Question concerning Il-28 "Beagles" in North Korea service

[28ZComeback]

Greetings--I am need of references for the Ilyushin Il-28 "Beagle"; specifically those that served in the North Korean Air Force during or immediately following the Korean War.  All photos I have seen over the years were taken in the 1969-1981 era.  I am very familiar with the camouflaged defector that flew in from China c1966 and Vietnamese examples.  I believe NKAF Beagles were painted aluminum over bare metal but am not sure.   Thank you very much for any leads or suggestions.

[Don McIntyre]

With the well known mania for security of the North Korean government I'd be surprised if you'd find very much.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Don McIntyre

[Swamp Donkey]

Hi

 

take a look on google earth and you will see dozens parked up and look to be silver

 

also on you tube at a recent inspection of KPAAF at Wonsan has film of these things flying

 

i realise this is not Korean War era, but as Don says, I suspect references will be scarce

 

SD

[Antti_K]

Hello all,

 

I can speak only about the four "Beagles" at the Finnish Air Force service. They were indeed painted silver. The paint faded very quickly and the planes looked well weathered. The paint also flaked especially along all leading edges and intake lips. I guess this was because the paint was applied on metal. These aircraft were never completely re-painted in Finland but this was always done during the major overhauls in the Soviet Union.

For the interiors different colours were used. The cockpits and tail gunner's compartment were painted with green which was almost identical to US Interior Green. The landing gear bays and the bomb bay were painted at least with a buff colour and orange (Humbrol 7 and 18 are close). The two ejection seats were medium blue grey.

I still have my old type rating course material so if you need any help don't hesitate to ask.

 

Best Regards,

Antti

[71chally]

Antti, I think many of us would be fascinated to see that!

[Antti_K]

James if you are interested I can scan some pages for you and send them privately; all manuals, the aircraft itself and so on are still classified as "Secret"(!) Well not because of the technology but because of the original trade agreement. Same goes for the MiGs (I happen to have manuals and some original factory drawings for the MiG-21 as well).

Only manual that is not labeled secret is the "Aircrew Manual for the Airplane IL-28"; this is written in perfect English and meant for export. It is beautifully bound with light grey hard covers. Unfortunately I have only copies of the "Normal Operating Procedures" section.

 

BR,

Antti

[28ZComeback]

Thank you gentlemen for your kind responses.

[71chally]

On 27/02/2017 at 6:46 PM, Antti_K said:

James if you are interested I can scan some pages for you and send them privately; all manuals, the aircraft itself and so on are still classified as "Secret"(!) Well not because of the technology but because of the original trade agreement. Same goes for the MiGs (I happen to have manuals and some original factory drawings for the MiG-21 as well).

BR,

Antti

That's very kind of you, but I won't bother you like that for them, thank you.

Must be heck of a thing to own, manuals for IL-28 and MiG-21s!

[modelldoc]

Mid 1952 the USAF reconized a regiment of Il-28 north of the Yalu.

 

At the victory parade in Pyongyang in mid 1953 a couple of Il-28 flew over the parade. (KCNA official picture)

 

All were in otiginally silver. 

 

A decal sheet from ESCI from the past is absolutely wrong.

 

I made the kit years before.

 

modelldoc

 

 

[28ZComeback]

Hi Modeldoc, can you post the photo of Il-28 flyover? Many thanks--nice build by the way--what was wrong with the markings? White background on roundel???  Thank you again!

[modelldoc]

The Esci markings shown an camouflaged aircraft. Never used this kind of camouflage in NK. And (the most wrong thing) kill markings with the SK insignia.

 

Absolutely nonsens.

 

Sorry, don't know how to insert a pic from my pc.

 

(It's only black and white and you the the silouette of the aircraft.)

 

modelldoc

 

[Seahawk]

The text of Gordon and Komissarov's Ilyushin Il-28 Beagle (Airlife, 2002) describes 3 North Korean BEAGLEs (p.108):

 

Harbin H-5 Blue 45 in dark green camouflage with natural metal undersurfaces and red rudder;

Il-28 Red 314 in overall natural metal; and

Il-28R Red 0220, again in natural metal finish.

 

The artwork, rpt artwork in this book illustrates 2 of the above:

 

Red 314 is in overall natural metal with the numerals in red, central on the fin.  National markings have no white background.

 

Blue 45 (NB this is a Harbin H-5) has mid-green uppersurfaces with a low undulating demarcation to the undersurfaces, desrcibed in the caption as "blue" (sic, see above).  The rudder is red, there are tan/dark brown diagonal streaks on the fin, slanted downward at about 30 deg and a thin white line runs downwards at about 45 deg from about 1/4 of the way down the fin leading edge to about 3/5 the way down the fin trailing edge.  The side number is below the cockpit with the split between the numbers coming below where the windscreen frame meets the fuselage.  National markings are on a white disk.

 

But no photos.  Pity they couldn't get their act together between text and artwork.  Use at your own risk.

 

 Iljuszyn Il-28 Beagle in the Polish series "Pod Lupa" has similar artwork of Blue 45 but still no photos of any North Korean BEAGLEs. 

 

 

[Hook]

On dinsdag 28 februari 2017 at 10:25 PM, modelldoc said:

I made the kit years before.

 

Looks spiffy. Is that the Airfix thingy?

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[modelldoc]

Yes, it's the "good old" airfix kit.

 

In a book about the PLAAF from China I found, that the Chinese recived her Beagles after the korean war.

 

I'm really sure, that in the first NKAF Beagles are russian pilots.

 

modelldoc

[Uncle Dick]

As the Donald would say "whats the deal" with the NK roundel national markings?:

 

1. some have a white back ground and some not;

2. they appear to be only slapped on the side of the aircraft and not on the wings?

3. some of the roundel circles are broken with small gaps in them and some not

 

 

 

[Blimpyboy]

Another zombie thread revival!

These all look reasonably recent, and all look to be aluminium/bare metal - possibly with black or red nose numbers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[modelldoc]

That's are all "old" pictures from 2010 and 2017.

 

modelldoc

[David2703]

I can recommend the book ‚On the path of Songun: the armed forced of North Korea‘ as undoubtedly best source on the Il-28 in NK service. Yefim Gordon should only be trusted on Soviet service info really. 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Armed-Forces-North-Korea-Songun/dp/1910777145/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PP5NXWAVMR6F&dchild=1&keywords=the+armed+forces+of+north+korea&qid=1614510244&sprefix=North+korea+armed%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-1

Edited February 28, 2021 by David2703
Typo

[modelldoc]

There are more information on the book:

 

"Fury from the North" by Douglas C. Dildy from Helion.

 

There is also a picture  from "0220" Il-28 T in silver, but no year.

All Il-28 were in the 4th Air Division, 36th Bomber Aviation Regiment  in Kungchuling (PRC) with 42 Il-28 and 15 Tu-2.

 

modelldoc