Polikarpov Design Bureau
Polikarpov I-16 TsKB-12 Ishak
Finns called the aircraft Siipiorava "(flying squirrel)"
Polikarpov I-16 Chaika
"flying squirrel"
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| I-16 Type 5 in the Memorial Museum of Valery Chkalov, Chkalovsk, Russia | |
| Role | Fighter |
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| National origin | Soviet Union |
| Manufacturer | Plant No. 21 (Gorky), Plant No. 39 (Moscow), Plant No. 153 (Novosibirsk), Plant No. 458 (Rostov-on-Don/Baku) |
| Designer | N. N. Polikarpov Design Bureau |
| First flight | 30 December 1933 (TsKB-12) |
| Introduction | March 1935 |
| Retired | 1945 (Soviet Air Force), 1953 (Spanish Air Force) |
| Primary users | Soviet Air Force Spanish Republican Air Force Chinese Nationalist Air Force |
| Produced | November 1933 – 1942 |
| Number built | 10,292 (6,848 fighters and 3,444 trainers) |
| Developed into | Polikarpov I-180 |
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History Polikarpov Design Bureau (design bureau)
Polikarpov I-16 Ishak "Rata"
Finns called the aircraft Siipiorava "(flying squirrel)"
The Polikarpov I-16 (Russian: Поликарпов И-16) is a Soviet single-engine single-seat fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world's first low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to attain operational status and as such "introduced a new vogue in fighter design". The I-16 was introduced in the mid-1930s and formed the backbone of the Soviet Air Force at the beginning of World War II. The diminutive fighter, nicknamed "Ishak" or "Ishachok" ("donkey" or "burro") by Soviet pilots, figured prominently in the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, Winter War and the Spanish Civil War – where it was called the Rata ("rat") by the Nationalists or Mosca ("fly") by the Republicans. The Finns called the aircraft Siipiorava "(flying squirrel)"
Design and development
Full-scale work on the TsKB-12 prototype began in June 1933, and the aircraft was accepted into production on 22 November 1933, a month before it took to the air. The TsKB-12 was of mixed construction, using a wooden monocoque fuselage and wings employing a KhMA chrome-molybdenum steel alloy wing spar, dural ribs and D1 aluminum alloy skinning on the center and leading edges, with the remaining portions of the wings fabric-covered. Another modern feature were the ailerons which ran along almost the entire trailing edge of the wing and also operated as flaps (in the manner of more modern flaperons) by drooping 15°. The cockpit was covered by a 40-centimetre-wide (16 in) canopy which featured an Aldis-type tubular gun sight which could slide back and forth on runners fitted with rubber bungee cords. A 225 L (59.4 US gal) fuel tank was fitted directly in front of the cockpit. The main landing gear is fully retractable by a hand crank. The armament consisted of a pair of 7.62×54mmR (0.30 in) ShKAS machine guns in the wings, mounted on the outboard side of the main gear and 900 rounds of ammunition
Photo Gallery
Polikarpov Design Bureau (design bureau)
Polikarpov I-16 Ishak "Rata"
Finns called the aircraft Siipiorava "(flying squirrel)"
Polikarpov Design Bureau (design bureau)
Polikarpov I-16 Ishak
Finns called the aircraft Siipiorava "(flying squirrel)"
General Info
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- Crew: One
- Length: 6.13 m (20 ft 1 in)
- Wingspan: 9 m (29 ft 6 in)
- Height: 3.25 m (10 ft 8 in)
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Powerplant
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- Empty weight: 1,490 kg
- Gross weight: 1,941 kg
- Powerplant: 1 × Shvetsov M-63 9-cylinder supercharged air-cooled radial engine, 820 kW (1,100 hp)
- Propellers: 2-bladed variable-pitch propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 489 km/h at 3,000 m
- Range: 700 km with drop tanks
- Service ceiling: 9,700 m (31,800 ft)
- Rate of climb: 14.7 m/s (2,890 ft/min)
Armament
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- 2 × fixed forward-firing 7.62 mm (0.300 in) ShKAS machine guns in upper cowling
- 2 × fixed forward-firing 7.62 mm (0.300 in) ShKAS machine guns in the wings/ 20 mm (0.787 in) ShVAK cannons
- 6 × unguided RS-82 rockets or up to 500 kg (1,100 lb) of bombs
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Links to Youtube & Others
At the start of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Republican forces pleaded for fighter aircraft. After receiving payment in gold, Joseph Stalin dispatched around 475 I-16 Type 5s and Type 6s. The first I-16s appeared in Spanish skies in November 1936.
Polikarpov I-16 Ishak
"(flying squirrel)"
Ask any pilot who has flown a Soviet, WW2 Polikarpov fighter what they're like to land, and they'll all tell you they're scary!
Youtube Link
The Luftwaffe was known to have captured some I-16 and UTI-4 two-seat trainers (two of which were marked with the Stammkennzeichen codes DM+HC and DM+HD) and flown from the Erprobungstelle Rechlin central Luftwaffe test facility by Kampfgeschwader 200 (KG 200).
Read more in Polikarpov Design Bureau Polikarpov I-16 Ishak Finns called the aircraft Siipiorava "(flying squirrel)"
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