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Colour pics of his aircraft - before he smashed it into the hump at Debden - show it to be relatively clean, with some paint chipping around screw heads on the cowlings and wing roots, but not that much. It also appeared to have a sheen to the overall finish, which might have been wax. Of course, the time of year would depend on it's overall appearance, with dirt splashes from the wheels, and the tyres dirty, in poor weather. The Crew Chief ensured the airframe was kept as clean as possible, not any easy job in the British weather (we don't have a climate - only weather!).