Mmm, wonder if this is a tender where they already know where the airframe is coming from, but it has to go out to tender fue to competition rules – after all, who has a taxiable Jaguar lying around?

There are two Harrier T4 of 4Sqn in arctic scheme on our site: XZ146 and ZB600. There is also an unidentified Harrier GR3 of 4Sqn in arctic scheme and a picture of XV808/W of 3Sqn will be published within the next few days.
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WOW!! There are some ‘holy grails’ of Harrier schemes in your site!! I’ve never seen the coloured tails on 3Sqn aircraft illustrated before for example!

BTW, the T4s with the ‘incomplete’ 3 Squadron badge may actually be carrying the short lived ‘Station Flight’ marking!!

As far as I remember there were two 3Sqn GR3s with white tails and two with red/orange tails. This was a test by RAFG (some Tornados got the same coloured tails) to make aircraft more visible during low level flying after some months earlier in 1989 a RAF Tornado from Bruggen collided with two GAF Alphajets near Wittmund.

That’s right. I’ve known about them for 20 years, but never seen a photograph of the 3 Sqn Harriers (Quite a few of the Tornados, and of course 4 Sqn ‘adopted’ their marking

Was the main reason for the colourful tales on the late period 4 sqn GR.3s to make the aircraft more visible?

The original was, IIRC, painted on the COs aircraft for the 75th Anniversary of 4 Squadron, but they liked them so much that they used them on other aircraft as part of the visibility trial.

In the pictures of post #25, the top 3 seem to be of 1426 (Enemy Aircraft) flight. Some of the numbers seem to tally. In which case, is that “Black 6” in the centre of the first picture?

Yes, in her RN228 guise. The HS129 was rebuilt and flown.

But, does anybody know anything about the Gotha?
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Rod

It’s not a Gotha, it’s the Arado 232 that was used by RAE post war to ferry parts back from Germany. It had an Air Min number that I can’t remember now!

Hello,

Can anyone tell me if aircraft impressed into RAF service at the beginning of WW2, had their civilian registrations painted under the wings. I’ve seen photos with the G-**** in the same position as the military serial numbers, but did the registration go under the port wing or across both as when in civilian colours ?

Martin

If it had the civil marking, it’s unlikely to be one of the impressed aircraft – more likely one of the civil registrations that flew through the war.

Post mid-60s, the colour for the tractors was Golden Yellow (BS381C 356). Prior to that there was an orangey-yellow in the MoS range as colour No 2, but this appears to have been superceded mid 50s by no 405, which was less orange.

There were stories that the yellow had to be diluted toon aircraft to make sure enough wnet around, and a friend’s father remembers using dark blue for the stripes as they ran out of black.