Coloring (Aviation)

Jubilee and Old-Fashioned

Anniversary coloring, as a rule, is applied only to one or several (few) aircraft to draw attention to the memorable date in the history of the airline. In 2010, one of Lufthansa's new Boeing 747-400 was repainted in a special scheme to mark the 50th anniversary of Lufthansa and Boeing collaboration. ^[2] In 2013, Aeroflot Airlines , celebrating its 90th anniversary, ordered a special painting of one of the Sukhoi Superjet. ^[3]

Sometimes airlines use old-fashioned airplane coloring to celebrate the anniversary of the foundation. So, in 2011, Air France , celebrating its 75th anniversary, painted one of its Airbus A320s in the colors it used in the 1940s. ^[4] Lufthansa in 2013, in celebration of the company's 50th anniversary, repainted several Airbus A321 aircraft in the colors that she used at the beginning of her existence.

Sport

Some airlines create special coloring schemes to mark their support for sports teams or competitions. Thus, Air New Zealand airline repainted part of its planes in black, as it is a sponsor of the All Blacks national rugby team. ^[5] Etihad has posted a color scheme on one of its Airbus A340s that popularizes the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix . ^[6]

Stripes, tails and noses

This coloring allows you to visually change the shape of the aircraft. In recent years, the coloring of airplanes with a wide strip covering the entire vertical stabilizer and descending to the fuselage has gained particular popularity. The most striking examples are the aircraft of UPS Airlines and Qantas . A distinctive feature of Singapore Airlines (among others) is a horizontal strip along the entire fuselage. Some airlines (e.g. Southwest Airlines ) use a combination of several color bands. Several bands in fading blue tones were previously used in Kogalymavia .

For some airlines, such as Emirates and Ethiopian Airlines , the stripes on the tail have the colors of the national flag

For many years, Norwegian Air Shuttle has been using a characteristic coloring with a white fuselage and a bright red nose.

Airline name instead of coloring

With the advent of wide-body aircraft, a new form of coloring appeared, representing the name of the airline, written in capital letters and becoming the main element of coloring. Instead of the longitudinal line that traditionally divided the fuselage horizontally at the window level, in this version the coloring of the letters is stretched across the board. The first such colorings used were Union de Transports Aériens (UTA) and Pan Am . Other notable airlines that have abandoned the traditional horizontal strip are Hughes Airwest , Braniff on their 747SP , Muse Air on their McDonnell Douglas, and Frontier Airlines on their Airbus.

Polished Metal

At the dawn of aviation, this version of the design of the aircraft was very popular, however, by the beginning of the 21st century, only American Airlines retained this coloring scheme. Airplanes were polished at the manufacturing plant and covered with clear varnish instead of paint. The fuselage was stamped “polished”. Despite the absence of a painting phase in the technological process of assembling such an aircraft, this method does not bring savings, since polishing is more expensive than painting. In 2012, American Airlines completely changed the color scheme of its aircraft. ^[7]

Private and corporate jets

As a rule, private and corporate jets have a relatively simple coloring - a common white or gray background with several stripes. This is partly due to the high cost of repainting the aircraft, and partly due to the desire not to attract attention and not to distinguish the aircraft from similar ones. One of the rarest exceptions is the Boeing 737 , owned by Russian businessman Rustam Tariko . The plane is decorated with complex paintings and carries on its tail a trademark owned by a businessman company. ^[eight]

Camouflage

Targeted coloring of military aircraft designed to reduce visual visibility on the ground and in the air. She began to practice in the years of the 1st World War, but was developed before the Second World War.

The standard color of military aircraft of those years was the blue bottom of the fuselage and planes and the green color on top and sides. In winter, white color was sometimes practiced - in white. Subsequently, the aircraft, like other military equipment, began to be painted with colored stains - shades of green, brown, yellow, which further reduced the visibility against the background of the earth. Through numerous “trial and error”, gradually they nevertheless came to the conclusion that for combat aircraft it is optimal to paint in a matt light gray plain color.

Defiantly bright, multi-color “digital” camouflage is a demonstration, since it does not give any real masking effect.

Interesting fact. The standard three-color camouflage of the Su-27 aircraft provided for painting the airframe with shades of blue - light blue, gray-blue and blue. Due to the financially disastrous Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in the 90s of the 20th century, the paintwork of the aircraft gradually worn out, exposing the spots of light green primer on the duralumin skin, but according to aviation experts, such “shabby” aircraft were even less noticeable. rather than airplanes with good coverage.

Government Aircraft

Air transport of heads of state and government is often painted in unique color schemes. Sometimes, famous designers are involved in creating the color scheme. So, the design of the vertical stabilizer of the American presidential aircraft was developed by the famous industrial designer Raymond Lowy . ^[9]

Aircraft used to transport heads of state and government are usually painted in the national colors of a country or a particular government. In most cases, the flag, coat of arms or other symbols of state power are an important part of the coloring.

Aviation Alliances

All aviation alliances require their members to repaint several aircraft in the colors of the alliance. As a rule, the planes that perform the longest flights are selected for this.

At the same time, the oneworld alliance aircraft, carrying the coloring of the alliance, retain the coloring of the carrier on the tail. Previously, the SkyTeam alliance used different tails for its permanent and associate members, but in 2010 the coloring became the same for all airlines in the alliance.

For Western technology located in the EASA jurisdiction, the design organization (DOA - Design Organization Approval), which is certified by EASA Part 21 Subpart J., is involved in the development of color schemes and the necessary documentation.

In aviation, the application of both enamels and stickers is common. Well-known organizations specializing in aircraft painting:

• Air Livery Ltd
• MAAS Aviation
• Eirtech aviation
• Spectrum Air

Some airlines apply coloring schemes that precede the premiere of the film / cartoon or support its rental. Thus, the airline All Nippon Airways for many years used the theme of the cartoon Pokémon ^[10] . In the 2010s, Air New Zealand used the theme of the movie The Lord of the Rings , which was shot in New Zealand, in the coloring of some of its aircraft ^[11] .