Typhoon repainted to mark 80 years since D-Day

The RAF's display Typhoon has been repainted with a mid-war day fighter scheme

The RAF's display Typhoon has been repainted to mark 80 years since the D-Day landings.

The aircraft, based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, has been given a camouflage colour scheme and black and white stripes on its wings.

The 80th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944, will be marked on 6 June.

The Typhoon's pilot said "it means the world to me" to be honouring the history with the new markings.

The RAF's display Typhoon is based at RAF Coningsby

The jet has been painted in a livery replicating the Hawker Typhoon MK1 flown by Denzel Jenkins, the commanding officer of 257 Squadron at the end of World War Two.

The yellow lines along the edges of the wings helped pilots spot Allied planes during dogfights.

The black and white stripes on the wings, also known as invasion stripes or D-Day stripes, were painted on to allow the army and navy to distinguish friend from foe.

The Typhoon display pilot for 2024 Flt Lt David Turnbull said the stripes would have been "hastily painted on" during WW2.

"Usually they'd have been the width of an RAF broom, that's how quickly they were painted on, they'd just dip it in the paint and slam it on the aircraft," Flt Lt Turnbull said.

"It's a bit neater here," he added.

The new Typhoon livery replicates a Hawker Typhoon MK1 flown in WW2

Flt Lt Nina Wilkinson, manager of the Typhoon display team, said it had been a complicated process to repaint the jet.

Teams have been working on the repaint since October 2023, including coming up with the design.

The aircraft had to be disassembled and parts painted "individually" Flt Lt Wilkinson said.

When asked by BBC Radio Lincolnshire whether it was like assembling an Airfix kit she answered, "that's not quite the same...it's a little more complicated!".

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