Modern Warplanes Get Vintage Paint to Celebrate the Centennial of Naval Aviation

Although Telstar Logistics celebrated the 100th anniversary of naval aviation a few weeks ago, the event is an ongoing affair for the US Navy. And as part of the commemoration of the "Centennial of Naval Aviation," the Navy is repainting several of its modern aircraft in vintage paint schemes like those used by naval squadrons during decades past. 

Many of these are very cool to see. The photo at top, for example, is an EA-18 Growler painted in the 1944 colors of Air Group 85 aboard USS Shangri-La (CV-34). The photo below that is a T-4 trainer painted in the 1938 colors aircraft wore aboard the original USS Enterprise.

Here's an F-18 Hornet wearing the paint scheme of a F6F Hellcat from 1945:

For comparison's sake, here are a few of those Hellcats, photographed in 1945:

Here's an S-3B, painted to look like a Navy aircraft during the Battle of Midway in 1942:

Some of the commemorative aircraft make for improbable combinations, like this MH-60 helicopter in a late 1944 paint scheme used aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6). That's interesting in a what-if kind of way, because the US Navy didn't operate helicopters in 1944:

Likewise, electronic warfare wasn't practiced much in 1942, but if it was, this EA-6B Prowler electronic countermeasures aircraft would have come in handy as depicted here in the paint scheme US Navy planes wore during the Battle of Coral Sea:

Lots more photos like these, at the US Naval Air Forces photo gallery on Facebook.

Comments

[Bill Dugan]

I love the old '36 color scheme, but I'd have to say the 3-tone '44 scheme is my favorite of all time, and it looks fantastic on that MH-60.