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solid colour

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prkaye

Well Known Member
Anybody know of any photos of a side-by-side A model RV painted in a single colour? At most, with some stripes? I'm curious as to how this would look, as almost every paint scheme I have seen is at least two main colours.
 
You may have already tried this but use Google Images for "RV-9A". Quite a few pop up but they pretty much all have a stripe or two. I'm kind of leaning that way myself of doing all one colour and then some stripe or graphic down the fuselage. That would probably easiest for me to paint.

Cheers.
 
Solid Color

My RV6 is all yellow with blue and gray stripes as you can see.

2dt4xut.jpg
 
There's a lot of RV pictures on airliners.net; a couple of minutes looking around revealed a few monochrome paint jobs including a rather nifty orange one. The Great Pumpkin flies? :p

I was surprised that I couldn't quickly find a photo of 'Old Blue'. That was the first monochrome RV that sprang into mind, followed by the red one I got my demo ride in. Has it really been that long ago?
 
How about solid red?

Hi Phil,

I have a pic of a solid red 9A that I took at OSH a couple years ago. I'll send it to you when I'm back home and can access my "archives". (on the road for work right now)

Terry
 
Hey Phil

Are you sure you want to paint an airplane a dark, cloud colour? I'm sure it would look awesome, but I'd be more concerned about being seen in the pattern (or just flying around) and charcoal would blend in with any kind of overcast.

I know I have a hard time picking up John's unpainted RV-8 when we rendezvous in flight, but he can see me much easier.

Just my $0.02.
 
rv8bldr said:
Hey Phil

Are you sure you want to paint an airplane a dark, cloud colour? I'm sure it would look awesome, but I'd be more concerned about being seen in the pattern (or just flying around) and charcoal would blend in with any kind of overcast.

I know I have a hard time picking up John's unpainted RV-8 when we rendezvous in flight, but he can see me much easier.

Just my $0.02.
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We've got gray Skyhawk in our club as well as several white-differentkindofblue ones and they are equally hard to spot in any overcast conditions. It's the strobes that makes them visible, not the colour.
 
Maybe, maybe not.

Tomasz said:
We've got gray Skyhawk in our club as well as several white-differentkindofblue ones and they are equally hard to spot in any overcast conditions. It's the strobes that makes them visible, not the colour.
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Although the strobe will help you look in the right direction, the color can really help you figure out quickly what you are seeing.

The more contrast the better to make sure that others can see you.

Kent
 
prkaye said:
aren't clouds often white?
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Touche ;-) Actually, I was thinking more yellow/red/something bright rather than just white. At one time I was going to paint my -8 like an RCAF Harvard or Chipmunk. Yellow stands out against clouds, snow (well, except yellow snow ;-), whatever.

Regardless, any colour you paint it, it's going to fly awesome and you are going to love it.
 
Single color

Here is a picture of my single color RV6. Please ignore the stupid looking pilot :)




prkaye said:
Anybody know of any photos of a side-by-side A model RV painted in a single colour? At most, with some stripes? I'm curious as to how this would look, as almost every paint scheme I have seen is at least two main colours.
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Phil, you're not going with the Centennaires scheme?
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I just don't think I can justify spending 12K + tax on a fancy paint scheme. I wouldn't want to attempt painting that scheme myself.
 
prkaye said:
I just don't think I can justify spending 12K + tax on a fancy paint scheme. I wouldn't want to attempt painting that scheme myself.
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Well.... more like a basic paint scheme. A more "fancy" paint scheme recently cost one of our local builders $23K Canadian.... Ouch!
 
yeah, and it's more than just the upfront cost. There's having to then treat your plane like it's an eggshell, knowing how horrible I'd feel if I scratched a paint scheme that cost that much. Or have fuel tank blisterts like another local builder. Or If i ever have to change/modify/repair a part that requires re-painting. WOuld be much less hard psychologically if I know it costs me very little and i can just paint new parts or repaint existing parts myself.

