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Tyre Colour
Vulcanized natural rubber is a semi-transluscent tan color with a distinctly pinkish hue. Under sunlight, this degenerates to a darker yellow tan (see an art gum eraser), a dusty yellow gray, then ultimately crumbles into gray powder. For tyres, various amounts of carbon black and/or zink oxide white were added to counter the effects of sunlight. Since weight is not the aircraft's friend, these (heavy) pigments were used sparingly.
So, WWI aircraft tyres could be any shade from pinkish tan to a dark yellowish gray, pretty much depending on nationality, manufacturer and date.
Phil
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