Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailor Steve
That's what I was referring to when I mentioned OD - olive drab. The prototypes and a few of the first ones were painted that way. Then the USAAF decided that they didn't want to camoflage them anymore. They wanted the Germans to know they were coming.
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That explains why just an aircraft number and no squadron or flight markings.
The real reason they stopped painting the planes in WW2 was to speed up production. The army found out that the camoflage didn't help, in fact they found out that even a light paint made aircraft easier to see from the ground. They did some quick experimenting and discovered that the bare aluminum was just as good, yet easier and faster for production. They also later found out that the decrease in weight of the paint had a small advantage, mostly on transit from the US to England. Funny thing, they still painted the insides that weren't occupied.