As of 1967, all MiG-15bis and MiG-17Fs of the UARAF (and SyAAF) were left in their original livery. This consisted of two layers of clear lacquer mixed with 10 percent and 5 percent aluminium powder, respectively, and was named ‘silver grey’ by both pilots and ground crews. Applied on Egyptian combat aircraft for the first time during the First Arab-Israeli War of 1948–1949, black identification stripes remained a norm over the following 20 years: two were always applied around the rear fuselage and three around the wingtips, where the middle stripe was three times as thick as the two outer ones. Depending on their origin, MiG-15bis of the UARAF either wore three-digit serials in the range 901–999 (ex-Syrian examples donated to Egypt in 1956), or four-digit serials in the ranges 1901–1999 or 2601–2799. (Artwork by Tom Cooper)