I found this on the N.T library website.

One airframe that was with 82 Sqn it's whole operational life was A29-625. They originally received it on 09 Jun 1944 and it stayed with them until after the war as FA-A till 19 Aug 1945. Well known from Pentland's books as being in Nat Metal with Black codes, the above image shows it was originally received from the USA in the usual Olive Drab over Neutral Grey colours. We will meet this airframe again later.

FA-A A29-625 82 Sqn at likely Morotai.

Profile of FA-A A29-625 in the simple scheme of Nat Metal overall with Black codes and the usual Blue/ White roundels and fin flashes. Dark Blue lip to the cowling.

FA-Y A29-915 Dec 1944 Morotai (from an Ebay sale). Info via Craig Busby.

Another long standing 82 Sqn airframe was A29-915 seen here with a group of 77 Sqn airframes at Morotai in Dec 1944, still carrying White tails which were painted over soon after. Received by the unit on 07 Nov 1944, it was originally flown on a regular basis by Wg Cmdr (acting Grp Capt) 'Woof Arthur' the 10 victory ace (from his time in 3 Sqn RAAF) who commanded 81 Wing at this stage.

Profile of A29-915 in the scheme of Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with White tails and wing leading edges as used in the PNG area (soon painted over). RAAF Sky Blue codes and the usual Blue/ White roundels, no fin flashes being carried.

After 'Woof' Arthur left 81 Wing, being implicated in the 'Morotai Mutiny' (along with Clive Caldwell and others) over what they perceived as wasteful operations causing casualties for little gain, A29-915 was taken over by S/Ldr Bert Grace, as seen in this image till July 1945. White tail now painted out and replaced by the checkered tail band. One can still see where the White wing leading edge was painted over.

The Tail Bands

Now is a good time to discuss the tail bands used in 1945 which Geoff Pentland said were coloured Red/ White. Peter May in one of his emails said "How confident are you that the checkered tail was red and white? I have seen no first hand confirmation in literature, so I am unsure if it is someones photo interpretation or actual first hand knowledge. I have confirmed on several photos that the tail band on Olive Drab aircraft was OD background and Sky blue or white checkers, and the checkers do not touch at the corners FYI, so a spray stencil was used. The NMF machines may have been different, not sure".

To illustrate the point, look closely at the band on the tail of Frank Schaaf's FA-<> (which we will come to later). Rough White (as I interpret it) squares painted directly onto the Olive Drab tail. Also Olive Drab airframes with the band usually have no fin flash. Image: RAAF OG3466.

Later the Nat Metal airframes that had the band do show two colors and I believe those were likely White/ Red (as plain White squares would not show up very well on the Nat Metal color alone). This is likely where Pentland got his colours from. Peter continued "I don't have a time when 82 adopted the tail band, but I know it was not present in mid December 1944, so I suspect it was started in Jan-Feb 1945, at the same time that 76 adopted the lightning bolt. 82 Squadron did use flight colours of possibly red and dark blue, noticeable on chin cowls and some spinners.

A group of airframes including FA-G A29-702. Also note FA-R A29-648 in Nat Metal (with no tail band in the background).

Profile of FA-G A29-702 in the scheme of Olive Drab/ Neutral Grey with RAAF Sky Blue codes. The spinner looks different and 'may' actually be Red, rather than as drawn.

While on the subject of FAR A29-648, here is another image of it (on the left).

Profile of FA-R A29-648 in Nat Metal with Black codes and serials. Usual Blue/ White roundels and fin flash, no tail band.

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