But I still need to find out if the 1mm nozzle would be too small for stewart systems paint (I asked about this on another thread, but no real answer so far). Any paint gurus out there that have an idea about this?
 
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I really can't see the point in multi-color paint schemes. I did solid white (actually very light gray) and did the stripes in vinyl. If you keep it simple, you can buy the vinyl and transfer tape, an exacto knife and straightedge and have at it. I had a computerized vinyl cutter, so I did put in some fancy curves. Whee!

Total cost of what I consider a really nice looking paint job was under $3k. $2700 for paint, metal prep and shooting one color. I will admit, the shooting was a deal and it should have cost probably $1000-1500 more. It is Imron and he guy did a GREAT job. The vinyl was under $200. And I can change it, if I get tired of it. You can probably find a sign shop to cut your numbers and someone to shoot your plane for a reasonable price. Nothing against those with Big Buck paint jobs, just not all of us can justify them.

There is a picture at http://www.classicaerodesigns.com/web/public/CC/CC2.asp?G=D54A6AF081FF4203982D3EAC1A00FFCE and yes, the wingtips, rudder and spinner are done in vinyl.

Bob Kelly
 
videobobk said:
I really can't see the point in multi-color paint schemes. I did solid white (actually very light gray) and did the stripes in vinyl. If you keep it simple, you can buy the vinyl and transfer tape, an exacto knife and straightedge and have at it. I had a computerized vinyl cutter, so I did put in some fancy curves. Whee!

Total cost of what I consider a really nice looking paint job was under $3k. $2700 for paint, metal prep and shooting one color. I will admit, the shooting was a deal and it should have cost probably $1000-1500 more. It is Imron and he guy did a GREAT job. The vinyl was under $200. And I can change it, if I get tired of it. You can probably find a sign shop to cut your numbers and someone to shoot your plane for a reasonable price. Nothing against those with Big Buck paint jobs, just not all of us can justify them.

There is a picture at http://www.classicaerodesigns.com/web/public/CC/CC2.asp?G=D54A6AF081FF4203982D3EAC1A00FFCE and yes, the wingtips, rudder and spinner are done in vinyl.

Bob Kelly
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Wow! Beautiful plane, Bob! True inspiration for us -9A builders-to-be! Thanks for sharing.
 
Some great looking planes guys. That dark grey one with the Roundel is really exciting to me... that's exactly the colour I'm thinking of.
Maybe I should consider getting a vinyl decal of an RCAF Roundel to put on it... hmmmm....
 
prkaye said:
Some great looking planes guys. That dark grey one with the Roundel is really exciting to me... that's exactly the colour I'm thinking of.
Maybe I should consider getting a vinyl decal of an RCAF Roundel to put on it... hmmmm....
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That would look very cool. Of course, being Canadian, I'm biased. ;)

Cheers,
 
prkaye said:
Some great looking planes guys. That dark grey one with the Roundel is really exciting to me... that's exactly the colour I'm thinking of.
Maybe I should consider getting a vinyl decal of an RCAF Roundel to put on it... hmmmm....
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...or do you mean RVAF ?


;-)>
 
Grey is Really Dangerous!

There's a reason the US military has adopted the solid grey color for almost all their airplanes in almost all the branches of service. You can't see them!

I can not think of a more dangerous color to paint an airplane than solid grey.

I was surprised to see how difficult it is to see bare metal airplanes too.
 
scsmith said:
There's a reason the US military has adopted the solid grey color for almost all their airplanes in almost all the branches of service. You can't see them!

I can not think of a more dangerous color to paint an airplane than solid grey.

I was surprised to see how difficult it is to see bare metal airplanes too.
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In reality, RV's are rather hard to see anyway. My airplane is half grey & half yellow. It's just as hard to see as a red & white one. Doesn't take too much distance before they become a silhouette that either seems to disappear or has contrast compared to the background.

