomll enteredthe US Navyinventory [astheF4H-1FJ latein 1960,andthatservice w asto recei ve a totalof I,218 aircraft of thistype[theUSMC receiving a further46) by the timedeliveries of shipboard modelsterminated in December 1965.Meanw hi lthe e, P hantom ll hadbeenadoptedby theUSAF

Tactical Air Command,entering USAFservjce[asthe F-4CJin 1963,and2,640beingpr ocur ed. Standard USAFmodelswereexportedto eightcountries, and special versions wereproduced for the RAFandLuftwaffe. Licencemanufacture alsotookplace in Japanwhere138wereadded to the5,211 bui l it n t heUSA.

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[ 1] F-4 8[Bu A erNo.152234o] i U S Na vySq d nV F - 84J ollyRog e rs. USS/ndependence, 1965.Note lig h g t u l lg reyupperandglos s y insi g n iwh a i t eunder s ur f ace s , (2) F-4 C[63- 666]171s ftigh te r, lnt e rce p tor S qdn,M ic higan Ai r N ati o n aGu l ar d,S elf r idge A N GB , 19 8 0 No . teov er all lightgr ey y h.[ 3] F - 4E airsu p e ri or itf inis

(6 8 -4 1 3o) f 3 2 n dT a c ti c aFil ghter Sqdn,36thTFW,Soesterberg, Netherlands, I 970.[3a) Upperand lowerplanviews showingthedark g re e na n dtancamg re e nme . dium ouflageand paiegreyundersurviewof faces,and(3b) head-on F GRMk 2 6 8 -4 1 3[4 . ) P h a n to m tX T g l 2 ) N o 2 3 Sq d n ,R A FW atti . ) F-4D s h a m Su , ffo l k1, 9 8 0 [5

, R F-4E35+79 501H i ko-tai(81 t3-602) 306th FighterSqdn, of (69-7526)of Aufklarungsgeschthe lranianlmperialAir Force, GermanLuftMeharabad,Tehran,1970 [6] RF-48 wader52, Federal [BuAer 153099], Reconnaissance waffe,Leck,1972.Notestandard S q d n V M C J - 2 .U S M a r i n eC o r p s , NATOfinishof glossdarksea grey,darkgreenandlightgrey. N A S J a c k s o n v i l l eF, l o r i d a ,19 7 0 , (71 RF-4E(57-69091of ihe 501 emblemofAKG52. [8a) "Panther" Hikotai, Air Self-De{ence Force, t9l F-4E(187)of lsraelDefence ForceduringtheArabHyakurA i B , H o n s h u ,J a p a n ,19 8 0 . Force/Air conflictof October1973. [7a) "Woodpecker"emblem of the lsraeli

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Dassault-Breguet Mirage III [and 5) t1961) One of a generationof bisonic fightersfollowingin the wake of the KoreanWar,France'stailless deltaMiragelll represented a dramaticadvancein speedcapabilityover the generation of fightersprecedingit, Without doubt the most outstandingWest Europeanfighter of the 'sixties in terms of export success,and

contemporaneous withtheMiG-21 and F-104Starfighter, the Miragelllwasclaimed to betheonly productionfightercapable of bothflyinqat Mach2,0with air{o-airweapons andoperating fromlessthan2,500ft(762m)of unpaved runway. TheMiragelll firstflewon 17 November 1956. andtheinitialoroduction

MiragelllCbasicinterceptor entered servi ce i n 1961,i n whichyearthedual-role Mirage lllEwithincreased fuelmade itsdebut,followed, in 1967,by thesimplified Mirage5. The Miragehasestablished a record amongWesterncombataircraft for production longevity, ordersfor of thisdeltafighter all versions

so farexceeding 1,400,with manufacture exoected to continue i nto1983.fl J Mi ra ge lllCZ [B ] 1) N o 2 S qdn,Sout hAf r ican Air Force,Waterkloof , 1974. camouflage Hlgh-gloss disruptive in darkgreenandsandon upper (la) Emblemof No 2 surfaces, 2. (2) MiragelllC Sqdn/Eskader (1O-LE)of Escadron de Chasse

