latormentabritanica Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 Hello all! I'm trying to find out when the USAF ordered to have aircraft tail codes changed from white to black. I'm looking through my resources and not finding anything. Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 (edited) I would say 1979-80. I perused the book "Tail Code" by Patrick Martin and he does a great job a detailing the history of individual unit tailcodes, but he does not specifically state when the codes changed from white to black. However, he does put lots of photos in the book and the best I can tell, I have an F-4G from 1979, an F-15A from 1979 and an A-10A from 1980, all with black tailcodes. F-16B 78-0096 which was painted in the trial lizard scheme had black "HL' tailcodes in 1979. There are also photos of 56th SOW birds (A-1, A-26, AT-28, C-123) with black tail codes in 1968-69 during the Vietnam conflict. He does mention that with the advent of the air superiority grey schemes, the F-15 & F-16 switched to black tail codes. Apparently, the Air Superioity Blue scheme on the F-15 featured white codes and the F-16 pretty much had black codes from the get go. He also mentions that the Hill Grey schemes featured grey tail codes, mostly on F-4s. He doesn't mention A-10s in the Euro 1 scheme, or the SEA wrap-around schemes on many tactical jets, but I think black was a pretty obvious choice by then. Edited July 8, 2022 by Dutch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
andyf117 Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 (edited) Looking at a couple of selections at ABPics by 'date taken', @Dutch appears to be correct - looks like the transition took about a year... ....a general F-4 Phantom II search shows the first use of black in mid-1979 - no white after mid-1980... ...likewise, USAFE F-111Es and Fs are seen with white tail codes up to Aug 1980, but black from then on. Edited July 8, 2022 by andyf117 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
latormentabritanica Posted July 8, 2022 Author Share Posted July 8, 2022 Thank you very much, gents. The time frame you provided fits perfectly for the photos I'm trying to label. Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 F-16 tail codes have been black since they entered USAF service in late '78. Special paint schemes excepted if course. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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