Colour of rigging wires

scrumpydog · 29 April 2009, 01:24 PM

I'm bamboozled by what colour rigging wires to use for which planes. Original pics are of course virtually useless as steel grey looks black in some lights and depending on the background; replica and museum planes seem to be done in whatever they had to hand sometimes, there seems no consistency even in different examples of the same type. Or was it like that in real life, just pot luck?

I'm aware that at some point the UK started to use 'japanned', blackened wires, but was this for all factories, or just some? When was this - I have late 1917 in mind, but not sure by any means - and before then were they all steel colour? Were other nationalities always steel, or were they coloured in some way?

Right now I'm making an RE8 - the museum/replica items have black wires, is this correct, or again just for a post-1917 plane.... thank god for this place as otherwise I'd never get anything right!!!

'14-'18aviationcollector · 29 April 2009, 08:51 PM

Hi Scrumpydog,

I can't give you a definitive answer, but I think that Japanned black wires were standard. From photos it seems to me that there were no hard and fast rules, and there may have been more than one supplier. If there was not more than one supplier, Bruntons would have been it. They are still in existence, apparently. You could ask them directly if you are keen enough. I haven't looked through my photos to find an answer for you, but as you stated, photographic evidence is largely inconclusive, unfortunately. From memory I think I have seen some evidence that there may have been steel coloured wires in service, but I am going from memory and I honestly think that black would have been standard. As you suggested if steel coloured wires were used, it would probably have tended to have been earlier in the war. I will have a look through some photos and see what I can find.

I think that German cables would have been left in natural steel, maybe varnished to provide some sort of protection.

Cheers,

David.

Roadhog · 1 May 2009, 10:56 PM

I would be very interested to find out what color the Albatros D-II and D-IIIs had for their rigging wires as well as the SE5a series. VR, Scott Price