Is it possible that by aplying a different paint job considerable performance loss accured? Did some Nightfighers had a lower performance thanks to mat black finnish?
I think they were semi-gloss finish when new but the paint eventually faded. Not sure if the performance loss would be noticable.
well paint could be rough and create more friction than other paints , so I think paint can slow down a plane
Yes, matt, non-reflective paint did indeed cause significant extra drag. The same plane with gloss paint would be faster. Fastest of all (for metal-skinned planes) was to use no paint at all but to polish the metal, because paint also added weight. Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum
Such considerations loomed larger in the days when a few MPH of speed could make all the difference in who wins or loses an engagement. Today, stealth, radar and weapons systems are much greater factors than a little bit more flat out speed. Even the ability to supercruise (supersonic without afterburners) is likely to be more useful to get one into a fight than to necessarily end the fight outright. The SR-71 flew about as fast as is practical while still in the atmosphere and many design compromises had to be made in order to achieve that speed.
related to the SR-71... Why did they paint it ? A-12 were mostly Titanium colored while i think all SR-71's were black!! I don't recall i've seen a titanium SR-71?! A-12's were faster (altough not only paint related...they were just smaller without the 2nd crew member a bit lighter). [/list]
Ome_joop wrote: The special black paint that covered the airplane was formulated to absorb radar signals, to radiate some of the tremendous airframe heat generated by air friction, and to camouflage the aircraft against the dark sky at high altitudes.
The black paint is where it's Blackbird name is derived from. The SR-71 had so much drag on it's surface that the heat would cause panels to expand into each other and crack. To avoid this, the Balckbird has gaps between it's panels for expansion.
That is one of the design compromises I referred to earlier. When on the ground or at low speed fuel leaked out of gaps between the panels. When high speed thus high heat caused the panels to expand the gaps were sealed and the leaking stopped. JP-7 or (8?) was used which has a very high flash point so it wasn't really very dangerous, just messy. It is said that the leading edges of the wings glowed cherry red at high speed. When I was in the USMC some were stationed nearby. We called them Habus a named coined by the native Okinawans which refers to an indigenous snake which the shape somewhat resembles.
paint by painting the bird black the skunk works was able to use a softer alloy that was easier to work with and cheaper.
First of all i think the A-12 is also called Black Bird..so that can't be right! Friction at speed of mach 3+ will generate so much heat that metal will melt...as the SR-71/A-12 is such a clean design (it really is'nt a drag machine at all!) it won't melt but only expand...making it a perfect fit without leaks !
Re: paint Never heard of this?? I always tought it was the same aircarft only bigger(sr-71) to house an extra crew member and different (side looking) camera's ?! :-? BTW Why was the YF-12 in the beginning not painted over-all black...as it was later? The fuel is called JP-7 Maybe a new topic called the Blackbird?!
Back to WW2-related answers, I remember reading somewhere that a paint-free Mustang was 10mph faster than a painted Mustang, all other things being equal. Oh, and that in the BoB the RAF discovered that covering the gun barrel with the cloth patch gave an extra 10mph - until you fired the guns. Can those figures be correct?
paint every model of the plane was painted black right from day 1. the idea to paint was made before any metal was cut at all. black paint raditates heat better than any other color and kept the skin cooler. this allowed a cheaper and easier to work with alloy to be used and helped deal with heat problems in general. there were NO unpainted aircraft. [ per Ben Rich's book. for those who do not know about Rich he was the father of stealth, the man who took over the skunk works after Kelly, and who did a lot of the basic design of both the U-2 and the blackbird. i assume him to be a reliable source]
10 mph a coat of paint adds weight and drag. i would believe 10 mph and perhaps even more. as to the gun barrels being taped there could be a gain there as well but i always understood the tape was used to keep junk out of the gun.
Re: 10 mph I remember reading somewhere (maybe from Tony's book) that taping barrels secured guns from freezing.
Paint equals drag Tape fitted to the wing over the barrels of guns gave several advantages, all of which have been mentioned here. When barrels protruded from the edge of the wing ( mainly the Hispano cannon fitted to RAF fighters ) they had rubber covers like contraceptives fitted to them. A painted aircraft is not only much heavier, but unless the paint is a special high gloss finish there would have been substantial drag also, which, added to protrusions like aerial masts, tail wheels, rear view mirrors etc. could easily knock 50 MPH off performance. I know of many RAF fighter pilots who, in addition to shedding what they could of the above from their aircraft, also had panel seams sealed with filler, screw slots aligned with the airflow direction and the whole plane then waxed polished to a high shine. Malladyne.
I used to work in the commecial airlines as cabin crew i know for a fact that all commecial aircraft must have a high gloss finish or polished metal because the type of paint or unpainted will affect the fuel consumption to as much as 25%. Go to any airport u and see for ur self.
