Red Brown on German aircraft camouflage

[Ronny Bar]

To all experts in German camouflage in this site...

Apologies if this topic was discussed before...

We all know Idflieg ordered the Red Brown color on frontline aircraft was to be replaced for Lilac in April 1017... The question is: Is it possible to assume every picture of a German plane taken from late April/early May onwards were camouflaged in Lilac/Green..? (With the usual rare exceptions that always exist, of course...)

Is there any evidence of some of the few Roland C-II's still in service at the front after this date was finished in Lilac/Green..?

Thanks in advance...

Ronny

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Ronny Bar:
In my opinion, I would say no! You can't assume all the manufactures immediately would stop using brown paint. There would be transition period,
1. To buy the lilac paint. Find out when they will receive it. It was not like runnying over to Home Depot and picking up a couple of gallon cans of lilac paint. The paint factory would need time to make it and then ship it to the airplane factory. Time.
2. Determine what serial number would be the first to have lilac instead of of the brown. Then they would have to negoiate the cost with Idflieg.
3. Idflieg may of had the current contracts completed as is.
4. I think most current orders were completed with the brown paint.
5. The Albatros D.V order issued in April 1917 for 200 Alb.D.V 1000/17 to 1199/17 were delivered in dark green and lilac. The tiome was such that Albatros Werke was able to make the change to dark green and lilac from the very beginning without any brown paint orders already made.
Another example. Idflieg advised the manufacturers about the availbility of the five color fabric in April 1917. The first fighter that was covered with the five color fabric was the Alb.D.V order issued in May 1917 for 400 machines, serial numbers D.1962/17 to D.2361/17. From D.1962/17 to D.22376/17 were painted with dark green and lilac, the printed fabric did not appear on a Alb.D.V, until serial number D.2277/17. From what I have been able to determine all the Alb.D.V machines from D.2277/17 to D.2361/17were covered five color fabric. Albatros did not start covering with printed fabric until after mid July 1917 roughly two months after receipt of the contract. This situation was more likely a problem of scheduling with the Augsburg Kattunfabrik. I would assume Augsburg Kattunfabrik had a large backlog of printed cloth orders after the all the manufacturers were advised that all aircraft for the front were to be covered with printed fabric. The Alb.D.V planes with printed fabric did not appear at the Front until some time in early August 1917.

[Alien]

I had always assumed that the order to switch from red-brown to lilac applied to new construction only, not to planes already at the front. Am I right?

[Ronny Bar]

Dan-San...

Thanks so much for your reply... As usual, you are an unexhaustible source of knowledge and wisedom...

Roger about the Idflieg order effect on manufacturers... Logically it would have taken some weeks (months..?) transition into the new scheme... But, and quoting Alien (who put words into my next question...): What about the planes already at the front..? Were the units at the field ordered to replace Red-Brown for Lilac on the planes they had in service at the front..? I assume there should have have taken some transition time at the units workshops to fulfill this order too... Is it possible there were Red-Brown camouflaged planes at the front well into the Summer of 1917..?

Ronny

[Familyman]

A captured Rumpler C.IV was reported to have brown, light green and dark green camo as late as December 29 1917.

Mikko

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Ronny Bar:
The directive applied to new maufacture. Aircraft in service were not repainted. Time and and new aircraft took care of the situation.
Blue skies,
Dan-San