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Pilots,
Today we are taking a look at the Polikarpov I-16. In World of Warplanes, this is a Soviet Tier III fighter. However, in real life it was one of the most influential designs in history, despite its small and unassuming appearance. In this article, we reveal the long history of this fascinating plane and the equally interesting history of its designer.
Nikolai Nikolayevich Polikarpov was a top aeronautical designer from the USSR. He had already been responsible for a number of influential designs in the 1920s. However, life in Stalin’s Soviet Union was harsh. In 1929, after failing to deliver on unreasonable design goals, Polikarpov and around 450 other designers and engineers were rounded up and thrown into prison. From behind bars, his team were forced to continue developing, eventually producing the I-5 fighter. In 1931, Polikarpov and a number of others were finally released from prison.
After his release, Polikarpov began working on the I-16, a small but highly innovative plane which defined aircraft standards for years to come. In the 1940s, he received numerous awards including the State Prize and the Hero of Socialist Labour. His time was short though and he died in 1944 from stomach cancer. He was only 52.
Work began on the I-16 in 1932 and the first flight took place in December 1933. The designers had truly gone back to the drawing board in aircraft design. Rather than evolving previous designs, they started from scratch with a blank page. The result was a very strange looking aircraft with some new but highly influential concepts.
The tiny fuselage was squat and stubby, designed for sturdiness in combat. However, this monoplane was the first plane in the world to feature a retractable landing gear, a cantilever wing and a variable pitch propeller. It was also the first single-seater fighter to have low monoplane wings and an enclosed cockpit. These ground-breaking features later became standard for all aircraft design across the world.
The plane was one of the first in the world to be mass-produced. With its relatively simple design and small size, producing large numbers proved to be cheap, fast and easy. Of course, in part this was due to the over-worked factory crew – 350,000 people working around the clock in three shifts. Around 7000 I-16s were produced in total.
It wasn’t just the features of the plane that were innovative. The I-16 was the first true demonstration of Soviet power to the world – previously the Soviets had been dismissed as technologically backwards, reliant on copying foreign designs. The I-16 put the Soviet Union on the map as an aeronautical engineering power in its own right.
The plane was a success in all ways. With outstanding manoeuvrability, firepower and rate of climb, enemies soon learnt not to underestimate the tiny plane. The 20mm cannons gave this bug a real bite. It also became noted by its pilots for its reliability and durability, and enjoyed a long service history. Almost 500 were used in the Spanish Civil War by the Republican side and were nicknamed ‘Mosca’ meaning mosquito. The enemy came up with a less fond name for it – Rata (Rat). Back in Russia, the plane earned the name ‘Ishak’ meaning Little Donkey for its solid hard-working performance.
The original I-16s had radial engines delivering a modest 450 hp. Despite this low power, the tiny plane still managed to clock up a more than reasonable speed of 376 km/h. As the 1930s drew on though, the Soviets decided the aircraft needed more power and started to fit them with much bigger engines, up to two and a half times the power. They also started mounting bigger and better guns onto them, all part of the never-ending arms race that was taking place in the world at that time.
These upgraded I-16s went on to serve around the world. A number were dispatched to China to help fight the Japanese, whilst thousands more went up against the Luftwaffe in the European theatres.
By the 1940s the warplane was starting to become very underpowered, especially when compared with its main opponent, the Messerschmitt Bf.109. Nonetheless, experienced with getting the most out of the plane, many Soviet pilots resisted changing to more modern fighters. Perhaps this also had something to do with the extreme ruggedness and toughness of the plane allowing it to take massive battle damage and still get home – the ultimate aim of all pilots. Indeed, a commonly used tactic by I-16 pilots who had run out of ammo was ramming. Numerous enemy aircraft were brought down in ramming attacks, many of which the I-16 pilots survived. The sturdy hull of the plane proved to be ideal for conducting this type of attack, called a ‘Taran’, and more importantly, surviving them afterwards.
Eventually though, the plane fell too far behind in the technology race and by the end of 1939 it was considered obsolete. They continued to be used in warfare throughout the early 1940s before fading out of service in favour of more modern fighters.
Nonetheless, the I-16 remains one of the most unique and distinctive aircraft ever produced. As well as its signature shape, the plane was also notable for its signature sound – the noise created by the nine separate exhausts on the 9 cylinder radial engine.
Despite the aircraft’s legacy though, it fell out of public awareness and remains relatively unknown in modern days compared to other aircraft from Germany, Britain and America.
There are two types of I-16 available in World of Warplanes. The I-16 (early mod.) is a Tier III Soviet fighter. This model is based on the early 1930s variant of the I-16. Meanwhile, the I-16 (late mod.) is a Tier IV Soviet fighter and follows directly on from the early version. This model is based on the later-years’ I-16 which had been beefed up significantly in engine power and weapons capacity.
Just remember, while you are flying around in your I-16 that the ‘Moska’ is a truly iconic piece of history!
