US Carrier Plane Fin Stripes

[Tiger Tim]

Hey all, I have a question that's been bugging me for a while now and figured this was the best place to ask...

So it looks like some US Navy and Marines aircraft around the Korean War period had an all-blue paint scheme with white stripes along the leading edge of the vertical fin. I think I've seen it most on Skyraiders but there are a few other carrier-based types I've also seen those stripes on. It looks to me like they're positioned such that they will be level when the airplane is parked, at least on anything with a tailwheel. I forget how the stripes go on the pictures of tricycle-geared aircraft. Anyways, best use I can think of is to park your Skyraider out in front of the local Kwik-E-Mart and when the guy that just robbed the place runs past the airplane you can get a good idea of how tall he was.

I'm 95% sure that's not why they striped the fins, so what's the real reason?

-Tim

[Jack Cook]

I believe it was for the LSO to help judge the a/c's angle of attack on the approach.
Over to the experts

[The Inspector]

And, I've heard that the LSO by looking @ what stripe was visible used that as a cue for "too slow" SPEED UP siginal or "too fast" SLOW DOWN paddles siginal because one showed nose high possible stalling and a different stripe nose low overshoot cables-tweeks.

And Jack, if you're gonna quote Bill Kelso, shouldn't the gun camera target footage be a BEECH C-45?

[Tailspin Turtle]

For details, see: http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2009/12/reason-for-those-lines-on-vertical-fin.html

[Tiger Tim]

Well I guess now I know. Thanks!

-Tim

[Jack Cook]

I bagged a Japanese Zero!

Wild Bill didn't even know!

[The Inspector]

I'll accept that, otherwise it'll all end in a stinky, sticky mess-