3/10"Vexin", BA I88 Djibouti, 1980.(3) MiragelllEA(l-007) of I Escuadron de Caza,Vlll BrigadaA6rea,FuerzaA6rea Argentina, at JoseC. PazAB, BuenosAires,(4) Mirage5COA de Caza, [3029]of Escuadron FuerzaA6reaColombiana, at GermanOlanaAB,Palanquero, (5J MiragelllEEof Escuadron

112 of Alade Caza12,(SpanishJ Ejercito delAire,ai ManisesNoteAIa11 emblem, Valencia. thelegendreading"Vista, sueriey al toro"(literally translating as "Sight,luckand to thebull").(6) MiragelllE of Escadron deChasse2/4 [4-BSJ "La Fayette", BA 116 Luxeuil, 1977N . o teSi o u xIn d i a nH ead

emblemotEsc2/4.(7) Mirage 5BA (BA28)of 2dmeEscadrille de Chasseurs-Bombardiers at Florennes, Belgium. Note2dme Esc"Comdte" emblem.(8) Mirage 5M (M413)of 21 W i ng,2nd Tactical Air Group,ZaireAir Force,Kamina. [9J Mirage5PA (7O-411) of Operations Group Air Force. South.Pakistan

(tO) Mirage Masroor, Mauripur. Air Force, SSDEof Egyptian in underside 1975.Notewingtips pl anvi ew (l .l ) Mi rage lllO (A3-691, No 75 Sqdn,RAAF,at Butterworth, Malaysia, 1978. (l l a) E mbl em of N o 75 Sqdn, sA D[513) Unit ed [12) Mi rage , ArabEmirates Air Force,Abu DhabiInternational Airport

BAC Lightning [1959] Conceived as a specralised allweatherinterceptor and unique amongfightersin havingtwin enginesvertically disposed and staggered to providewhatwas, at thetimeof itsdevelopment, minimumtransonic dragfor maximum possible thrust,theLightningfirstflew(astheP.1Bl on 4 April1957.Characterised by

an exceptionally deepfuselage, muchof whichis occupiedby intakeductingandtailpipes, theLightning beganto enterserviceat theendof 1959,soon establishing a reputation for qualityof handling. superlative Production wascompleted in September1972,witha totalof 337 built,including 55 for export.

F Mk 24 (X N 775)of emblemof No 56 Sqdn(justperFJ Li ghtni ng N o 92 S qdn,Gutersl oh, Germany, ceptible on thenoseotXP744). 1974.Notemattdarkg reenupper (3) Lightning F Mk 6 [XR747]of and naturalmetallowersurfaces No5 Sqdn,Binbrook, 1979,instanadopted autumnI 972forGerman- dardNATOdarkseagreyanddark (la) The"Cobra greencamouflage. (3al "Maple basedLightnings. andMapleSprig"emblemof No92 Leaf"emblemof No 5 Sqdn. (4) Lightning S qdn.(21Li ghtni ng F Mk 3 T Mk 5 (XS45B]of (XP744), No 56 Sqdn,Watiisham, Lightning Training Flight,Bini n 1965.[2aJ" P hoeni x-ari si ng" brook,and (4aJemblemof LTF.

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Saab Viggen (1972) Of exceptional configuration in beinga delta-winged canard,the Viggen(Thunderbolt) is the proplatform" ducto{ a "standardised concept-abasicdesignmore or lessreadilyadaptable to fultil a varietyof roles.Viggen wasfirstflownon B February 1967,andtheinitialoroduction model,theAJ 37 whichentered

servicewiththe SwedishFlygv a p e ni n th es u mme o r f 1 9 /1,w as optimisedfor theattackmission. Tandemtwo-seattrainingiSK 37) (SH37 andSF andreconnaissance 37Jvariantswereevolvedas "firstgeneration" Viggens, and a versionoptimisedfor the interceptrole,theJA 37,is seenas a "secondgeneration" model.

