Royal Air Force roundels
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The Royal Air Force has employed several versions of the roundel during its existence.
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Type A | On all light-coloured surfaces 1915-1942. Under-wing on some aircraft types (mainly fighters) June 1940 to replacement by type C June 1942. |
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Type A.1 | On all camouflaged surfaces 1937 - March 1939 (eg: Supermarine Spitfire); on fuselage sides 1939 to replacement by type C1, July 1942. |
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Type A.2 | On dark surfaces 1915-1923; on flying boats and some prototypes 1923-1937; alternative to A.1 on some aircraft 1940-1942. |
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Type B | On all surfaces of NIVO-coloured night bombers 1923-1937; On upper surfaces of many aircraft until 1947. On fuselage sides and upper wings of overall PRU Blue photo-reconnaissance aircraft 1940-1944 (eg:Photo-reconnaissance Spitfires) and aircraft with "High altitude" camouflage (eg: de Havilland Hornet) 1944-1947. |
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Type B.1 | On some aircraft March-December 1939. Used on fuselage sides of some night-flying aircraft (bombers,eg Vickers Wellington, night fighters, eg: Boulton Paul Defiant) late 1940-mid 1942. Often type A1 repainted. |
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Type C | On light surfaces July 1942-1947; not used on upper surfaces 1942-1945. |
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Type C.1 | On dark surfaces except upper surfaces July 1942-January 1945; upper wings and fuselage sides of all 2 TAF bombers and photo-reconnaissance Spitfires, January 1945 to early 1947. Upper and lower wings and fuselage sides of 2 TAF fighters (eg: Hawker Tempest) January 1945 to early 1947. |
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(SEAC) | Used by units under South East Asia Command and in the CBI theatre mid 1942-46. Red removed to avoid confusion with the hinomaru. A blue/white roundel was also used. Many fighter aircraft in the CBI theatre used roundels and fin flashes of approximately half the normal dimensions. |
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Type D | On all surfaces from June 1947 to this day (note different proportions to Type A). A pale 'faded' version was sometimes used when applied over Anti-flash white. |
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Low-visibilty | Low-visibility roundel used on camouflaged aircraft since the 1970s (note different proportions to Type B). A pale variation is also used on light-coloured camouflage. |
Some of these roundels have also been used on the aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm and the Army Air Corps. They were also used on the aircraft of various Commonwealth air arms until the 1940s or '50s, including the Royal Australian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, Royal Rhodesian Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force. The RAF's predecessors, the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service, used Type A and A.2.
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[edit] Roundel sizes
Note 1 inch = 2.54 cm or 25.4 mm.
Up until mid 1938 roundel sizes tended to vary widely, depending on the type of aircraft; the exception to the use of type A roundels for all aircraft was seen on the overall NIVO (dark green) painted night bombers (eg:Handley Page Heyfords) which used type B roundels.
During the Munich crisis of mid to late 1938 most RAF aircraft adopted green and dark earth camouflage with type B roundels of reduced sizes on all upper surfaces. FAA aircraft were still mostly doped overall silver with type A roundels predominating. To illustrate the progression up to the end of the war the Spitfire will be used as a typical single seat-single engine fighter:
- 1938-November 1939: The first production batches of Spitfires (K9787-K9814) were built with 37.8 in roundels on the fuselage sides-these were centred 39 inches aft of the rear edge of the cockpit door. 56 in type A1s were on the upper wings. From K9815 the fuselage roundels were moved back, to be centred 53 in aft of the cockpit door and 6 in above the main longeron, and reduced in diameter to 35 type A1. This position for the fuselage roundel was subsequently standard on all Supermarine and Westland built Spitfires and Seafires. The first 180 or so built (K9787-K9960) also had factory applied 50 in type A roundels under the wings. After K9960 there were no factory applied under-wing roundels until December 1940. With the change to type B roundels Spitfires built with type A1 roundels had were repainted by the squadrons creating a plethora of sizes and proportions.
- Between K9961 and N3032 the factory paint scheme required 15 in type B roundels on the fuselage sides and a 31.2 in roundel with a 10 red centre was painted on the upper wings. From N3033-P9374 it was intended that 25 in type B fuselage roundels would be used, although few Spitfires saw service with roundels of this size.[1]
Most RAF aircraft went through similar transitions, as a result of which there was little conformity, depending on when the aircraft was built and how squadrons over painted or repainted the roundels.
