Christian Zulus

Tupolev Tu-4 "Bull"

Gentlemen,

before I go on with the new question #192, I will post some material dealing with Wild Card's question.

There is a very fine book about the Tu-4, which should be a "must" for all, who are interested in Soviet aviation:

http://www.rollmodels.net/nbookreview/othe...r7/redstar7.php

Out of this book some pics showing the designer Tupolev & Tu-4:

On board of the civil version of the "Bull", the Tu-12, which shocked - as No. 4 - the West:

Best regards

Christian

Dear Christophe,

many thanks for your congratulations to my 2nd HSA .

Well, gold had been never used for these busts. They used bronze. So, you actually don't need my Lenins, OPW 1cls, Glory 1cl, HSL etc. . Some mere photoshop-work will do it ...

Best regards

Christian

Hi Christian,

Congrats for your 40th victory . I got the Tushino day, but did not push as long as you did...

Wild Card, Congrats also, as it was a very wise question!!!!

Christian, I'm still waiting for some gold to be delivered before beginning sculpting your bust. Please, could you help in sending to me some of the orders and medals I have seen here and there ?

Cheers.

Ch.

A similar offering from modern Belarus.

This is nice as it's issued!

Dear Belaruski,

doesn't the inscription say "Ochrane", which means "Secret Police" ?

That term had been already used in Czarist Russia.

Best regards

Christian

I think someone made it by destroying a cheap pocket knife?

It cannot be real????

Dear Chris,

that belt seems to me very practical: The instruments are for applying new holes to the belt for a better fitting .

I guess, those two tools have nothing to do with NKVD, KGB or GRU .

The asked price is somehow beyond a realistic market value .

Might be a belt of some youth groups, as Komsomol, Pioneers, etc.

Best regards

Christian

Christian, I in delight from your selection. The Red banner 3 especially is pleasant

Dear Sergey,

many thanks .

The RB#3 seems - according to the s/n. - to be a mere long service award . At least, the awardee received - before getting that RB#3 - one ore two genuine RB battle awards .

O.K., RB#3s are rare and mine is in a very good condition ...

Best regards

Christian

Victory #40 - 2x HSA

Dear Wild Card,

many thanks for the congratulation to my victory #40

It had been truly a very difficult question and I didn't expect to find the answer - I just wanted to collect some material for my GMIC-comrades. But getting the aviation day and following all the links, the 4 + 4 combination got visible .

A nice model of the "Bull":

It's great to get the 2nd HSA ("Hero of Socialist Answering") with such a tricky question .

Give me half a day for finding a nice question.

Best regards

Christian

BTW: Christophe, it's now your turn, to present something like the usual bust here at the thread .

Congratulations Christian Zulus, you got it!

On 3 August 1947 at the Aviation Day parade which was held at the Tushino Airport in Moscow:

4 new aircraft were introduced.

4 ?B-29?s? which were really Tu-4 ?s made their debut

Yes, Col. Vasiliy Yegorovich Kruchkov was the pilot of one of the Tu-4?s. The source of this information is an interview in which he describes this event which is on a DVD titled ?Stealing The Superfortress? produced by and available through The History Channel - I highly recommend it.

Finally, there is a little more to my ?Manolete? clue than has been brought forth. As we all now know, Manolete was killed the same month as the air show by a... Bull. Col. Kruchkov flew a Tu-4. The real connection is that the NATO code name for the Tu-4 is (drum roll again, please... Bull.

So there it is Gentlemen. Congratulations Christian Zulus, we anxiously await your question, and that?s no... Bull.

Best wishes, all,

Wild Card

3rd of august 1947: SOVIET AVIATION DAY

Gentlemen,

on 3rd of august 1947 there had been an historical highly important Soviet Aviation Day .

The new prototype jet-fighter Yak-19 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakovlev_Yak-19" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakovlev_Yak-19</a> was first seen by the public on that day at Tushino airfield <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tushino_Airport" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tushino_Airport</a> .

