The common feeling is that the wings were green, but the traditional red interpretation can't be excluded 100% for the ceremony only.
... I mean that it can't be excluded, whatever is the reason for which artists drew it for many years.
Hi Massimo,
Red wings on this particular plane are a myth - an urban legend that has persisted for half a century!It's easy to understand how that has happened; to a casual reader or a modeller more interested in RAF, USAAF or Luftwaffe airplanes, Russian plane painted in red looks convincing. The theory that
"you can't go wrong with red on a Russian plane - there are Red Army, Red Banner, Red Star, Red Square etc." isn't wrong - red colour did have a special meaning to Soviets.
Main problem with red wings is that the
purpose of red colour can't be explained. So far I have found in literature and in various forums only 3 attempts to explain purpose of red wings:
1. Wings were painted in high-visibility red to help search and rescue operations
2. Wings were painted in red because the pilot was a Spanish Civil War veteran (maybe a Spaniard?)
3. Wings were painted in red specially for the ceremony when 120 iap became 12 guards iap
IMHO, none of these are realistic. On the other hand,
green wings make sense - wings are in summer camouflage, the rest of the plane is in winter camouflage. Also, a veteran (he isn't a Spaniard) remembered this plane in an interview at
http://www.sovietwarplanes.com/Rybalko.htm- What color were the outer wing panels?
- Only green, it couldn't have been any kind of red. But the nose they painted, yes, both with red and yellow paints.If after posting this interview and concluding in your own research that the wings were green, you still consider red wings possible, you are actually perpetuating a myth...
Regards,
KL