La-5FN n.15 of Capt. P.J. Likholetov of 159 IAP, Karelian front, summer 1944.
Slogan 'Za Vaska i Zhoru (For Vasek and Zhora), probably in silver.
Likholetov was made HSU on2 February 1944. 25+5 victories
From Red Stars of Geust
A photo of the elusive plane 01 of V.I. Popkov of 5 GIAP. The unit flew many variants of La-5 at least up to 1944.
This plane was nicknamed 'stallion' by his pilot. According to him, it had a lion's head and a Guards badge painted on its nose after the war, but it's possible that this recall refers to a La-7, not a La-5FN.
The plane was sometimes described with a strange camouflage including brown patches, but this seems unlikely; more likely, it could have had visible grey repaintings.
The plane and the available informations are debated here:
http://sovietwarplanes.com/board/index.php?topic=201.0
The white painting on its rudder is supposed similar to that of the plane on the background; the white paintings on the spinner, cowling ring and prop blades are based on photos of planes of the same unit and of Popkov himself, that flew other planes too, including a La-5F and a plane numbered 75 (unclear if F or FN).
La-5FN n.71of capt. K.S.Nazimov of 254 IAP. The plane featured an eagle painted on its left side, and victory stars.
Note the unusual arrangement of the aerial wire, entering omn the right side of the canopy.
http://airaces.narod.ru/all3/nazimov.htm
http://soviet-aces-1936-53.ru/abc/n/nazimov.htm
Cap. Nazimov had another plane with a similar arrangement of victory stars and perhaps a similar eagle painted on, but its number started with 1 and was probably a La-5F.
Plane n.70 of St. Lt. Sementsov of 41 GIAP, Ukraine 1944. mIt was characterized by a red hearth on both sides of the cowling. (Photo: EP pag.58)
The white cap on the tail was typical of planes of 8 GIAD, to which 41 GIAP belonged.
Thanks to Aleksandr Ruchkovsky.
Some photo of La-5FN of 2 GIAP characterized by the slogan 'Mongolskiy arat' on both sides. This was painted on planes offered by the Mongol republic.
The color of the slogan abd of the nose is controversial. From an interview : http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/pilots/kardopoltsev/kardopoltsev.htm
— In your regiment there were “Mongolskii Arat” planes? What was the marking? Were the noses red or yellow?
Mongolia decided to help us and tank division. They used to send
us gifts: meat, vine, clothes and some other stuff… They used to
send them in railroad carts. They also sent us “Mongolskii Arat”
squadron.
The planes when they came were ordinary, without any difference to other
planes, with an exception of an insignia, it was in red or white letters.
Later we painted the noses of the planes in red – it was a tradition
for all the planes in our regiment, and we also made a white “cap”
at the upper part of the keel. When 12 of these planes came to the regiment,
they were given to every squadron – 4 planes each, but in a very
short time they were gathered in one – second squadron.
On the other hand, the available photos seem to show that both the slogan and the nose were lighter than the red of the stars, but darker than white. Yellow was often utilized in profiles found in bibliography. On the other hand, it was an Axis identification color. One can also note that the illumination is frontal on all photos, and this could influence the comparison to the stars on the sides.
So, the nose and slogan are represented as a light shade of red on our drawings. It's a guess of course.
Other less known, but excellent photos of 'Mongolsky arat' planes.
from http://eap.bl.uk/database/overview_item.a4d?catId=37601;r=23811
Here we can compare the shade of the star and the inscription under the same light. The inscription is clearly lighter than the star.
A group of 7 planes. We recognize n. 70, 180, 80, 52, 85, seemingly all thith the slogan and the bright nose. Note the glossy paint of the ring and spinner, contrasting with the very matt and dark cowling on the sides.
The unusual '180' is probably due to the addition of a '1' to the factory number, because the unit received two planes numbered '80', one apparently behind '180'.
Note the landing light on the left wing of each plane, that was unusual for La-5s but installed on planes of the PVO.
The drawing shows plane 180 of 2 GIAP, The color of the nose and inscription was supposed to be a light red, appearing lighter than the color of the red stars on bw photos.
The right side of the plane is not visible in photos, so it's not clear if the '180' was completrly repainted, or if the added '1' was partially overposed to the stabilizer.
plane 185 of unidentified unit. The unusual three digit bort number is not usual; it could be due to the addition of a 1 to the original 85 because the unit had received two planes 85 and wanted to distinguish them.
The plane flew with extracted tail wheel, and was without aerial mast and wires.
La-5FN n.36 of 159 IAP of 13 Air Army on Leningrad area, summer 1944.
Note the unusual position and size of numbers and stars.
La-5, probably FN, of 10 GIAP of KBF (Baltic Fleet AF).
Note the non standard number, possibly painted in blue and white, and the retouched red star.
From Aviacia i Vremiya
