Yellow "noses" of Me 109? Who and Why?

[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by Kutscha

Nifty, to add to your post.

Originally Posted by Kutscha

Trainer a/c were painted yellow to make them more visible. Now why was that done if yellow was not known to be more visible Mirek?

So Mirek, even in the 1930s-1940s yellow was known to be the more visible color. For further proof Mirek, answer me why the British used a yellow stripe on the leading edge of the wing instead of another color?

Now as to the 'Red Baron'. He did not use red to make his a/c more visible but to make it more recognizable. Even the other a/c in his unit used red on their a/c. Great pychological move by him and his Jasta.

I agree, and it is important to make that distinction. In wartime, the air forces normally want camouflage to take precedence over obtrusive personalized markings. Brightly colored paint is usually applied to speed identification, but not always for safety.

In 1940, the Luftwaffe Bf 109s were given yellow noses because German flyers frequently opened fire on their own planes by mistake, and several were shot down. It was felt that something had to be done, and yellow spot color seemed like a quick fix. But German pilots were not told the real reason for the yellow paint and some speculated it was "special invasion markings" for Operation Sea Lion. Some RAF pilots assumed that a yellow-nosed German fighter was an advertisement of elite status, and that myth was passed on to the USAAF.

Of course there are other reasons for using bright colors on combat aircraft. A Mustang pilot from the 4th FG had a red and white checkerboard painted on his engine cowl to help his wingman find him in the prevailing fog over England. Both JG 1 and the 78th FG used a wrap-around checkerboard pattern on the noses of their aircraft (presumably to distinguish themselves from other units, but I am not certain). During the Cold War, the US Navy splashed a variety of bright colors on their carrier aircraft, but that was done mainly to encourage espirit de corps and recruitment.