High Visibility Paint Schemes

I know this subject has been discussed here before, but searchability
on google groups really stinks so I'm just starting a new thread.
Getting to be winter time here in the northern hemisphere so we need
something to talk about anyway.

I'm dreaming about new fabric on 373Y this winter. With that comes
new paint. currently the glider is a solid color, "Daytona White"
which really is a Tan color. At the vintage glider rallies I notice a
lot of the gliders are quite colorful, and easy to see! I like that!
My initial thought is a solid White paint job with Red wingtips, nose
and rudder. Also I think I would put the tail number on the side of
the fuselage in big letters like it was originally instead of puny
letters under the tail. To me that is a more Vintage look. Probably
either contest or tail number on top and bottom of left/right wings
too. All the lettering would be Red.

I understand that contrast is key? One of the guys in my old club had
a 1-34 that was about 10 different colors. We nicknamed it "patches".
With spots of polished aluminum, neon green, white, neon orange etc.
that glider was easy to spot in the air!

What does RAS say?

Tony Condon

See :

http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/Data/gl...uity-study.pdf

for some trial results in the UK.

Then make your own mind up, unless you can find some other sources.

Chris N.

On Oct 12, 10:52*am, Tony wrote:
I know this subject has been discussed here before, but searchability
on google groups really stinks so I'm just starting a new thread.
Getting to be winter time here in the northern hemisphere so we need
something to talk about anyway.

I'm dreaming about new fabric on 373Y this winter. *With that comes
new paint. *currently the glider is a solid color, "Daytona White"
which really is a Tan color. *At the vintage glider rallies I notice a
lot of the gliders are quite colorful, and easy to see! *I like that!
My initial thought is a solid White paint job with Red wingtips, nose
and rudder. *Also I think I would put the tail number on the side of
the fuselage in big letters like it was originally instead of puny
letters under the tail. *To me that is a more Vintage look. *Probably
either contest or tail number on top and bottom of left/right wings
too. *All the lettering would be Red.

I understand that contrast is key? *One of the guys in my old club had
a 1-34 that was about 10 different colors. We nicknamed it "patches".
With spots of polished aluminum, neon green, white, neon orange etc.
that glider was easy to spot in the air!

What does RAS say?

Tony Condon

There have been some non aviation studies which show a florescent
green such as is seen on some emergency vehicles and responder
clothing is more easily seen against a wide range of background
colors.

I've noted that some ultralights and hang gliders of a brilliant green
color show up strongly against green hued grass or woodland colors as
well as a blue sky.

The "green on green" and "green on blue" apparent contrast is due to
the human eye's strong hue discrimination in the blue green spectrum.
Beware that about 25% of males suffer from some degree of color
blindness. (Or in some cases, color ignorance - what the hell is
'Fuschia'?)

Conversely, the human eye finds it difficult to focus on a red dot
against a blue field which is one reason why red gliders can be hard
to see. Red and blue are at opposite ends of the visible spectrum.
The eye, like all single lens optics, suffers from chromatic
aberration and will focus on the dominate color (blue) causing the red
dot to be out of focus and fade to gray.

Bottom line: Paint your glider any color you like - but only fly it
where it is seen against a contrasting color :-)

The US military did lots of testing and found that solid white was the
most visible paint scheme, Adding anything else to the solid color
broke up the shape and made it less visible at distances. I don't
have the data, but it should be available somewhere online. At a
distance, anything other than white starts to blend into the
background. But solid white is not very exciting, and I love artistic
paint schemes! We have a bright orange Lark, and it is impossible to
see at a distance, but beautiful up close.

On Oct 13, 7:12*am, GARY BOGGS CFIG wrote:
The US military did lots of testing and found that solid white was the
most visible paint scheme, *Adding anything else to the solid color
broke up the shape and made it less visible at distances. *I don't
have the data, but it should be available somewhere online. *At a
distance, anything other than white starts to blend into the
background. *But solid white is not very exciting, and I love artistic
paint schemes! *We have a bright orange Lark, and it is impossible to
see at a distance, but beautiful up close.

A couple of years ago a colleague and I had a close meeting under a
cloud street - I was heading north and he was heading south at the
same altitude. We met while cruising at around 80 knots IAS each -
that's a true closing speed of close to 200 mph. We had been in radio
contact a minute or two earlier and knew each others approximate
position. Suddenly, I saw a flash of red ahead slightly to my right
and instinctively turned left and climbed. The other glider passed
about 50 feet under my right wing, never having seen me. The only
reason I saw it was the red nose and wing anti-collision markings
which, in this case at least, worked.

A review of our igc files confirmed the fast closing speed and very
close approach. I think I had something under twenty seconds to
react, at which point the separation between us was about a mile -
pretty much in line with the findings of the UK report.

I think color helps against a background of cloud.

Mike

On Oct 12, 11:52*am, Tony wrote:
I know this subject has been discussed here before, but searchability
on google groups really stinks so I'm just starting a new thread.
Getting to be winter time here in the northern hemisphere so we need
something to talk about anyway.