Havinga morepowerfulengine, newsysterns anctstructuralchanges,theJA 37 Viggenbeganto enterservicein 1980,and 149 of thisversionarefollowing 180"firstgeneration" Viggens. (1) A J 37 of F 15 (H 5l si nge Flygfl ottiliJ,Sdderham n, South Norrland Military Command,1980 (2) JA 37 of F 13 (BrAvalla

Flygflottilj), Norrkoping,East SwedenMilitary Command,1980. (2a) fop planviewof JA 37 showing elaborate three{onegreen and stoneuppersurfacecamouflagepatternadoptedfor the Viggenmid-seventies. t2b) Headon vlewoI JA 37 withAAMsand fueltank.(2c) Emblemot F 13 BrtvallaFlygflottilj.

Northrop F-5 lTiger II) t1965) Conceivedas an attemotto halt the upwardspiralin fighter size,weightand complexity, the F-5beganlifeas a companysponsoredproject,withthefirstof three prototypesorderedfor USAFevaluation flyingon 30 July 1959.Theprogramme was subsequently virtually"mothballed"untilselectionof the

Northrop lightweight fighter in May1962as a counterair warplanefor supplyto favoured nationsunderthe US Military Assistance Program.Service statusof the F-SAand twGseat F-SBwasattainedearlyin 1965, 1 34ofthe 6 2 1o f th e fo rm e ra n d latterbeingbuiltby the parent company,plus220 licence-built

[as CF-Sand NF-5]by Canadair and 69 (asSF-5)by CASA.An upgradedversionoptimised{or air superiority, the F-SETiger ll,flewon 11 August1972,more than 1,100(including equivalent two-seatF-5F)havingbeen delivered by mid-l981,whena furtherdevelopment, thesingleenginedF-SG,wasbeingbuilt.

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(11F-sA(105341, 302ndFighter Sqdn,lranianlmperialAir Force, Mehrabad, 1969.t2) CF-SA,433 Escadrille Tactiquede Combat, CanadianArmedForces,basedat Bagotville, Quebec,in 1972. (O)F-sAofthe No I Sqdn,Royal Jordanian Air Force,King Hussein Air Base,Mafraq,1975. (41F-5A-40(01399)of 341 Mira

.1 [Sqdn] ol the 1 la PterixMahis IFighterWing], HellenicAir Force,Achialos,1971. t5l F-58 o f 161 F ilo(Sqd nl, Tu rk Ha va Kuvetleri.Bandirma.1976. (6 ) N F -58 of Nr 31 3 Sqd n o f t he KoninlijkeLuchtmacht,Twenthe, Netherlands,1971. t7l F-sE (015681of 64th FighterWeapons Sqdn, 57th FWW,NellisAFB,

Nevada,in "Aggressor"finish [one of nine usedfor dissimilar combat trainingl.Note Fighter WeaponsSchoolemblem [intake trunk,[7a] and [7b] TacticalAir Command emblem (fint. i8l F-5E t 159BB1)of US Nav alFigh t e r Weapons"Top Gun" School, MiramarNAS, Calif.Note school em blem .t gl F- s E[ 1037] o f N o 7

(009331of lranianlslamicAir Sqdn, RoyalSaudiAir Force, Taif.[1oJ F-SE[4820) of 1o Force.(l2a) Topsideof 00933. Esquadrdo,10Grupo de Aviaq5o tr3l F-sE(J-8041 of GrupoB, de Caqa, FOrqaAdrea Brasileira, FuerzaA6reade Chile,basedat Antofagasta AFB.tr3al Topside SantaCruz AFB, Rio de Janeiro. [lOa) Topsideot 4B2O(rr] F-5E viewof J-804showingunusual (14) F-5E (015451,527th TacticalFighter insignia arrangement. TrainingAggressorSqdn, based t74-00959l"ChungCheng"ofthe Wing,Nationalist at Alconbury,Cambs.0 la J Upper 2nd Fighter Chinese Air Force.Taiwan. surfacesof 01545. [f2) F-5E

