C-141 Paint Schems
If you ever wondered about why the C-141 got that ugly camo paint job, and the 'cloud gray' scheme read on.
It's not clear exactly when this article was published but I'm pretty sure it was around late 1979 or perhaps
1980, based on some references to other articles in the footnotes. The pages I received gave no indication of
what publication this article appeared in, but I'm pretty sure it was an official AF publication.
These pages were submitted to C141Heaven by Paul Minert, from his extensive collection of C-141 material.
And here's a few more pages from AF tech order 1-1-4 which covers official paint schemes, as well as a few from some sort of modeler's magazine discussing C-141 paint schemes. All submitted by Paul Minert.
The above diagram appears to be some sort of test or possibly arctic paint scheme. The
areas in grey correspond to a 'rescue orange' color as best as I can determine. I'm not sure
if any C-141 aircraft actually ever had this paint configuration. Below is a picture from
an early Lockheed brochure showing an artist's rendering of what this might look like. The
second one shows an airdrop with the aircraft painted this way.
What mind altering drug[s] do you think they were they tripping on when they suggested that?
Lockheed seemed to love that orange color. It was
also used for the fabric on the seats and various vinyl coverings around the cockpit. Very "60's".
My mother painted our kitchen that color too, right around 1964 or so.
Maybe it was the military that was behind
a lot of the hot fashion colors of that era...remember 'Avacado Green'? That must have been the Army!
This second one shows an airdrop with the aircraft painted this way. What were they thinking when they suggested that? "Here I am .. I double-dare you to shoot at me!"
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Last Updated: Friday, November 18 2005 (05:14 PM)