Dear friends,
Very interesting photos, and also a proof that it is impossible to judge CORRECTLY the hue of a color from a grey scale photo.
I do agree with John: these are Normandie-Niemen planes that are changing their markings from Soviet to French.
The thunderbolt that graced some planes is deleted too.
I would have speculated if scrubbing or white paint could have been used to do the job, but then in “Le Fanà de l’Aviation” No. 312, November 1995, I found a photo, that I enclose, that shows that at least in some planes a light blue paint was used.
They also say that white color was lacking, and that explains the red and blue rudder stripes of other planes, with the central stripe poorly painted with lime!
This magazine has an article on the Yak service in the Armée de l'Air, that was rather brief and uneventful, as the French and the Russians never reached a deal to buy spare parts for these planes.
According to an illustration published in “Air Magazine” 26 the plane No. 31 was the mount of de la Salle.
Regards
Daniele