Il-2's of the VVS KBF

[michman]

I would be grateful for your thoughts about the aircraft shown here and its possible color scheme. It is an Il-2 associated with pilots of 57 cbap (later 57 pshap and then 7 gv.pshap) of the VVS KBF:
http://www.soldat.ru/files/f/0000050e.jpg

The image was captioned:
пилоты 57 СБАП ВВС КБФ 1941 год, на заднем плане Ил-2 первых серий
pilots of the 57 CBAP KBF in 1941, in the background an Il-2 of the first series

The image was found as part of the description of the recovery if an Il-2 wreck and the remains of its pilot:
http://www.soldat.ru/files/3/22/31/45/118/133/
http://sites.google.com/site/pilotsbaltic/letciki-baltijcy-sluzivsie-v-13-koiae/zukov-ivan-osi

57 cbap sent pilots to factory № 18 at Voronezh in early July 1941 for type conversion training. From mid-July, they received 38 Il-2's which they operated in two squadrons in the Baltic/Leningrad area.

In the image, one might note ....
-- the leaves on the trees : if the photo was taken in the Leningrad area, this will likely be late May or later in the year
-- the mix of VVS KA and VVS BMF officers
-- the raglan (пальто-реглан) leather costs : flight clothing in the VVS KA at the start of the war, but more typically seen on submarine and perhaps small boat officers of the KBF
-- the black visored covers for the naval officers : these would be worn, in wartime, when daytime high temperatures were above 10? C, usually from May through September in the Leningrad area

Thank you, in advance, for your comments. Any other images or colors/marking information for Il-2's of 57 cbap would be also very much appreciated.

[John Thompson]

Interesting sites! I don't have any answers, but for the benefit of anyone else who might be able to help, I assume you're referring to this photo in particular from the second page you linked:
http://www.soldat.ru/files/f/0000050e.jpg

John

[michman]

John,

Yes, that is the plane.
At first look, to me and to Massimo (who kindly invited me to post here), the plane appears overpainted in winter white, placing the time of the photo in spring 1942, despite the caption. But the plane, the paint, the uniforms/flight-gear and even the pilots themselves look rather "fresh" and in quite good condition for beseiged Leningrad of 1942.
So I am seeking others' impressions.

I provided the same link to the photo (or thought I did) near the beginning of my question. Does my link not show for you ?
Perhaps I have not mastered the forum's posting methods.

Thanks for your interest!

[John Thompson]

Sorry - my mistake! I went right past your photo link to the two web site pages! At least you know I looked at them...

John

[learstang]

John,

Yes, that is the plane.
At first look, to me and to Massimo (who kindly invited me to post here), the plane appears overpainted in winter white, placing the time of the photo in spring 1942, despite the caption. But the plane, the paint, the uniforms/flight-gear and even the pilots themselves look rather "fresh" and in quite good condition for beseiged Leningrad of 1942.
So I am seeking others' impressions.

I provided the same link to the photo (or thought I did) near the beginning of my question. Does my link not show for you ?
Perhaps I have not mastered the forum's posting methods.

Thanks for your interest!

Welcome to the forum, Michman!  That definitely looks like a white-painted IL-2.  As far as the aeroplane and the pilots looking too "fresh" for 1942 Leningrad, the caption may either be wrong, or they tarted them all up for a propaganda photograph for the benefit of the people of Leningrad (to show them the brave pilots who were defending them) or to show the Soviet people outside of Leningrad that things weren't as bad as they had heard.

Regards,

Jason

[KL]

Hi Michman,
the caption is very general:  it says "pilots in 1941" and Il-2 of "one of the first series".  Kind of "photo taken in 1941" and "early Il-2 in background".

Check cockpit canopy amour for the earliest pre-war Il-2s; I think there should be more Plexiglas then on the photo.
Tailfin star was introduced at the very beginning of the war - it is a wartime photo
Plane is definitely repainted, most likely in washable white casein paint.
Leafs on trees - maybe spring 1942?  The temperate paint looks worn out.

Probably the only way to date the photo is to ask about it on the AIF at
http://vif2ne.ru/nvi/forum/0/0.htm

Cheers,
KL

[michman]

Thank you very much to all the collegues for their interest and information.
It is a very nice "welcome" for me to the forum!

[FPSOlkor]

I would be grateful for your thoughts about the aircraft shown here and its possible color scheme. It is an Il-2 associated with pilots of 57 cbap (later 57 pshap and then 7 gv.pshap) of the VVS KBF:
http://www.soldat.ru/files/f/0000050e.jpg

The image was captioned:
пилоты 57 СБАП ВВС КБФ 1941 год, на заднем плане Ил-2 первых серий
pilots of the 57 CBAP KBF in 1941, in the background an Il-2 of the first series

In the image, one might note ....
-- the leaves on the trees : if the photo was taken in the Leningrad area, this will likely be late May or later in the year
-- the mix of VVS KA and VVS BMF officers
-- the raglan (пальто-реглан) leather costs : flight clothing in the VVS KA at the start of the war, but more typically seen on submarine and perhaps small boat officers of the KBF
-- the black visored covers for the naval officers : these would be worn, in wartime, when daytime high temperatures were above 10? C, usually from May through September in the Leningrad area

Time maybe correct
Clothes is not strange - Navy pilots were dressed in Naval (black) uniforms, while technical crews remained dressed in Army one. The raglan coat was in wide use in VVS untill about mid 42, since it was allowed by dressing code to be worn by officers, while most pilots graduating from 41 were sergeants.