Mirage III colours

MIRAGE III’s IN EARLY SILVER SCHEMES

1

An picture evaluation and appraisal.

MIRAGE III CZ The Mirage III’s arrived in this country mostly in overall natural metal finish. South Africa accepted its first batch of Mirage III aircraft from April 1963, comprising sixteen Mirage IIICZ interceptors (with serials 800 to 815). They were equipped with the air to air Matra R.530 missile. These aircraft were allocated to 2 Squadron at Waterkloof in Pretoria.

An interesting photo showing a variety of schemes and aircraft at Waterkloof in the late sixties. Excluding the BZ with the red tail one can see aircraft with red tail codes some without the red lightning flash on the fuselage.

Those with the red tail code are D and K. Only some of the aircraft have the 2 Sqn emblem painted on the tai.l

A fine example of a CZ with Black nose, Red trim, Red A code letter on the tail, Black serial (800) and the 2 Sqn emblem. This aircarft has the yellow ejection seat warning emblem painted on the air intake.

A closeup of 801 Code Red B from the rear end showing the Black nose, Red trim, Black serial (801) and the 2 Sqn emblem.

2

At least two Mirage III CZ’s with Red painted nose, Red trim, Red D code letter on the tail, Black serial (804?).

R SU

PROSUS SUM QU E

2 ES

KA

AD DER 2 SQ U

RO

N

AVIONS M. DASSAULT MIRAGE IIICZ

B DIN RED

G

DIN

RED

G

REDDING

No 8 0 7

80

Profile of a MIRAGE III CZ showing all the features and markings.

MIRAGE III BZ South Africa received three The Mirage III Bz’s with serials 816,817 and 818. They were initially in all natural finish with red edging on the intakes. It also had a large red “lightning flash” along the fuselage. Castle insignias were painted on the air intake. Fins were painted all red and the code identification letter was painted in contrasting white.

A Mirage III BZ with Black nose, Red trim, White R code letter on the Red painted tail, Black serial (818) on the rear fuselage and the 2 Sqn emblem also on the tail. This aircraft has one of the Red ejection seat warning emblems painted on the air intake.

Note the supersonic tank under the wing.

3

Right side view of a Mirage III BZ with Black nose, Red trim, Red tail, Black serial (816) on the rear fuselage and the 2 Sqn emblem also on the tail.

This aircraft has one of the Red ejection seat warning emblems painted on the air intake. Interesting is the fact that the Red tail exhibits two colours Red. This could possibly be due to differences in the tail surface or its curvature.

Left side view of the same Mirage III BZ on the previous page.

A couple of Mirages of which two are EZ’s and a singe Mirage III BZ with Black nose, Red trim, White T code letter on the Red painted tail, Black serial (817) on the rear fuselage and the 2 Sqn emblem also on the tail.

The furtherest EZ has the castle insignia on the vertical fin.

4

MIRAGE III EZ In August 1966, sixteen Mirage IIIEZ (serials 819 to 834) followed the delivery of the CZ models. They were equipped with the AS 20 and AS30 air to surface missiles for ground attack roles. These aircraft were issued to 3 Squadron which was re-formed to take delivery of this batch of sixteen Mirage IIIEZ fighter aircraft for the SAAF. They also carried a bold black serial number on the center fuselage, the first two being “EZ1" and “EZ2". It seems as if these two aircraft were the only two to carry these code letters after delivery.

A Mirage III EZ with the Black code letters “EZ1" painted on the natural metal fuselage. It has a partial Red trim with the Black serial number (819) painted on the rear fuselage.

The sister aircraft of “EZ1" also a Mirage III EZ with the Black code letters “EZ2" painted on the natural metal fuselage. It has a partial Red trim with the Black serial number (820) painted on the rear fuselage.

An Mirage III EZ without the Black code letters. It does display the 3 Sqn emblem on the tail. It has the partial Red trim with the Black serial number (827) painted on the rear fuselage.

5

An interesting Mirage III EZ, Serial 824, with a partially camouflaged front nose cone, possible a replacement from a camouflaged aircraft. It has the partial Red trim with the Black serial number (824) painted on the rear fuselage.

An Mirage III EZ, Serial 828, showing the doppler radar system with its Buff coloured patch. Interesting to see the name “CYRANO 55F� painted in Black on the nose cone. Note that the last two numbers of the serial is painted on the front wheel door.

AVIONS M. DASSAULT MIRAGE IIIEZ No 819

DD

8 9

RE

ING DD

RE

ING

REDDING

Profile of a MIRAGE III EZ showing all the features and markings.