Polikarpov I 16

Specifications Polikarpov I 16 blueprint

The Polikarpov I-16 is a Soviet-designed single-engine fighter plane of the interwar period, notable for its revolutionary gull wing design. Developed and built at the Alexander Yakovlev design bureau, it was one of the first fighters to feature a retractable landing gear and was used extensively during World War II. Its potent speed and maneuverability made it ideal for the close-quarter dogfighting tactics that characterized the air combat of the era. A low-wing monoplane, the Polikarpov I-16 had an airframe made of a lightweight corrugated duralumin skin and alloy radiators framed in plywood and fabric. The gull wing design gave the aircraft a distinctive profile and good strut-bracing clearance, reducing drag while limiting headroom in the cockpit. The single-seat I-16 featured a nose-mounted radial engine driving a three-bladed variable pitch propeller. In total, five versions of the Polikarpov I-16 were produced with a variety of engines, armaments, and range. Although it was considered obsolete by the late 1930s, the I-16's exceptional maneuverability at low speeds allowed it to fare well against the superior engines and armaments of its opponents in air combat during WWII. Operators praised its tight turns, speedy climb rates, and good rolling characteristics. Later variants of the aircraft featured the addition of an enclosed cockpit with a pressurized environment and armor plating. Despite its obsolescence, the Polikarpov I-16 was a revolutionary design that laid the groundwork for modern fighters, and its use in WWII proved invaluable. This resilient aircraft helped the Red Air Force to repel repeated German incursions on the Eastern Front and played an integral role in the Allied victory.