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

[Ruy Horta]

Originally Posted by Mirek Wawrzynski

Second what about holy tradition (Great Red Baron). Army is one of the conservative society.

In this case it is mixing apples and oranges.

Yes, red is a traditional color for the Richthofen Geschwader, which can be seen with the reintroduction of JG 2 and its red color code, however the tactical identification markings of 1940 are of a different nature and yellow seems to be the choice (compare with yellow on other types operating above water in pre-war times).

So we have tradition of one unit versus tactical standardization of the whole Jagdwaffe. (Actually in this sense the color red would demand exclusivity).

OTOH, it might have to do with the fact that the color red was associated with the enemy markings.

Poles, French, Brits and later Soviets.

These are thoughts, nothing based on hard fact or documentation.

[Kutscha]

Nifty, to add to your post.

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.

[Graham Boak]

I was told that trainer aircraft were yellow because the yellow flag was flown above infected tents when fever hit the Army. The message was the same - keep away!

Yellow is often used as a warning in nature, Bees and wasps being examples.

[Sergio Luis dos Santos]

Even before WWII I can remember other uses of yellow for better vision. Just remember the Dornier and Blohm und Voss planes in the Trans Oceanic Flights of Lufthansa from Africa to Brasil. Upperwing surfaces (From photos it looks horizontal stabilizers uppersurfaces also) were in bright yellow for safety. Easy to spot on water surface from above. Clear colors were of use years before on sailplanes. They use to land in any place when winds stops! Even the record-breaker He-115 had large areas in yellow.

Didn´t Italians have an "Africa" scheme, ivory with red strips on their planes and some sailplanes too? Surely for better identification in an emergency landing on sea or sand.

I also think several planes on 20´s and 30´s doing long distance flights over water or forests also have light colors on uppersurfaces but have nothing with me, just a guess.

So we can verify that years before WW II some colors were recognized as being easily seen from distance, like the yellow.

[Modeldad]

In the case of the Red Baron, do not confuse personal affectations with the use of a color as a "technical warning device'. IIRC, I believe VonR was pleased when his Albatros aircraft was referred to as " Le Petit Rouge".

BTW, yellow leading edges were used by both the RAF and the Imperial Japanese Navy/Army for head on identification.

[odybvig]

Hello

The German scientist Hermann von Helmholtz (1821 - 1894) knew this long time before ww2. If he was jew or not has little relevance
Most people belive that the eye is most sensetive to red, but as we now know, it is yellow.


Best
Olve Dybvig

[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.

[Modeldad]

and then there were those with white cowls.

and white was used in North Africa, not yellow, which probably blended in with the landscape.

[Ruy Horta]

The Italians were already using white.