Confederate Air Force question....

[Odie]

Didn't at one time the paint scheme for all the aircraft in the CAF consist of over-all gloss white with red & blue stripes on the wing-tips? I believe they were based out of Harlingen TX at the time.

[Terry]

A lot of info on that here. http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=20853

[IFlySWA]

Outstanding link. :medals: Thanks very much for posting that Terry. :salute:

Brian

[HorusJ]

"Commemorative"! :kilroy:

[stansdds]

"Confederate" :mixedsmi:

[TeaSea]

Wabbit season!

[hawkeye52]

"Commemorative"...yechhhh!!! :stop:

"Confederate" was likely deemed offensive...but to whom?

Really, this PC BS has to stop.

- H52

[Snuffy]

Commemorative .... Politically Correct B.S.

Confederate should still be used. I believe they also had the stars and bars painted on their tails.

[stansdds]

Wabbit season!

Duck season! :mixedsmi:

[TeaSea]

Wabbit Season!!:jump:

Heh, personally I always thought Confederate Air Force was appropriate....it was always a tongue in cheek joke.

Some folks didn't get it. Anyway, its up to them what they call themselves.

[Skyhawk_310R]

Many years back the organization decided to change their name to the Commemorative Air Force. In truth, no one forced them to and they decided it would broaden their appeal and frankly they started out very much as a regional influence starting in Texas and they wanted to ensure they gained a nationwide sponsorship network. They thought the name change would help that cause and it has seemed to have worked in their favor as they hoped it would.

The information I have on them showed they used historically correct paint schemes for most of their aircraft. I know I purchased their famous book, Ghosts, decades ago and they were not painted that way then (gloss white with blue stripes).

Ken

[Skyhawk_310R]

Wabbit Season!!:jump:

Heh, personally I always thought Confederate Air Force was appropriate....it was always a tongue in cheek joke.

Some folks didn't get it. Anyway, its up to them what they call themselves.

And that's very true. The last thing they wanted to do was make some kind of political statement. It actually started because of being in Texas and the way they acquired their initial fleet of aircraft was somewhat rebellious. They then started calling themselves Colonels and wore light grey flightsuits but again that was purely an inside joke. They knew there was already a US Air Force, so they decided to they would use these antiquated aircraft and create a Confederate Air Force to be equally outgunned!

They are a great outfit and have done a magnificent job of preserving these aircraft in airworthy condition.

Awesome website link! I had not before seen those white schemes with the patriotic red and blue stripes. Looks like those came from 1966 and then soon after they repainted their fleet in historical schemes that were in that book published in the early 1980's.

Ken

[Snuffy]

When I lived in Georgia, (the state,) I lived in Peachtree City. Just about 2 miles from Falcon Field, which was a local airfield. But it was home to a branch of the C.A.F. They were in the process of restoring a Dauntless I believe.

There was an air show there the one summer I spent in Peachtree City, ... Lots of C.A.F. aircraft showed.

I considered membership at the time, but unfortunately my real life circumstances would change too soon, and I found myself on the road and located somewhere else.

[Terry]

When I lived in Georgia, (the state,) I lived in Peachtree City. Just about 2 miles from Falcon Field, which was a local airfield. But it was home to a brance of the C.A.F. They were in the process of restoring a Dauntless I believe.

There was an air show there the one summer I spent in Peachtree City, ... Lots of C.A.F. aircraft showed.

I considered membership at the time, but unfortunately my real life circumstances would change too soon, and I found myself on the road and located somewhere else.


The Az branch of CAF is based at Falcon Field in Mesa. Rather odd coincidence.

[Odie]

Great info, everyone! I know as a youth, I thought the overall white with red/blue stripes was a pretty neat paint scheme, but as I grew older, the historical aspect of real-world markings
kicked in. I believe the first pictures I saw were on the cover and in the internal article in AIR CLASSICS magazine on the CAF. I even did a model in that paint scheme of a P-38.

There was another aircraft, a P-51, that was a Reno racer at the time that wore over-all purple with yellow stripes, also on the cover of an AIR CLASSICS issue. Beautiful colors on a great
plane.