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  • RAF Aircraft Roundels

    Came across this thought it was interesting...

    Find out about the roundels used by the Royal Air Force since they were first introduced on its aircraft during the early months of the First World War.
    'History is a vast early warning system'. Norman Cousins

  • #2
    I always thought they looked like glorified Bullseye targets.

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    • #3
      Interesting find.....

      .....Also interesting how the RAF roundels are so familiar to so many and at a glance all seem similar (versions with white circle and versions with red / blue circles) but close up the variations are quite stark!
      An army is power. Its entire purpose is to coerce others. This power can not be used carelessly or recklessly. This power can do great harm. We have seen more suffering than any man should ever see, and if there is going to be an end to it, it must be an end that justifies the cost. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

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      • #4
        I think the Fleet Air Arm (RN's aircraft) used the navy blue/sky blue roundel also during WWII
        "Well, stone me! We've had cocaine, bribery and Arsenal scoring two goals at home. But just when you thought there were truly no surprises left in football, Vinnie Jones turns out to be an international player!" (Jimmy Greaves)!"

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Truck Driver View Post
          I think the Fleet Air Arm (RN's aircraft) used the navy blue/sky blue roundel also during WWII
          Yes, that rings a bell with me as well, for some reason.
          'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
          'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
          Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
          He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
          http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Truck Driver View Post
            I think the Fleet Air Arm (RN's aircraft) used the navy blue/sky blue roundel also during WWII
            It was used mostly in the Pacific Theatre, where a lot of FAA operated. US and UK aircraft removed red from their roundels in order to prevent confusion with the Rising Sun roundel of Japan.

            It is also missing the "bars". When the US applied bars to their roundel, the FAA and ANZAC in the Pacific followed suit in order to create commonality in roundels.

            Corsair_being_pushed_on_elevator_HMS_Glory_(R62)_1945.jpg
            Last edited by Poiuyt; 11 May 2020, 14:12.

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            • #7
              The US Army Air Corp also had at the start of the war a red circle in the middle of the start, this also soon got dropped after 7 Dec '41.

              However important as marking may been they did not always save a pilot from blue-on-blue. Most pilots decided if another plane was enemy or not firstly based upon shape/profile. If it was a allied aircraft they were familiar with then no matter what the markings it was first assumed to be friendly. I know of many instances where US pilots shot down other US pilots because they were in "unknown" British aircraft such as Spitfires or Mosquitos. The overall colour scheme was the next identifier with roundel only being the last piece of the identification puzzle.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by EUFighter View Post
                The US Army Air Corp also had at the start of the war a red circle in the middle of the start, this also soon got dropped after 7 Dec '41.

                However important as marking may been they did not always save a pilot from blue-on-blue. Most pilots decided if another plane was enemy or not firstly based upon shape/profile. If it was a allied aircraft they were familiar with then no matter what the markings it was first assumed to be friendly. I know of many instances where US pilots shot down other US pilots because they were in "unknown" British aircraft such as Spitfires or Mosquitos. The overall colour scheme was the next identifier with roundel only being the last piece of the identification puzzle.
                That was the point of the Bars - it created a shape which was different from the roundel. And why bars were also used in the Normandy landings although not attached to the Roundel.

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