I was wondering.....why does the CG paint their helicopters in different color schemes? Some are all orange, some orange and white. It appears to be based on the model of the helicopter.

Just something that's been puzzling me for awhile.

Stan;
The Aviation Division of Tupperware just doesn;t have a good formula for white, so the H-65 is mostly Orange. The rest are metal, so they can be painted white easily.

I used to think that the helo's that deployed on ice breakers were painted orange so that they would be easier to find when they set down on ice flows, glaciers, etc..... also easier for the crews to find the helo after going for a little hike?

Hmm, so no clear cut answer yet. One would think that if visibility were the issue all would be painted orange.

From what I've read and been told, the predominantly white paint scheme has been around a while, as has the orange for polar operations aircraft. HH-52's were painted in either scheme, as were the HH-65's, until someone realized that one scheme was cheaper, and more visible.

As for the difference between 65's and the rest of the aviation fleet, I wouldn't hazard a guess. But from experience, it is pretty hard to see a white aircraft on a foggy, rainy, stormy day.

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From what I've read and been told, the predominantly white paint scheme has been around a while,

Sure has. I just ran acrtoss some pics I took on the Mellon in '70 when we were doing some helo ops training and the helicopter was mostly white.

It's cheaper to paint them all orange.

From my recollection........

While at ATC back in the mid-80's, the H-52's were transitioning to orange as they went thru the overhaul line. As I recall, the rational was for ease of seeing on the ice and USCG recognition. Once the H65's came online (POPDIV wise) they would get a repaint as they went back thru the overhaul line. Also with white, the exhaust tracks show up a lot more. I seem to recall the type of white paint used on the H-65 back then (imron??) didn't hold up too well to the constant cleaning and polyfoaming.

I'm speculating here but I'll take a stab and say unless the H-60's (or then H-3's) became POPDIV regulars, they won't get a orange paint job.

Someone post up pics of the White anniversary 65 that is at ARSC, headed to L.A.

I'd post the pic if I knew how to do it. I just feel sorry for the poor mechs that are going to have to try and keep that aircraft clean.

What is it with all the retro stuff anyway? The NFL has to do retro too. Isn't anyone happy with current?

Can't wait to see that flying along the coast here in Redondo Beach.

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Originally posted by FNG45:
It's cheaper to paint them all orange.

Not true! Red and orange are the most expensive pigments.

The pigments may be less expensive but the labor hours required to apply a multi-color paint scheme far outweigh the paint cost.

I recall when the change occured, it was a cost and efficiency issue.

Stan

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The pigments may be less expensive but the labor hours required to apply a multi-color paint scheme far outweigh the paint cost.

Sounds right to me but I still haven't heard why some are all orange and some are orange and white? Why not all of them orange?

This is only a small part of it, but remember that there are certain parts of the paint scheme that are "distinctive marks" of LE Authority.

Other than that, I still stand by my comment that about tupperwolf.

Here's how the H-65 looked when I was stationed in San Diego in 1991.

The only part thats white is the stripe.

Take a look at GOOGLE Images HH65C

Stan

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Sounds right to me but I still haven't heard why some are all orange and some are orange and white? Why not all of them orange?

The orange helo's were originally just for Polar Operations. It took ARSC considerably less time to prep an aircraft to paint it orange than it did the more complicated white scheme so it did save money....