CDL wings on Nieuport 24bis question

[berman]

Harry Gwynne's Nieuport 24bis has clear doped linen wings and horizontal stabilizer. An earlier thread displays a photograph of his "Flying Fish". The shadow of the upper wing insignia is clearly seen. I think the fuselage was standard factory silver that was painted with fish scales(logical color would be green) as the scales seem to be outlined in silver.
Does someone have a plausible explanation as why the wings are CDL when standard 24bis Nieuport wings were factory painted silver? As the Flying Fish was a trainer, it would not have required recovering the wings due to battle damage. Also highly unlikely that the wings and tail surfaces would have needed recovering due to age deterioration as it was not in service for a very long period.

[flypaper]

Originally Posted by berman

Harry Gwynne's Nieuport 24bis has clear doped linen wings and horizontal stabilizer. An earlier thread displays a photograph of his "Flying Fish". The shadow of the upper wing insignia is clearly seen. I think the fuselage was standard factory silver that was painted with fish scales(logical color would be green) as the scales seem to be outlined in silver.
Does someone have a plausible explanation as why the wings are CDL when standard 24bis Nieuport wings were factory painted silver? As the Flying Fish was a trainer, it would not have required recovering the wings due to battle damage. Also highly unlikely that the wings and tail surfaces would have needed recovering due to age deterioration as it was not in service for a very long period.

The clear doped wings may only have been a step in the completion of the Flying fish motif, I have a few photos that show the upper and lower surfaces of the wing finished in a very ornate pattern. It looks as though the wings would have had to be removed in order to finish the underside around the cockpit area, and since it was coming off for the art work why not replace the wing covering.

Flypaper

[berman]

Flypaper,
I would like to see your additional photos of the "Flying Fish" with painted wings. There was another Nieuport(27C) at Issoudun with fish motif, Capt. Keeling Pulliam's "Jazbo". The Jazbo had very intricate painted wings. If they did remove the wings of the Flying Fish to paint and recover them, why did they replace the wings with just CDL finish before painting them?

[flypaper]

Originally Posted by berman

Flypaper,
I would like to see your additional photos of the "Flying Fish" with painted wings. There was another Nieuport(27C) at Issoudun with fish motif, Capt. Keeling Pulliam's "Jazbo". The Jazbo had very intricate painted wings. If they did remove the wings of the Flying Fish to paint and recover them, why did they replace the wings with just CDL finish before painting them?

Berman you may be correct, so far I've gone through 2,000 assorted pics and the ones I've found (fish motif) only state Ni 24 with no pilot association to them. I do know I have some with the CDL wing with Gwynne standing in front of it. I will continue looking, about 1,500 more to go.

Not to be funny or anything but is there a picture of Jazbo and the Flying Fish side by side? I mean why would Pullman ans Gywnne go so far to copy the same motif and if they did how complete was it.

Flypaper

[berman]

Flypaper,
While both Nieuports had fish related paint schemes, they were quite different in their appearance. The Jazbo had a more complex paint job.
There is a color profile of the Jazbo in Cross and Cockade International volume 37, number 2, year 2006. Also featured is a photo and color profile of Nieuport 24, serial number N 8398, which had a abstract jumble of assorted sized triangles,loops, and squiggles painted on the fuselage sides. Unfortunately the magazine only shows a starboard view photograph. Anyone have a port side photo of N 8398?

[Gregvan]

Hi,

It wouldn't surprise me at all if the "Flying Fish" Nieuport 24bis associated with Harry Gwynne had clear-doped wings. The US Air Service bought 140 Nieuport 24bis to act for training purposes. I'm no expert on the topic, but a lot of those training 24bis look like none of their components are silver at all. They look clear-doped to me, which makes sense for trainers. They wouldn't have needed the aluminum paint job as they weren't bound for the front and weren't expected to have a long life. Plus, a lot of Nieuports of various types at Issoudun were cannibalized for spares or re-covered , and some pretty strange hybrids resulted. As far as the true colors of the "Fish Nieuport" or the "Jazzbo" Nieuport 27, I'd say they're anyone's guess.

In this photo the pilot is identified as "Wallace"

[Gregvan]

Here are some photos of the "Jazzbo" Nieuport 27 for comparison. Quite a challenge for any modeler.

[Gregvan]

[davecww1]

Wow wish someone would do some decals for these, would make impressive models even though the colors may be speculative.
Dave