43 Squadron chequer markings

Think I can help…!

[QUOTE=Alex Crawford]Hi Andy,

Thanks for the info. I’ll try and get a hold of your book. The picture I saw with the black/white checks was on E-bay but I was outbid. I have 1-2 photos with just the black checks but would like to get 1-2 with the full markings for my book on the Fury/Nimrod.

Contact me by PM and I can probably help you. If you are doing a Fury/Nimrod book have you spoken to Guy Black? Andy Saunders

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the info. I’ll try and get a hold of your book. The picture I saw with the black/white checks was on E-bay but I was outbid. I have 1-2 photos with just the black checks but would like to get 1-2 with the full markings for my book on the Fury/Nimrod.

Alex

43 Squadron….!

Hi,

I have always read/been told that 43 Squadron never had the full black/white chequer markings on their Hawker Furys, only the black part. What photos I have seen seemed to bear this out.

However I have now found the following picture showing what appears to be the full black/white markings.

Looking at the spearpoint badge on the fin the colour looks the same as the ‘white’ in the markings.

Anyone with a knowledge of interpretating b/w photos care to comment?

Alex

Alex. Most certainly there WAS a period when the “white” squares were just the doped silver, but later they went to black and white, and possibly then back to silver again. See my book No 43 “Fighting Cocks” Squadron by Osprey in their Aviation Elite Units series, ISBN 1-84176-439-6. Not that I know anything about the subject, of course! Andy Saunders

Using the RGB probe on Paint Shop Pro the the dark chequer has almost the same values as the centre red of the Roundel. That doesn’t mean it is Red but it is not be as Black as the serial for example.

Try this optical chequer board illusion. ‘A’ and ‘B’ are the same tone and colour. Almost unbelievable until you do a cut and paste in PSP or photoshop.

http://www.killsometime.com/illusions/Illusion.asp?ID=1

Mark

Interesting, it does look white doesn’t it. Why didn’t one of those erks prop up the top wing for the photographer?