NIVO, abbreviated from Night Invisible Varnish Orfordness (or "Night Varnish Orfordness"),[2] was a dark grey-green overall finish applied to British night bomber aircraft in the inter-war period (1918-1939).
NIVO | |
---|---|
Colour coordinates | |
Hex triplet | #404735 |
sRGBB (r, g, b) | (64, 71, 53) |
HSV (h, s, v) | (83°, 25%, 28%) |
CIELChuv (L, C, h) | (29, 12, 104°) |
Source | Federal Standard 595[1] |
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
Developed in 1918 by the experimental station at Orford Ness, as a low-visibility colouring for the Royal Air Force it had a sheen to match that of open water on a moonlit night.[3]
It was applied to aircraft from 1918 and was used on the Vickers Virginia, Handley Page Hyderabad, Handley Page Hinaidi, Handley Page Heyfords and Fairey Hendon bombers.
By the mid-1930s, tests had determined that the varnish was too reflective when searchlights were shone on it.[3] NIVO was phased out in the late 1930s, and had been discontinued by the time of the arrival of the new British medium bombers - the Vickers Wellington, Handley Page Hampden and Armstrong Whitworth Whitley.
NIVO is covered by Federal Standard 595 colour FS:34096[4][5]