L.Adamson ---- RV6A
 
and yet we don't seem to have much of a problem considering the nearly 1,000,000 annual flight hours with our all grey airplanes..
 
RV8R999 said:
and yet we don't seem to have much of a problem considering the nearly 1,000,000 annual flight hours with our all grey airplanes..
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Yeah but... how often do you fly those million hours into an uncontrolled gaggle of weekend warriors at a fly-in pancake breakfast on a hazy, murky day, or into the crazy busy east Texas Reklaw fly-in? Gray and bare metal machines can be pretty difficult to spot; flying chase a couple times with a buddy in his unpainted -7, at times the only thing on his ship I could see while trying to join up from a distance were the bare white gelcoat wingtips. Those white tips really stand out.
 
I had a friend following me in trail on final and, despite being able to see my strobes, they were unable to see the plane itself. Unpainted RV against desert ground near Prescott, AZ. I learned with flying model gliders that the best visibility is gained with high-contrast schemes: white/red, white/blue, yellow/black, etc. For a long time I flew an all-black sailplane with a yellow or chrome stripe on one wing; at altitude it looked like one wing was shorter than the other so I could keep orientation. Even so, in contests we flew with spotters because at extreme thermalling altitudes it was easy to glance away and lose sight of the plane.

There are two phenomenon that make plane spotting difficult. The first is that we tend to lose color perception quickly at distance. The prettiest color scheme looks simply dark or light at any distance, especially against a contrasting background. The other phenomenon is lack of focal depth. Looking at the sky especially, it is difficult for the eye to pick a focal length. So if there is something visible, say a cloud, that's the range the eye will tend to pick and it can make spotting objects at other focal ranges difficult unless you are used to forcing your eye to scan depth as well as direction. It's a skill that can be learned but, as I noticed when I began flying again, can be lost again if you don't use it for a few years.
 
The arguments about grey being "Dangerous" are reasonable arguments, but they're just that, arguments. One thing being a scientist has taught me - reasonable arguments often have an uncanny way of being incorrect. We make inferences all the time, but we very often make false inferences because we can't possibly consider every relevant fact.
If you can show me statistics proving the claim that painting my airplane grey is truly "dangerous", I'll be convinced. Otherwise, I'm quite sceptical about how significant the risk really is.
 
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Dangerous? probably no more than many other paint schemes/colors.

But Gray?...after 8yrs in the Navy, i still recall the saying, Haze gray and underway:eek: no thanks.... 4 yrs of Submarine duty, show me the light:D I'm going bright yellow w/green & purple accents....not for everybody but works for me.

Paint it however you want, you're the one opening the hangar.
 
Lighting

I fly to work everyday. Under the Class Bravo of Phoenix and through the Class Delta of Goodyear. KGYR has tons of training activity. Not withstanding the fact that I have TIS, the number one thing that I see first is lighting. Even in the day time. Specifically wig wags. Strobes are next. Don't skimp on lighting. My neighbor building the 7 that is psychotic on weight refuses to install any lighting because of the "weight." Big mistake in my book, especially in our environment in the Phoenix area.

Color on an RV, in the air, isn't real important. I think you are painting for the ground:). And, I love white cars (new Ford Flex in pearl white) but hate solid white planes. If you are only going to paint your RV one color, make it a real color.:D The all red plane shown earlier is perfect. Viper Red, Ferrari Red, etc..
 
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Three RV's headed across the mountains today. One yellow/grey, a red/white, and one with colorful pastels. For much of the time, no one could see each other, as we didn't get in line to start with. I went 2000' higher for separation and still had a hard time picking the others out from the ground colors. You see them, then easily loose them. So much for what ever color. Bright lights such as landing lights head on are what can be seen. Even the strobes don't show well in daytime conditions. In a case like this, it's lot's of air to air position reports as well as different altitudes.

L.Adamson --- RV6A
 
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