[MD_Wild_Weasel]

Originally Posted by major_setback

Here is a 1940's shine.

Not all aircraft were 100% matt, and wind and dirt could polish the surface.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...4949u10fg9.jpg



Picture is taken during wartime, see here:

http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/t...418#6451009418

Look at the sky reflecting in the painted part of the canopy!


The next photo is taken in 1942, as you can see in the link.



http://www.spitfiresite.com/photos/h...-squadron.html



This shows sheen from a certain angle too.

http://www.nasaimages.org/luna/servl...~61&mi=1&trs=3

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...03-00301-1.jpg

Here too, 1940'sSpits under production. Showing sheen:

http://cache1.asset-cache.net/xc/331...143FD4AE7FC81B


1942, loook at the shine on the tailplane:

http://www.crashsiteorkney.com/useri...tfire164Sq.jpg


A real shiner - Group Captain A.G. Malan, DSO, DFC, with his usual Spitfire Aircraft ZP-A (1940):

http://samilitaryhistory.org/vo013dtc.jpg


I agree that most aircraft looked matt a lot of the time, but depending on different types of paint/wear/lighting conditions they could also show sheen/shine.

.

during the war some r.a.f pilots used to get the ground crew to "polish" their plane so that they could get an extra mph out of it. Also during the war materials were in short supply so this may also have contributed.