(Yellow?)-33
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
(Yellow?)-33 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 Number-33 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 (Yellow?)-33 , 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' , this plane plays a very important role for the protagonist Ilya Streltsov because after having only flown an I-153(Chaika), 'Yellow 33' is the first MiG-3 that Streltsov is upgraded to and this is the MiG in which he immediately proves himself to be a very capable and courageous pilot. In Streltsov's first and only flight in 'Yellow 33' he shoots down one Junkers Ju-88 bomber and after having run out of bullets he uses his Yellow33 to ram the tail of another Junkers, thus destroying two bombers and crashing his Yellow 33 in the process. He survives the crash and is awarded the title of the 'Hero of the Soviet Union' without being told this for a long time by the many people who are so preoccupied with war that they keep forgetting to mention it to him.
For some of the special effects, the movie makers used a scale model of this plane and the canopy of another (probably a written-off) MiG-3 for close-up canopy shots, which is why the canopy or the side numbers of this plane don't match the real plane. The scale model has number 39 on it on the right side of the plane, but the real plane has a tactical number 33 on both sides.
Noteworthy visual characteristics
1. This plane features an asymmetric camouflage and strangely - the stars on the right side of the plane are smaller than the stars on the left side.
A momentary glimpse of this plane's right side and wings can be seen for a second at 29:35 of the movie (In the background behind I-153)' here:https://youtu.be/MeJ8heAU4TI?t=1774
And at 57:27-57:34 where it is the front plane in the lineup, here:https://youtu.be/MeJ8heAU4TI?t=3447
2. Inert gas pipe is clearly visible in the filmhttps://i.postimg.cc/c45jKtgF/PDVD-062.jpg
3. The underside engine access panel is painted differently to the rest of the nose. It is probably painted in AMT-4 green and is most likely a panel from another plane.
4. The signal light on the left wing shows signs of being repaired, with the putty around it clearly visible at around 28:03 into the moviehttps://i.postimg.cc/4NFyG8kP/PDVD-049.jpg
5. Probably a non-retractible tailwheel. This can't be confirmed based on the reference I had, but it seems like all the MiGs in the movie have a non-retractible tailwheel, probably including 'Yellow-33'
6. 'Yellow-33' had a reinforcing metal plate fitted in the corner of the canopy on the right hand side. Most likely a result of a repair job. It's doubtful that a similar plate was fitted on the other side of the canopy. The plate is clearly visible at 35:58 into the moviehttps://youtu.be/MeJ8heAU4TI?t=2158
7. 'Yellow-33' had large stars under the wings. You can see the front point of the star starting at the slats and the back points extending all the way on to the ailerons. As can be seen at 23:24 of the movie'https://youtu.be/MeJ8heAU4TI?t=1404
8. Late type MiG-3, with slats.
Here are a few closeup images to help illustrate the points above. Full set of closeup images is On Patreon
FOOTNOTES
[1] This information is based on this video which talks about the movie ‘Sky of Moscow’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5c3C1qvaE8
[3] This information is taken from here: http://ava.org.ru/iap/631.htm . Also, do scroll down when you go to this link to see a bunch of photo reference for the MiGs of 631 IAP PVO.
[4] This information is taken from the Russian Wikipedia entry https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/631-%D0%B9_%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BA_%D0%9F%D0%92%D0%9E
LINKS TO THE REFERENCE Images and videos
Reference for the camouflage of the left side of the plane and its wings can be seen at around 22:12-22:27 where Streltsov's comrades are leaning on its wing, talking:
https://youtu.be/MeJ8heAU4TI?t=1332
At 27:47-28:25 (it's in the background behind i-153)
https://youtu.be/MeJ8heAU4TI?t=1666
And at 35:36-36:08 of the movie where it's again in the background behind the yellow49 and then we see a closeup of it.
https://youtu.be/MeJ8heAU4TI?t=2136
https://youtu.be/MeJ8heAU4TI?t=1412
More images here:
https://i.postimg.cc/LXvR2g3V/PDVD-039.jpg
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