Popular aircraft paint schemes

Believe it or not, all styles and schemes depend on N# regulation markings. It’s best to understand your N# first, how big or small it can be and then start the design process. For example, an aircraft less than 30 years old must have an N# that is 12 inches or larger. An aircraft 30 years or older only 2 inches. An aircraft up to 180 Kts C.A.S. needs at least a 3 inch N# and if it’s faster than 180 Kts C.A.S. it must be 12 inches. For production or experimental aircraft, the N# must be placed horizontally on the tail or fuselage between the trailing edge of the wing and/or the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer or the jet engine housing (nacelles). For a rotorcraft, the N# must be placed horizontally on the cabin, fuselage, tail or the boom. And finally for experimental aircraft the markings need to be horizontally on the tail, fuselage between the trailing edge of the wing and/or the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer.

Liveries are uniforms, and airlines carry many types of these paint schemes. There are commemorative (paint or wraps celebrating a milestone), bare metal (old-school), heritage/retro (80’s 2 colors and straight lines), regional brands (flags/countries’ colors), billboard (wide-body aircraft branding), cheatline (like heritage, has decorative, single, horizontal or multiple, band of colors applied to the sides of a fuselage), government (camo), logo (one color and logo), military (stealth), alliance brands (corporate identities) and jelly bean (multiple designs and colors).

The most popular aircraft paint schemes today are the Jelly Bean (wave art) you see on new aircraft and motorhomes. The concept has no real name other than Jelly Bean but the idea is to make the vehicle look larger and blend in any imperfections from wear and tear, weather damage, sun damage and other types of blemishes. Older styles where just simple lines/colors and manufacturers learned that the more complex the paint scheme, the longer the vehicle keeps its value. If your paint on your aircraft is older than 10 years, you may want to consider repainting it. However, believe it or not, most large aircraft are painted white. Research has shown that white is a neutral color, has thermal benefits, doesn’t fade like other pigments leaving the plane look newer longer (I beg to differ), reflects better and is the cheaper option. It also has titanium in it which has advantages for aerospace but we paint small planes so let’s not get distracted.

The most popular aircraft paint colors in the late 2010’s are dark roasted coffee. Dark blends of browns and blacks are absolutely the hottest thing right now and we see it all over the place on coaches and planes. They say coffee is the new wine and coffee company colors are what is the future of aviation. Blacks and browns are actually a safe aviation color for FAA medical standards. There are guidelines for color perceptions and when you are flying in the air, light colors are harder to see than darker colors. You will actually start to see this trend play out as soon as the airlines catch up to us smaller paint shops who are at the cutting edge of design.

If you’re looking for a professional to paint your baby, then look no further than to Vert, Inc. We study trends and concepts while judging performance for aircraft with our custom designs which have built our legacy firmly in the aviation market. Not only do we know how to strip your plane with ease with the proper maintenance and eco-friendly materials, we know how to paint the livery with the latest in aviation trends. Give us a call for a free quote. Vert, Inc. 541.678.8638 | 517 SE Evergreen Ave Redmond, OR 97756, USA.

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