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Mikoyan-Gurevich Flogger [1971) Numericallysecond in importance among currentSovietAir Force combat aircraftand rapidlyoverhaulingthe most numerous,its stablematethe MiG2l [alias Fishbed),the Floggeris todaya family of very closely related aircraftwhich, possessingan extensivecommonality of both airframe and systemsfeatures,

now coversalmostthe entire spectrum of fighter tasks,from interceptionand air superiorityto interdictionand ground attack. It was first introduced into service by V-VSsquadronsin 1971as a straightair combat fighter under the designationMiG-23 (Flogger-BJ, but the basic design has been progressively

developedto fulfilother tasks. A shiftin emphasisfrom air defenceto the more traditional tacticalsupport tasks of the FrontovayaAviatsiyaresultedin evolutionof two distinctFlogger versionsoptimised to differing degreesfor the air-groundrole. The firstof these,the MiG23B (Flogger-FJ,introduceda new

forward fuselageembodying a dropped noseto improvetarget acquisitionand a modifiedpower plant.The second.the MiG-27 I Flogger-D), features basically similarforwardfuselage,but commonalitywith other Flogger family members was restrictedto wings and tailsurfaces,major changesbeing incorporatedin

the remainder of theairframe and in thesystems. The mosr recentserviceversionof the MiG27 ( Flogger-J) features aerodynamic modifications to the wingfilletsanda further modifiednose.Theair-airand air-ground versions ol the MiG23 havenowbeenexoorted to morethana dozencountries.

(r) MiG-23MF Flogger-B of IAP-VO i4) MiG23 Flogger-Eof Libyan Stranyregiment in overalllight Arab RepublicAir Force,1980. greyairsuperiority finish.The t5) MiG-238M Flogger-Fof the noseemblemindicates Algerian Air Force, Note that thatthe aircraftbelongsto a unitthat individualaircraftnumber hasachieveda prescribedlevel conforms with ground lineand of merit.(21 MiG23 Flogger-G not with line of flightas is basedat Kubinka,westof Moscow, usual.(6J MiG-238M Flogger-F 1 9 7 8(3 . 1 Mi G 2 3 MFF l o gger-B of of the Czechoslovak Air Force, theAir Forceof the DDR,1979. Pardubice,eastof Prague,1980.

(7) MiG-27Flogger-Dof V-VS FrontovayaAviatsiyaas part of Group of SovietForcesin Germany,1978.(7a) Planviewof same aircraft depicting both upper and lower surfacesof port side. Note that brown ione can vary from light sand to deep caf6 au lait.[7b] Head-on view with wings at minimum sweep.

Dassault-Breguet Mirage Fl (1973) Possessingno relationship to the delta-wingedMiragesfsee pages190_'1l otherthana common design origindespiieits name, the MirageFl was designedas a multi-rolefighter.In its F.1C form optimisedfor the allweatherair superioritymission and carryingno air{o-ground weapon deliverysystem,it is

now the primaryair defence fighterof France'sArm6e de l'Air, but it has also been exportedas an all-altitude air superiorityand all-weatherattackfighter[Fl E), as a dedicatedground attack aircraft with simplified avionics[F1A) and as a two-seat conversiontrainer[F 1BJ, The first MirageF1 prototype

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w asfl ow non 23 D ecember 1966 seriesproduction of theFlC versionbeingorderedfor the A rm6ede l ' A i ri n 1969,w i ththe fi rstfl yi ng on 15 February 1973, and thefirstdeliveries commenclng [to Escadron2/30)late in December of thatyear.By mid1981,al most450hadbeen delivered to theArmeede l'Air

and to 10 exportcustomers,and sufficieritorders had beerr placed to sustain production untilat leastearly 1984.A tacticalreconnaissanceversion, the MirageFl R, is under development and is scheduledto enter Arm6e de I'Airservicein 1983, and the MirageF1C-200has a fixedflightrefuellingprobe.

fl) MirageF1CNo44,Escuadron 2/5 "llede France", BA 115, in standard Orange-Caritat, Air des CAFDA[Commandement Forcesde D6fenceA6rienne)air finishof dullbluesuperiority g reyuppersurfaceswith natural (laJ Upper metalunderside. surfacesof 5-OC.(2J Mirage F lCEo f Esc uadr 6n 14l,A lad e

Caza14,of Spain'sEidrcito del (2aJEmblemof AireAlbacete. Ala 14and uppersurfacesof (3JMirage MirageFlCE 141-04. FlCG of | 14aPterighe tWing), Air Elliniki Aeroporia IHellenic (4) MirageFlCH Force],Tanagra. of RoyalMarocAir Force. [5J MirageF|CZot No 3 Sqdn, SouthAfricanAir Force,

