dan Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Are they grey or white? Very hard to pick out in photos. I think the Y racks were mostly white but very few color shots of the single AIM-9 rail. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
airmechaja Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 I have a close up pic from the Squadron Walk Around book and the Y adapter and LAU-7 rails are white. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dan Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, airmechaja said: I have a close up pic from the Squadron Walk Around book and the Y adapter and LAU-7 rails are white. Any of the single missile rails? Edited April 10, 2019 by dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
airmechaja Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 There is one but it's a black & white pic so it's hard to be positive. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cool Hand Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 I found this pic with 2 F-8E's with Y-racks. Both look more gray than white. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Finn Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Here is one with the earlier Aero-3 launcher on top and the Lau-7 on the bottom: Jari Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dan Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 (edited) I'm doing a 1967 VF-211 F-8E, in the photos here the y racks seem white but as you guys have pointed out some colour photos show them as grey or is it just the photo quality or light etc? http://vf-211.my-personal.org Comparing the shade of the sidewinder (which we know is white) with the rails in black and white photos makes some seem clearly white and others grey. The angle of light on to the pylon makes a difference to. Edited April 11, 2019 by dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GW8345 Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 If I may; The pylon's (adapters) would be grey and the launchers would be white. Reasoning: The launchers are not aircraft specific (i.e. restricted to a certain aircraft type) so they would be painted in the most common camouflage color it would be next to, white. The adapters (Y Racks and single launcher adapters) were aircraft specific so they would be painted in the surrounding camouflage color of the aircraft. Bear in mind, neither the launchers or the adapters (basically, all of the ordnance gear except the guns) were "owned" by the squadron, they were really owned by the Intermediate Level Maintenance activity (i.e. AIMD) and "loaned" to the squadron. The gear was turned in on regular intervals and the squadron is issued a different piece of gear, thus the reason why they were not painted to the aircraft specific camouflage scheme. Were there variations, yes, but norm was white launchers and grey pylons/adapters. Just my .$02, ymmv Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Finn Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 (edited) In addition to above both Zuni launchers in the pic i posted are white, or originally were, the lower one looks to have more firings along with more handling and thus is more weathered. edit: if you want a change of pace you can go 1 Y rack and 1 single rail: Jari Edited April 11, 2019 by Finn Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob de Bie Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 18 hours ago, Finn said: Uh, is this a B28 'shape' on the cart? It surely looks the same.. Rob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Finn Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 Sorry it's a Mk-79 1,000lb fire bomb, carried by various Navy and Marine a/c early on in the war: Jari Quote Link to post Share on other sites
picknpluck Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 The LAU-7 and Y rack are clearly white in this pic Quote Link to post Share on other sites
airmechaja Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 5 hours ago, picknpluck said: The LAU-7 and Y rack are clearly white in this pic That is the pic I posted about above but it has a copyright so I didn't post it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob de Bie Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 5 hours ago, Finn said: Sorry it's a Mk-79 1,000lb fire bomb, carried by various Navy and Marine a/c early on in the war: Thanks Jari! I had never seen one of these. Rob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GW8345 Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 23 hours ago, picknpluck said: The LAU-7 and Y rack are clearly white in this pic This picture is from the early 60's, they are still using ropes to tie down aircraft. What time frame are we talking, I was thinking Vietnam (65) and later. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GW8345 Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 18 hours ago, Rob de Bie said: Thanks Jari! I had never seen one of these. Rob They were rarely used. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dan Posted April 12, 2019 Author Share Posted April 12, 2019 (edited) Cheer for the photos and info guys. Given the fact there is some variation I think the default is grey adaptors and white rails unless photos of the specific aircraft suggest otherwise. So in the case of VF -211 in 1967 it will be all white y-racks. http://vf-211.my-personal.org/scan0018.JPG http://vf-211.my-personal.org/scan0019.JPG Edited April 12, 2019 by dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.