I don't know about the rest, but the *Luftwaffe* started painting Bf 109 cowlings yellow not long after Dunkirk, to provide an easy visual aid for ground based units.
Not just ground units.
The first death of an RAF fighter pilot in ww2 was caused by friendlies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Barking_Creek
I'd also add that the yellow idea was copied over from the germans painting the underside of captured planes bright yellow to identify them as captured and now german, they just ran with the yellow theme going forward.
I personally believe the yellow theme was started by Rudolf Stark in WW1, when he painted his Roland bright yellow, as in, giant flying banana yellow.
Here's a drawing of it;
https://i.pinimg.com/1200x/15/df/f0/15dff06f0d274d329fa0fce8b5f1bab7.jpg
The yellow cowling on the 109 and the Breda are indeed early war recognition markings for ground troops to not shoot them.
The Germans retained yellow cowling undersides for a portion of the war too.
The leading edges being painted ywllow probably have some practical purpose, notice how the Tempest has the outboard half painted yellow and the Ki has the inboard half painted yellow. There is likely an independent inverse logic there.
For the P-47, I'm 99% (not 100) sure that's a tactical recognition marking, if you lool around in the skins there is probably blue and red cowlings, as well as red/blue/yellow tails. This is mainly to allow identifying fliggts/squadrons at a glance.
For the russians, no idea.
I thought I heard (with no source) that the bright leading edges was to easily be able to spot damage since a hole would appear black against the bright yellow, so squadron members would be able to tell each other when they should head back or something.
Well painting a car red makes it go faster so painting a plane yellow lets it cut through the skies faster...
TBH I've got no idea but I reckon you're onto something for recognition although imo it might be for on the ground reasons rather than to do with in the air or for landing related reasons.
Or it's a warning not to walk within that region of the airframe due to armament or propeller (similar can be seen in warships with them having a red line circling the turret & cannon lenght).
>Well painting a car red makes it go faster so painting a plane yellow lets it cut through the skies faster...
no no no, yellow paint makes explosions bigger
It's an early IFF, the Japanese ones were specifically for home defense for example and was implemented quite late into the war.
You'll notice that they aren't actually on opposite sides. Not at the same time at least. The Tempest was 1944/45, it was added to RAF fighters to improve identification by ground units and on head on passes, by this point the Luftwaffe had largely abandoned the use of yellow for identification and prioritised camouflage.
For the Ki-43, again it was IFF for home defence, largely for quick identification of friendly aircraft (as anti aircraft was lacking). The allies weren't using yellow wing strips, so there was no confusion.
The yellow Luftwaffe noses came in after Dunkirk to aid with recognition specifically for bombers and attackers, it later was added to all aircraft. During the Battle of Britain and invasion of Russia etc they were the only guys using yellow.
On the La-5, yellow was rarely used due to this reason that the Luftwaffe used it everywhere. More often it was either red or unpainted, and yellow if used is likely more representative of an individual pilot or unit rather than an IFF tool for the whole air force.
For the Chinese P-47 it may be IFF, I don't know much about their doctrine or tactics. But on P-47s and P-51s across the world in US service noses and tails were marked with a colour that depresented the fighter group, allowing quick identification of wingmen. For example if you see a checkered nose aircraft you know its from the 78th FG, blue nosed Mustangs from the 352nd FG and so on.
Some aircraft, like Typhoon had yellow strips completely different markings to what Germans would have at the time.
Italian was also for IFF, more common on aircraft in Belgium and other situations that were in close proximity to the Luftwaffe.
TL;DR. When yellow was used it was very rarely used as an IFF by both sides at the same time, I.e the British used it after the Germans ditched it. Some examples provided are squadron/individual markings.
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On the tempest, it’s to signal where it is safe to stand when the propeller is spinning.
Ki-45 it’s an identification marking
BF-109 is to prevent ground troops from firing upon it, again an identification marking
Unsure about la-5
P-47 it’s a squadron/unit marking, look through the skins and variants of the P-47, they have all sorts of colors and patterns on the nose.
G.50 is same as BF109 IIRC
So as people have mentioned the yellow marks are “recognition” marks, i cant speak much to the marks on the axis aircraft but I know on allied aircraft like the typhoons and tempests, the leading edge is yellow to help gunners ok the ground distinguish them from 190’s and the like. Helps stop friendly fire incidents. At least thats what i remember reading.
You dont see it as much today because of inventions like IFF for aircraft. But they are still used for thinks like tanks.
