AKL-200712 AviaCollection / AviaKollektsia 12/2007: Soviet Red Army VVS Aircraft Markings and Paintings till 1940. Photos, schemes, colour pictures. 32 pages, soft cover, text in Russian.

To date, fairly detailed monographs have been published on the colors and designations of the aviation of the Air Force and Navy of different countries, from the USA and Great Britain to Israel and Finland. But there is no such book about Soviet aviation. There are quite a few separate articles devoted to the painting of aircraft of various types or belonging to some military units and formations, mainly during the Great Patriotic War. But all this is not summarized in any system. To a certain extent, we will try to fill this gap by dedicating this issue to the time period from 1918 to 1940. But before moving on to the story about the painting of planes, we will acquaint readers a little with the structure of Russian aviation.

STRUCTURE OF RKKVF AND RKKA VVS

IN THE YEARS OF THE CIVIL WAR

The first units of the "red" aviation were reorganized from those units and subunits that were successfully removed from the crumbling front to the central part of Russia. They completely inherited the structure of the pre-revolutionary Russian aviation. The main combat unit was a squadron of six airplanes, consisting of three units of two aircraft. The detachments were reconnaissance and fighter. They could join in groups if necessary. From the old Russian army, the young Soviet republic got 33 squadrons, many of which lost their equipment, and the personnel partially fled. Even before the official announcement of the creation of the Red Army, new units began to be created on their basis. The first red squadron began to form in November 1917 in Petrograd. In the spring of 1918, following the Red Army, the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Military Air Fleet (RKKVF) was created. Squadrons appeared in Moscow, Yaroslavl and Serpukhov, then in other cities. The personnel for them was recruited from volunteers. These detachments were named according to the places of their primary deployment: "Smolensky", "Orlovsky" and so on. Other aviation units (primarily those that managed to largely retain their personnel) initially bore the same designations inherited from pre-revolutionary times: 5th, 12th and 15th fighter, 1.8, 11, 12, 18 and 22nd corps and some other detachments. By order of the People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs (People's Commissar for Military Affairs) L.D. Trotsky on May 15, 1918, the regular composition of the squadron was established: six airplanes, four planes, five carts and 113 personnel.In practice, however, these figures varied greatly, and, as a rule, in a smaller direction. On the fronts of the Civil War, detachments with three or four, and sometimes only one aircraft, were often encountered. Initially, there was no single leadership of the "red" aviation. The Directorate of the Military Air Fleet (UVVF) continued to function in Petrograd. In December 1917, this department was headed by the All-Russian Collegium for Air Fleet Management of nine people. However, according to the order of the People's Commissar for Military Affairs of January 25, 1918, the air units on the front line were subordinate to the command of the fronts, and in the rear - to the local councils. Such inconsistency could not bring anything good.Therefore, on May 24, 1918, the UVVF was reorganized into the Main Directorate of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Air Fleet (GU RKKVF, otherwise - Glavvozdukhflot). GU RKKVF subordinated the created departments in the districts.

The civil war flared up, the fronts surrounded the Soviet Republic from all sides. On September 22, 1918, the Field Directorate of Aviation and Aeronautics of the Field Army (Aviadarm) was created, which began to lead the air units at the fronts; on every front and under every army there was a corresponding administration. On March 25, 1920, Aviadarm was renamed into the Headquarters of the Chief of the Air Fleet, and on September 2, 1921, it was liquidated, pouring its apparatus into the Glavvozdukhflot. The chiefs of aviation of the fronts, armies and districts were in operational terms subordinate to their commanders, in all other respects - to Glavvozdukhflot.