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"Winter Camouflage

The employment of winter seasonal camouflage seems to be one of the least understood aspects of Soviet VVS colouration during the GPW. The stereotypical view of "white" VVS aircraft has its basis in the early GPW period, but thereafter the matter became actually somewhat complex, as we shall see.

Just prior to the GPW the Soviet materials industry produced an aviation finish known as MK-7 White. This paint was developed with the idea in mind that it could be easily applied over existing camouflage, and then subsequently removed. It was also considered to be essential that the paint be safe to handle for various ground crew personnel, that it be workable under severely cold temperatures and, obviously, that it not be overly expensive to manufacture. In its initial formulation, MK-7 was soluble in both water and kerosene, with the latter recommended only under very low temperature conditions. However, and remarkably for the Soviet aviation industry, this finish was not really tested in any systematic way prior to the GPW. It was thus that, during the winter months of 1941-42 when the finish was deployed on a very wide scale, the inherent properties of MK-7 came as a rude shock to the pilots and crew of the VVS.

MK-7 lacquer was manufactured in very large quantities during the autumn of 1941, and widely distributed to both aviation factories and field units of the VVS. The new lacquer was employed by both groups with the greatest enthusiasm, as one may see in the photographic record from this time (indeed, it is quite difficult to locate a VVS aircraft from the winter 1941-42 without MK-7). This new lacquer produced a very matte surface with a nice white colouration, and visually it was seen to be very suitable for seasonal camouflage.

Alas, it is also had quite a rough surface, which then imparted considerable aerodynamic drag onto the wearing aircraft. Fighter pilots, in particular, were horrified by this development, especially as it came so unexpectedly. Moreover, it was subsequently discovered during use of the new paint that it did not, in fact, adhere well to the existing aviation lacquers of the AII variety. With virtually all of the machines in the VVS inventory so finished, one can imagine that the situation was not particularly happy.

The materials industry did take note of these failures with MK-7 finish during the following year (1942). Several new formulations were developed in an attempt to rectify the poor performance of the paint. Version MK-7F, for example, was soluble in alcohol, and was heavily tested over the new AMT lacquer surfaces, to which it adhered fairly well. However, MK-7 still imparted drag onto the wearing aircraft through its very matte surface, and no modification of the paint managed to remove this feature [as a matter of fact, all countries experienced similar performance loss with their own white winter paints].

During the winter of 1942-43 the use of MK-7 was, thus, exceedingly mixed. Many fighter pilots refused outright to apply this paint to their aircraft, and simply operated during the winter months in temperate camouflage. Some pilots opted to apply MK-7 sparingly, or on parts of the airframe, attempting to sort out a compromise between concealment and performance. The resulting 'half-white' winter schemes from these activities are now famous, and part of the public perception of the VVS. Bomber pilots took a similar view, and employed MK-7 in a similarly mixed way, although perhaps a bit more heavily than with fighter aviation. Also, some limited production of aircraft with MK-7F finish was undertaken at a few aviation factories at this time, no.21 at Gor'ki and no.292 at Saratov being the most profligate examples.

By the third winter of the GPW, 1943-44, the reputation of MK-7 had deteriorated to the point that it was not seen again. The mere mention of the finish in fighter aviation circles was enough to start a near mutiny. A very, very small number of bombers were seen to use this finish during this time, but even this branch of the VVS gave up on MK-7 White, not fancying the performance loss to their aircraft. The ramifications of this timing are important vis a vis the appearance of specific types of VVS aircraft in the GPW. For example, there exist many specimens of colour artwork for aircraft such as the Yak-9 family and La-5FN with white winter camouflage. These are erroneous. Since these aircraft did not enter service until after the second winter (1942-43), no examples ever wore MK-7. Some limited experimentation was carried out on fighter aircraft using a single-colour grey livery during this winter period, but such applications were primarily made in the field, and were uncommon.

During 1943 production of this paint was abandoned, and essentially no more was heard of it again. Subsequently, during the last winter of the GPW (1944-45), no seasonal camouflage was employed at all. VVS aircraft simply carried on in their temperate schemes-- with the possible exception of some Yak-3s and La-7s (see above)-- and such matters as seasonal concealment were not a matter of urgency. "

Mac Flaye a écrit :Comme quoi on en apprend tous les jours