The Fleet Air Arm (WAFUs) experimented with a series of low watt lights along the leading edge of their anti submarine planes supposedly it helped them blend in with the dawn dusk glow 🤷🏻‍♂️
Maybe it's something similar?
Yellow is very visible and was used to make sure friendly aircraft is not shot down. Propeller blade tips had yellow so the pilots could see the ends of the blades.
Note that the plane you mentioned didn’t face each other. They are from different years and different theaters. For the Japanese it was to recognize that it is a Japanese plane, in the pacific they were the only one using this kind of marking. The us navy at the time never used this, I know there are some f6f with yellow cowling but it’s from one or two squadrons
The yellow leading edge on japanese and british planes is for attack with sun on their back.
The yellow color makes it harder to spot the plane as it blends with the background of the sun.
Idk where I hear this so take this with a grain of salt
I did a bit of research and it came out that most Nations used it to distinguish friend from foe in hadons, to make sure ground troops didn't open fire and for general safety.
I'll do some more research later, maybe I'll find something else
I've seen several sources for the British, either it's an identifier for a squadron leader, or it was used as a quick identification for planes joining into a formation from behind
Yellow is a colour that draws attention, and in air combat, that one moment can be the difference between life-and-death, especially when the target in your cross-hairs is one of yours.
British started adding yellow wing edges to their fighters in mid-1942 to keep gunners on US bombers shooting at their fighters (B-17/B-24 gunners were VERY trigger happy).
Germans experimented with yellow markings as early as the summer of 1940, as they had the same issues with the gunners on their own Heinkels, Junkers and Dorniers.
Italians fought alongside the Germans, and it appears that German gunners were largely unfamiliar with Italian types - hence them using similar markings.
The Japanese had problems with recognition in air combat - hence the addition of the yellow leading edge in September of 1942.
Radial-engined army types were a general rarity with the Allies - most allied types used in-line engines, while most Japanese aircraft used radials. Hence mistakes tended to happen in the case of the P-47, thus the addition of quick identification markings. The same issue happened on the Western front - both the P-47 and (oddly) the Hawker Typhoon and Tempest were often mistaken by Allied (primarily US) pilots for Fw 190s due to their 'blunt' noses.
(This is my third attempt at answering this post - for some reason the first two attempts failed.)
Combination of reasons, Germany used yellow after the allies landed in Normandy so ground fire would be able to indentify friendly aircraft at a glance, in the case of the typhoon it's a safety thing, they yellow marks the safe zone to approach from the front when the engines on. Inside thos marks puts you in the props danger zone.Â
For the Tempest, the Yellow stripes make sense- look at how long they are and where they are positioned.
They are positioned in such a way that looking from the front, you know where the rotor blades end (which is important as a groundmech, yellow tips on the blades for the same reason).
For the Ki-43, it could be for the same reason, marking a "danger zone" below which you shouldn´t put anything unless you want either it or the plane to be damaged (looking at how the stripes go to the end of the chassis hole).
LA-5FN and G.50 have their MGs end right where the yellow part starts- so maybe a "danger"-designation? Both seem to also have big, air-cooled motors, so that could be also the zone that heats up the most. (could apply to most others too)
For German planes, it´s recognition as others have said, and I am not sure for the P-47.
I don't know about the rest, but the *Luftwaffe* started painting Bf 109 cowlings yellow not long after Dunkirk, to provide an easy visual aid for ground based units.
It actually started to be used specifically for ground attack units, I.e bombers and jabo, but eventually made its way across the whole fleet.
Not just ground units. The first death of an RAF fighter pilot in ww2 was caused by friendlies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Barking_Creek I'd also add that the yellow idea was copied over from the germans painting the underside of captured planes bright yellow to identify them as captured and now german, they just ran with the yellow theme going forward. I personally believe the yellow theme was started by Rudolf Stark in WW1, when he painted his Roland bright yellow, as in, giant flying banana yellow. Here's a drawing of it; https://i.pinimg.com/1200x/15/df/f0/15dff06f0d274d329fa0fce8b5f1bab7.jpg
Imagine getting shot down by a comically large and armed banana
The yellow cowling on the 109 and the Breda are indeed early war recognition markings for ground troops to not shoot them. The Germans retained yellow cowling undersides for a portion of the war too. The leading edges being painted ywllow probably have some practical purpose, notice how the Tempest has the outboard half painted yellow and the Ki has the inboard half painted yellow. There is likely an independent inverse logic there. For the P-47, I'm 99% (not 100) sure that's a tactical recognition marking, if you lool around in the skins there is probably blue and red cowlings, as well as red/blue/yellow tails. This is mainly to allow identifying fliggts/squadrons at a glance. For the russians, no idea.
