We know quite a lot about the history of the Great Patriotic War. However, there are many small details that do not change our idea, but are very curious.
So, during the war, different traditions appear. Everyone is known from photographs, newsreels and films that the fuselages of our aircraft were decorated with stars. Some renowned pilots had dozens of counts.
These stars, like awards on the chest, emphasized the military merits of the pilot. They caused admiration among their own and fear among others. Indeed, having met such our pilot in battle, the enemy undoubtedly experienced psychological pressure.
However, if you look closely at the image of the stars on the fuselage, you will notice that they looked different. Some were painted over in red, while others had only outlines.
Why did this happen? This is not an artistic preference. Everything was clearly defined. If it is reliably known that our ace won a victory in an air battle, then a painted star was applied to the fuselage.
If in a group battle it was not clear which of ours had shot down a German, then contour stars were applied to all participants in the air battle. These rules were not clearly regulated, so there could be options - for group victories there could be circled, but filled stars, and for personal victories just red.
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That was such a nuance …
