Why so much grey?

[Raptorace18]

First up, if any military buffs who want to scream at me through cyber space about what I'm about to say, go away.

So any way, how come air forces always paint their planes a boring gray? how come we can't see more awesome paint jobs on combat jets? Why can't pilots have racing stripes or a giant tiger's face or shark teeth on their plane?

It cannot be due to camouflaging purposes surely, as modern jets move so fast these days to and radar makes any sort of camouflaging useless anyway.

So what do you guys think? Why can't modern jets these days fly with paints jobs that make Nora Polyansky's SV-51 look bland and uninteresting? Or at least a few jolly Rodgers or something.

*Edit*. It would seem that a lot of military buffs have not read the above. Look, I do read a lot into this sort of thing and I have forgotten more about planes than a lot of people will ever know. So please don't post anything else treating me like someone who knows nothing about the subject. That, and at 20,000 feet i don't think a bright red plane would look any more conspicuous than a gray one. That, and a well trained observer will identify them regardless.

 

[DuplicateValue]

So they can identify their allies easily when they see them in flight?

You don't wanna end up shooting your own guys down.

 

[Resphyre]

low flyers used to have camo so you couldnt visually spot it back in the day, and the A-10 Warthog has teeth around the minigun =D

 

[Rusman]

But the thin layer of paint will upset the perfect design air dynamic... ness of the planes!
Tiger face's and Shark teeth are all good, but I just want to see a Eurofighter painted to look like a rainbow now... possibly with a unicorns face on the nose.

 

[xXGeckoXx]

Umm, It turns out that gray camo's the plane with the sky and horizon. The gray on the bottom looks like the sky but if you look carefully most of the grays are very light blues. At distance this looks to be blue which stops the plane from appearing as a black dot in the sky.

It cannot be due to camouflaging purposes surely, as modern jets move so fast these days to quote Yahtzee, 'By the time you see one its already over there,' and radar makes any sort of camouflaging useless anyway.

Wrong. A plane flying at high altitude will not appear to be moving that fast to viewers on the ground. It is possible to clearly see the black dot of an uncamouflaged fighter flying at high altitude. At low altitude this is true and that it why the gray on the top of planes is darker and more blotchy to camo it with the ground so that a plane at high altitude would not see it.

 

[Arachon]

They actually paint them in a radar absorbing coating to make their imprint smaller, this tends to be black or gray. Also a bright red aircraft is far easier to spot against a gray or blue sky. Gray is also a nice neutral colour and since this is the airforce and not a fashion house they have no problem with their craft being as utilitarian as possible. It's their job.

Pretty much this, if I'm not mistaken, the matte grey is there to reduce sun glare and such things, which would make the aircraft way easy to spot at a distance.

 

[octafish]

Dazzle doesn't work so well in the sky.

 

[Raptorace18]

So they can identify their allies easily when they see them in flight?

You don't wanna end up shooting your own guys down.

That is what IFF tech is for.

That, and if all planes are gray won't that make it worse?

 

[Raptorace18]

Dazzle doesn't work so well in the sky.

Yes. It didn't work at sea either. Its not about camouflaging. Because of radar and hows its always advancing I just think trying to visually hide your plane is a bit pointless and if your going to be detected why not look awesome?

 

[2fish]

What's the point of painting a stripe on the plane if you will never see the stripe since the plane moves faster than your eyes can register that there is a plane over there?

Spoiler

Gray is the color of intellect, knowledge, and wisdom. It is perceived as long-lasting, classic, and often as sleek or refined. It is a color that is dignified, conservative, and carries authority. Gray is controlled and inconspicuous and is considered a color of compromise, perhaps because it sits between the extremes of black and white. Gray is a perfect neutral, which is why designers often use it as a background color.

OR

Like black, gray is used as a color of mourning as well as a color of formality. Along with blue suits, gray suits are part of the uniform of the corporate world. Dark, charcoal gray carries with it some of the strengh and mystery of black. It is a sophisticated color without much of the negative attributes of black. Lighter grays are similar to white. Gray tuxedos are common for men at weddings.

If you want to paint something pain the missles and bombs, just use a soft touch....

 

[Anarchemitis]

Gray paint is cheap and easy to maintain. Similar story with black.
Fancy colors you only get permission to apply once you're awesome enough.

For the record, This is Lt. Oswald Bolecke, the flying Ace Baron Manfred "Red" Von Richthofen looked up to.​

 

[Luftwaffles]

Get into RC. Custom paint jobs ftw. Actually, most of the ww2 planes have camo paint jobs to make them harder to see while not flying. ie while they are parked on the ground. So the spitfire will have olive drab and dirt camo while hidden within the olive groves while in greece etc. The FW150 butcher bird has snow spot camo for winter etc. Also have you noticed how the bottom of planes from the war had sky blue paintjobs? Blending into the sky thats why. Bombers usually have insignias on their tails for identification. Nose paint jobs are purely aesthetic.

So maybe th grey blends into the tarmac?

 

[Spacewolf]

Because pink would stand out too much.

they used to use pink spitfires beause it actually blends in better than green, grey or blue

 

[Kukakkau]

This seems an odd question - why would you not have your planes brightly coloured as they fly over enemies positions that will likely have AA guns? Uh so they don't get spotted as easily? It's war not a beauty contest - if "pimp my F14" comes out on TV I will lose my last shred of hope in humanity

And don't use the radar excuse - how many Taliban groups do you think carry radar equipment into the mountains they are hiding in. Because something tells it would be a drawing the short straw kind of plan

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Spoiler

Gray paint is cheap and easy to maintain. Similar story with black.
Fancy colors you only get permission to apply once you're awesome enough.

For the record, This is Lt. Oswald Bolecke, the flying Ace Baron Manfred "Red" Von Richthofen looked up to.​

Man, such an awesome pilot. Killed because he forgot to strap himself in. No one ever bested him though, something the Red Baron can't claim.

OT: I think it is because painting the aircraft for aesthetic purposes instead of defensive purposes (radar deflecting coating) would be a waste of tax payers money. If you want to paint that jet, you're paying for it. Also, with air combat as it is now, it wouldn't work if your goal was to impress or intimidate your opponent. You can't see paint jobs over the horizon.

 

[DuplicateValue]

So they can identify their allies easily when they see them in flight?

You don't wanna end up shooting your own guys down.

That is what IFF tech is for.

That, and if all planes are gray won't that make it worse?

Having no interest whatsoever in the air force and its technology, I have no idea what IFF is.

And I guess you're right, but I assumed he was just talking about his country's jets in particular.