Wing Commander initials on aircraft

[Allan]

the RAF let Wingcos and those of higher rank apply their initials to the fus of their planes and Johnson said that it was a jealously guarded privilege...is this privilege documented in writing anywhere, including RAF documents?....and could the initials be anywhere on the fus and in any style, color or spacing???
Allan in Canberra

[NARSES2]

The ones I've seen are in the standard colour but some are smaller then the normal squadron ID markings.

Not sure if there would be any official documentation however it would seem logical as the Wing Cdr wouldn't have a squadron affiliation so a pragmatic way of dealing with things ?

[Captain Canada]

That's a good question Allan !

[Captain Canada]

My Grandfather Claude H. Gray spent his whole career on the maintenance side, with 6 R&D during the war and then overseas to Baden and finally back to Trenton and the R&D before he retired. When he finally got around to building his favourite fighter in 1/4 sacle RC.....

[perttime]

My Grandfather Claude H. Gray spent his whole career on the maintenance side, with 6 R&D during the war and then overseas to Baden and finally back to Trenton and the R&D before he retired. When he finally got around to building his favourite fighter in 1/4 sacle RC.....

Does that count as a subtle whif?

I'm not a RAF authority, but I'm sure all high ranking pilots' aircraft photos that I've seen have had the initials exactly where the regular codes would be. Nothing that would really draw your attention, unless you are looking for the initials.

[TallEng]

My Grandfather Claude H. Gray spent his whole career on the maintenance side, with 6 R&D during the war and then overseas to Baden and finally back to Trenton and the R&D before he retired. When he finally got around to building his favourite fighter in 1/4 sacle RC.....

Does that count as a subtle whif?

I'm not a RAF authority, but I'm sure all high ranking pilots' aircraft photos that I've seen have had the initials exactly where the regular codes would be. Nothing that would really draw your attention, unless you are looking for the initials.

Almost,
Most of the photo's or profiles that I have access too or have seen show three letters together, normally forward
Of the roundel on both sides of the fuselage,
As per


Yeah okay it's a whiff... But you get the idea

usually painted in the current colour for normal squadron codes.
Although aft of the roundel both sides was also possible, and obviously presented as 'normal' Squadron as per JE J Like the original Airfix Mk IX Spitfire. And (there's always an 'and') I've also seen a Mustang with the wingco's initials with an outline ( possibly on a freightdog decal sheet)

* JCB
for those who would like to know: James Charles Bigglesworth  as used on his Spiteful whilst serving with the 2TAF (allegedly)

Regards
Keith

[NARSES2]

Lovely Hurricane Capt - the undercarriage (to the right) looks a tad hefty though 

[Dizzyfugu]

In the recent Spitfire book from the Planes & Pilots series several individual aircraft are depicted and explained. Primarily three digits/letters were used, but in some cases even four had been applied, in the standard letter size and color of the squadron. But I would not cling to a uniform looks as these were field mods, since even the standard codes had sometimes strange sizes, typo or colors, so a flight captain's machine could have a more individual look, compared to "by the book" RAF colors.

[PR19_Kit]

Lovely Hurricane Capt - the undercarriage (to the right) looks a tad hefty though 

That's the 'HEAVY duty' version....... 

[Allan]

while the wingcos may have had the right to put on their initials, I suppose the placement of the fus roundel couldn't be interfered with   and just while I'm thinking about this I wonder if there were any wingcos who chose not to slap on their initials
Allan in Canberra

[Captain Canada]

Lovely Hurricane Capt - the undercarriage (to the right) looks a tad hefty though 

LOL for sure ! The 'real' undercarriage was 'stolen'. My brother and myself were given the Hurricane as o momento after his death. When we went to collect it his 'friends' had stripped every usable part of it, plus all of his tools, radios, spares and 4 or 5 competition planes and a few scale ones were completely gone , including a 4 foot long replica of Guy Lombardo's bracing boat. Needless to say I knew what he had paid for the undercarriage alone, and the cheque the 'friends' had given my Grandmother was alot less than that....

Oh well, someday I hope to have her back up on her feet and maybe even in the air again !

As for being a subtle whif, never really thought about it ! I guess it is eh ?

[Rick Lowe]

I've seen markings for Ian Gleed's Spitfire in the Middle East and the lettering was Blue outlined in White.

Colin Gray's, otoh, were Red outlined in White.

It sounds like, once you had the 'pull' to get your initials up, the colours were also a matter of personal preference.

Cheers & HTH

Rick

[Allan]

more wingco initials on plane snaps

[Gondor]

That's not a Wing Commanders pennant and the fuselage codes are normal height and position.

Gondor

[NARSES2]

Why on seeing WFD did I think the pilots name was Wilfred ?