La-7s with postwar liveries
by Massimo Tessitori
Updated on February 28, 2017
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01 of 176 giap

 

According to La-7of Milos Vestsik, MBI,these planes were of 176 giap, photographed by the frontline reporter Aleksander Dmitriyev on 10-20 April 1945 during the Berlin Operation. According to the caption, these six planes were assembled just for the session.

There is something strange on these planes: they have an uniformly dark uppersurface instead of the grey/grey camouflage; this color could be dark green AMT-7 or dark grey AMT-12. All the cowling look of a different color, probably red. There is not resemblance with other planes of 176 giap, that had grey/grey camouflage, oblique white caps on the tail and red noses with red triangles on the sides, andwere more beautiful.

On the whole, they give the idea of planes repainted after the end of the war.

Image from La-7of Milos Vestsik, MBI.

 

 

La-7 n.95 of an unidentified unit. It seems to have some resemblance to the planes of the photo above, but the spinner looks white.

The photo was utilized on a page to illustrate an accident to pilot Estigneev of 178 giap, but the text of the page speaks of a La-7FN n.96, so this can't be the same plane.

06 of 176 giap

A line of planes, probably of 176 giap, show that the planes were fully repainted in a scarcely standardized way, that conforms to two main standards: green uppersurface with light blue undersurface, or overall grey.

These planes are a late version armed with three B-20 guns, recognizable for their long and uniform fairings on the upper part of the nose.

A profile of plane 06 shown above.

According to some interpretations, the upper surfaces were dark grey; it's not impossible, but the existance of green/light blue Soviet planes after the war is proven, while the dark grey/light blue livery is only hypothetical.

After the war's end, yellow restarted to be widely employed for numbers and other quick recognition markings.

Another part of the line of the previous imag shows planes with uniform grey livery, including both upper and undersurfaces.

Note that the shade of grey is different for the planes: the closer one looks darker nd could be painted with AMT-11 blue grey; the color of the second plane is clearly lighter.but, if the photo was taken in late 1945, it's unlikely that A-36g was already available, so it has to be another paint, possibly of German origin.

Despite of the only partial visibility of the planes, these liveries are of great interest so I have tried a reconstruction of them. Everything not visible on the photos was guessed.

white 42 (?) shows the same color both on the uppersurfaces and the undersurfaces (as visible on the landing gear door). The spinner, not visible on the photo because covered, was guessed as that of plane 06.

The color could be AMT-11 overall.

The following plane was guessed to be numbered 63.

It is painted with a solid light color, darker than AMT-7 but lighter than plane 63.

Black 69 on show

Another plane 'black 69' of unknown unit is shown during a public exposition.

This plane looks to wear an uniform grey livery.

Uniform grey fighters became a standard after the introduction of the paints AMT-16, AGT-16, A-36m, A-36g in 1947.

An attempt to draw plane 69.

The fonts seem similar to that of plane 'yellow 06', so there is the vague possibility that this plane is of 176 giap too.

So, the spinner was drawn in the same way.

The hypothized overall color is AMT-11.

63 of 63 giap, with Maresyev

Images of the visit that the former gpw ace Alexey Maresyev made to the 63 GIAP, where he fought during the war, in 1946 .

Maresyev lost both his legs during the war, but continued to fly and fight successfully with prothesis. He was dismissed from the VVS after the war's end, but continued to fly for some years.

http://airaces.narod.ru/all6/maresyev.htm

The plane is a 3-guns La-7 built in Z.381.

This photo is the only one of the sequence to show the number of the plane on its fin, a small and angular 63.

The plane looks fully repainted after the war, probably medium grey AMT-11 on the uppersurfaces and light blue AMT-7 on the undersurfaces.

Even the size of the stars seem not the original one of Z.381.

 

No any number seems painted on the fuselage sides.

A prominent characteristic of these planes is the cowling and spinner painted with a glossy uniform color, still unidentified. It's much lighter than the red stars. Yellow, orange or blue could be hypothyzed. As an alternative, it could be a complete repainting of the cowling and spinner with a slightly lighter shade of grey.

We see well the typical linear bulges on the nose that characterized 3-guns La-7s

Note how soft is the division between medium grey and light blue on the rear of the fuselage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARhFH_w0D98

https://russiainphoto.ru/search/

http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic_t_14994_start_20.html

A profile of plane 63, supposed of 63 giap, 1946.

In absence of different informations, the uniform painting of the nose was prudently assumed as a grey repainting.

Disclaimer

The photos of this page come from many sources, not always mentioned. If you think to have rights on some image, please email me and i'll provide to credit or remove it.