Imperial Airways

[balloobear]

Hi! Can anyone state with any authority what colour the codes were on Imperial Airways aircraft, Specifically HP 42's and C Class boats ? Opinion seems to be divided with the majority portraying black, but recently dark blue has started to appear in some kits and images including a "colourised" photo of an HP 42.

Cheers in advance for any help, Simon.

[bzn20]

I've got scans of Imperial Airways brochures printed in the day . The Cutaway paintings show all the registrations in dark blue . HP42,  Scylla Class, Atalanta Class and Scipio Class flying boat . I have a few of these scans . pm your email add and I'll pass them across to you. Includes the registrations of the  fleet in those Classes I mentioned .

[Lazy8]

Imperial's archives are frustratingly light on detail.  The registrations were supposed to be dark blue on all passenger-carrying aircraft.  There is circumstantial evidence that aircraft intended only to carry cargo were supposed to have black registrations, but they were so few in number that it's difficult to be sure (just the two Bolton-Paul mail carriers, really).  Shorts got into trouble for delivering the two L.17s, Scylla and Syrinx, with all the markings in black, but I have yet to unearth any evidence as to when, if ever, they were repainted correctly.  Again, there is some circumstantial evidence that some of the C-Class boats were delivered with black markings, but by the time this may have happened there was a lot going on in the world and there were other things to think about (like camouflage).

 

If the colourised photo you're talking of is the one I think it is (with the Shell bowser in the foreground), the blue is way too light.  The actually colour was dark - almost certainly the same colour as BOAC used, although there is no specification for it in the archives (that we've uncovered so far).  The regular use of a yellow filter by photographers using monochrome film (primarily to make the sky more 'interesting') tends to make the already dark blue indistinguishable from black in most photographs, which has perhaps added to the confusion.

[balloobear]

Thanks for the info,great responses. I was suspicious of the colourised photo, leaning more towards something like a wartime era roundel blue .

Cheers,Simon

[Roger Holden]

On 20/07/2019 at 15:51, balloobear said:

Thanks for the info,great responses. I was suspicious of the colourised photo, leaning more towards something like a wartime era roundel blue .

Cheers,Simon

Yes; they were a very dark blue.....near black. Famed historian and long-time Imperial employee John Stroud said you could only tell they were blue when standing a few feet away from the fuselage. The wartime roundel 'Dull Blue' is indeed close. I strongly suspect the blue used by BOAC may also have been the same shade.  The DH Albatross used a lighter shade (of wedgewood blue) which was specifically selected for that type. 

[bootneck]

 

The decals of the Welsh Models "C Class Empire flying boat" are very dark blue, although they actually look black on the sheet.

 

They are definitely very dark blue on the model, but note how a change of angle makes the registration on the fuselage look black.

 

Mike

[JWM]

9 hours ago, bootneck said:

The decals of the Welsh Models "C Class Empire flying boat" are very dark blue, although they actually look black on the sheet.

But on model blue hue is clearly seen...

During WWII they looks rather black

Cheers

J-W

 

[bootneck]

Those photo's were of the wartime livery, when the aircraft were completely repainted and probably also the serials.

[Lazy8]

Serials on wartime camouflaged BOAC aircraft were officially black with a 1" silver outline on top and sides, plain black underneath.  It looks from photos as if the silver outline was regularly wider, but it might just be that its relative brightness makes it seem more prominent.  In the early days of the war the camouflage was applied hastily (and often removed after only a day or two to meet other perceived requirements) and it is clear that, for instance, the Frobisher fleet retained their blue reggies for quite a time.  Once camouflage was regularised (early 1940 or thereabouts) the registrations remained black with an outline until after the war.  The only variation was the grey registrations applied to a few Moquitos and Yorks towards the end of hostilities, but these still had the silver outline.