Polikarpov I-16 "Ishak" | The Revolutionary Russian Fighter [Aircraft Overview #12]
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- The I-16 was a short, stubby Soviet Russian fighter that saw a lot of action, prominently in the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, Winter War and WW2 following Operation Barbarossa. Though it may look primitive, it was actually revolutionary for its time - featuring retractable landing gear, a fully enclosed canopy and advanced control surfaces.
It earned the nickname "Ishak" or "Donkey" from its Russian pilots, republican pilots in the Spanish Civil War affectionately named it "fly" and others named it the "rat".
***
Producing these videos is a hobby of mine. I have a passion for history, and personally own a large collection of books, journals and other texts, and endeavor to do as much research as possible. However if there are any mistakes, please don't hesitate to reach out and correct anything :)
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Play IL2 Sturmovik as a German and you will have the delight of these planes flying rings around your BF109. Get into a turning fight and you WILL lose !
With 1.5k hours in IL-2, I agree! ;)
Hello fellow IL-2 flyer!
I have been playing IL-2 since 2005, up until now.
And thank SAS1946 for keeping the old game alive!
The trouble is, in IL2 Sturmovik, the I-16 is shown as having landing flaps. NO
PRODUCTION I-16 EVER HAD LANDING FLAPS. EVER !!
True
IL2 is not a good plane 😐
Really well done. Excellent graphics and photos, and high quality narration (a British accent does wonders lol). The first video from this channel I watched was on the Vought Vindicator dive bomber (it showed up in my suggestions after watching one of Montemayor's videos on the Coral Sea). I almost didn't watch it because you never know what you're going to get with a random algorithm suggestion, but I'm glad I did.
They have an airworthy I-16 Type 24 at the Flying Heritage museum in Everett WA where I live (Seattle area) but I haven't seen it fly yet. Fun Fact: This I-16 was shot down during the war and later discovered in 1991 in Eastern Europe. It was restored at the same factory where it was originally built in 1940, in some cases by the same workers themselves who had worked on the I-16 production line in the 40's as children.
Cough australian cough
@@sugarnads PMSL.....
@@sugarnads Yeah nah.
Very interesting video(s) and good informative narration. To my mind the I-16 bears a passing resemblance to the Gee Bee Racers of the 1930's. Great stuff.
You're right.
Would be interesting to see,IF "the Racers" somehow was there to inspire I-16,or the other way around...
The American Frank Tinker downed the first Me109 ever lost in combat while flying an I 16. (Spanish civil war).
Kermit Weeks owns one. You can clearly see the canopy slide rail ends
One the most common myths of the Spanish Civil War is that the quality and quantity of the German help to nationalist side supposed an immediate superiority for that side. No so, in quality the I-16 was far better than anything the nationalists could field, including German help, and the bf-109 only appeared much later in the war. And in quantity, the high number of planes and tanks received from the Soviet Union meant that they had to become part of the nationalist army by the end of the war.
I like the starting method! 😁 Very good and comprehensive history. 👍👏
10:44 What plane is at the top center, with the dark fuselage and inline engine?
Good looking little aircraft, cute like a bulldog-- shouldn't be so endearing, but it is for whatever undefined reason.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the Soviet ramming tactics.
This thing is insane on warthunder
Have to imagine piloting this plane in the Soviet winter with an open cockpit. Also have to imaging this plane exhibiting anything like aerodynamics when the design was copied from a shotgun shell.
Better to be cold than be unable to see a Nazi pilot coming to shoot you down though.
Don't know if you know of the on-line game called World of Warplanes but I have this version and the (L) version both of which can sniff their butts in a dogfight. My go-to for knife fight in a phone booth scenarios.
I found this channel by accident and this guy is like the Drachinifel of planes, keep up bud,
An apt comparison, well said.
Agreed. We shall watch his career with great interest.
That comment made me subscribe!
(2nd video I watched, note to self: 11k)
Do we all know drachinifel?
@@brucebaxter6923
All 6 of us?
Yeah, probably 👍🏼
One I 16 pliot learned about the germans being very "kill horny" to put it mildly, constantly trying to oneup eachother and even fitting cameras to their planes to prove their killcounts. This lead to them often going after planes that seemed damaged or already going down (similar to players in a videogame) than formations cause a kill is a kill on the camera.
So the guy would purposefully fly the plane at a lower speed and jiggle it around giving the enemy the idea that it was damaged, when the enemy tried to engage, they would suddently drop their act, evade and drag them infront of other planes or outmaneuver them at low altitude.
basicly the art of backfiring other
From Master and Commander to classic the Star Trek "The more helpless he thinks we are...." "The closer...." he"...... "Is going" ....."To get!"
Always a ballsy bet on kill lust over patience and training, those who won that bet lived to tell the tale, but could add a survivorship bias to the odds of such tactics working out as planned.
