Research help needed (General sovj. aviation questions)

[HBB*Hunger]

Salute Community!

 

First, sorry that I have to write in english, my mothertongue is german and I sadly can not speak a word in russian.

I desperately  need your research assistance. I'm currently still building my P40 singleplayer campaign. The campaign itself is semi-historical and deals with a fictional P40 unit, wich was thrown against the advancing enemy forces in the area of Velikije Luki Juli/August 1941. Howewer, frontlines and single battles are historical and taken out of the german war lecture I have here (e.G. War Diary of the "Oberkommando der Wehrmacht", etc..). 

Sadly, I have absolutely no information about VVS structures and as I have very few time due to my job and my child, I need your assistance or advice here. 

 

To begin with, I have 3 questions: 

 

1.) Currently, the sovjet flights are organized as 3-ship-formations, since I've read about this sturcture somewehre. Am I right here? So 3 fighters in a flight instead of 4?

2.) IF they had radio comms 1941 (and they have in my campaign), what kind of historical accurate sovjet callsigns do you know about? 

3.) Looking at the Numbers painted on sovjet planes, I ask myself how they where assigned. Does anyone have any information about the numbers painted on the planes? I would love to make a whole skin-set for the campaign. 

 

Thank you very much for helping me out, 

 

 

Hunger

[Zep]

Hi!

I publish an electronic magazine "Virtual pilot". In №2, 2017 there is an article about the numbers applied to Soviet aircraft. There are also many illustrations. I wish you could read Russian. But there is a way out - Google. Magazine has been published since 2017 and you can find a lot of useful information in its issues.

Look here:

http://virtpilot.org

[HBB*Hunger]

Thank you so much! I just looked at the google tranlsation of this magazine and I wish it was at least available in english, this is gold! Thank you Zep!

[Lofte]

‎04‎.‎11‎.‎2020 в 23:25, HBB*Hunger сказал:

The campaign itself is semi-historical and deals with a fictional P40 unit, wich was thrown against the advancing enemy forces in the area of Velikije Luki Juli/August 1941. Howewer, frontlines and single battles are historical and taken out of the german war lecture I have here (e.G. War Diary of the "Oberkommando der Wehrmacht", etc..). 

First combat units on P-40 appeared on Eastrn front somewhere in october 1941. They couldn't participate in fights in Juli/August 1941.

If you wish to use summer map of Vel.Luki you could take time period somewhere from march to november 1942.

This time front line was stable there and P-40 teoretically could participate. 

 

‎04‎.‎11‎.‎2020 в 23:25, HBB*Hunger сказал:

1.) Currently, the sovjet flights are organized as 3-ship-formations, since I've read about this sturcture somewehre. Am I right here? So 3 fighters in a flight instead of 4?

Yes. Organization till autumn 1942:

1 Flight regiment = 3 squadrons + 2 planes ~ 70 aircrafts

1 squdron had 3 sections (3 planes each) + 1 commander's plane = 10 aircrafts.

After autumn 1942 all sections (bombers, groundattackers, fighters) had 4 planes in section.

 

‎04‎.‎11‎.‎2020 в 23:25, HBB*Hunger сказал:

2.) IF they had radio comms 1941 (and they have in my campaign), what kind of historical accurate sovjet callsigns do you know about? 

Soviet VVS had radios but poor qulity and almost didn't use it in 1941. This do not relates to lend-lease aircraft with their good radios. I have no special info about calsigns, but I think there was no something unusual.
You can use names of trees, birds, rivers etc. For example:

Trees:

SOSNA (pine)

DUB (oak)

BEREZA (birch)

YASEN' (ash)

Birds:

VORON (raven)

OREL (eagle)

KORSHUN (hawk)

CHAIKA (seagull)

Rivers:

VOLHOV

VOLGA

DNEPR

DON

NEVA

‎04‎.‎11‎.‎2020 в 23:25, HBB*Hunger сказал:

3.) Looking at the Numbers painted on sovjet planes, I ask myself how they where assigned. Does anyone have any information about the numbers painted on the planes? I would love to make a whole skin-set for the campaign. 

Read here (use google translations) - https://warspot.ru/6593-bukvy-i-tsifry-na-ishakah-i-migah

This article describes base rules of numbering of VVS in 1941-1942

 

Изменено 6 ноября 2020 пользователем Lofte

[HBB*Hunger]

4 часа назад, Lofte сказал:

First combat units on P-40 appeared on Eastrn front somewhere in october 1941. They couldn't participate in fights in Juli/August 1941.

If you wish to use summer map of Vel.Luki you could take time period somewhere from march to november 1942.

This time front line was stable there and P-40 teoretically could participate. 

 

Yes. Organization till autumn 1942:

1 Flight regiment = 3 squadrons + 2 planes ~ 70 aircrafts

1 squdron had 3 sections (3 planes each) + 1 commander's plane = 10 aircrafts.

After autumn 1942 all sections (bombers, groundattackers, fighters) had 4 planes in section.

 

Soviet VVS had radios but poor qulity and almost didn't use it in 1941. This do not relates to lend-lease aircraft with their good radios. I have no special info about calsigns, but I think there was no something unusual.
You can use names of trees, birds, rivers etc. For example:

Trees:

SOSNA (pine)

DUB (oak)

BEREZA (birch)

YASEN' (ash)

Birds:

VORON (raven)

OREL (eagle)

KORSHUN (hawk)

CHAIKA (seagull)

Rivers:

VOLHOV

VOLGA

DNEPR

DON

NEVA

Read here (use google translations) - https://warspot.ru/6593-bukvy-i-tsifry-na-ishakah-i-migah

This article describes base rules of numbering of VVS in 1941-1942

 

 

Thank you very much Lofte! This information is gold and helps me a lot! 

 

My campaign deals with an entire fictional unit, a sad compromise I hat to make. 

 

 

You all were really helpful here, I also got some very nice PMs and a good load of information to work with. Thank you all! I hope that you'll like the campaig if I can ever get it completely ready.

 

Horrido