(Pronin’s?) WHITE-67
MIKOYAN & GUREVICH, MIG-3
Possibly 124-th IAP of 7-th IAK PVO. Allegedly, piloted by a Soviet Fighter Ace, the Captain of the 2-nd Squadron - Alexander Georgievich Pronin, Leningrad (Renamed to St. Petersburg), Russia, Spring 1942
The alleged story (Please Note! I have not been able to find the original source of this story) behind the photos (in the links at the bottom of the page) used as reference for White 67, goes like this:
In 1941 the German Army Group North began its siege of the city of Leningrad (modern day St. Petersburg) with the goal of utterly destroying the city and its population of over 3 million people (3.8 including the suburbs). In the spring of 1942, despite having been unable to overcome the fierce resistance put up by the forces defending the city, Goebbels' propaganda machine was hard at work proclaiming to the world that the city of Leningrad has been defeated and that the Soviet Air Forces based in the region have been eradicated.
In order to counter this propaganda and to boost morale of the starving citizens of Leningrad, the 124-th Fighter Aviation Regiment was given the task of proving that the city and its Air Forces have not been destroyed. So 6 MiGs of 124-th IAP took to the skies and paraded themselves for the media and the city’s besieged citizens, flying low over central Leningrad along the river Neva, with captain Pronin's 'White 67' leading the way. The other five MiGs in the photo are piloted by Zanin, Tsisarenko, Ivanchenko, Malishev and the Commander of the flight Nikifor Kuzmenko. The photos are taken by the photocorrespondent Mikhail Kashe.[1]
The city of Leningrad was under siege for almost 2.5 years from 1941 to 1944, which became one of the longest and most destructive sieges in history, and possibly the costliest in casualties suffered (over a million civilians died). But due to the fierce resistance put up by the city’s defenders, the Germans failed to capture or to destroy it. In part, thanks to the machines such as ‘White-67’ and even more importantly- to the heroes such as its pilot.
Noteworthy Visual Characteristics
1. I could not find any photos showing the right side of this airplane. Therefore the camouflage pattern and all other visual details on the right side of this plane are hypothetical. I should add the same disclaimer about the camouflage pattern on the upper surface of the right wing and the right horizontal stabilizer - these areas are my best “educated guess” as to what they might have looked like.
2. The photos seem to show a hint of streaks or spills of some sort on the fuselage in front of the canopy. This is especially noticeable in this photo http://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/mig3/white67photor.jpg
3. Although it is very difficult to tell from the photos, if we will look hard enough at this particular photo reference HERE , then it appears that there is the slightest hint of a dark shape where the radio transmitter should be, indicating that this plane was probably equipped with the radio transmitter/receiver. The fact that ‘White-67’ seems to be “leading” the group of MiGs is another clue to the possibility that it was equipped with a radio receiver/transmitter to be able to give commands and communicate with others.
4. In most of the photos of this plane it is very difficult to see the camouflage pattern on the tail because the tail appears to be so dark, as I am sure you will agree. The only photo reference which gives us the best hint for the tail’s camo pattern is the bottom photo in the link posted above. Here it is again HERE . Zooming in on the tail in this photo gives us the best hint of what the camo pattern there looks like. My artwork shows how I have interpreted the camouflage from the photo reference, a comparison is shown in the close-up further down the page.
5. The tailwheel didn't retract in flight.
6. The wing roots appear to be quite light. There was most likely a lot of chipped paint and exposed metal in those areas.
7. Note a small (rectangular) gap/hole in the corner of the canopy.
8. Late type MiG-3 with slats
Here are a few closeup images to help illustrate the points above. Full set of close-up images is On Patreon
FOOTNOTES
[1] The story behind the photos is my re-telling of a post by FAI155 in the forum on Scalemodels.ru in 2011. The original information was allegedly taken from vif2net.ru. I could not find the original source despite trying to do so for a very long time and FAI155 has not responded to my messages to confirm the truth of their claim on Scalemodels.ru http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6048&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=240
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