>Does this book mention if the latter machine was a
>"presentation" a/c, or otherwise marked or ceremonialized?
As I mentioned previously, French isn't one of my languages (These are
limited to English and Southern). However, pictures are universal. There is
one photo identified as a partial of S504. It shows the tail, part of the
aft fuselage and the port wings. The tail number is obscured although it may
be legible on the master negative. The plane is definitely uncamouflaged.
Rib tapes are visible which implies natural finish in my opinion. 2
nonstandard markings are visible. One is a dark triangle (black?) on the
turtledeck. The apex is at the front of the fin and the base is forward,
perhaps a bit short of the beginning of the headrest. The base is about a
foot wide. There is also visible the upper end of a chevron stripe on the
port side. The top of the numeral 2 is just visible on the aft starboard
side.
A color profile indicates that the 2 is red and the chevron stripe is blue at
the top , red at the bottom and white on the fuselage side. The stripe
passes right over the top of the stork. I hope the profile is based on
better photos then the one that is printed, because if that photo is the only
evidence, then the profile is mostly guesswork.
Guesswork or not, I'll probably use it if I ever get to building a Spad. I
just purely hate painting camouflage.
Eli Geher