Eugene Rowe
Just wondering why many WW2 era Soviet war planes didn't have the red star painted on the top wing?
From the Redbanner.co.uk website:
"The VVS applied national insignia in a manner dissimilar to other countries. Even dating back to the 1920s, many VVS theorists believed that having a large red marking on the wing upper surface was a violation of camouflage and spotting practices. It was quite common even during the pre-GPW years to see military aircraft with no national star on the upper wing surfaces (civil aircraft usually did, however). During 1940, when the government insisted on camouflage for all aircraft, these were specifically mentioned as inappropriate. However, as everywhere, pre-GPW practices died hard, and some aircraft (notably, for example, the I-16 and MiG-3, often the recipient of pre-GPW painting) did carry them in 1940-41. By 1942, however, one would virtually never see such, and in the main they were never seen on most GPW aircraft."
The account above goes on to mention that though Lend-Lease aircraft sent to Russia usually had upper wing stars...the Russians usually painted them out at depot level before the a/c entered service.
(Just as a reminder, 'GPW' in the above refers to 'Great Patriotic War,' still used by Russians today to designate WW2.)