Was just reading "Gee I wonder what happened" and it made me think, What is the best color an airplane can be fore Search and Reascue to see it better? I was wodering about black for day time, but what color is best over all?
Just kidding Mike. But in the case of the Lancair, I gotta feeling he was an ice covered lawn dart, and it won't matter what color the thing was painted.
As long as the smoking hole isn't too big to hid the flames of the wreck we should be able to find you. J/K.
Color depends on environment. Black or some sort of dark color is great in the desert but impossible to see in trees. White is good for most terrain. At night your best bet is reflective material or a strobe, color won't matter because the SAR crew is probably on NVGs or looking through a FLIR.
Put that color scheme against any SMALL AIRPLANE SIZED piece of any of those photos, and you'll still see it. Granted, no paint scheme is perfect for every season, but that color scheme was what Graham Mower came up with, and what that airplane has worn for forty years plus. Hasn't been lost yet
One time we were coming back from East of the mountains in some "not so great" visibility. We had a Yellow Ag Cat, Red Beaver and Orange Beaver parked on the ramp along with some blue, gold, pale yellow, and green aircraft...... you could see the bright yellow Ag Cat LONG before the others..... I've also seen the same as far as visibility in the air, so Bright Yellow is the choice for me for the base color! John
12.22.2013 - Initial article format Operating aircraft on skis and negotiating a snow-covered landscape is an entirely unique skillset and environment.…