I've just read that the white wall on the tailwheel tyres of Luftwaffe aircraft was an indication that the tyre was conductive and would therefore earth the aircraft whilst it was on the ground. This makes sense as it avoids the necessity for earthing the machines by other means and also prevents someone on the ground inadvertently earthing the aircraft with painful consequences!
Does anyone know if British and US aircraft employed a similar earthing method? Did they have one or more non-insulating tyres?
I've just checked my Luftwaffe models and it looks like I'll be getting the paint brush to one or two of them!
Steve
I've been delving into this this afternoon. Dunlop first marketed ECTA (Electrically Conducting Tyres for Aircraft) in 1935, claiming their new material had only one ten millionth the resistance of rubber.
I've also been checking contemporary photos and have found white walled tyres in all theatres not just, as I previously thought),the Mediterranean and Africa).

That makes sense re:whitewall tires ...I have a pic of Yellow 10 as my screensaver and it does indeed have a whitewall tailwheel..

It seems Dunlop developed the non-insulating tyres as more aircraft were using tail wheels as opposed to the old skids, hence insulating themselves fro the ground. This would allow the aircraft to remain "charged up" and could cause sparking on earthing with an obvious fire risk.The tyre had to be electrically bonded to the earth in the airframe. On British aircraft I believe those W/T squares are something to do with that.
Surely the allies would have availed themselves of this technology, maybe their non-insulating tyres were just not so clearly marked.
The upshot of all this is that white walled tail wheel tyres were very common on Luftwaffe aircraft in all theatres. Looking quickly through images on my computer they may well have been the norm. It's amazing what you miss until you are looking for it!
Steve

I was researching Hawker Typhoons just now, and in 'Flight' on 20th Jan 1944, the mention the Typhoon having the Dunlop Ecta tyre on it's tail wheel, so I think they probably were a standard feature of allied aircraft too.