Page about Il-2s abroad after the war

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi,
white outline clearly can't be seen on the white background, only as an extension of the white round around the tips of the stars.
Aleksandar wrote that the yellow line became standard later, and what I have seen seems to confirm this.
In at least one case, the line was clearly recognizable both on the white and the blue background, so it was almost certainly yellow.
About the bands on the tail of 27: both photos show the interruption of the white trim tributable to the red band under the white one, and both are thinner than the white one.
An identical width was probably the rule, but not always followed, probably for inaccuracy in painting  or for avoiding the overposition between the red star and the red band.
You are right about the too thin blue circle in earlier profiles.
Regards
Massimo

[KL]

Check here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Yugoslavia

- Enlarged red star (two lower star tips ending within the red band and top ending within the blue band) with yellow outline was adopted on February 1st, 1946
- in late 1940es width to length ratio was changed from 1:2 to 2:3.  Earlier flag was more elongated!  in late forties yellow outline became wider...

1946 flag:


Late 1940es flag:


Also from wikipedia, this would be the 1945-1946 flag:


There is absolutely nothing about the white outline!  So, if there is an outline, it has to be yellow...
Almost all of the photos show the enlarged red star.  You may consider correcting that too... 

About the bands on the tail of 27: both photos show the interruption of the white trim tributable to the red band under the white one, and both are thinner than the white one.

Photos show white band somewhat wider than the red or blue, but not double the width of the red or blue band.  The red star is also of the enlarged type, not the small as you made it.

Regards,
KL

[KL]

Hi Massimo,
Something is wrong with the flag here... 

[Massimo Tessitori]

I see, it's reversed. I'll check the markings.
Regards
Massimo

[KL]

An identical width was probably the rule, but not always followed, probably for inaccuracy in painting  or for avoiding the overposition between the red star and the red band.

All three bands of the ruder flag had to be equal width.  It was the standard appearance of the national flag and it was regulated the same way in Air Force technical instructions.  So, not "probably the rule", it was "the rule".

You are dealing with some poor quality photos or movie stills; red and blue are sometimes unrecognizable against the blue-gray, white bands are sometimes glaring and look larger than they are in reality. Instead of guessing and improvising, use the information you have.

Regards,
KL

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi,
thank you for the input; I've asked again Aleksandar, but he had a computer crash in recent days, so he can't send a photo of a Yak-1 with white outlines; at the moment, he can only send a scan of a decals sheet of Lift Here, where such decals appear. The sheet was made with the collaboration of Micevski.



Of course, the thing of yellow or white outlines has still to be clarified, but without prejudices.

About the accuracy in conforming to rules, he thinks that we can't give it for assured. Look at this photo taken in 2012 (from http://www.mycity-military.com/Ostalo-3/Aeromiting-Batajnica-2012-100-godina-RV-i-PVO_95.html)



We see 4  J-22 ORAO (not Il-2, unfortunately) in flight at Batajnica 2012 air show. One of them have on lower wing 20+ year old  ex-socialistic Yugoslavia roundel, and rest on it are less old so caled ??pepsi?? roundels from ex-Serbia-Montenegro time, while the rest of planes have regular (current) Serbian markings. And it is an operative plane, not a wreck or a gate guardian.

Regards
Massimo

[KL]

As usual, this thread degenerates into an endless and pointless discussion. 
Maybe you were right from the very beginning and those Il-2s had "low visibility" white only flags on their rudders?
Without prejudices, some of those Yugoslav Il-2s could have been green?  How do you know that the stars were red?   Maybe they had "low visibility" stars painted in green or blue?  That would make interesting decal sheets!

My thanks to Aleksandar, but his decal sheet is not a proof.  It's more likely a result of misinterpreted b/w photo.
This is also a Lift Here decal sheet and it has several obvious errors



Photo of J-22 Oraos is totally unrelated.  It only illustrates confusion within the Air Force which couldn't choose its markings and didn't have money to repaint the old markings.

Regards,
KL