RAF 43sqn Phantom wing tanks colour

[typhoon1]

Hi There

Wonder if someone could please help I recently came across picture of  a 43 Sqn Phantom taken at Soesterberg airbase on a Sqn exchange but one of the aircraft in the background looked to have overal dark sea grey fuel tank like on the RN FG-1 Phantoms would anyone please know whether these where ever carried the picture was taken in the early 70,s and I believe the RN training squadron was based at Leuchars alongside 43 Sqn and 111sqn at the time.

 

Many Thanks 

 

Craig

 

[Blacktjet]

Leuchars was the navy phantoms home base in the latter years, that tank would have been borrowed. Their hanger was the one on the far left - nearest to the Q sheds. When I arrived there in 1980, it was still full of RN Phantom bits, including a crated flight simulator.

[junglierating]

It was still called Ark Royal Hangar in 1996 whilst I  was det with 899

[Duncan B]

We had hundreds of tanks in packing cases stored all around the airfield as 'war stock' when I was there. They were in all sorts of colours, all white, all green, USAF Green/Light Grey and the normal RAF colours. It was fairly unusual but not impossible to see a tank in one of these colours fitted and sometimes we'd see a tank painted in RAF colours with a different nose or tail cone fitted too. It makes for an interesting model as does having the nose cone colour demarcation slightly offset from the main body of the tank (the body was made up of three sections so if the guys in the Tank Bay didn't line them up exactly you'd see the difference).

 

Duncan B

[typhoon1]

Thank you all gentlemen for your replies most helpful never new there was many colour variations of tank's i have only seen dark sea grey and grey before they got medium grey uppers and never seen any others carried apart from the one i mentioned above. 

Many Thanks

Craig