Noteenlargeddetail Waterkloof. of No 3 Sqdnemblem.(6JMirage Air Force. FlCK of Kuwaiti (71Taildetailof currentArmee de I'AirMirageF1Cunitswith airscrapviewsof individual Note c raftidentification. thatthe arrowsindicateditfering emblemson portand starboard sidesof verticaltail.Top row

lefttoright,No930-MFof NoB1 2/30 "Normandie-Ni6men"; 12-ZCoI 2/12" C ornouaille"; N o5412-Y Hot 1/12"Cam br 6sis": and No19 s-NQof 1/5 "Vend6e"; lowerrow, No28 30-FFot 3/30 "Lorraine". finishis Overall similarto No44 s-OC. [8J MirageF1JAof FuerzaA6rea, Ecuatoriana at Guayaquil.

NanchengA.5 [Fantanl t1973] Builtat Nancheng, China,for theAir Forceof the People's Liberation Army,theA-5,alias Kiang(Aftack)5, is alsoknown by thewesternreportingnameof Fantan.TheA-5 is essentially a strikefighterderivative of the licence-built MiG-19 diurnal clear-weather interceptor, and it differsfrom its progenitor

primarilyin havinga new fore quantities of aircraftof this fuselagewithsharplypointed Vpe- probablyseveralhundred -have sincebeenbuilt. conicalnoseand lateralintakes (t ) An A-5of theAFPLAin the in placeof a nosepitotintake. Thecockpitis movedforwardand naturalmetalfinishutilisedby an internal bayhasbeen mostaircraftof thistype.The ordnance introduced. The prototypeof the national insignia appearson the A-5is believed to haveflownin fuselageand upperwingsurfaces 1970,withserviceintroduction only.(laJ Detallof underside commencing in 1973.Substantial of the noseshowingasymmetric

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arrangement of nosegeardoors andcameraport.(2JA-5 in twotonecamouflage schemeof dark earthand mid greenwithazure blueundersurfaces as usedin combatoverVietnamearly1979 planviewof (2aJ Half-and-half sameaircraftillustrating the starboardupperand lowersides, and (2bl head-onview.

lAl Kfir t1975) lsraelAircraftIndustries' Kfir (YoungLionlmulti-role fighter affordsone of the mostextraordinarysag.as in theannalsof combataicraltdevelopment. The successful matingof a French Mirageairframe(seepages190-11 witha USGeneralElectric J79 turbojet, theKfirbeganto join theinventory of theaircompon-

(3) Ktir-Q2(871)in two-tone entof the lsraelDefenceForce, fl I Kfir(71Blof initialseries H e yH l a ' Av i r, i n A p ri l1 9 7 5,and withstandardsand,tanand greyairsuperiority finish wasfollowedby an improvedver- mediumgreenuppersurface finish adoptedby HeylHa'Avirin 1978. (4) Ktir-C2(8551in standard sion,theKtir-C2in 1976.The and paleblueundersurfaces, in Iatterembodiedmodifications 1975-6.Notetheblack-outlined dual-role to finish.Hatzerim. in improvecombatmanoeuvrability,orange-yellow triangles for use the Negev, July1976.(4a) Halftheseprimarily planview consisting of as quicklD aids.(2) Kfir(725) and-half of 855 showing canardauxiliary surfaces, dogof N o 101S qdn,thepremi erH eyl thestarboard upperandlower toothwingleading-edge Ha'Avirfighterunit,1975-6. extensurfaces withlD panels, and (2aJE mbl em sionsandstrakes on thenose. of N o 101S quadron.(4bJhead-onviewof 855.