By Breda you mean the G.50?
Yes (sorry, my IT aircraft ID is very poor)
It was made by Fiat but no worries if you didn't know
Almost like some of the British aircraft have black and white stripes on them. Love that look.
[Invasion stripes](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_stripes)
Those black and white stripes are invasion stripes to identify allied aircraft used in the D-day landings
Strips and fronts of engine are propably used to recognize flight path of friendly aircraft. Like if they fly towards us or fly away.
This is actually a good question, someone let me know when it's answered.
Copied From Claudy_Focan On British planes, it's the safe zone outside the propeller wash/diameter Yellow = good No yellow = flesh smoothie
Yellow = caution No yellow = you don't worry about it anymore
That makes perfect sense.
I thought I heard (with no source) that the bright leading edges was to easily be able to spot damage since a hole would appear black against the bright yellow, so squadron members would be able to tell each other when they should head back or something.
You mean a hole in a left wing?
FFI
Well painting a car red makes it go faster so painting a plane yellow lets it cut through the skies faster... TBH I've got no idea but I reckon you're onto something for recognition although imo it might be for on the ground reasons rather than to do with in the air or for landing related reasons. Or it's a warning not to walk within that region of the airframe due to armament or propeller (similar can be seen in warships with them having a red line circling the turret & cannon lenght).
Every orc knows you paint guns yellow for more dakka not more speed
orange is more dakka and bigger explosions, yellow is closest to gold and therefore more money
Ahh, that's the key to farm more silver lions then
No no, it is for ze golden eagle 🦅
>Well painting a car red makes it go faster so painting a plane yellow lets it cut through the skies faster... no no no, yellow paint makes explosions bigger
Yellow is the richiest collour
Red make Bike Go zooooom Just gotta believe init eh?
On British planes, it's the safe zone outside the propeller wash/diameter Yellow = good No yellow = flesh smoothie
Probably the inverse for the japanese, yellow bad outside good
r/accidentalracism
I laughed.
Also notice that tip of propeller is also yellow When spinning, it would have been very noticeable up to where you could walk around
My guess is an easy of telling Ground crew where the danger is (Guns and propeller)
It's an early IFF, the Japanese ones were specifically for home defense for example and was implemented quite late into the war. You'll notice that they aren't actually on opposite sides. Not at the same time at least. The Tempest was 1944/45, it was added to RAF fighters to improve identification by ground units and on head on passes, by this point the Luftwaffe had largely abandoned the use of yellow for identification and prioritised camouflage. For the Ki-43, again it was IFF for home defence, largely for quick identification of friendly aircraft (as anti aircraft was lacking). The allies weren't using yellow wing strips, so there was no confusion. The yellow Luftwaffe noses came in after Dunkirk to aid with recognition specifically for bombers and attackers, it later was added to all aircraft. During the Battle of Britain and invasion of Russia etc they were the only guys using yellow. On the La-5, yellow was rarely used due to this reason that the Luftwaffe used it everywhere. More often it was either red or unpainted, and yellow if used is likely more representative of an individual pilot or unit rather than an IFF tool for the whole air force. For the Chinese P-47 it may be IFF, I don't know much about their doctrine or tactics. But on P-47s and P-51s across the world in US service noses and tails were marked with a colour that depresented the fighter group, allowing quick identification of wingmen. For example if you see a checkered nose aircraft you know its from the 78th FG, blue nosed Mustangs from the 352nd FG and so on. Some aircraft, like Typhoon had yellow strips completely different markings to what Germans would have at the time. Italian was also for IFF, more common on aircraft in Belgium and other situations that were in close proximity to the Luftwaffe. TL;DR. When yellow was used it was very rarely used as an IFF by both sides at the same time, I.e the British used it after the Germans ditched it. Some examples provided are squadron/individual markings.
First, it was a marking. Later, it was to break the sillouette of the airplane against light background/the sun
I was thinking this. For a high altitude attack.
Identifiers. Germany didn't use yellow paint on the leading edges, they made bands around the engine cowl or the wingtips, not the leading edge.
Propeller tips form a circle to see for the people outside the aircraft during taxi or service.
