Tiger's Revenge & the pilot's story behind air combat art

[Skyraider3D]

Cheers

Re. the Mustang's mirrors, the Mustang was originally delivered with the glass-covered mirror in the middle. Then Spitfire mirrors were added to the windshield frame and later the centre mirror was removed. So briefly it flew with this arrangement. Bill wasn't sure if when exactly it looked like this, but it could have been on this particularly occasion.

Re. the spiral on the spinner. Unfortunately I was unable to identify Bill's exact victim. The losses didn't match up. It could even have been a Dora (although I doubt it would outturn a Mustang at altitude, or be unable to outrun it in a dive). As a lot of JG 300 machines were shot down in the area that day, this would be the most likely victim. JG 300 used a variety of spinner paintschemes. In the end I went for a generic look, following Bill's description. He told me the machine didn't have any bright markings (so no RVT band) and no mottling on the sides. It looked almost black. So I went for RLM 81/82 extending to the lower fuselage. Some JG 300 machines indeed looked like this.

Glad you like the image!


PS. The 109 in your sig doesn't appear to have a spiral either

[Chocks away!]

Haha indeed it doesn't. I was just under the impression that almost all Luftwaffe machines had it painted on by 1945.
An interesting fact: Supposedly the propeller spiral created a hypnotic effect that confused enemy gunners. I don't know if this was it's chief purpose or if it was mostly a means of identification.

[the lancaster kicks ass]

at the speeds it'd be turning you'd never see the spiral effect so it's more likely to appear a blur........

[Skyraider3D]

The idea behind the spiral is that you in fact do see it turning. You won't really see the spiral, but more the "flickering" of the colours on the spinner. It's not to confuse gunners or anything, but it's a way to protect ground crews. When they see a flickering spinner they know the propeller is turning. Remember, you can't see a propeller blade of a spinning propeller that well. It almost appears transparent and it's all too easy to walk into hit (it has happened many times). The allies used yellow propeller tips for this. They stand out better than the normally dark painted propeller blade surfaces and also help indicating the diameter of the prop disc, so you can stay well clear of it.

Spirals are still in use today, for practically the same reason, such as on this Boieng 747: http://www.slidecollector.com/sites/...00000024_1.jpg
It's simply to draw attention to the fact the engine is running. With ear protectors on and lots of noisy airfield sounds around you (imagine driving a diesel powered towing truck), it's not too hard to miss a running jet engine and you can easily get sucked into it if you accidentally came to close (which also has happened too many times)!

Some German fighters had other kinds of propeller colourschemes, such as half or one third ("slice") of the spinner painted white, the rest black.

[the lancaster kicks ass]

interesting, i just thought they did it because it looks cool