WW II "assembly" aircraft - in movies?

[Stephen Tashiro]

According to photos on the web WWII "assembly" aircraft had some outrageous paint schemes. (Search for images associated with "assembly ship paint scheme".) Yet I don't recall any WWII films where such aircraft are portrayed. Are there any such movies?

[Mike Circo]

I've seen the still pictures of the B-24's before. Can't recall the context of where I've seen them. But never seen them in action films. I'd guess that any wartime photographer up in a combat plane on a mission would be worried about other things besides filming the assembly plane. I'd also estimate that out of the multiple squadrons of planes on a mission, only a few lead pilots would be in a position to see and form up with that plane. Maybe 1 in 12 planes would actually be in visual range of the assembly plane.

It constantly amazes me at the range of stories that come out of that conflict.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

My father was technical advisor on a film called "Target Unknown" because of his knowledge from flying (navigating) the B26. I have pics from the set and they had an aircraft set up with scaffolding all around it for filming. The film was made just after WWII. It may be of interest to you, but the aircraft for the filming was polished aluminum if I remember correctly.

[Jim Koepke]

From reading some of what was found with your search terms this was found:


After the group was in formation, the mission leader would take the lead position, and the assembly aircraft would depart and return to the base.

How many WWII movies depict the take off and formation assembly stage of any particular mission?

jtk

[roger wiegand]

Cool! Had no idea these existed.

[John T Barker]

I'm amazed that in all my years of studying WWII I have never seen the paint schemes referred to here. I recall PT boats whith similar paintings but never the bombers. Interesting.

[Mike Circo]

I'm amazed that in all my years of studying WWII I have never seen the paint schemes referred to here. I recall PT boats whith similar paintings but never the bombers. Interesting.

The PT Boat paint jobs (also experimented on larger ships too) was "Dazzle Camouflage" . That was mostly black and white stripes, zig-zags, lines and diagonal stripes. The intent was to break up the shape of the boat so it was difficult to tell its size or class. Also it was expected to distort the boat's direction, speed and course. Mostly for submarine periscope viewing if I recall. It didn't last long.

The bomber aircraft painted in wild schemes were done for exactly the opposite reason. To make the assembly aircraft extremely clear and stand out. It was unique, so each squadron forming up would know their individual assembly ship.