Spitfire anti-slip panel material

[TonyOD]

Spitfire Mk V decal callouts seem to suggest a black anti-slip panel on the port wing almost fitted as standard. Photographic evidence suggests that some of them didn't have it:

 

 

Whereas the Vb I'm currently building definitely did:

 

 

My question is: does anyone know what this would have made of? A rubber mat or suchlike stuck on, or just some kind of durable black anti-slip paint? The example above has resisted wear and tear much better than the rest of the wing root.

 

[Troy Smith]

1 hour ago, TonyOD said:

My question is: does anyone know what this would have made of? A rubber mat or suchlike stuck on, or just some kind of durable black anti-slip paint? The example above has resisted wear and tear much better than the rest of the wing root.

 

AFAIK, neither

Presuming it's the same as fitted to Hurricanes,  it's like really coarse wet and dry sandpaper, unrestored Hurricane in Finland.  See below.

 

this appears to show it torn

Spitfire Mk. Vb. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

dark grey

Spitfire Mk. IIA, 1941. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

If I find a better one I'll post it.

 

The detail pics.

This may have been painted, I think it's vary dark grey originally

 

 

 

 

 

this being the access side I think this is more like the original colour.

 

 

 

 

 

from

 

 

HTH

[spitfire]

Found this on the  Key Aero site, it mentions the non-slip pads at the end, I'm sure I've got an Edgar post about it somewhere. https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/139588-spitfire-walkways

On early Marks, with one radiator (and including the XII,) groundcrew were not supposed (in fact there were strict instructions on the subject) to walk on the starboard wing, since it could cause "dishing" of the unsupported metal, and this meant a replacement wing. When the second radiator came into use, the upper surface was made of thicker material, and braced, so that either side could be used. From late December, 1940, a non-slip pad was introduced, on the I & II, on the wingroot, but, since this was painted over, the rougher texture is generally not visible.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[BS_w]

when the non skid material was used it was rubber sheet(Wondergrip) bonded on metal skin(Spit Hurri, typhoon early)

this material was replaced by non skid paint ( the rubber walkway decrease 5-6 MPH the max speed)

[TonyOD]

Thanks all. range of possibilities then. I suppose it's feasible that whatever was put there eventually got worn off if the airframe got enough hammer. I'm planning to have a bash at wing root wear on Zumbach's Spit, obviously the black stuff would wear very differently to the paint exposing bare metal.

[Whitewolf]

On 13/12/2022 at 15:57, Troy Smith said:

AFAIK, neither

Presuming it's the same as fitted to Hurricanes,  it's like really coarse wet and dry sandpaper, unrestored Hurricane in Finland.  See below.

 

this appears to show it torn

Spitfire Mk. Vb. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

dark grey

Spitfire Mk. IIA, 1941. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

If I find a better one I'll post it.

 

The detail pics.

This may have been painted, I think it's vary dark grey originally

 

 

 

 

 

this being the access side I think this is more like the original colour.

 

 

 

 

 

from

 

 

HTH

The Mk1A has paint wear with no black area. The VB looks like it has a torn mat with the black panel showing underneath it.