Drawing by Tapani Tuomanen

R-5 of NKVD frontier guards. Their distinctive is a red star over a green disk; thesame is reported on the wings on standard positions. The most of the surface of the plane looks repainted aluminium, leaving the engine cowling unpainted. Some parts, as the struts, the wheels and a panel over the nose, seem to have preserved the factory olive green finish. The plane was flown without the upper panel of the cowling to improve cooling.

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Image Zaika archive

Below: other photos of R-5s of NKVD in Tashkent, probably of the same unit of red 4. Plane n.1 has its number (red with black outline?) overposed to a red star.