Further evidence the Germans were true gamers.
There's several birds that do that when a cat, for example, get close to their nest. Some even go so far and actually drag one wing behind them while walking away from you on the ground to pretend being hurt. Waiting for the last moment when the cat attacks to just take off and repeat the game. I saw a pair of blackbirds completely distract and divert a cat away from their clutch like that. They just continued to play easy prey until they had the cat 100 m away and around the street corner.
that’s actually quite genius, bet the Germans learned pretty quick to be careful with damaged planes
My grandfather was flying I16 in the beginning of war, then became a commander of a ТB-3. He did survive the war and always given high praise to the donkey. Though he envied to pilots of some rare Mig-3 modification he said was the best fighter of all the war.
"the beginning of war" When Soviets and Germans was fighting hand by hand to start the WW2 or are you talking about the time when the friendship ended and your brothers in arms backstabed you when you finished accumulating forces at the border to backstab them?
Soviets got so big numerical advantage at the beggining of the Operation Barbarossa but thx to the fact that some of the airfields were so blatantly build for the purpose of Soviet invasion that some of them were as close to the border as 800m... perfect position when you are invading but the worst posible if you trying to deffend the country.
Generaly opinions of soviet soldiers that survived are so out of touch with reality, i remember interview where vet is talking that they did not invade Poland just after he is talking about German-Soviet parade in Brześć(Brest-Litovsk) that you can find even filmed by Gemans on youtube and just by coincidence was in the middle of Second Polish Republic. I can also imagine that you could only have a good opinions about I-16 or you would end up in the gulag as there was this popular joke in USSR sbout how many years in gulag you are getting for nothing(and bad opinion about Soviet fighter is allready something...).
@@Bialy_1 take your meds
Its an awsome looking plane
@@Bialy_1 Haha let's get you back to bed.
@@blkmgk16 You don't know dick about the true history of WWII or you can't handle the truth! Prior to Barbarossa, there was message after message from Churchill and Roosevelt to Stalin, damn near demanding that Russia enter the war against Germany and promising Beans, Bullets and Bandages and the spoils of a victory over Germany.
You see, the victor writes history and only a devoted seeker of the truth can sort through the bullshit and find the ice cream(truth).
It was called "Ishak" not because of it's stubby appearance, but because I-16 in Russian "И-Шестнадцать" sounds kinda similar, something like "Yi-Shestnadtsats". Also, in Russian some bad words are ended on "-ak", so it give this unofficial name some rude connotation. In official propaganda this plane was called "Yastrebok" (Ястребок), it is word play, as this word is shortened form of "Yastreb" ("Ястреб", hawk) and also sounds similar to "Istrebitel" ("Истребитель", fighter aircraft).
"Yastrebok" sinply means little/young hawk. There is no word play. just similary sounding words. Also, I see no rudeness in the word Ishak, apart those that are traditionaly ascribed to a donkey.
@@zoranocokoljic8927 “Ishak” is totally a rude word in Russian if addressed to a person. However, many a time have I met references to this plane as “Ishachok” which sounds endearing and not offensive at all, something along the lines of “cute lil’ donkey”.
@@zoranocokoljic8927 C'mon, maybe, as a native russian speaker, i know better either there is a word play or not? ;) About "Ishak" and "Ishachok" @Maxim Bravo already said enough. Pretty good illustration if love/hate relationships of russian pilots with this plane
@@damekkoDASHkun Повторю свое мнение что тут нет игры слов, а только созвучые слов "Ястреб" и "Истреб/итель". Ястребы же не получили свое название потому что истребляют.
@@zoranocokoljic8927 А созвучие - это не игра слов? Вы про понятие каламбур слышали? Но вообще мы тут бессмысленный спор ведём, если честно. Что меня изначально задело в видео, так это то, что англоязычные авторы совершенно не выкупают почему И-16 называли "ишаком" и начинают придумывать какой-то совершенно оторванный от реальности обоснуй. Я это уже не первый раз встречаю.
The presenter mentions many problems with the I-16, such as the poor quality of the canopy glazing, difficulty raising and lowering the landing gear and problems with machine guns jamming. It should be noted that, while Polikarpov designed the aircraft, he had little or nothing to do with the manufacturing of it. In the Soviet system, design teams created the deigns of aircraft such as the I-16. However, once the aircraft was accepted for production, the government would assign it to a factory for mass production. From that point onward, the designers had little or nothing to do with the process. For example, it is known that Polikarpov desired the acquisition of foreign aircraft engines for his fighters, from makers such as Pratt & Whitney and BMW, because he did not have much faith in the availability of high-powered Soviet-built aircraft engines. Polikarpov has likewise been criticized for keeping the I-16 in production too long after it was obsolete. However, again, Polikarpov had nothing to do with that. In fact Polikarpov was busy developing newer and better fighters which were not, for a variety of reasons, adopted for production.
