se5a colours question

[jaypee]

does anyone know of any clues to the colours of this se5a
I assume it was a night fighter with such a scheme

supposedly of 141 sq
My guess was white and blue same as the tricolour on the rudder I'm sure
someone has a more educated guess than that though
Thanks
JP

[flypaper]

Originally Posted by jaypee

does anyone know of any clues to the colours of this se5a
I assume it was a night fighter with such a scheme

supposedly of 141 sq
My guess was white and blue same as the tricolour on the rudder I'm sure
someone has a more educated guess than that though
Thanks
JP

Hello,

My first guess is that this is a USAAS SE5a, I can just make out the white center of the roundel on the wing. It does not seem to be armed no Vickers or Lewis. The F serial on the rudder fits with USAAC practice,

I vote USAAC 1919/21.

Flypaper

[jaypee]

I'll buy that the caption from the site I got the pic from said 141 sq.
The se5a in the background also has a white central roundel.
The dark colour is probably red then?
That looks a tasty barber pole scheme.

[flypaper]

Originally Posted by jaypee

I'll buy that the caption from the site I got the pic from said 141 sq.
The se5a in the background also has a white central roundel.
The dark colour is probably red then?
That looks a tasty barber pole scheme.

Not necessarily, the rudder stripes were not changed to USAAC style until the aircraft was refinished, which we can tell from this one that it wasn't because of it still wears roundels instead of stars and circles. also if you look at the bottom wing closely it looks like there might be a "sun burst" type of rays from the leading to trailing edges, and just a hint of the same on what can be seen of the top wing.

Flypaper

[jaypee]

Ok but on the far machine the outer roundel is darkest.
prob due to orthochromatic effects of the film

Same with the middle machine
the red of the roundel matches the foremost colour on the tricolor.

Pretty as the scheme is. What purpose would it serve? Trainer? night fighter?

Thanks flypaper for pointing these things out.

[flypaper]

Originally Posted by jaypee

Ok but on the far machine the outer roundel is darkest.
prob due to orthochromatic effects of the film

Same with the middle machine
the red of the roundel matches the foremost colour on the tricolor.

Pretty as the scheme is. What purpose would it serve? Trainer? night fighter?

Thanks flypaper for pointing these things out.

Doubt that it would be a night fighter, no weapons! Possible it could be a trainer, but, I think and this is just a guess....after the war was over there were many parades and air shows to celebrate the end of the war...many USAAC aircraft took part in these shows and many of them were painted in some outrageous color schemes this SE5 just any be one of them...

I have to say that its a new pic to me and this era of US aviation is one of my favorites and I'm truly glad you posted it.

Flypaper

[jaypee]

Oh yeah no weapons well spotted that man!

gotta love a bit of razzamattaz. you wouldn't miss that in the sky.
I've got an old revel se5a kit to try this out on. I had it earmarked for a
night fighter checkered pc-10/blue, but this looks more fun and easier to
mask too.

Been lurking on threads here and soaking up all the info but this is the first time I've posted.
Thanks for the advice, there are loads more ww1 images and some early yank aircraft over at earlyaviator dot com.

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Jaypee:
The rudder stripes are the late forn red at the rudder post, white and blue at the trailing edge of the rudder. This is confirmed by the cockades on the upper wing of the Breguet 14 in the back ground. The S.E.5a is an Austin built machine in the F.8xxx series and is red and white coloring at least on the fuselage and tail surfaces, can't make out the pattern on the wings.
Happy New Year,
Dan-San