RAF Chipmunk Livery Question

XM692 kindly supplied me with some photos of WP927, but if anyone out there has pics of her at any stage of her career, they would be most welcome.

John

Just as a general answer to the initial question, that is the light grey and dayglo schemethat was used on RAF training aircraft through the 1960s until 1973. A short lived red and white sceme replaced it on alot of aircraft until the more familiar red and white sheme was introduced across the range a year or so later.
The grey and dayglo gets my vote over the more garish later sheme!

I recall watching the CUAS ones in 1972/3 and they had a mixture of old and new.

In later years I was the Engineering Authority in the RAF for the Chipmunk: All RAF ones were the same red/white/grey except for the Gatow pair which were grey overall. When this pair was exchanged for a pair with the mod for the proper VHF radio (AD120?) in 1987 or 88, I got Marshall’s at Shawbury to re-paint 2 aircraft ex-storage and just use grey instead of red – WG466 and WG486 if memory serves.

I also recall getting aircraft re-painted at Slingsbys, which included the RN aircraft with a different scheme. A Slingsby pilot took the first one back to Plymouth and told me how he thought “that’s odd, all those Chipmunks look different to this one” because the RN had modified the scheme from the drawings!

Happy days.

If anybody has pictures of WK562 that i own and fly in france since May1996…..

Robert,

Thanks for that photo, however someone has kindly sent me an actual colour photo of WZ869 which is great news…….:D

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Just as a general answer to the initial question, that is the light grey and dayglo schemethat was used on RAF training aircraft through the 1960s until 1973. A short lived red and white sceme replaced it on alot of aircraft until the more familiar red and white sheme was introduced across the range a year or so later.
The grey and dayglo gets my vote over the more garish later sheme!

Theres a name for sites like that…..!!**!!! Pic is here…

Sorry missed the link off… www.fandh-aircraft.co.uk/ chipmunks.htm

Thanks very much. So is that dayglo underneath the legend ‘LIFT HERE’ ?

This Chippie was at Cranwell for 5 years and then with 1 FTS Linton on Ouse until a student killed it.

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This one is similar, dayglo where you suggested. The links dodgey, its fourth pic down.

Best Wishes.
Robert.

One never forgets a serial!

Ref I.Garey’s comments on Oxford UAS Chipmunk WD345.
We had her on ULAS (i.e.London UAS) late 60’s early 70’s.First flew her 7/2/70
Last 21/09/72. She was in the basic scheme as on the first post.
Happy Days!!!

It’s a Cranwell job, therefore, Cambridge Blue (light) with Oxford Blue (dark) either side.

Thanks very much. So is that dayglo underneath the legend ‘LIFT HERE’ ?

This Chippie was at Cranwell for 5 years and then with 1 FTS Linton on Ouse until a student killed it.

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The badge just forward of the cockpit on the green flash identifies it as a Central Flying School ‘Chippy’. We at Cranwell inherited the ‘JP’ fleet and ‘Vintage Pair’ when Little Rissington closed. Not sure where the ‘prop’ element went.

Can anyone tell me the likely colours of the aft fuselage bands on this photo of WZ869 ? Looks like it also has some horizontal dayglo ones as well. Comments invited…..

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It’s a Cranwell job, therefore, Cambridge Blue (light) with Oxford Blue (dark) either side.

Best Wishes.
Robert.

WZ869 at Cranwell

Can anyone tell me the likely colours of the aft fuselage bands on this photo of WZ869 ? Looks like it also has some horizontal dayglo ones as well. Comments invited…..

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Thanks everyone!

Thank you to all those who replied to my question – and I’m happy to have offered the opportunity for some reminiscing too! 🙂 I guessed around 1970, so it’s good to have it confirmed.

Cheers

Simon

Response tpo tangmere

Yes, the CUAS Chipmunks wore the famous “light blue” stripes, whereas we in OUAS had “dark blue” ones. I remember an interesting intermediate scheme between the old standard Chipmunk silver with yellow rear fuselage bands to the day-glo patch jobs. I was with Nottinghan UAS at Newton in 1960 and we had the “old” yellow bands replaced by day-glo paint, which extended to the fin. The only photo I have is one I posted last year on another thread of WD345 which was “doctored” by the RCAF boys from Langar one night. The only RAF Chipmunk with the maple leaf! At OUAS a year or so later, we had the day-glo patches, rather like the top photo in this thread, but rather variable in position and colour (yellowish or reddish).
Cranwell Chipmunks wore a green band instead of the yellow one.

Silver /yellow T bands survived till 1959 when liberal coatings of orange flourescent appeared until about 1964 when the polyurathane grey/dayglo stripes came in. This lasted until the raspberry ripple scheme mid ’70’s.

I think all UAS Chipmunks carried some form of identifying colours. I seem to recall the Cambridge ones at Marshalls had light blue fuselage stripes. Saw them regularly and flew in them once or twice…but no photos. They also had a Husky that I bummed a ride in…or was that an AEF? Before going grey and dayglo the Chippies were silver with yellow bands but no idea when it changed over. I also recall an Oakington Varsity that had been “zapped” with CUAS stickers and emblems from Battle of Britain film Me 109’s etc etc. Oh, how I wish I had taken a picture! Probably only lasted on the aircraft for a few hours….!

I have idly wondered about Chippy colour schemes. Was it the case that each squadron had their own colours and at some stage they were integrated into a common scheme?

This was at Wyton in the summer of 1970 when I was i/c three Chippies for the sqn pilots to play with.

Beautiful summer that was, hazy, lazy days. Wyton’s runway was closed for resurfacing and the Victors and Canberras all went to Honnington. The pilots would phone in for availability around 08:30 and then motor over to fly the Chippies – we had three.
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OUAS livery

When I was in Oxford UAS at Bicester 1960-1963 ours were rather like that livery. Maybe not exactly as each unit varied a bit. They were stick-on panels of day-glo as I remember. OUAS had dark Oxford blue stripes along the fuselage too.
I shall try to find some pictures.