[Graham Boak]

It is currently believed that these aircraft were initially flown in their USN light grey colour scheme, and that the uppersurfaces were overpainted with Mid Stone. Yes, this was available at this time. As was Azure Blue, but there would be no reason to apply this overall to any aircraft.

Other RN aircraft operating from land bases at the same time retained their RAF camouflage. Specifically the Hurricanes (not Sea Hurricanes) of the RN Fighter Flight in the desert at the same time, which had standard RAF desert colours plus the "spaghetti" scheme then common on the leading edges of the wing and lower nose.