Also the first public display of the B-29-copy TU-4 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-4" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-4</a> was on that Aviation Day, when 3 were flown in addition to the TU-70 airliner variant. Wiki writes: "Three aircraft flew overhead. It was assumed that these were merely the three B-29 bombers that were diverted to the USSR during World War II. Minutes later, what appeared to be a fourth B-29 aircraft appeared. Western analysts then concluded that the Soviets were capable of, and actually had, reversed engineered the B-29 because the Soviets were known to have only 3 B-29s. The appearance of an obvious Superfortress-derived Tu-70 transport over the crowd removed any doubt about the success of the reverse-engineering task."

Also the Me-262-copy prototype Su-9 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-9_(1946)" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-9_(1946)</a> and the jet-bomber prototype Tu-77 <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolew_Tu-12" target="_blank">http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolew_Tu-12</a> had been shown.

The 3rd of august 1947 had been a great day for Soviet aviation .

Coming back to the question:

Our comrade in question was on of the pilots on the Soviet Aviation Day.

The Soviets presented 4 new aircrafts.

The Soviets prestented 4 B-29 copies Tu-4 and the West was shocked, because they thought, that the Soviets had only 3 (genuine) B-29 bombers.

Some days later Manolete was killed by a bull.

Other version of the answer:

Our comrade in question flew one of the 4 Tu-4 bombers.

Best regards

Christian

Si! Muy bueno!!

Gentlemen,

following the bullfighter's track:

28th of august 1947, the legendary bullfighter Manolete http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manolete was mortally wounded by a bull during a fight in Linares, Spain; he died the following day at the age of 30.

But Wild Card is asking for the 3rd of august 1947 .

Best regards

Christian

2. Which photo to use for the bust / monument ? You seems to change so often that it will take me years to adapt the sculpture to the evolution / change of your look...

Dear Christophe,

here is the "history" of my personal photographs at GMIC:

Reenacting: Officer (bearing a "Partizan Star 3cl") of a YU-"Proletarian Brigade" - ca. 1944

Reenacting: Soviet "Hero of Socialist Labour" - ca. 1965

Real: Serving in the Austrian Armed Forces - 2008

Your are free to choose .

BTW: A "photoshop"-monument is also o.k. .

Best regards

Christian

i got the right writing in cyrillic, but even with this, I did not find anything... His bios on the web are very basic... Maybe another Member will be luckier...

Dear Christophe,

I also got only "zero" results with all variations of the name .

I will have to research about that special date and about that (Spanish ?) song-writer ...

Best regards

Christian

Dear Christophe,

I didn't guess at all, that I need just one more victory for getting my (French financed ) small monument with bust in my native town Vienna, as a twice HSA (Hero of Socialist Answering) .

I did some mistakes in counting the questions - we already deal with question #191 .

Best regards

Christian

A few stats...

Quiz 2008 :

* 19 questions asked,

* with 291 answers,

* and viewed more than 2,150 times.

Nb of good answers for the Quiz 2008 :

* 6 : Marc (Lapa)

* 4 : Christian (Zulus)

* 2 : Auke (Ferdinand), Christophe & Frank (Knarf)

* 1 : Jim (JimZ) & Wild Card

Complete statistics give since this Quiz has been launched (on 1 Nov. 2005) :

* 190 questions asked,

* with 2,436 answers,

* This quiz has been viewed more than 24,720 times.

* 38 Members of the Forum played, and 28 correctly answered at least 1 question :

Nb of good answers :

* 39 : Christian (Zulus)

* 34 : Christophe

* 14 : Frank (Knarf)

* 13 : Jim (JimZ)

* 11 : Bryan (Soviet)

* 8 : Auke (Ferdinand) & Simon (Red Threat)

* 6 : Belaruski, Carol I, Ed (Haynes) & Marc (Lapa)

* 5 : Dan (Hauptman) & Wild Card.

* 3 : Andreas (Alfred), Ivan (Piramida) & Kim (Kimj).

