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Top colour on these P-40's?


Milo Burgh

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Hi all.

 

I just saw this video of USS Ranger launching P-40 planes to North Africa. Any clue what the upper colour is? Bottom I would say is Neutral Grey.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtjeJynhFtw

 

Thanks.

 

Milo.

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2 hours ago, Doc72 said:

Interesting footage! BTW: did these USAAF pilots ever practised taking off from a carrier before? It must have been quiet scary...

You would expect there to be a very thorough briefing on ditching procedure in case it all goes quiet at a critical moment. But they may well not have needed specific carrier launch experience beforehand.

 

For an unaccelerated, free take-off from a carrier deck no special piloting training is really needed. You already have loads of airspeed over the deck even before you start moving: so directional control is much easier than the start of an airfield take-off: just keep it straight and fly off the end.

 

Ranger did 29 knots on her own, and carriers always steam into wind for launch. So if you're steaming into the common 15-20 knot wind (pretty normal) then you're already at mid 40s to almost 50 knots airspeed when you start rolling. You can see from the film that the controls are full of power right from the start of the roll. All you need to to is wait a few seconds and you're flying. As long as you hold direction, and keep the nose attitude where you would for any other short field take-off, there's really nothing else to be done.


Landing without proper training, on the other hand...

 

(Though even that was done during WW2, as in the case of the Gladiators, and even more remarkably seven Hurricanes, which landed on HMS Glorious, with no tailhooks and no deck landing experience, during the evacuation from Norway - a startling piece airmanship, sadly all for nothing as she was sunk shortly afterwards)

Edited by Work In Progress
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11 hours ago, Luka said:

I've built one of these P-40's and I used Sand ANA-616. Has a pink-ish hue to it.
spacer.png

Too early for an ANA number?

4 hours ago, politicni komisar said:

 

Upper suffaces

Desert Sand .no 3

apox F.s 30277 before 43

 

below

Neutral gray .

 

By.P.k

That colour looks too dark, I think.

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