Battle Damage

[Harry_the_Spider]

Following on from my two Malta threads I was wondering if repair patches in particularly active theatres of combat were painted or left in bare metal/primer.

[Dan_RAFBC]

Is there a high chance that they would be left in their original finish if the repair was salvaged from another unserviceable aircraft?

[Black Knight]

yes and no.

There is evidence of Australian A-20s having wings taken from other aeroplanes and the mismatch of camo scheme was left. Also New Zealand F-4U Corsairs having replacement parts which had a different colour scheme. Some Beaufighters on Malta show signs of salvaged replacement parts not repainted. Quite a few USAAF B-17s were repaired using wings and sections from other battle damaged but non-reparable B-17s. Look at the build on here of a 'Bit o Lace' 

 

 

[dnl42]

Adding to the above, there are photos of USN aircraft with mismatched MLG legs. 

[Work In Progress]

11 hours ago, Harry_the_Spider said:

Following on from my two Malta threads I was wondering if repair patches in particularly active theatres of combat were painted or left in bare metal/primer.

Bear in mind that any time an all-metal aeroplane has significant holes in the skin the chances are that internal structure is also significantly damaged. So it's rarely a simple case of "stick a metal patch over that and send it out again". If you are in a hurry to get an airframe back in the air it is usually quicker to replace whole components, in a pinch off off another differently-damaged airframe, than to repair the damaged component. Then if you have time, and if it's a suitable case for repair, you can un-zip the damaged component at comparative leisure and return it to spares stock. But that would involve refinishing.

(And for aircraft which are in full production and available in surplus, e.g. Battle of Britain, it in many cases takes fewer man-hours to replace a wing or tailplane with a factory new one than to repair a damaged one)

Edited August 27, 2020 by Work In Progress

[alt-92]

45 minutes ago, Work In Progress said:

If you are in a hurry to get an airframe back in the air it is usually quicker to replace whole components, in a pinch off off another differently-damaged airframe, than to repair the damaged component.

Something Allied forces were pretty good at, using forward deployed MUs and RSU's to regenerate numbers.

The Germans never quite got the hang of it. 

[LDSModeller]

14 hours ago, Harry_the_Spider said:

I was wondering if repair patches in particularly active theatres of combat were painted or left in bare metal/primer.

If you look at this WWII Film of USN Black Cat Ops,

about 6 min in, are some ground crew dealing to some skin

damage on a Catalina. The last Sailor is applying a "Patch".

it appears to be painted - obviously important in a Maritime environment

 

USN Black Cat patch repair

 

Some years ago there was some photos of the Spitfire (Spitfire Mk Ia R6915)

at the IWM, posted here on BM showing repairs to the bottom of the Elevator

fabric, which were not painted over

Some "holes" I have seen repaired with metal tape.

It really depend I guess on how bad the damage is and types of repairs

carried out.

 

Few photos I have managed to find

P 40 Fuselage

 

Multiple holes/repairs

 

F4U Fuselage repairs

 

Hope these help?

 

Regards

 

Alan

 

[Harry_the_Spider]

Thanks for the input everyone. I have an idea how I will tackle it now.

 

 

[alt-92]

22 hours ago, LDSModeller said:

F4U Fuselage repairs

 

Very nice shot that also shows the paintwork on the star & bar really well.

Thanks