Why Are Some Military Airplanes Gold?

Stearman biplane [Courtesy: Greg Gottron]

Question: Why do so many biplanes used in World War II have gold wings? I thought the whole idea of military paint jobs is for them to be camouflaged, and the gold sticks out.

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Answer: The biplanes you mention—Stearmans, Kaydets, and Navy SNJs—were mostly likey trainers.

They were yellow because if they went down on a training mission—as they often did—they were easier to spot from the air.

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Often the trainees made unscheduled off-airport landings in hayfields, swamps, forests, and the desert. Having an aircraft painted to look like terrain would have made it more difficult to find them.

ask flying Aviation History Military Military Aviation training aircraft World War II WWII

Meg GodlewskiAuthor

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.