ARR captured MiG-3

Gentlemen: I am looking for confirmation of the colours applied to the MiG flown to Melitopol and taken over by Esc. 19 Obs. The Squadron book authored by Mr. Bernad shows a side wiew in overall topside green with ARR markings, but the photos I have seen seem to indicate a two toned topside scheme. Can anyone on this forum provide any additional clarification? Your info would be greatly appreciated! :ro:

Jim

Hi Jim,
now this is a very touchy subject.
why>?
firs of all, Dan Iloiu says in a recent article in the rumanian AeroMagazin magazine that this MiG 3 is in fact a MiG1, because of some panels. i`m not in the position to contradict him, as i have very few interest in the MiG 3 and don`t know it`s details and variations.

second: during my discussions with Massimo Tessitori, the MiG 3 expert, some new theories came to light. i sent him scans from the romanian magazines with the MiG 3 and he came up with a different approach on the captured MiG 3 camo.
results of his research here: http://vvs.hobbyvista.com/ModelArticles/Ma...mo/ruman2a.html

and his MiG 3 page here: http://vvs.hobbyvista.com/ModelArticles/Ma...ssimo/mig3.html

i hope i helped with your research.
best wishes,
andi

Basically I agree with Mr. Tessitori's comments regarding the captured MiG-3's camouflage: "probably (...) the light blue and green were the original Russian colors; the green surfaces were partially repainted with Rumanian green". That's the conclusion I've reached too based on the 2 available b/w photos when I wrote the Squadron/Signal book (one photo is published on page 19). The colour profile by Don Greer was painted accordingly (well, more or less). There is an error in the colour profile's caption: instead of "the Soviet colours were overpainted with Rumanian camouflage and markings" it should read: "the Soviet markings were overpainted with Rumanian camouflage and markings".

Since the book was written (in 1998) more photos have surfaced and it's possible that later on more camouflage paint was added, but this is debatable.

Finally, Mr. Tessitori is wrong when writing: "This was the second MiG-3 captured by Rumanians". The number '2' on the fin actually refers to the second Soviet aircraft captured intact by the Rumanians and flown in ARR colours.

Denes and Andi: Thanks for your replies and information! Denes, I appreciate the clarification about the caption under the color side view of the MiG in your Squadron book. I had wondered about that when I did research for my model of the aircraft. I had not read any of Mr. Tessitori's articles, and certainly would have wondered about the ARR capturing two MiG's. (Although, as you know, I am still trying to assemble information from several sources on the ARR, and therefore don't have much info yet on captured a/c.) Thanks again, gentlemen, for your information and clarifications.

Jim K.

Hi,
I have read with interest your discussion about this topic.
I haven't informations about other MiG-3s flown by Rumanians.
The comment "the second..." is from one of the sources, probably OKB MiG of Miller and Butowsky where I found the first photographs I had of this aircraft.
I have seen other photos of MiG-3s captured by Rumanians, but not in flyable conditions.

Another thing about this matter: I have found one photo of the aircraft in its original Soviet markings (both on OKB MiG and on a Polish pubblication) and it seems to show some interesting characteristics in painting, as the overall green surfaces (a style that should be disappeared since the war outbreak) and a small star on the rudder.
The photo doesn't show the mid fuselage, covered by a wing, so I can't know if it has any number painted on.
Does anyone know anything about this matter, please?
I would like to draw a profile of this aircraft, but this missing information is crucial.

By the way, my MiG-3 pages were moved to have direct access to them for updates. Their actual url is:
http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/mig3/mig3.html

Best regards
Massimo Tessitori

Just 100 pieces of MiG-1 were produced, compared with 3120 pieces from MiG-3. Even from this point of view, there were better chances for the capture to be a MiG-3.

There were of course differences between MiG-1 and MiG-3, but not the kind to be obvious in the "looks" of the plane. Any confusion would be excusable, especially for non-Russians.

For details about MiG-1 and MiG-3, check also

http://www.chuckhawks.com/mig-3.htm