RAF colors question

Mick

Mick

SOH-CM-2024
Can anyone tell me when the "Raspberry Ripple" scheme seen on aircraft at Boscomb Down was introduced, and when it was discontinued if not still in use?

I tried searching the interweb but Mr. Google let me down. He found a gazillion references about the scheme but nothing about the time frame it was used during.
 
Mick said:
Can anyone tell me when the "Raspberry Ripple" scheme seen on aircraft at Boscomb Down was introduced, and when it was discontinued if not still in use?

I tried searching the interweb but Mr. Google let me down. He found a gazillion references about the scheme but nothing about the time frame it was used during.
Click to expand...


Think it was phased in around 1979-80; and IIRC has become more scarce as the aircraft that wore it have been retired by Qinetic, which is the private company which has taken over the mantle from the Aircraft and Armaments Experimental Establishment ( AAEE ) , the only one I worked on was the Phantom XT597, when it was changed into that scheme @ 1981.

A non militarised ( and somewhat stylised) version of the
scheme is still in use on Qinetic fleet

Which tails are you looking for Mick?

Hope this helps a bit

Ttfn

Pete
 
Good question, and one i thought i could answer relatively easy, but is actually rather complicated :biggrin-new:
The raspberry ripple fleet are not technically RAF, and have been used by various government and civilian organisation's since 1946, mainly under the umbrella of the A&AEE (Aircraft and armament experimental establishment)now run jointly by the civil service and a private company QinetiQ. The color scheme seems to have started appearing in the early 70's and was applied to individual aircraft as and when they were needed.
If you've been googling, you probably know most of this, but i'd be interested to know myself

Looks like pete beat me to it :wavey:
 
fsafranek said:
Long discussion in thread linked below. Aircraft it has been applied to might indicate the range of dates. They also mention a book that would (hopefully) include a full history.http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air...27-royal-air-force-raspberry-ripple-aircraft/Or you might ask the webmaster here: https://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/index.php:ernaehrung004:
Click to expand...
Just bear in mind that not all the tails listed in that forum post ended up in the AAEE colours, Buccaneer XN974 didn't; ( that was another one I worked on ) it went to standard RAF camouflage after being in RN colours while being used as a test hack at Holme on Spalding Moor

Likewise, the D3 Sea Vixens wore a version of the red and yellow Drone scheme, while the Target Tug versions wore a hybrid scheme, retaining the tiger striped undersurfaces.

Ttfn

Pete
 
I started work at RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine based at Farnborough in 1973 & Hunter T7 XL563 was I think recently painted in ripple possibly having come off a Major service. ( she now resides at FAST museum)
Keith
 
Wow, thanks for all the information!

I thought of the question when I happened upon a photo of a plane in the Raspberry Ripple scheme, and it dawned on me that I have a number of models with Raspberry Ripple skins and I had no idea which, if any, of my sims they might fit into.

None, as it turns out. I have Golden Wings for the Golden Age, FS1954 - A Half Century of Flight for the Classic Era, FSJetAge for the sixties (that I might as well not have bothered to set up, since I've done virtually nothing with it since I set it up some years ago) and a semi-stock FS2004 that all I ever did was enhance my local area and might as well not have bothered doing even that.

Still, I'm pleased to know the answer. Otherwise the question would be nagging at me.
 
This one only received this livery around 1983. Before that it was painted white/grey with a blue lighting.

NyZfobf.jpg


Raspberry Ripple is a saturated, subdued, rusty red with a chocolate undertone. :dizzy:

Cheers,
Huub
 
huub vink said:
This one only received this livery around 1983.

Raspberry Ripple is a saturated, subdued, rusty red with a chocolate undertone. :dizzy:

Cheers,
Huub
Click to expand...

Huub the official colours are Post Office Red, and Oxford Blue and white, the roundels etc are different shades

Ttfn

Pete
 
Funny, I have another photo of 563 with a different tail scheme - top of fuselage continues white to the tailpipe......
Keith
 
Y1UOrTl.jpg


Z9gTvJY.jpg



According to Adrian Balch's book on the subject the "Raspberry Ripple" scheme was introduced in 1976 to standardise various colour schemes used by the various MOD departments. Being a patriotic scheme, the colours used should have, you would have thought, replicated those of our national Union flag.

Cheers,
Huub
 
good thread, when i started attending RIAT Fairford in the mid 90's, most of their fleet attended, been looking back through my personal photo collection, sadly ive very few, wish'd i'd paid them more attention :grumpy:, But, the joy of simming is, i can :biggrin-new:
 
The screenies showed me something I should've noticed in the first place. The titles on the planes all say "Royal Aircraft Establishment," not "Aircraft & Armaments Experimental Establishment." If I'd been paying enough attention that would've told me that the scheme was introduced later than the times frames depicted in my sims.

Here's a curiosity. Raspberry ripple ice cream is vanilla with raspberry in it, red and white, no blue. The earlier A&AEE scheme was red and white with no blue, but as far as I know, only after the blue was added was the livery called raspberry ripple.

Maybe the blue represents the dish the ice cream is served in?

And yes, it's curious that the colors are not the shades in the British flag. In the US, at least before the introduction of paint color codes, the official definition of the US national insignia was that the colors should be "the colors of the American flag" and the colors used to paint planes included "insignia red," "insignia while" and "insignia blue."
 
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