April 25th 1947 - La Guardia Field
This photograph came from the original that I was able to find in an online store. It is the only known photograph of the man on the left of the image and he was named on the press release attached to the back of this photo, as Pavel Fedosimov, Russian Vice-Consul.
Improtantly, he was athe airfield to meet with Novikov, the Russian Consul to the USA. In the background, you can see an aircraft which we have identified as a Lockheed Constellation. Thus far we have 3 important details, the man with Novikov is named as Pavel Fedosimov, he was at the airfield, the aircrafy was a Constellation.
Let's look at the aircraft type first. The Lockheed Constellation was the first aircraft to fly commercially with a pressurised cabin. Occupants did not need an oxygen mask when flying above 7000 feet, the oxygen was pumped into the sealed cabin. This first flight took place in 1943. It was the only large airliner to have a pressurised cabin and that reamined so even in 1947. Some smaller aircraft had been fling since the late 1930s with pressurised cabins but they were not the norm.
Why those facts are important is this, smaller, commuter aircraft would fly above 7000 feet and would supply their passengers with oxygen masks. Not ordinary oxygen masks but these masks as shown below:
Nasal Oxygen Masks, Passengers
The masks were designed in the 30s and you may see examples in a number of early WW2 action films. The design was meant to allow passengers to at and drink whilst also be able to breathe oxygen. In fact Churchill is said to have had his own personal nasal oxygen mask which allowed him to enjoy his favourite cigars and maybe a glass of brandy in flight.
What we are not able to see in these images is how the fitting was 'sealed', within each one there would be a seal that close tightly onto and around the nose. Here are some patent drawings from a 1941 patent:
What we are not able to see in these images is how the fitting was 'sealed', within each one there would be a seal that close tightly onto and around the nose. Here are some patent drawings from a 1941 patent:
The point I make here is that if one had worn such a mask on a flight for possibly some hours, it would leave a mark where it sat. Much like the one we see in the photograph of Fedosimov, it sits around the nose and then the mouth and importantly, it's a continuous mark, it breaks minutely between the flair of the right nostril and the cheek where a slight shadow can be seen.
So, this is yet another good and possible reason for the markings on Fedosimov's face. The marks are either shadows, or they are pressure marks left by a nasal oxygen mask worn during commuter flights in the 1940s. The marks are not indicative of Fedosimov having a 'saddle nose' as per the October 2019 post here: https://tamamshud.blogspot.com/2019/10/somerton-man-fedosimov-nose-question.html
What we do not have are details of Fedosimov's movements on the date in question, it is also thought that the main photograph, from Sovfoto, may have been a composite and assembled in the lab. If we accept that Fedosimov was the person added to the main image, then that could have been taken at any time prior to the 27th April. It is known that he visited a number of cities during the 1945 - 1948 period and that would have involved commuter type flights and therefore it is quite reasonable to assume that he would have worn such a mask.
Speaking of Churchill:
An interesting footnote to this post. It seems that whilst the idea of leaving an opening for the mouth was beneficial, it meant that breathing had to be via the nose. It seems that some people forgot to do that so the use of these masks was phased out quite quickly in 1948 which coincided with the take up of pressurised aircraft cabin designs.
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