B-17 Flying Fortress in Color

All B-17F Flying Fortresses wore a basic paint scheme of matt lacquers developed at Wright Field and applied to the bomber on the factory produc­tion line. In accordance with a Technical Order dating to April of 1941. this color scheme was Dark Olive Drab (Shade 41) for the upper surfaces and Neutral Gray (Shade 43) for the lower surfaces. The colors were blended by over-spraying where they joined. In addition to the camouflage there were numerous other markings: main­tenance directions and other technical data were applied to the aircraft in 1/2 inch letters in Black on the Olive Drab areas, mbm and in Insignia Blue (Shade 47) on the Neut-nil Gray areas. The aircraft's type, model, serial number and crew weight were painted in Black letters 1 inch high on the left side of the nose. Above the left wing and below the right wing was a 74 inch diametercocarde. an Insig­nia Blue circle containing an Insignia White star. There were similar cocardes. 50 inches in diameter on either side of the fuselage just forward of the waist windows. On the tail was the airplane designator, an abbreviated form of the airplanes serial number, later this was commonly referred to as the radio call num­ber"; these 15 inch high numbers were pain­ted in Identification Yellow (Shade 48). and were 80 inches below the tip of the tailfin.