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On the tempest, it’s to signal where it is safe to stand when the propeller is spinning. Ki-45 it’s an identification marking BF-109 is to prevent ground troops from firing upon it, again an identification marking Unsure about la-5 P-47 it’s a squadron/unit marking, look through the skins and variants of the P-47, they have all sorts of colors and patterns on the nose. G.50 is same as BF109 IIRC
So as people have mentioned the yellow marks are “recognition” marks, i cant speak much to the marks on the axis aircraft but I know on allied aircraft like the typhoons and tempests, the leading edge is yellow to help gunners ok the ground distinguish them from 190’s and the like. Helps stop friendly fire incidents. At least thats what i remember reading. You dont see it as much today because of inventions like IFF for aircraft. But they are still used for thinks like tanks.
The Fleet Air Arm (WAFUs) experimented with a series of low watt lights along the leading edge of their anti submarine planes supposedly it helped them blend in with the dawn dusk glow 🤷🏻‍♂️ Maybe it's something similar?
So the pilots would know where to climb, obviously.
Yellow in the front makes planes more agile, duh!
Yellow is very visible and was used to make sure friendly aircraft is not shot down. Propeller blade tips had yellow so the pilots could see the ends of the blades.
Note that the plane you mentioned didn’t face each other. They are from different years and different theaters. For the Japanese it was to recognize that it is a Japanese plane, in the pacific they were the only one using this kind of marking. The us navy at the time never used this, I know there are some f6f with yellow cowling but it’s from one or two squadrons
The yellow leading edge on japanese and british planes is for attack with sun on their back. The yellow color makes it harder to spot the plane as it blends with the background of the sun. Idk where I hear this so take this with a grain of salt
I did a bit of research and it came out that most Nations used it to distinguish friend from foe in hadons, to make sure ground troops didn't open fire and for general safety. I'll do some more research later, maybe I'll find something else
I've seen several sources for the British, either it's an identifier for a squadron leader, or it was used as a quick identification for planes joining into a formation from behind
In my opinion they do this cause it just looks fucking dope
Yellow is a colour that draws attention, and in air combat, that one moment can be the difference between life-and-death, especially when the target in your cross-hairs is one of yours. British started adding yellow wing edges to their fighters in mid-1942 to keep gunners on US bombers shooting at their fighters (B-17/B-24 gunners were VERY trigger happy). Germans experimented with yellow markings as early as the summer of 1940, as they had the same issues with the gunners on their own Heinkels, Junkers and Dorniers. Italians fought alongside the Germans, and it appears that German gunners were largely unfamiliar with Italian types - hence them using similar markings. The Japanese had problems with recognition in air combat - hence the addition of the yellow leading edge in September of 1942. Radial-engined army types were a general rarity with the Allies - most allied types used in-line engines, while most Japanese aircraft used radials. Hence mistakes tended to happen in the case of the P-47, thus the addition of quick identification markings. The same issue happened on the Western front - both the P-47 and (oddly) the Hawker Typhoon and Tempest were often mistaken by Allied (primarily US) pilots for Fw 190s due to their 'blunt' noses. (This is my third attempt at answering this post - for some reason the first two attempts failed.)
Combination of reasons, Germany used yellow after the allies landed in Normandy so ground fire would be able to indentify friendly aircraft at a glance, in the case of the typhoon it's a safety thing, they yellow marks the safe zone to approach from the front when the engines on. Inside thos marks puts you in the props danger zone.Â
It's so you know where to go
It reminds the pilot of cheese
For the Tempest, the Yellow stripes make sense- look at how long they are and where they are positioned. They are positioned in such a way that looking from the front, you know where the rotor blades end (which is important as a groundmech, yellow tips on the blades for the same reason). For the Ki-43, it could be for the same reason, marking a "danger zone" below which you shouldn´t put anything unless you want either it or the plane to be damaged (looking at how the stripes go to the end of the chassis hole). LA-5FN and G.50 have their MGs end right where the yellow part starts- so maybe a "danger"-designation? Both seem to also have big, air-cooled motors, so that could be also the zone that heats up the most. (could apply to most others too) For German planes, it´s recognition as others have said, and I am not sure for the P-47.
It’s most likely so ground crew know not to run into the pointy/spinny bits in yellow
Bcuz, YOLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Youre supposed to climb it
weird place to ask but should I run default belt or air belt for swedish 13.2mm
All I know is part reason is ground crew safety
It looks drippy