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Silly Question


Panzer Vor!!!

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It was originally to do with making the radome transparent for the radar. The first colour developed was black and so the trend continued I think.

When I was involved in integrating the F-16's APG66H into the Hawk 200 the colours available were quite limited (rain erosion resistance is another key requirement), though we went for Barley Grey or similar FED-STAN-595a colour.There are many more colours available now I think, but the radar still has to be characterised with the paint, to make sure it is OK and no internal reflections occur which would give false targets. The performance issue is also why there are warnings on radomes sometimes saying they must not be painted.

As a side issue, none of could understand why they initially chose black. Most black paints are based on carbon black which conductive to a degree, so not the first thing you'd think of sticking over the front of the antenna.

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I walked into that one :thumbsup:

Hopefully not too painful ??? Those radomes can be very pointy at times :winkgrin::whistle:

Dick

Edited by jenko
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The radome on my Learjet 25 is GRP with a white gel coat, but the very tip is a black anti-erosion resin, as are the tip tank noses. The Sea Harrier FRS-1 nose cone was also a black gelcoat over a GRP type material, but that had a metal tip right at the end for anti-erosion duties. I guess these days the airlines can choose what colour they want, black or white. :D

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