Jasta 5 Green Tail Colour

[rholland]

I would be interested in your opinions on the above. Yes, I have read various internet discussions on the point. My own view is that many modellers tend towards too bright a green, even an emerald green, when in my opinion a darker green is more likely. Not a dark camouflage green, but perhaps a Brunswick green? I do understand that the so-called "flying circuses" used bright colours, but given the relatively restrained tastes of the day I am not sure that the green would be as lurid as some modellers depict. I would welcome your views either way. Many thanks.

 

Richard in NZ

[Beardie]

Personally I would think that the green was probably about as bright as was available. It wasn't about aesthetics but about being easily seen and recogniseable. They wanted the aircraft to be identifiable from a reasonable distance (before they were in firing range). The clashing red borders would seem to back up a desire for the unit colours to stand out.

 

The thing about the German approach was that they wanted the enemy to think, 'Those fellows must be really aggressive and dangerous to be so unafraid of being so obvious' or 'Oh no those are Jasta 5 machines we best fly the other way' and I would guess that this meant as gaudy as possible with the available colours of the day.

 

Nowadays we are trained to think camouflage, element of surprise etc. where the clear intention with the german WWI scouts was Peacock aggressively to make the opposition nervous. You can see that the german observation planes (DFW's, Rumplers etc.) were by and large camouflaged and understated which shows that the Germans were very clear about what they were aiming at with making the scouts stand out.

[JackG]

There was a thread on the Jasta 5 colour posted over at the Aerodrome forum, and reveals the source of the suggested emerald green was from a magazine article.

http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13328

 

 

The late Dan San Abbott states we actually don't know what type of green it was, so would stick with a standard green as given in the methuen book of colour, 27A8 - which is the upper left corner in the below chart:

 

 

This lighter green seems to be what Wingnut Wings suggests on their profile of an overall green Jasta 5 aircraft , found here:

http://www.wingnutwings.com/ww/productdetail?productid=3023&cat=3#

 

regards,

Jack

 

Edited September 25, 2016 by JackG

[rholland]

Thank you gentlemen for your thoughtful and helpful replies. I am not one to argue with the late Mr San Abbott, and will proceed with a lighter shade accordingly. At least no-one can prove it wrong...

 

Richard in NZ