MiG-3s of 7 IAK, Leningrad front

Updated on April 10, 2023

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Below are described some further planes of miscellaneous or unidentified regiments on the front of Leningrad, all with temperate camouflage.

 

 

7 IAP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many photos of some MiG-3s of 7 IAP are available, and show some peculiarities in their painting.

Trying to explain some oddities, one could attempt this reconstruction of the progressive painting of some of their best photographed MiG-3s:

  1. they were delivered before the war with standard prewar green livery and markings; some of them received a number on the rudder;
  2. they were camouflaged, perhaps even before the war outbreak, partially according to the directive of spring 1941, or perhaps just after the war outbreak making a mix of the directives of the spring and of June; at first they preserved the red star over the wings and received wider stars on the fuselage, and no stars on the tail; the camouflage seems in 2 shades, that points to the black-green pattern of June 1941, but it could also employ some color other than black as from the directives of the spring; large two digit numbers were painted on the fuselage, often deleting those already on the tail;
  3. some time after the war outbreak, the spinner fronts were painted white in accordance to directives of 6 IAK; some limited black repaintings were made, for maintenance purposes or perhaps to improve the camouflage;
  4. some time after, stars were added on the tails and the stars on the wings were deleted to match wartime standards, eventually reducing the size of the fuselage stars with black repaintings (as on plane 42) .

 

http://ava.org.ru/iap/14g.htm

04 of Capt. S.N. Polyakov, 7 IAP, summer 1941

 

Left: plane 04 flown by Capt. S.N. Polyakov of 7 IAP in summer 1941 on the Leningrad front.

It was an early type MiG-3 with large stars on the fuselage, small stars (prewar style) on the wings.

  • early type MiG-3, without slats;
  • with radio mast but no radio boxes visible through the rear glazing;
  • photos show some oddity on the tail wheel bay, as if a tissue cover is protruding from the bay;
  • white number 04;
  • spinner presumably with white front cone;
  • unusual national markings: wide stars on the fuselage, small stars with black outlines on the wings and presumably below (prewar style); no visible stars on the tail;
  • camouflage of difficult interpretation, presumably black and green but it could also be something with different colors over the green background;
  • prewar-style blades painting, aluminum with partial black painting of the rear faces on the rear; the front could have been painted green or black as on the similar plane 4x-6

     

Images from http://ava.org.ru/iap/14g.htm

 

 

 

 

 

MiG-3 n. 4x-6 (40 or 46 or 48) presumably of 7 IAP

 

Left: four shots are available, till now, of this interesting plane bearing the number 6 on its rudder and 4x (40 or 46 or 48, regrettably not fully readable) on its fuselage. Some sources located this image in the Leningrad area, and its strong resemblance to plane 04 suggests that it is from 7 IAP too.

The plane is an early MiG-3, probably after having been camouflaged on the original factory AII green livery; it still preserved the red stars on the wings and the numbering on the rudder, but had larger stars and numbers on the fuselage. This suggests that the camouflage could have been made before the war partially according to the scarcely applied directives of the spring 1941, so the darker color could be something different from faded black; some limited black retouches allow a comparison to fresh black.

 

 

This image allows to see under the wings; the stars are of prewar style, small and in outer position with black outline.

We can see something related to the remotion of underwing UB pods; a large dark rectangle is visible where the pod was, and the ammo hatches were sealed with adhesive tape; besides, bomb racks are visible.

The image shows also some black repaintings; it is unclear if they were retouches on scratched areas, or intended to improve the camouflage effect; probably both.

The tail wheel doors don't look as usual; perhaps they were replaced by a flexible cover.

 

The front of the propeller doesn't look aluminum nor black; probably they were repainted green, that was preserved well on the front and rear root, but was lost on the rear, on the parts previously painted black in factory.

The spinner, apparently in green, still hasn't the white front cone that was typical of planes of 7 IAP.

We can assume that the plane could have been successively modified with the white front of the spinner, black painting over of the number 6 and of the stars over the wings, and the addition of a star on the tail, going to resemble to plane 42.

To resume, its characteristics seem to be:

  • early type MiG-3, without slats;
  • with radio mast but probably no boxes under the rear glazing;
  • it wears a yellow(?) 6 on the rudder, but it has a white  number 40 (or 46 or 48) on the fuselage side;
  • green base camouflage, with dark green (?) field applied bands, with rough black repaintings;
  • bomb racks under the wings; 
  • the underwing ammo doors look sealed with dark adhesive tape;
  • fixed tail wheel covered by a light blue tissue cover;
  • green spinner;
  • green pitot probe;
  • green painted propeller blades.

MiG-3 n.42 of 7 IAP


 


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Left:

MiG-3 early of 7 IAP, Leningrad front, October 1941.

