Spotting in America

[JayBee]

Not necessarily Robert. A lot of American B-25s in N.Africa had RAF fin flashes along with their normal markings. I do not know why but I suspect it was for identification purposes.


Jim

[Martin H]

Not necessarily Robert. A lot of American B-25s in N.Africa had RAF fin flashes along with their normal markings. I do not know why but I suspect it was for identification purposes.


Jim

I suspect it could also indicate a machine diverted off a lend-lease contract to bolster USAAF strength for op Torch, with barely enought time to repaint the roundles.

[kitnut617]

Not necessarily Robert. A lot of American B-25s in N.Africa had RAF fin flashes along with their normal markings. I do not know why but I suspect it was for identification purposes.


Jim

I suspect it could also indicate a machine diverted off a lend-lease contract to bolster USAAF strength for op Torch, with barely enought time to repaint the roundles.

Thanks guys for the insight. Seems odd though that the paint scheme has survived to today ----


And you may be right



EDIT (a bit later):

OK did a search, this aircraft was used in the movie 'Catch 22'

http://www.grissomairmuseum.com/gallery/bombers/plane-3

[reddfoxx]

Beautiful pics. Glad your car was okay (or at least didn't suffer major damage.)  Looks like it was a good day, and the planes are pretty well taken care of.

[NARSES2]

A lot of USAAF P.40's in North Africa also have the RAF style fin flash and quite possibly other types. I've always assumed it was a recognition marking and never thought of the diverted from Lend Lease option. Be interesting to find the definitive answer. I've had a look at some books I've got on US camouflage and markings and whilst mentioning the fin flash they don't say why 

Seems to have been phased out of use in the majority of cases by the end of the Tunisian campaign, although there are always examples which defy the general rule.

[kitnut617]

Maybe they were lease/lend for Britain and the USAAF commandeered them and it was easier to convert the RAF roundel by painting a white star over the red and white portion of the roundel

[Logan Hartke]

I have some sources at home that I can dig up if people want the authoritative answer, but it was entirely due to recognition purposes. It wasn't a Lend-Lease/reverse Lend-Lease situation, at all; it was done for recognition in the MTO since they were often operating alongside RAF aircraft. I also suspect that it was adopted to prevent confusion with German markings since the now-familiar USAAF white bars had not yet been adopted. Once that change was introduced and Allied forces became more familiar with US aircraft and markings, the fin flash became less necessary.

If you go tracking most (if not all) of the aircraft so marked, you'll find that they were originally ordered by the USAAC and not taken over from RAF contracts. That did indeed happen, though. The best known-example is of the Bell Airacobras taken on charge by the US after Pearl Harbor and given the designation "P-400". These not only retained their RAF paint schemes, but also their serial numbers! Most unusual for the USAAC/USAAF! Even so, the British markings were painted over, including the fin flashes.



Cheers,

Logan

[NARSES2]

Thank you Logan, it's nice to know the reason 

I knew about the reason for the P-400 designation and indeed have built a t least one, but have never noticed the serial number before, but it's on two of the aircraft in the Osprey Aces book on the P-39. Thanks again

[Captain Canada]

Interesting. Cheers !

[BrittMac]

I just looked through all of these pics and I want to say thank you for putting them up.  Great stuff!

[Captain Canada]

You're welcome ! Thanks for looking ! I enjoy travelling and hunting for this stuff, so it's nice to hear that you also enjoyed it. Cheers !

[reddfoxx]

Took a little trip an hour or so east of me, just to find some planes (and have lunch.)

Cobra at American Legion in Pickerington, Ohio.  I knew it was there but it still surprised me, since I expected it to be on the ground.


A couple of angles you don't usually get on a Cobra:





P-2 at another veteran's group, Baltimore, Ohio:







F-4 at Newark-Heath airport, Ohio:


Interesting story.  Ignore the typos...





Huey at VFW in Newark:

[NARSES2]

That P2's an interesting colour. Almost like Azure Blue. Faded paintwork or painted as such do you know ?

[Rick Lowe]

Interesting history on the Phantom, it shows there are folk out there in various commercial organizations who have a sense of needing to preserve historical artefacts. 

[zenrat]

Cobra on a stick is great as is the Orion in that colour.
Thanks for sharing.