U.S. Air Corps' planes from the 1930s are known for that sleek, shiny, silvery bare metal finish.
What has been forgotten over time is that the Air Corps didn't mandate this scheme just for the visual appeal.
This was due to a shortage of aircraft paints. It all started in 1933 when the Grand Vizier of Rustoleostan was in Washington, D.C. ostensibly on a diplomatic mission. He was a great baseball fan and his real mission was to see the the World Series featuring his favorite team, the Washington Senators. Unfortunately, tickets to the Fall Classic were impossible to get so the Grand Vizier never got to see a game. Feeling snubbed, he announced an embargo on trade with the U.S.
While a trade embargo by a tiny nation usually doesn't have much impact, in this case it was different. Rustoleostan was the only source of kaolanoline,
the key binding agent in aircraft paint. In the U.S., the situation deteriorated.
The Air Corps was forced to adapt. While specialized inks from the package printing industry could be employed for small applications such as stenciling, warning placards & insignia, using it on large areas was a no-go as the inks wore badly under the extreme conditions of flight. This gave birth to the famous all-silver fleet.
However, as the Curtiss XYPZ-34 Spatted Hawk showed, sometimes a little extra was needed to "seal the deal" (and the canopy). Fortunately, the U.S. National Paint Reserve was well stocked with enough zinc chromate to keep up with Air Corps' demand, at least for the time being.
The 1934 Curtiss XYPZ-34 Spatted Hawk prototype pursuit was a wonder of the age. Having advanced features such as a cantilever monoplane wing, stressed-skin construction and incredibly intimidating, streamlined spatted landing gear, this was the plane every Air Corps pilot dreamed of flying.
The XYPZ-34 Spatted Hawk prototype not only passed initial flight testing with flying colors (mostly silver), but it also destroyed the record book for single-engine aircraft in the process, establishing new time-to-altitude and closed-course speed records.
The Air Corps was suitably impressed and ordered a service test squadron of 15 aircraft which were delivered before the end of 1934.
The BMF for bare metal finish became "Bare-A** Mother F***er" in colorful enlisted jargon as ground crews constantly struggled with the lack of paint in the battle against corrosion.
Pilots were universal in their praise for the new Curtiss pursuit. It was wicked fast and very heavily armed for the era featuring six .50 caliber machine guns, four in the wings and two in the engine cowling synchronized to fire through the propeller arc.
An additional 20 XYPZ-34 Spatted Hawks were ordered and delivered in late 1935, enough to equip the 47th Composite Group based at Darksbale Field tasked with the air defense of Keokuk, Iowa.
That no enemy ever attacked Keokuk or any other part of Iowa is a great testament to the capabilities of the Curtiss XYPZ-34 Spatted Hawk and its incredibly intimidating spats.
Fortunately, an answer to the kaolanoline shortage was found when Pittsburgh Paints developed Yinzersyntholine, a synthetic kaolanoline substitute. This would enable the Air Corps to once again paint entire airplanes, some even in that most eye-catching color, olive drab.
However, the swift pace of aircraft development in the 1930s would mean a short operational life for this spatted wonder of the skies. The last Curtiss XYPZ-34 Spatted Hawk was retired in 1937 due to severe corrosion and scrapped. All that remains today is this child's toy (ages 6 and up only!) which was sold at Iowa Machine Shed notions counters in 1936.
Brian da Basher