The characteristics are:

  • early type MiG-3, probably without slats;
  • without radio mast and equipment;
  • faded black/green base camo (or possibly another dark color), with evident repaintings of fresh black and green; the brush strokes at the junction between tail and fuselage are particularly evident but of difficult interpretation.
  • the white 42 seems to have a darker inner part, that could be silver, light blue or even red as the red star (that appears very light on the photo);
  • the spinner looks partially painted white, as many other planes on the Leningrad area;
  • white serial numbers visible on the stabilizer and rudder, over the tail star.

http://ava.org.ru/iap/14g.htm

 

MiG-3 n.67 of Lt. I.M. Dubovik of 7 IAP

 

Left:

photo of plane 67 of Lt. I.M. Dubovik of 7 IAP.

For what we can see from the photo, its characteristics were:

  • early MiG-3 (vertical slots are visible on the sides of the nose);
  • probably without slats;
  • with radio mast but no boxes visible through the rear glazing;
  • white 67 overposed to a large plain red star on the fuselage;
  • Two-shades camouflage with pattern apparently similar to 40-6 and 04;
  • impossible to say if, at the date of the photo, the stars were disposed as 40-6 and 04 or as 42; probably the plane had both configurations in different timeframes.

Image: www.photoarchive.spb.ru

http://ava.org.ru/iap/14g.htm

Left: another photo of plane 67 showing the nose that, unexpectedly, hasn't a white spinner at the date of the shot. .

https://waralbum.ru/27895/

http://ava.org.ru/iap/102g.htm

 

https://waralbum.ru/30068/

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MiG-3 n.67 of 124 IAP over Leningrad


Right: photos of six planes of 124 IAP flying over Leningrad. The flight and relative photos were intended to refute the claim of Goebbels that both Leningrad and the Soviet air forces on her area had been completely destroyed. The planes were of the squadron of capt. Pronin, who flew plane numbered White 67. The second plane was of N. Kuzmenko.

The date of the flight isn't clear, but uncropped photos allow to see snow on the ground and streets.

Plane 67 is fairly well depicted in the photos, but the images of the other planes are vague. Particularly strange is the absence of white numbers on the second plane and apparently on other ones; a dark number 7 seems visible on the second one, suggesting that part of the planes of the unit had dark numbers that aren't clearly visible on photos. Besides, some of the planes had their sliding hood removed, and all flew with open canopies. Another difference is that plane 67 had its spinner fully painted white, while the other planes of the flight (and probably of the whole regiment) had only the front cone of the spinner painted white.

The characteristics of plane 67 were:

  • late type, probably with slats;
  • with radio mast, but probably without the wide radio boxes under the rear glazing, that were rarely installed;
  • green and black camouflaged;
  • black engine cowling;
  • fixed tail wheel, probably with the bay closed by a flexible cover;
  • white spinner and digits.

http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6048&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=240

 

 

 

Miscellaneous planes of 124 IAP, March 1942

 

 

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MiG-3 n.19 (?) of 162 IAP

 

 

Left:

photo showing two MiG-3s of 162 IAP, 43 IAD, Leningrad front, summer 1942. It is particularly interesting because the closer plane has an hardly distinguishable gloss dark number (an angular 19?) while the one on the background has a traditional white number (21?). This is a further demonstration about the use of unidentified dark colors for the numbers of some fighters of 7 IAK. The color could hypothetically be cherry red, but other colors are possible.


The visual characteristics of the closer plane were:

  • late type aircraft, probably with slats;
  • with radio mast but no boxes visible through the rear glazing;
  • a dark gloss number, perhaps an angular 19, can be seen on a side, partially superimposed over the fuselage star;
  • probably white front cone of the spinner as on plane aside (white 21?).
  • standard wartime positioning of red stars;
  • standard black-green camouflage, particularly well visible on the left wing;
  • pipe for inert gas anti-fire fuel tanks system over the left side exhaust stacks.
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    MiG-3s in PARM n.1, Leningrad

    Left:

    photo of early type MiG-3 in PARM (Podvizhnaya Aviaremontnaya Masterskaya) no.1 in Leningrad, presumably in summer or fall 1941.

    It is difficult to say if these planes still had the prewar green topsides or if they were painted with black-green camouflage.

     

    Left:

    another photo taken in the same facility. Interestingly, the number white 77 on the fuselage of the plane is well readable, and so the position of the stars on the fuselage and on the tail. The image can give the impression that the rudder was painted white, but this is unlikely and is probably an illusion due to the strong reflection on an angulated rudder, because no other photos of MiG-3 with white rudder are known (apart for winter camouflages, of course) and all the rudders visible on the photo above aren't white.

    https://waralbum.ru/113275/

     

     

     

    Disclaimer

    This work collects also a lot of photos and drawings from many sources, not always identified and mentioned.
    If someone has some rights on the images here reproduced, please email to me and I shall provide to remove or to credit them.
    While the historical photos are of public domain (except where otherwise stated), my color profiles and coloured photos are copyrighted.
    If someone is interested in any use of them, please email me; higher resolution version is available for printing purposes.
    If someone has questions, critiques or corrections, or some further images to show, please email to me.
    Massimo Tessitori