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British Aerospace Hawk (1976) Thefirstof thenewgeneration jettrainers of basic,iadvanced withlightattackcapability to haveachievedservicestatus, ihe Hawkfirstflewon 21 August 1974,thisbeinga pre-productionaircraftbuilton oroduction tooling-therebeingno prototypesas such-and thefirst production examples beganto

in Hawksarebeingmodified enterservice(at RAFValleyJ to November1976.An outstandinglycarrya pairof AIM-gLairJosturdyand manoeuvrable aircraft, air missiles to supplement home the Hawkhasreolaced theGnat defencefighterforcesin an TrainerandtheHunterin the emergency. Forthecloseair RAFfor advanced flying,weapon supportroleprovision is made training. for two additionalwingstores and radionavigation pylons(increasing It is suitable for a varietyof thetotalto fourl ,A 30mmA dencannonand roles,however, operational and packmaybe carried a substantial numberof RAF ammunition

on the f uselagecentreline,and the Hawk has also demonstrated its abilityto carry a total externalload of 6,5001b.In additionto the RAF,the Hawk has been suppliedto the air arms of Kenya,Indonesiaand Finland,arid has also been ordered by the ZimbabweAir Forcefor deliveryin 1982,

It ) Hawk T M k 1 (XX19 2Jof N o 1 TacticalWeapons Unit, RAF Brawdy,SouthWales,and bearing the insigniaof No 234 Sqdn. [lal Upper and Fb) undersideof XX192. Note applicaiionof the disruptivecamouflageto all surfaces (lc) Crest of Tactical WeaponsUnit.[2) Rearfuselage detailof Hawk T Mk 1 tXX198)

of No usedby TWUwithinsignia 79 Sqdn.[3J Rearfuselage detailof HawkT Mk 1 tXX229l usedby No 2 TacticalWeaPons withthe Unit,RAFChivenor, insignia ol No 63 Sqdn.[4J Hawk as Painted Mk 50 demonstrator in l979 in US Navygrey/white in finishwithalllettering darkblue[5] HawkMk 50

in itsoriginal demonstrator darkearthandstonecamouflage for Middle withazureunderside Eastdemonstrations. [6J Hawk T Mk 1 [XX170)servingwithNo 4 FIyingTrainingSchool,RAF Valley.Notecrestof No 4 FTS carriedon fin.[7J HawkT Mk 1 tXX253)of RAFRedArrowsaeroteam baticdemonstration

[a) HawkMk 52 of KenyaAir 1981.Note Forceat Nanyuki, scrapviewof upperwingsurface insignia. showingthe national [9] HawkMk 53 of No 1 Training wing,Indonesian Armed Forces-AirForce.flOJ Hawk Mk 51 of Hdvllv21,Satakunta Air Force,Pori, Wingof Finnish 1981. Gul fof B othni a,

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Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet [1g7B) Developed andmanufactured under programmeby the a co-operatlve Frenchand Federal Germanaircraftindustries. theAlohaJet is,liketheHawkon theoreceding pages,oneof thenewgenerjet ationof basic/advanced trainerswithlightattackcapability.Firstflownon 26 October 1973,theAlphaJetis being

manufactured to fulfilfundamentallydifferentrolesin service withtheArmdede lAirandthe Luftwaffe, theformeremploying it for thetrainingmissionand thelatterutilising it for the closeair supportand battlefieldreconnaissance tasks.The AlphaJetenteredFrenchservice in thesummerof 1978,achieving

operationstatusin Germany two yearslater.BothFrenchand Germanservicesareto procure 175 aircrafI, and exportcontractsfor AlphaJetsfrom Belgium,Egypt,lvoryCoast, Morocco,Nigeria andQatarhad beenfulfilled or werein processof ful fi l ment by mi d-1981. Althoughretaining itssecond

seat,the Luftwaffe AIoaJet is normally flownas a singleseaterfor thecloseair support rolefor whichit is equipped pod housinga witha centreline 27mmcannon,two hardpoints undereachwingcarryingbombs or rocketpods.A totalof 466 AlphaJetshadbeenorderedby mi d-1981, w i thsome260deliver ed

[ l ) AlphaJet E of 3 14 eGro uo ement Ecole"ChristianMartel", Arm6e de lAir. Tou rs.in 19 80 . [la) Upper surfacesof same air craft.Note Dayglopanelsindicatingtrainingrole.[1b) The e m blem of GE 31 4. [2 J Alph a J et A, Jagdbombergeschwader 49, FederalGerman Luftwaf{e,1980. (2aJ Upper surfacesof the same

aircraft, and [2b] theemblemof JaboG 49.(3) AlphaJet E of thePatrouille de France, the Arm6ede lAiraerobatic team, 1980.(3a) Uppersurfaces of the sameaircraft.(4) Secondprotoin typeAlphaJet E IF-ZWRXJ demonstration coloursfor the 1975ParisSalonde lA6ronautjque.(5JAlphaJetB of Teme

