Raspberry Ripple

[MikoLee]

We all know the Red White and Blue markings of Royal Aircraft Establishment, A&AEE and ETPS is know as 'raspberry ripple' but anyone know it's real official name and where it came from originally

Miko (got a raspberry rippl 'what if' on the bench right now)

[PR19_Kit]

The name or the colour scheme itself?

The name comes from the ice cream 'delicacy' that  was in vogue at the time they switched to that idea rather than the greys and day-glo schemes that went before.

[McColm]

Raspberry, vanilla and chocolate if memory serves me right.

[kerick]

Sounds like a good idea!
Off to the Dairy Queen.......

[MikoLee]

The name or the colour scheme itself?

The name comes from the ice cream 'delicacy' that  was in vogue at the time they switched to that idea rather than the greys and day-glo schemes that went before.

Yep, I know the what it is, I'm wondering what it's official name was, there must be a proper name for that red white and blue paint scheme

Raspberry, vanilla and chocolate if memory serves me right.

I think that's Neapolitan if you switch raspberry for strawberry

Miko

[NARSES2]

My doctor says "let's get this thread back on subject and stop enticing my patient with all these ice creams" 

It quite possibly didn't have an "official name" as such. Instructions being issued as to the colours and proportions to be used on test aircraft etc, but then someone said "ah that reminds me of a ......" and the name stuck ?

The British Civil Service has a history of such things, the "official" name simply being the specific document ID.

I would say that this is simply speculation on my part, based on 30 years or so of dealing with His Majesty's Civil Service

[PR19_Kit]

The 'Testing Colours' book, which is all about the RAE's schemes from start to finish, doesn't give ANY of their myriad schemes actual titles, and IIRC  even the 'Raspberry Ripple' scheme is referred to as I typed it, in quotes, so maybe there never was anything 'official' about any of them.

[MikoLee]

It quite possibly didn't have an "official name" as such.

The 'Testing Colours' book, which is all about the RAE's schemes from start to finish, doesn't give ANY of their myriad schemes actual titles, and IIRC  even the 'Raspberry Ripple' scheme is referred to as I typed it, in quotes, so maybe there never was anything 'official' about any of them.

I have that book too, I couldn't find a name for it either, maybe it's named after the first unit to use it. Royal Aircraft Establishment colours, or A&AEE markings, ETPS scheme???

Miko (I think I'll e-mail F.A.S.T. museum, see what they say)

[zenrat]

The name or the colour scheme itself?

The name comes from the ice cream 'delicacy' that  was in vogue at the time they switched to that idea rather than the greys and day-glo schemes that went before.

Yep, I know the what it is, I'm wondering what it's official name was, there must be a proper name for that red white and blue paint scheme

Raspberry, vanilla and chocolate if memory serves me right.

I think that's Neapolitan if you switch raspberry for strawberry

Miko

Strawberry/Chocolate/Vanilla is Neopolitan.
Raspberry Ripple is Vanilla with a swirl of Raspberry sauce through it.

[NARSES2]

My Doctor has just put you in "Her Book" for putting temptation in my way    

[MikoLee]

 I tried F.A.S.T (Farnborough Air Sciences Trust) museum, today I got a brilliant reply from  David Wilson, museum trustee


Dear Miko Lee,
                Your query about the "Raspberry Ripple" colour scheme has been passed to me for action. At the time of its introduction (mid 1970s) I was the Aircraft Servicing Manager (ASM) at A&AEE Boscombe Down and that included ETPS. I also worked very closely with my opposite numbers at RAE Farnborough (which included RAE Bedford) and at RSRE Pershore (the airfield for RSRE Malvern).

    The official name of the scheme was "MoD (PE) Conspicuity Colour Scheme"

    (The PE stands for 'Procurement Executive")

The rules under which we operated were drawn up by Director, Flying  (D/Flying) and his directorate was responsible, among other things, for policy on flight safety matters in the various establishments in the Procurement Executive.

    The background to the introduction of an aircraft colour policy is that there had been a fatal accident between a low flying Phantom and a crop spraying aircraft; neither pilot saw the other aircraft. As the trials involving aircraft on trials work required flying "randomly" and certainly avoiding commercial flying and air corridors, the directorate decided that we should make all our aircraft as conspicuous as possible.

    A trial was conducted at RSRE Pershore (long since closed) using large models of various aircraft shapes and the conclusion they came to was that for maximum conspicuity (ie. standing out from the background) was to have the topsides painted white, the lower surfaces painted a particular shade of darkish blue and the tail section and various other bits painted red. The red applied to the tail section involved a very stark change of colour to red.

    I am working from memory on the issue of the particular shade of blue paint to be used on the lower surfaces of the aircraft but I recall that what was specified was a British Standard colour which I think was called Oxford Blue. It was the colour that the Beagle Bassett aircraft which the then Prince Charles (now King Charles) had used whilst training to fly a twin engined aircraft. The odd thing about it was that it was NOT the same as the blue already being used extensively by the Royal Air Force and was classifies as being "Not in vocab"  This means that instead of using the blue paint available in the standard lists of spares, the blue paint for the conspicuity colour scheme, although very similar to the standard available blue, had to be bought in relatively small but expensive quantities.

    When it came to deciding exactly which parts should be painted which colour, although we at Boscombe Down stuck to the letter of the scheme, the RAE Farnborough aircraft had the scheme applied using the natural lines of the aircraft. I have no reason to suppose this made the aircraft less conspicuous and it certainly made the aircraft look very smart.

    I do not recall hearing the term "Raspberry Ripple used at Boscombe Down but by the time I became involved with the FAST Museum (about 2000) it was in common usage and I think it invoked a good deal of attraction and enthusiasm. As the PE was reduced in size, the aircraft began to reappear in aircraft collections around the country and indeed around the world. Whenever I see an ex PE aircraft, it invokes a high level of interest, nostalgia and enthusiasm.

I hope that has answered your question; I would be happy to try to get more specific details for individual aircraft if you need more help in your quest to be accurate with the colours; do come and see us again as we have done a great deal of work to improve our displays - you will not be disappointed.

David Wilson
Trustee of FAST.
�

I'm super grateful to the staff and trustees of FAST for the work they do in preserving our aviation heritage and taking the time to reply to enquiries from the like of me!

�

Miko (returning to F.A.S.T in the very near future)

[zenrat]

Wow.  What a fantastic response.
So different from the complete lack of any communication at all I received when I wrote to the Museum which held Mickey Thompson's Challenger LSR car asking about what colour blue it was.
Well done.

[Rheged]

What a comprehensive  reply!  Hats off to them in this case.  Thanks for sharing it, Miko.

[NARSES2]

Fantastic reply and pass our thanks on to Mr Wilson   

[Old Wombat]

That was a brilliant response, & a credit to Mr Wilson & his team!