>The color plate on SVA 5 11721 of 87a Squadriglia shows a white tail with
>a large number "1" on it, the 'Lion of St. Mark' on the fuselage side,
>the heavy 'dappled green' Italian camo on the upper surfaces of the wings
>and the Italian 'tri-color' markings on the undersides (red=left wing
>tips, green=right wing tips, natural linen in center)
>Other b/w photo in the book show 87a squadriglia SVA 5's with (allegedly)
>red tails and tails with the 'dapple green' camo on both the
>upper and vertical surfaces and on the upper surfaces only.
>I suspect the various tail colors have something to do with flight
>indentification (i.e., 1st flight=white, 2nd flight=red, etc.)
>but I've never read any research on this so its just a guess.
>Anyway, there should be one of the 87a squadriglia a/c which is
>colorful enough for ya! :-)
>Hope this is helpful - because you sent me private e-mail, I've
>not posted this reply to the list cause I don't have your
>permission to do so.
>But, you do have my permission to post this if you desire and
>think any others might find it useful.
>Cheers, Bill
This information is useful, and does belong on the list. I guess I didn't want
everyone to know how cheap I am. Have you seen those car commercials with Jack
Benny? ;-)
Anyway, it looks like I'm going to have to buy the Datafile if I can't find a
library book that shows "dappled green" Italian camo. The Time-Life book
_Knights of the Air_ has a Caproni Ca.45 with wavy stripes alternating green
and linen. I suspect this is not the same as the camo you describe.
No doubt there is a secondary market for the Windsock Datafiles. I just wonder
how many folks are interested in this aircraft.
Again, thanks for the help, Bill!
Bill