Escadrille, Centrede Perfecf ionnement, Force46rienneBelge, Brustem,1980.(61AlphaJetof the ForceA6rienne de la C6te Abidtan,1980.Notethe d'lvoire, retentionof civilregistration TU-VAG. [7] AlphaJet[231)of RoyalMoroccan Air Force,I981. [a) AlphaJet of TogoAir Force. Noteretentionof civilregis-

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trationsV-MBA.(9JAlphaJetA in ihe [No 58) as demonstrated .l USAin Seotember980.Notethe Frenchregistration F-ZVLBon aftfuselagedespiteLuftwaffe emblemon portair intake[replacedon starboardintakeby an Armdede lAir roundelJ. The "Lockheed" legendon the nose indicates theUSsponsorship.

General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon [1979) Firstflown(YF-16)on 20 January1974,the Fighting Falcon achievedservicestatuswiththe USAFin 1979,withthelsraeli and Belgian airforces,in 1980, andwiththe Dutch,Danishand Norwegian airforcesduring198l Production for Europeanservices is beingundertaken in Belgium andthe Netherlands, and USAF.

p l a n n i nign m i d -1 9 8cal 1 l edfor ityfinish.(rbl 4thTFSemblem the procurement of i,3BBFighting (on portsideof thearrintakeJ, (1c) 3BBthTFWemblem(on the Falcons 204 F-168 [including two-seaters), f uture recipients starboardsideof the intakeJ, and including EgyptandSouthKorea, (ldJ Tactical Air Commandcrest ol the4th finJ.Notethatthe trl F-l 64 t79-02951 [on vertical Tactical FighterSqdn,3BBthTFW, 3BBth"Lightning Flash"is reH i l lAF B ,U ta h 1 , 9 8 1 Il . a) U pper peatedat tipof vertical sursurfacesof 79-0295in standard faces,"HL" signifying HillAFB. USAFtwo{onegreyairsuperior- i2l F-l64 temporarily in the

markings of No 306Sqdn,KLu, Leeuwarden, Holland, 1980 (2al Theemblemof No 306Sqdn. (3) F-164(105),l sr aelDef ence Force/Air Force,I980.[3aJUpper surfaces of 105.[4] TheF-16B at HillAFB, [78-0096]evaluated 1980,i n " E urope an O ne"lizar d camouflage schemeof twotones of greenpluscharcoal,

PanaYia Tornado [1981) The resultof an unprecedented multi-national GerIUK,Federal and manyand ltaly)development programme, production Tornado is aircraftfor close a multi-role air support,interdiction counterair strikeand reconnaissance. Firstflownon l4 August1974, Tornadoenteredservicein 1981 withthe Tri-National Tornado

and385 Training Esiablishment, are [includingi 65 interceptors) to be producedfor the RAF,2l2 1 I2 for the for ihe Luftwaffe, Marineflieger and 100for ltaly. GRMk1 [24322)B-50 [1JTornado Tornado of theTri-National TrainingEstablishment ITTTE]at 1981.[1a) Upper Cottesmore, surfacesot 2A322 ffourth Brit-

ish productionaircraftlwith wingsfullyswept.(lb-J Head-on viewof TornadoGR Mk 1 in a configuraiion representative withwingandfuselagepylons, etc.(2) Tornado[4005JG-24of Luftwaffe assignedto the TTTE. Notethatdualcontrolconfigurationis indicatedby a tail numberbelow50.(3JTornado

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P-02(secondGermanprototype) in Marineflieger finishas 61, testedat Erprobungsstelle NoteKormoranmissiles. Manching. , t he P -14(M.M . 7001] [4JTornado Italianpre-production aircraft, withTTTEmarkingappliedsolely on the for visitto Cottesmore of theformalopening occasion 1981. of theEstablishment,

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