WHITE-08

Written By Anton Petrov

MIKOYAN & GUREVICH, MIG-3

631 IAP of 141 IAD PVO. circa Kuybyshev (modern day Samara), Russia, June, 1943.
This plane featured in Mosfilm's 1944 movie “Sky of Moscow'“(“Небо Москвы”in Russian)

Flown by the movie’s protagonist - Lieutenant Ilya Ivanovich Streltsov (A fictional character)

 

IN REAL LIFE

White-08 is one of a number of airplanes of the 631st IAP which we know about only through the footage in the 1944 movie called “Sky of Moscow”. The movie was filmed in Kuybyshev in June 1943 [1]. At that time the closest fighter regiment in that area was the 631st IAP PVO of 141 IAD PVO,  which might have operated from the Sizran airfield (As was determined in a forum on scalemodels.ru). It is highly likely that the footage featuring the movie’s MiG-3 airplanes was filmed on the airfield of 631st IAP PVO and most of the planes in the film, including White-08 are real, operational airplanes of this PVO unit.

Throughout 1943, 141st Division was tasked with defending the government agencies which were evacuated from Moscow (Kuybyshev was to be Russia's alternative capital should Moscow be captured by the Germans). It was also tasked with defending the industrial centres in the cities of Kuybyshev, Penza, Ulianovsk and Chapaevsk, as well as some of the railway bridges across the Volga and Samarka rivers[2].
Based on the available information about 631 IAP it is known that this regiment received its MiGs in October1942 [3]. It is also known that the only air victory that is recorded by the 631 IAP occurred in June 1944 (a year after the the start of the filming of ‘Sky of Moscow’) when junior lieutenant G.P. Lebedev heroically rammed a German Junkers Ju-88 bomber during an air battle in the Gorodishe region[4]. Based on this information one can only presume that the MiGs of 631 IAP PVO, including White-08, didn't see a lot of battle action in the summer of 1943 while guarding the city of Kuybyshev, which might explain why they were able to be used in the filming of the movie 'Sky of Moscow'  while in service with the PVO.

IN THE MOVIE

In the fictional movie 'Sky of Moscow', 'White-08' is the plane in which the protagonist Ilya Streltsov fights the movie's final battle, twice! The first time he takes off and shoots down one Ju-88 bomber. After landing (one assumes -in order to possibly re-arm his 'White-08' ) he takes off again and shoots down another Ju-88, but in the process his 'White-08' receives return fire from Ju-88's rear guns and is set ablaze, forcing Streltsov to abandon it by jumping out with a parachute.
Do not be misled by the mock-up ,'set-prop' plane that is used for the sequence when Strelstov is jumping out of the plane. it is not the same plane and this is evident by the fact that the shape of the digits on the 'fake' plane is different to the real plane and the distinctive overpainting of the lower fuselage is not present on this "set-prop" plane, not to mention the fact that it seems to have stars on the upper surfaces of the wings, which would not have been the case with the real, late-type MiG3s, such as White-08.

Noteworthy Visual characteristics

Noteworthy Visual characteristics1. On Patreon2. On Patreon3. Fitted with an Inert Gas Pipe. 4. Note the deep dent on the fuselage. The reference for the dents can be seen between 59:52 - 1:00:03 of the movie. Here https://youtu.be/MeJ8heAU4TI?t=35…

1. On Patreon

2. On Patreon

3. Fitted with an Inert Gas Pipe.

4. Note the deep dent on the fuselage. The reference for the dents can be seen between 59:52 - 1:00:03 of the movie. Here https://youtu.be/MeJ8heAU4TI?t=3592

5. White-08 appears to be equipped with a radio receiver/transmitter

6. Note a patch of some sort on the tail. This patch appears to have some thickness to it,  so it could be a metal strip  stuck to reinforce or protect the leading edge of the tail.  It's hard to tell if it's the same colour as the rest of the plane. I left it as bare (unpainted) metal.  This can be seen at about 1:01:35 of the video               
https://youtu.be/MeJ8heAU4TI?t=3695

7.On Patreon

8. Refer to point #1

9. The stars have an outline around them, same as the tactical number. This is clearly visible at 59:52 - 1:00:03. Same footage as in point #4
https://youtu.be/MeJ8heAU4TI?t=3592

10. Fixed tailwheel, didn't retract in flight. As can be seen in the video at 13:22-13:27 of the movie.
https://youtu.be/MeJ8heAU4TI?t=802

11. On Patreon

Here are a few closeup images to help illustrate the points above. Full set of closeup images is On Patreon

All the work presented on this is page is subject to updates and revisions in the light of new information which might present itself. If you have any new information relevant to this page or disagree with anything that's presented here, then please feel free to contact me through the Planes in Profile Facebook page. Thanks:)

Anton Petrov
Previous

(Yellow?)-33
Next

(Yellow?)-49