[edit] World War 2
By the beginning of World War 2 on 3 September 1939, RAF roundel sizes started to show more conformity. It should always be borne in mind that because of the pressures of front-line service there were always exceptions to the standards set by the RAF and that deadlines were not necessarily met. Although type C and C1 roundels were meant to be in use by July 1942 some Spitfires displayed type A and A1 roundels as late as October:
- Late November/early December 1939 to June 1940: All Spitfire units were instructed to replace the type B fuselage roundels with type A roundels. This led to fuselage roundels which varied in size from 25 in to 30 in. Upper wings had been set at 55 in[2] Type B with 22 in red centres until January 1945; Fuselage sides: 35 in type A; no fin flash, no underwing roundels.[1]
- June 1940 to December 1940: Spitfires with the 35 in type A fuselage roundels had a yellow outer ring added, making them 49 in Type A1. All Spitfires built from June had standardised 35 in fuselage roundels, although many had non-standard 7 inch red centres applied at the Supermarine factory, instead of the proper 5 in. All Castle Bromwich built Spitfires had roundels with the correct 5 in centre spot; in addition all Castle Bromwich built Spitfires had the roundels centred 52.25 in aft of the cockpit door and 7.5 in above the main longeron. Although this was not much of a difference on the slim fuselage of the Spitfire it affected the "sit" of the roundel, making it noticeable in photos. As many Spitfires as possible had type A roundels painted under the wings, along with a pale green/blue camouflage colour. The under wing roundels varied widely in size and location depending on which Maintenance Unit (MU) prepared the aircraft before delivery to the squadrons. The Spitfire 1a of 19 Squadron shown in photo 5 has 25 in Type A under the wingtips, indicating it may have been processed by 6 MU.[3][1] Fin flashes were painted on starting in late May 1940. These varied in size although they were mostly 21 in wide, divided in 7 in red, white and blue strips, and covered the full height of the tailfin.
- December 1940 to July 1942: 35 in type A1 fuselage roundels, 50 in type A on lower wings. Fin flash standardised at 27 in high and 24 in wide, equally divided into three eight inch stripes.
- July 1942 to January 1945: 36 in type C1 fuselage roundels. 32 in type C lower wing roundels. Fin flash 24 in square with stripe widths of 11in, two in and 11 in.[4]
- January 1945 to June 1947: On all 2 TAF aircraft Type B upper wing roundels were either converted to 55 in type C1 roundels or over-painted and 36 in type C1 roundels painted on. Under wing roundels were converted to 36 in type C1. The proportions of the rings and centre spot could vary depending on the skill of the painters carrying out the conversion.
Although the Spitfire is used as one example, because it was one of the few British aircraft to see front-line service before, during and after World War 2, other aircraft types went through similar transitions. During the transition from A type to C type roundels some Hawker Typhoons displayed 42 inch type C1 roundels which were simply modified type A1s. After June 1940 the official sizes for roundels were:
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Type A | From June 1940: Single and twin engine fighters, light and medium bombers, dimensions could vary but generally 50 inches for lower wings. |
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Type A.1 | From June 1940: Single and twin engine fighters, light and medium bombers 35 inches. Exceptions: Hawker Typhoon 42 inches, Westland Whirlwind 28 inches. Heavy bombers, transport aircraft 49 inches. |
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Type C | From July 1942: Single and twin engine fighters, 32 inch. Not used on Night Bombers or de Havilland Mosquitoes. |
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Type C.1 | From July 1942: Single and twin engine fighters, light and medium bombers, General Aircraft Hotspur and Hamilcar gliders, 36 inch. Some night intruder Hurricanes and Spitfires had 18 in type C1 fuselage roundels in 1942. Heavy bombers, transport aircraft 54 inches. |
Many variations could be seen due to the problems involved in interpreting instructions or repainting aircraft in front-line service, but most production aircraft conformed to these basic dimensions.
[edit] SEAC and RAAF
In the CBI and Pacific it was decided in about May 1942 that the red centre spots on RAF roundels could be confused with the red hinomarus carried by Japanese aircraft. As a result roundels were mostly modified in the field by painting over the red with white. Often the yellow outer rings of type A1 roundels were left intact. Note that no British or American built aircraft had factory painted SEAC style roundels - all aircraft had to be repainted, and, in many cases re-camouflaged by MUs behind the lines or by front line squadrons.
- When Spitfire Mk VCs reached the CBI Theatre in November 1943 their type B, C and C1 roundels were all modified by painting out the red centre spots in white, the red of the fin flash was similarly painted over. When the Mk VIIIs arrived in early 1944 most of them had their roundels overpainted completely and replaced by 16 in diameter SEAC roundels with light blue centre spots (a mix of dull roundel blue and white) of approximately 7 in diameter. The fin flashes were replaced by 24 in high by 16 in wide versions, each light blue (leading edge) and roundel blue stripe being 8 in wide.
