This profile represents an example captured by Germans and tested probably
in Rechlin air base in Germany in late 1941.
The example is one of 22 captured in near flyable condition in the
first days of war.
Its charachteristics are:
early type, without slats, with radio gear;
painted with the original Russian colors;
the paints on the rear fuselage look a bit darker than on the metallic
forward fuselage, a characteristic often observed in early all-green Russian
MiGs;
the aircraft is overpainted with yellow identification bands, German national
markings and the code 6+1 (possibly referred to the German name of the
aircraft, I-61); note that the fuselage band has slightly oblique forward
shape.
the colors of the tail are hypothetical, because it doesn't appear in the
photo; early MiGs didn't have the red star on the tail, and have often
a number on the rudder; so, the Germans probably had a further reason to
paint the rudder yellow, leaving the fixed surface untouched, with only
a standard swastika;
the crosses on the wings probably cover the red stars both over and under
the wings, they are large and slightly moved rearwards (they can be seen
highlighting the photo); probably the numbers 6+1 are reported under the
wings.
6+1 is very similar to the aircraft of the photocolor below, but
this other aircraft seems to have no radio.