* 2 : Chuck (in Oregon), Gerd (Becker), Jan (vatjan) & Order of Victory.

* 1 : Charles (Hunyadi), Darrell, Daredevil, Dave (Navy FCO), Dudeman, Filip (Drugo), Rick (Stogieman) & Steen (Ammentorp).

This is a great achievement. Thanks to all for your participation in this Quiz.

Now, let's have fun with the 191st question, Wild Card's one !!!!

Cheers.

Ch.

Now (drum roll, please) on to question #191. An easy one, for a change.

Pictured below is Hero of the Soviet Union Col. Vasiliy Yegorovich Kruchkov, who was a very successful pilot in the Great Patriotic War. However what was probably the most important event in his career took place after the war, on 3 August 1947. What was the event and how does the number four (4) play twice in it?

For bonus points, let?s get exotic. What is the link between the subject of this question and Manuel S?nchez?

Good Luck Gentlemen,

Wild Card

Dear Wild Card,

could you please post the genuine writing in Russian cyrillic letters of comrade Kruchkov - or Krychkov ?

Manuel S?nchez the song-writer ?

Many thanks .

Best regards

Christian

I'd like to understand better how the OLG series fit into the normal labor sequence DistLab => ValLab => BoH => RBL => HSL. How was the OLG series awarded? And to whom? This may require having research available. Not now, alas.

Dear Ed,

the same problem, as with the (military) Glory: A full cavalier is at the ident level as a HSL or HSU, but a 2nd or 3rd class is (officially) below a BoH or RS .

Personally I would rank a singular OLG between a BoH and RBL. A OLG 2cl & 3cl between a RBL and Lenin.

I guess, there had been a somehow ident prestige concerning the OLG and Glory: Proletarian awards for authentic deeds .

Best regards

Christian

Gentlemen,

yesterday I got my "Victory Flag" .

The quality is really absolute outstanding .

A "must" for all Soviet military collectors .

Many thanks to Dan & Mike .

Best regards

Christian

Dear Dan,

my "Victory Flag" is on the way to good old Vienna.

I already bought in 1995 in Hungary, at the Ukraininan border, a spear head in solid brass with hammer & sickle. When the flag arrives, I will go to that special shop in our city center in Vienna and order the fitting flag-pole for the "Victory Flag" & spear head. I am still missing that special strap for attaching my Kutuzov 2cl http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=26254 , but I guess, that such straps are hardly to find ... Anyhow, it will be a fine celebration of the 9th of may 2008.

Many thanks again for your valid information.

Best regards

Christian

Dear "Wild Card",

dear Rick,

many thanks for these highly interesting pics .

G?ring is not very common, but an very old (the ending -ing!) and traditional German surname. There had been a rather large German nation in the CCCP and there had been quite a few CCCP-Germans fighting against Nazi-Germans, getting highest awards for their heroism.

I guess, that this form of beard was rather fashionable in the 1920s and 1930s .

Best regards

Christian

How about the St. George cross?

Here we have Guards Lt. Col. Vasily Ivanovitch Kriuchkov wearing all four of his.

Dear "Wild Card",

congratulations to your victory .

Perfect answer and many thanks for the photograph .

Do you have that pic in your collection ?

Question #189 is now your turn.

I guess, that there had been two reasons, why the STAVKA or Politburo tolerated the wearing of St. George Crosses:

- it had been a true "proletarian" award for shown heroism at the battlefield reserved to grass root soldiers and NCOs

- there had been quite a few of famous GPW-Marshals & -Generals, who served in WW I as NCOs and had been awarded with some of these crosses. I guess, that these comrades made some pressure - after the 1943-reforms! - to get the allowance to wear their St. George Crosses.

Best regards

Christian

New question #188

Gentlemen,

a pure phaleristic question

As we know, the October Revolution in Russia extinquished all the beautiful Imperial Czarist orders, medals, awards and decorations.