Spitfires were first used by the RAAF over Northern Australia in October 1943. The Mk VCs had their 36 in type C1 fuselage roundels modified to 32 in SEAC types by painting out the yellow outer ring in the camouflage colours and over-painting the red centre in white. The lower wing type C roundels and upper wing type Bs were also modified by over-painting the red centres in white. The red fin stripe was also painted out with white and, in many cases the blue was extended forward 1 in making equal widths of 12 in. RAAF Mk VIIIs had their roundels and fin flashes modified in the same ways, although some had their 55 in upper wing roundels overpainted and replaced with 32 in SEAC roundels.
[edit] Fin Flash
All Royal Air Force aircraft carry a flash on the fin. This is either red/white/blue, or red/blue on camouflaged aircraft, with the red stripe nearest the leading edge. The Royal Navy and Army do not use the fin flash but have the words ROYAL NAVY or ARMY on the rear fuselage or fin instead. A current exception to this are the Harrier GR7s and GR9s of the Naval Strike Wing, which carry similar markings to RAF Harriers.
In a situation similar to that of the roundels, the fin flash is also shared with the air forces of Australia and New Zealand.
The fin flash evolved from the rudder stripes painted on the rudders of early RFC and RAF aircraft during World War I, the markings comprising blue, white and red vertical stripes doped on the rudder. However, with the performance of aircraft increasing considerably during the 1930's, the practice of applying painted markings onto the (then manually-powered) control surfaces was discontinued due to the adverse affects that could be caused to the surface's aerodynamic balance, uneven or sloppy painting of the marking possibly leading to flutter of the control surface at high airspeeds, and so the fin flash was instigated, the marking being applied to the non-moving fin instead. It was for this same reason that the positioning of the wing roundels was revised so that they no longer overlapped the ailerons.
In an attempt to conform to the appearance of French military aircraft, rudder stripes reappeared on aircraft (mainly Fairey Battles and Hawker Hurricanes) of the RAF based in France, starting in early September 1939. These stripes were painted in standard RAF colours in the order blue, white, red.
Fin flashes were officially adopted in June 1940. For the first six months there was no conformity in the width or height of the stripes and they were painted to cover as much of the fin area as possible. With one or two exceptions the order was red (leading edge), white, blue. In December 1940 type A fin flashes were standardised: height was 27 inches, width 24 inches, divided into three 8 inch wide red, white and blue stripes (eg: photo six, the Sea Hurricanes show this standardised fin flash). On some aircraft, eg; photo reconnaissance Spitfires the fin flash was about half these dimensions.
In July 1942, with the adoption of the type C and C1 roundels the fin flash became 24 in square for RAF fighters, the stripe widths becoming 11 in red, 2 in white and 11 in blue.[4] There were some exceptions; RAF Mustangs all used fin flashes which were 27 in high by 24 in wide. In early 1944 some aircraft types were painted in a "High-altitude" camouflage scheme and adopted type B roundels and fin flashes (eg: photo eight, de Havilland Hornet F. Mk I).
[edit] Colours
Roundel and fin-flash colours were to stay consistent through until late 1938; Matt Red was about FS 595 21136 and the Matt Blue was slightly lighter and brighter than FS 595 15056. The Trainer Yellow was FS 595 23538 Photo 2, a restored Bristol F.2 Fighter is a fairly good representation of these colours.
In 1938, with the threat of war looming, new markings colours were introduced alongside of the new camouflage colours. Matt Dull Blue was much darker, becoming FS 595 25050 while the Dull Red became a slightly brownish brick-red, about FS 595 20109. The Trainer Yellow stayed the same. These colours remained standard for another eight years. [5]
[edit] Photo Gallery
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[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c Hooton, 1982.
- ^ Note: Although most sources say 56 in, research has shown that 55 in was the correct size. Hooton, 1982.
- ^ Note: Serial listings show this to be so. X4744Retrieved 26 September 2008.
- ^ a b Bowyer, 1970.
- ^ Note: It should be noted that colours can be very hard to interpret, even from colour photographs made on modern digital photographic equipment; changes in lighting conditions, different filter types and, in the case of film, different film types, can make large differences in the way colours will look. Using the FS 595 system to interpret British Standard colours can be considered only as a rough guide.
[edit] Bibliography
- Bowyer, Michael J F. Fighting Colours; RAF fighter camouflage and markings, 1937-1969.. London: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1970. ISBN 0850590418
- Bowyer, Michael J F. Bombing Colours; Royal Air Force Bombers, their Markings and Operations, 1937-73. London: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1973. ISBN 0850591287
- Hooton, Ted. "Spitfire Camouflage 1938-1940: Article and Scale Drawings." Scale Aircraft Modelling, Vol 5 No 2 November 1982. Berkhampstead, Herts UK.
- Robertson, Bruce. Aircraft Camouflage and Markings 1907-1954; 3rd edition. London: Harleyford, 1959. ISBN 0816863555
