The black wing walk guides on U.S. aircraft
- Thread starter Maxrobot1
- Start date
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Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Normally just painted, to mark the accessible area, inboard or outboard.
cvairwerks
Staff Sergeant
Big stuff, it was just a paint line outlining where one could walk. On smaller stuff, it was a non-slip coating for ease into the cockpit entry.
MiTasol
1st Lieutenant
CV is basically correct. The narrow lines on big aircraft outline areas that are structurally safe to walk on.
The wide walkways next to the fuselage were anti skid and usually on the left. On some aircraft like the C-47 they were on both sides so that ground crew could service the fuel and engines.
The TO covers the areas to have anti skid in general terms.
The wide walkways next to the fuselage were anti skid and usually on the left. On some aircraft like the C-47 they were on both sides so that ground crew could service the fuel and engines.
The TO covers the areas to have anti skid in general terms.
fubar57
General
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
For the next GB?
fubar57
General
Its in a Start to Finish somewhere. Still trying to figure out a painting sequence
Crimea_River
Marshal
1. Open Paint
2. Add Thinner.
3. Put thin paint in airbrush.
4. Paint.
2. Add Thinner.
3. Put thin paint in airbrush.
4. Paint.
A quick look at more than 50 pics of the different variants of the P-40 kite and a couple of books shows that the black wing walks were used just for the early P-40s. I mean up to the Curtiss P-40C. But it seems not to be the rule. It looks like the walks could have been overpainted. Contrary to that, the D and later versions didn't have these applied. Instead of this there was applied a thin black line with the inscription limiting the area for walking.
later ...
the pic source: the net.
MiTasol
1st Lieutenant
It varied by company and factory. Martin on the B-26 painted every section prior to assembly as when swapping noses between two aircraft the camo lined up perfectly. Curtiss at one factory did it after final assy (your photo) and during sub-assembly in the other factory - or later at the same factory.
Somewhere on the net there is a photo of a Spitfire assy line with both painted and unpainted fuselages and the caption says the painted ones are from another assembly line in another town.
MiTasol
1st Lieutenant
Two things
In many cases the wing walk was only applied on the side the pilot entered so all the photos of the right wing may well be of aircraft that only have it on the left.
Your picture 74266 shows the wing walk has been either painted over or the non slip material was added to the paint while wet in that area. Given that most paints were nitrocellulose at that time I would say painted over. You can see the different texture of the paint starting about half way between the black line and the wing root fillet.
Actually you may be right. However it can be noticed that the early P-40 could have the area of the dark tone even while being assembled like the H75 for instance. And it can be noticed when overpainted. But the later ones didn't show it even overpainted freshly. For the late P-40 variants the thin warning lines can be noticed on both wings. No matter where the pilot was getting on. The different texture of the paint starting about half way between the black line and the wing root fillet seems to be caused just by walking at the area and sootiness from the exhaust pipes rather. Also I have noticed that both during the assembling process at a factory and later during maintenancing at a field, the mechanics used their own canvas-rubber rolled up area rugs.
the pic source: Curtis Wright - Hosted by Google
the source: the net.
the pic source: Curtis Wright - Hosted by Google
the source: the net.
MiTasol
1st Lieutenant
Great photos and these clearly show that the standard was, like the one and two light D/E/F instrument panels, there is no standard that we are currently aware of. As your photos show the anti-skid, if applied, was sometimes applied prior to final assembly and painting so it is probable that it was overpainted rather than masked out.
This may suggest that the finish spec changed to eliminate the drag the non skid walkway provided or for some other, probably long lost, reason.
Exhaust stains will not produce a dead straight edge so that can be discarded.
Ground crew walk mats were made of many materials including, like my genuine ww2 one, a canvas sock with wooden slats individually sewn in. As they never appear in the USAAF aircraft maintenance documentation I presume they were either air force supplied, or, far more likely, produced at unit level.
This may suggest that the finish spec changed to eliminate the drag the non skid walkway provided or for some other, probably long lost, reason.
Exhaust stains will not produce a dead straight edge so that can be discarded.
Ground crew walk mats were made of many materials including, like my genuine ww2 one, a canvas sock with wooden slats individually sewn in. As they never appear in the USAAF aircraft maintenance documentation I presume they were either air force supplied, or, far more likely, produced at unit level.
MiTasol
1st Lieutenant
To me that looks like yet another variation - a very narrow painted anti skid strip.
My canvas one is about 60cm/2 feet wide. I would photograph it but that means digging deep into a shipping container.
My canvas one is about 60cm/2 feet wide. I would photograph it but that means digging deep into a shipping container.
IMHO that's a shadow of the fuselage. Please look at the "90" in the foreground. Her nose casts a shadow on the wing in front of her. The Brown camo colour on the aileron is very dark because of the shadow. Certainly it can be excluded the part was re-painted because the fuasealge side at the area also looks dark.
Anyway I agree ... like the one and two light D/E/F instrument panels, there is no standard although regarding the pilot's panels I think it is either of the F or L. The pics attached by bf109xxl aren't any proof actually but they are the evidence that the E had one light there only.. See my replay there.
Anyway I agree ... like the one and two light D/E/F instrument panels, there is no standard although regarding the pilot's panels I think it is either of the F or L. The pics attached by bf109xxl aren't any proof actually but they are the evidence that the E had one light there only.. See my replay there.
MiTasol
1st Lieutenant
I had not thought of shadows and you are probably right on that one. The two light panels appear to me to be an RAF requirement that did not get converted from EO to blueprint until long after E-1 production started. The much earlier than blueprint E-1 manual showing the two lights supports that but naturally is not proof.
MiTasol
1st Lieutenant
I tracked down my ancient photocopy of the wing walk spec at Curtiss and as you can see painting it black was part of the spec. Maybe at some stage the aircraft finish spec required it to be painted the same as the rest of the area to improve blending into the background. Maybe not.
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