I'm dreaming about new fabric on 373Y this winter. *With that comes
new paint. *currently the glider is a solid color, "Daytona White"
which really is a Tan color. *At the vintage glider rallies I notice a
lot of the gliders are quite colorful, and easy to see! *I like that!
My initial thought is a solid White paint job with Red wingtips, nose
and rudder. *Also I think I would put the tail number on the side of
the fuselage in big letters like it was originally instead of puny
letters under the tail. *To me that is a more Vintage look. *Probably
either contest or tail number on top and bottom of left/right wings
too. *All the lettering would be Red.

I understand that contrast is key? *One of the guys in my old club had
a 1-34 that was about 10 different colors. We nicknamed it "patches".
With spots of polished aluminum, neon green, white, neon orange etc.
that glider was easy to spot in the air!

What does RAS say?

Tony Condon

If this thread was on pilotsofamerica I'd suggest painting naked
ladies all over it.

On Oct 13, 1:14*pm, wrote:
On Oct 12, 11:52*am, Tony wrote:





I know this subject has been discussed here before, but searchability
on google groups really stinks so I'm just starting a new thread.
Getting to be winter time here in the northern hemisphere so we need
something to talk about anyway.

I'm dreaming about new fabric on 373Y this winter. *With that comes
new paint. *currently the glider is a solid color, "Daytona White"
which really is a Tan color. *At the vintage glider rallies I notice a
lot of the gliders are quite colorful, and easy to see! *I like that!
My initial thought is a solid White paint job with Red wingtips, nose
and rudder. *Also I think I would put the tail number on the side of
the fuselage in big letters like it was originally instead of puny
letters under the tail. *To me that is a more Vintage look. *Probably
either contest or tail number on top and bottom of left/right wings
too. *All the lettering would be Red.

I understand that contrast is key? *One of the guys in my old club had
a 1-34 that was about 10 different colors. We nicknamed it "patches".
With spots of polished aluminum, neon green, white, neon orange etc.
that glider was easy to spot in the air!

What does RAS say?

Tony Condon

If this thread was on pilotsofamerica I'd suggest painting naked
ladies all over it.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The Canadian military paints trainers (BAe Hawk, Havard II, Dash 8,
etc) black - highest contrast up here (white in the winter's not so
good, particularly if you have to SAR it). I wouldn't want to pick up
the wingtip of a black painted metal glider, though.
Dan

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:26:06 -0700, Dan wrote:


The Canadian military paints trainers (BAe Hawk, Havard II, Dash 8,
etc) black - highest contrast up here (white in the winter's not so
good, particularly if you have to SAR it). I wouldn't want to pick up
the wingtip of a black painted metal glider, though. Dan

Back when I was pre-solo I remember following a white Nimbus round the
circuit on a clear, overcast day when the airfield had 50mm of snow on
it. We had no problem seeing him in the air. As we flew the base leg the
Nimbus was just turning finals and the instructor asked me where I was
going to land. "To his left, I said". "Good move" was the reply. I saw
the Nimbus down and rolling just before we turned base. I lined up to his
left and then realised he'd blinked out as soon as he stopped and told
the instructor I'd lost him. "So have I" he said. I landed where I'd
decided to and rolled to a stop on the left of the Nimbus. That's about
the best lesson I ever had about never landing directly toward a glider
that's on the ground.

====

I wonder about painting the undersides of wings and tail black while
leaving the rest of the glider white. That should stay cool while showing
up well against anything except ice and snow.



--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

The most fun glider paint schemes are on the gliders found he
http://www.henkvanderheijden.nl/

specifically
http://www.henkvanderheijden.nl/web-...der/index.html
http://www.henkvanderheijden.nl/eng/...weilandexp.htm
http://www.henkvanderheijden.nl/eng/vogels/vogels.htm
http://www.henkvanderheijden.nl/eng/...s/pinguins.htm
http://www.henkvanderheijden.nl/htm/...ring02_eng.htm

Best Regards,

--
Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.


wrote in message
...
On Oct 12, 11:52 am, Tony wrote:
I know this subject has been discussed here before, but searchability
on google groups really stinks so I'm just starting a new thread.
Getting to be winter time here in the northern hemisphere so we need
something to talk about anyway.

I'm dreaming about new fabric on 373Y this winter. With that comes
new paint. currently the glider is a solid color, "Daytona White"
which really is a Tan color. At the vintage glider rallies I notice a
lot of the gliders are quite colorful, and easy to see! I like that!
My initial thought is a solid White paint job with Red wingtips, nose
and rudder. Also I think I would put the tail number on the side of
the fuselage in big letters like it was originally instead of puny
letters under the tail. To me that is a more Vintage look. Probably
either contest or tail number on top and bottom of left/right wings
too. All the lettering would be Red.

I understand that contrast is key? One of the guys in my old club had
a 1-34 that was about 10 different colors. We nicknamed it "patches".
With spots of polished aluminum, neon green, white, neon orange etc.
that glider was easy to spot in the air!

What does RAS say?

Tony Condon

If this thread was on pilotsofamerica I'd suggest painting naked
ladies all over it.

====

I wonder about painting the undersides of wings and tail black while
leaving the rest of the glider white. That should stay cool while showing
up well against anything except ice and snow.

I like that idea, except that Black is boring. A nice rich RED is
very close to black in grey scale value, and so much less boring.
You've probably noted as much while looking up chasing runaway FF
models.