Yakovlev Yak-1b Side view // by Basil Zolotov

Yakovlev Yak-1b «17 Red». The plane’s paintwork was restored with the use of photographs where one can see both the gift inscription and the side number, which is rare. A number of sources attribute Yak-1b side number 17 to the Normandie Squadron, which is quite possible because several aircraft with such inscriptions were indeed given to the French in January 1943 when the unit was being activated in Ivanovo (mind you, Ivanovo was far enough from Stalingrad).
The very same sources attribute Yak-1b side number 17 to a specific pilot, Marcel Ives Bizien, probably on the grounds that there is a photograph showing the French pilot getting out of the cockpit onto the left wing of the aircraft bearing the same inscription, although the side number cannot be seen in the photograph. It seems there is little reason to attribute the aircraft to the pilot because (a) there were several Yak-1s bearing such an inscription in the squadron and (b) almost all of the French pilots of the first group flew the planes allocated for their conversion training.
The prop spinner can also be painted black