Hi Misos, hi all,
I think it's time to reopen the topic. Some new screenshots, and a new look to those posted by Misos, seem to suggest that some other things have to be modified.
These screenshots are, chronologically, the first known images of this LaGG-3:
What do we see different from my old drawings, apart for the already discussed white blotches on the tail (well visible in images posted by Misos) and on the wings (still largely hypothetical, but probably more complex than on the drawing)?
Well, a difference is that the plane had a retractable tail wheel since the date of this movie. At this point, there is no evidence that it came out of the factory in different way.
Another thing is that the strange white painting on the left side window looks a repair with adhesive tape. This tape continues on the right side, close to the rear edge of the cockpit opening.
Another thing is that the red star on the spinner looks missing. One can't be sure, but I can't see evidence of it nor in the photo with a rotating spinner, nor on that with the stopped one.
The photo shows also fast locks on the lower panel of the nose, as on photos of the same plane datable in fall 1942. No evidence that this piece has been replaced, then.
According to an hypothetical datation, this image could be of February or March 1942, successive to the movie. It shows the red star on the spinner, but also a sliding canopy. White blotches aren't evident, but we can suppose they were there because the ground is still snowy.
The images of the summer/spring seem to show the complete deletion of red stars from the wing undersurfaces too, and the presence on the spinner. The repair with adhesive tape was gone.
This image, hypothetically datable in fall 1942, shows the victory marks on the fuselage, a change in the painting of the rear part of the spinner, the small hammer and sickle on the wheel door and the old style exhaust stack.
This is supposed to be the last photo of this plane: looks as the previous one, apart for the white blotches that leave the victory stars uncovered, and a later type of exhaust pipes divided into three parts. No more hammer and sickle.
Now, at
http://airaces.narod.ru/all2/galchenk.htm there is written:
Гальченко, хотя уже и командовал полком, не жалея себя летал наравне с молодыми пилотами. И снова полёты, полёты. Бои, перегрузки... Однажды, после напряжённого боя, не смог вылезти из кабины - отказали ноги, болью сковало сердце. Друзья вынесли его на руках. Но беда не приходит одна: вскоре у него резко упало зрение...
Госпиталь. Горькие думы. Война, а он не у дел. Как - то приехал Виктор Миронов. "Разрешите летать на вашей машине. Пусть немцы не думают, что наш командир не может подняться в воздух". Леонид разрешил - не хотел обидеть боевого товарища, - но с болью в душе: боялся за его жизнь - за машиной с чёрной кошкой немцы охотились давно... Его опасения подтвердились: самолёт был подбит в воздухе и Виктору пришлось воспользоваться парашютом. Когда Миронов вновь появился в госпитале, Леонид, считавший его погибшим, не сдержался, заплакал от радости, а потом приказал: "Кошку нарисуйте на всех самолётах !.."
and an automatic translation:
Gal'chenko, though it has commanded a regiment, not sparing himself flew on a par with the young pilots. Again, flights, flying. Fights, overload ... One day, after a hard fight, could not get out of the cabin - not walk pain befall heart. Friends carried him in her arms. But the trouble did not come alone: he soon fell sharply vision ...
Hospital. The bitter thought. The war, and he did not have affairs. How - that came Victor Mironov. "Allow me to fly on your machine. Let the Germans do not think that our commander can not get up in the air." Leonid allowed - do not want to offend comrade - but the pain in my soul: he feared for his life - the car with a black cat Germans hunted for a long time ... His fears were confirmed: the plane was shot down in the air, and Victor had to use a parachute. When Mironov reappeared in the hospital, Leonid, who thought he was dead, could not restrain himself, he wept with joy, and then ordered: "Cat draw on all planes! .."
So, it seems that the plane was lost when flown by Mironov. It's unclear when this happened, but the text seems to suggest the late summer or fall 1942 for his recovery. If so, the last winter photo could be of another LaGG-3 painted to match the previous one.
The order to draw cats on all planes looks to have never been executed, else we should have seen lots of photos of them.
Any thoughts?
Regards
Massimo