It was strictly forbidden in Lenin's Russia - and later on in the Soviet Union - to wear and show Czarist awards.

In the later years of Stalin's Soviet Union there had been a more or less tolerated exception regarding one of the Czarist awards.

Question:

Which Imperial Russian award had been allowed to be worne - under Soviet orders and medals - in the Stalin era ?

Hint: You might see that award on photographs of highly decorated GPW-veterans, who served also in WW I .

Best regards

Christian

Congratulations

this is the right answer.

When Mr. Honecker gave this present the Soviets could not refuse to take a GDR citizen into space. Normally the Soviets wanted to use the Camera for military which they officially never did.

You turn now

regards

Frank

Dear Frank,

many thanks .

My new question #188 will be an easy, fast & quick one .

Best regards

Christian

VEB Carl Zeiss Jena

Hallo Christian,

unfortunately it was not ESER.

The wanted item came into use on Sept. 15th 1976 and was shown on "Leipziger Messe" in 1977.

Regards

Frank

PS My eyes are very bad. So I know that Firm very well.

Dear Frank,

many thanks for the hint - now it is easy, but besides of ROBOTRON, I had Zeiss http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeiss in my mind .

It's the outstanding multispectral camera for space-missions MKF 6 http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/MKF_6 , invented and built by VEB Carl Zeiss Jena with support by the Institutes f?r Elektronik der Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR (IE der AdW).

At it's time it had been the best camera for scientific & spy missions in the space and is still in use. Of course, it was strictly forbidden to export it to the west .

Best regards

Christian

BTW: The two comrades on the photograph on my previous post had the camera with their space mission .

ROBOTRON & ESER

There was a very famous firm in GDR. Some years before Mr. J?hn went on his flight that firm developed something which is still in use today in a better version.

A lot of Western firms were interested in it but could not get it.

Now I gave you the answer.

Dear Frank,

I guess that "very famous firm in the GDR" might be the high-tech corporation ROBOTRON http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotron .

VEB Robotron was the biggest East German electronics manufacturer. It was based in Dresden and employed 30,000 people. It produced television sets, personal computers and the ESER mainframes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESER .

ESER is an abbreviation for Einheitliches System Elektronischer Rechenmaschinen (German for standardized system of electronic computers), a term used in the GDR for ES EVM computers produced according to a treaty between the members of Comecon signed on December 23, 1968 covering the development of a standardized computing system.

Do you see ESER by ROBOTRON as that gift from the GDR to the CCCP ?

Best regards

Christian

Soviet - German Friendship

Valery Bykovsky & Sigmund J?hn:

Best regards

Christian

Dear Belaruski,

I paid about EUR 30,- each for them in the 1990s .

Best regards

Christian

I think in regard t this Christian, so long as you're happy that you didn't pay too much for it, it's ok!

I remember someone here who found out that their Nevsky sat in a locked safe was a fake, which must be painful.

These badges are very nice, I used to have quite a set of them, but I was always happy with my high quality copy of the Submariner badge, because I could never afford a real ne, and even then it may turn out to be not so real after all.

Dear Frank,

What was the gift ?

Was it EUR 41 million (USD 66 million) or DDR-Mark ? No guess about such a gift. We paid much less for our Austrian Cosmonaut .

Name(s) of the used vehicle(s) and passengers

Soyuz 31 (Valery Bykovsky http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valery_Bykovsky & Sigmund J?hn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_J%C3%A4hn ) and Soyuz 29 (ident passengers)

How long did the trip take from lift off to the hard landing (Bonus: d , hrs, min ,sec,)

7d 20h 49m (launched August 26, 1978 and landed September 3, 1978)

I think, the winner should be, who guesses the gift . The other two questions had been too easy.

Best regards

Christian

Dear Sergey,

if you take away these beautiful legs in the background, you might think, that this guy is praying in an orthodox church .

Best regards

Christian

Dear Filip,

many thanks .

Well, a more than common medal, but it is boxed and I like the face of the soldier .

Best regards

Christian