Best Paint Scheme?

[Mayhemxpc]

Flat paint. Yes to both, but more of a dirt issue. Black doesn't help with that either, but once dirty, the gloss black is easier to clean.

One of my most memorable...non-life threatening...flight experience was in the left seat of Aluminum Overcast. Sit down, familiarize with the controls, confirm that it responds normally, look out at the left wing and "OMG I AM FLYING A B-17!" One of the two best logbook entries I have.

[Bill Greenwood]

Flat paint doesn't mean its rough, it can be flat in reflectivity without being matt . My last paint was low luster, thus not shiny. but it was smooth and easy enough to clean, and looked more authentic.
I particularly think that cockpits and interior of warbirds and historic planes ought to be original. Sitting in a 51 ir T-6 or Spitfire, the interior is maybe a third of the area you see, and its part of the experience of the historic aspect of the plane. You lose some of that if you get in a fighter and it looks just like a Learjet or a Cirrus inside. And as for a flying safely, you dont need every gadget to do that. One gps would be nice to have, but I flew all over for 35 years and never had one.
I think as far as fun goes what is under the hood, so to speak, is more vital than a whole panel of Garmin. By the way some, people will claim "all that old stuff is no good, it never works ". That's mostly baloney, how do you think they naviagated from RAF bases deep into Germany in the war? They used "that old stuff" like the standard large British compass which works better than any modern one I have used. And they didnt have any Garmin or Apple gadgets.

[Mayhemxpc]

Bill, good point about flat vs matt. I have learned that some diligence with 0000 steel wool can get the flat paint smooth and easy to clean. (To the point where I could polish it...but then that eliminates the whole purpose of having flat paint.) Black paint, which I have, always seems to show up any dirt -- same as on my car. I think that "easy to clean" may have been a mis-statement. The gloss parts maybe don't show the dirt as much, making it easier to APPEAR clean.

I commend and appreciate you or anyone else who keeps the the panel as close to 100% original as you can. My circumstances are just somewhat different than yours.

[bigdog]

Some folks get really passionate about this but I believe in the Golden Rule - he who spends the gold gets to decide. I appreciate authenticity and think it should be the goal for museum static displays. But that has a cost and most museums don't have the budget to go full bore original. That said, I also prefer operating planes and have no problem with any changes the owner wants or needs to fly it rather than have it rot in a static museum. My plane was not in the military and has lots of mods. I painted it in a military livery so I can tell the story of those that did serve. Being able to fly it often and widely gets the story spread that much further. Some may cringe at a flying purple and pink P-51 but I think it's better than a pile of scrap it might be otherwise.

[Bill Greenwood]

"A pile of scrap" ???? The color or scheme or type of paint has nothing to do with a plane flying or not. I have seen some strange paint jobs, and the plane flew as normal. But it can also fly and look like what it was built as, a matter of preference or taste.The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is one which has a long history of showing history.

[bigdog]

"A pile of scrap" ???? The color or scheme or type of paint has nothing to do with a plane flying or not. I have seen some strange paint jobs, and the plane flew as normal. But it can also fly and look like what it was built as, a matter of preference or taste.The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is one which has a long history of showing history.

I was referring to the folks that take a pile of scrap or a data plate and invest a ton of time/cash to make a flyable airplane. It's a flyable plane that otherwise wouldn't be so I don't care how they paint it.

[BusyLittleShop]

I'm a strong believer in preserving the scheme that honors the history of the WarBird as far as can be known... I advocate keeping the scheme and change the WarBird if you don't like it...