In an effort to pay tribute to the past, the Navy is in the process of
painting a number of current Navy aircraft in the inventory in "retro" and
commemorative paint schemes.
As this edition of the Centennial newsletter goes to print, we are happy to
report that the first of these aircraft are in the paint shop.
Boeing T-45A Goshawk (BuNo 163656) will be the first aircraft to receive
such a paint scheme.
The aircraft is expected out of the paint shop in late July.
165598
163656
The scheme selected closely resembles that carried by Fleet aircraft between
1935 and 1940, a period commonly referred to as the "Yellow Wings" era.
The aircraft will be silver overall, the top of the wings will be orange
yellow, and the tail will be gloss black.
In the 30s, the color of the tail designated which carrier a certain
airplane was assigned and in the case of USS WASP, it was black.
Squadrons were typically assigned 18 aircraft in those days, with
three-plane sections - each section being denoted by "section colors", red,
white, true blue, black, willow green and yellow.
Slight variations in the markings in each section denoted who was Section
Lead, number two and number three.
This was carried through 1940 when war clouds changed the mindset of
leadership, and camouflage schemes were adopted.
Needless to say as you'll see, the "Yellow Wings" era of Naval Aviation was
one of the most colorful.
A second aircraft is expected out of the paint shop in July as well.
An HH-60H from HSC-84 (163787) has been inducted into Fleet Readiness Center
Southeast (FRC SE) for paint.
It will receive a paint scheme reminiscent of HAL-3, the "Seawolves".
The aircraft will be overall Olive Drab with White lettering.
TH-57C (BuNo 162064) is likely to be the third aircraft to be painted.
(It's already been painted)
162064
These unique paint schemes are being applied as the aircraft come up to
existing maintenance periods and must be repainted anyway.
The intent is to use the aircraft to teach Naval Aviation heritage in a
unique way.
Each Centennial aircraft will carry a fact sheet about the paint scheme for
teaching purposes.
We will feature these aircraft throughout the next 18 months.
