Painting RAF aircraft?

I am aware from conversations with those that served on 607 squadron that the codes were either applied when awaiting collection at the MU or when they arrived on squadron.

However the individual letter was always applied on the squadron and only the squadron letters “AF” were applied by the MU.

Sure I remember reading of AW Whitleys going straight from factory to squadron??

Roger Smith.

Things may well have been different prewar with much lower rates of production, especially of the heavies. That still leaves open the question of where the squadron number (as it would have been then) was applied.

RAF they were painters and finishers I think when I was in, commonly referred to as Painters and dopers

The trade is (or was) Safety and Surface. Safety was signage through to liferafts etc., Surface was fabric, doping, painting, upholstry etc. etc. a fairly busy and wide trade.

Sure I remember reading of AW Whitleys going straight from factory to squadron??

Roger Smith.

I think it was Lucas who found his new experimental Hurricane Mk.II being painted with squadron codes when he paid a visit to a front-line unit (as test pilots of the time were supposed to do fairly regularly). Aircraft were built without guns, some electronics (IFF, for example) and other Government Furnished Equipment, which were fitted at the MU. This is where some specifc painting would be done, but not (usually) unit codes. In addition to the example quoted above, there’s a picture of a BoB Spitfire written-off by a cannon shell through the fuselage – serial only, no codes (PS Ant just beat me to it). If you look on the Luftwaffe Experten Message Board, there’s a number of pictures of crashed Hurricanes in France – some at least show no sign of ever having full codes.

As pointed out above, there was a wide range of sizes and styles of code letters applied to early WW2 fighters.

There has been considerable discussion of this on Britmodeller, and Edgar Brooks has found that the RAF had no aircraft painter trade at the start of the war, and as late as 1944 a study in SEAC found many examples of poor practice, leading to production of a “how to do – and what not to do” booklet for widespread distribution.

As an example, there’s the famous incident of the Spitfire that only lasted 25mins, Dunlop Urie’s X4110. Written off before the unit codes could be applied:

http://www.aviationbanter.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8571&d=1175325735

Definitely painted in Sqn codes, markings, crests at the Sqn, not at MU’s or manufacturers. That applies today too! We ran out of money on 5 Sqn and thus only 2 aircraft carry the Sqn “fighter bars” on the tail of the Sentinels.

I knew they were ferried with no ammo, but it seems thats all I knew:applause:

I was always under the impression they didn’t go straight from factory to squadron. As I said before “you live and learn.”

Painted, guns and sights fitted but no Ammo for the ferry flight

I always thought they went to a maintance unit first to have paint and guns and sights fitted, you live and learn.

Stations would of had a painting and doping section, it was only about 4 years ago since the last RAF painter retired, bet he was busy lol. They would do everything station wise from signs and ground equipment through to aircraft and components, at Brize as an example they used to spray the Tens in house until they were farmed out under contract in the late 80’s when the RAF more or less stopped spraying, from then on they used to roller bits, including the interiors on VIP’s

.

I’m pretty sure they were done on-squadron, which is why there were some discrepancies/non-standard examples to be found, e.g. 610 squadron’s oversize codes on their Mk.1 Spits.

I excavated an ex-610 sqn Spit (P9451) in 2000. According to some of the information we discovered about it, it had been delivered, new, to the squadron in April 1940 without its squadron code letters and was taken into combat on the day of its delivery by John Ellis who scored a “kill” with it in its anonymous livery.

It was painted up later, presumably when the squadron painter got round to it, with its oversize codes common to all the aircraft they had and which became a hallmark of the squadron for a time. No other squadrons (as far as I am aware) had such sized codes so this more or less confirms (at least for me) that it was a squadron-level task, not a factory one.

Anon.

I do not know for sure but I thought they were done on squadron once delivered, they had to bring them up to combat ready as I think they were delivered unarmed, but I could be wrong. (as usual)

I would have though at a maintance depot prior to delivery rather than factory or squadron.