Any folks(Friends) in Siberia 2022?
I think 💭 that you are 100% correct, the compartmentalised system of Russian design, manufacturing and proving of new aircraft, in fact anything new, had a huge impact on their advancement in the increasingly competitive, fast paced and lucrative aviation industry, just imagine where aviation, in fact all the science’s, would be if Russian/Soviet leadership had not been so paranoid and insecure about allowing people like Polikarpov to oversee a design from inception to completion, I personally think that the world would have been far more advanced than it is, whether that would have been good or bad we will never know. 😀👍🇬🇧🏴🇺🇦
🤔 précis reqd 👍
Не мог он быть таким дураком, чтобы желать для своего истребителя моторов от BMW пусть на тот момент (не на долго) и более эффективных. Врёшь ты всё, Буча.
Ага..конструктор боевого самолёта ,хотел установить мотор , производства,своего потенциального противника..
Ты идиот?
Это первое.
Второе..
Конструктора контролировали и курировали всю цепочку пооизводства и в любой момент, могли вносить изменения...
Из тебя историк ,как из говна пуля..😆😃😆
Knife fight in a phone booth - Imma use that. Great video about the mysterious cigar-stubb of an airplane. Thank you.
"Knife fight in a phone booth"
Coalition forces can win the battle of Baghdad, but grisly images of death and destruction could cost them the war for Arab hearts and minds.
By Eric Boehlert
Published March 29, 2003 1:28AM (EST)
Rex reminds me strongly of Drachinifel in research, concise speech and verbal pacing and pattern.
This is a good thing. Drach is held in very high esteem indeed.
More please, Rex!
OK, here are just SOME of the errors you made in your video:
1:11 The Polikarpov I- 5 DID NOT lead to the I-15 - they were totally different designs.
2:38 The first nickname for the I-16 was NOT Ishak, it was Yastrebok - or Little Eagle
3:24 The Canopy was NOT glass, it was made from Perspex - similar to Plexiglass.
3:44 Pilots in the USSR did NOT replace their canopies - they simply left them open
in flight.
3:56 The Ailerons on the I-16 did NOT function as flaps, they did NOT droop 15 degrees,
they were NOT ' flaperons '. NO PRODUCTION I-16 EVER HAD FLAPS ! You can
watch videos here on UA-cam of I-16s, they do NOT have flaps.
4:25 It wasn't ' Approval ' of the Wright Cyclone, it was production delays in getting the
M-25 into service. As a result, in early 1936, the Soviets purchased 500 Wright
Cyclones from Curtis Wright.
5:18 For I-16 Spin Recovery, the Power was cut to idle, the stick centered and pushed
forward, and opposite rudder applied until the spin stopped. I got that from a
pilot who flew one in Spain.
5:43 The Wright Cyclone did NOT have Vibration problems. That was the early M-25s
as they wore out.
5:54 To free the jammed landing gear, you cut the two cables that operated it using
the bolt cutter that was in the seat pan of your I-16, under your parachute. Same
pilot source.
6:21 There were NO complaints about the Cyclones used on Polikarpovs. The first 90
I-16s ( Type 5s) and the first 120 I-15s in Spain all used Wright Cyclones,
manufactured in Paterson, New Jersey.
7:07 The I-16 Type 6 was NOT lighter than the Type 5 - it was heavier due to the extra gun
and ammunition, added pilot armor, and the heavier Shvetsov M25 A engine.
7:40 The ShKas was NOT fired with cables. It was cocked using compressed air and
solenoids, and fired electrically. This was why it was not initially fitted to the
I-16 in the fuselage - the Wright Cyclones and Bristol Jupiters used mechanical
synchronizing gear.
8:34 The I-16 Type 6 DID NOT have the third gun mounted under the fuselage - it was
mounted inside the lower front fuslage, in a similar manner to the guns on the I-15s.
8:35 The I-16 Type 10 did NOT have two guns mounted in each wing. They had two guns
in the upper front cowling, and ONE gun in each wing.
8:47 The I-16 Type 6 was the first type to have the fixed, one piece windscreen. It was
the same windscreen as on the Type 10, but the Type 6s still had the older telescopic
sight instead of the PV-1 Reflector sight used on the Type 10.
9:08 The first Messerschmidt Bf 109 Bs arrived in Spain in early 1937. The I-16 Type 10s
arrived in the middle of 1938, by which time there were numerous 109 Cs' and D's
flying with the Condor Legion.
9:36 The I-16 Type 5s were NOT re-armed in Soviet Service - by 1941, they were either in
training squadrons or second line squadrons - that is why there are so many photos
of fields covered with disabled and abandoned Type 5s at the start of Barbarossa.
9:59 The Soviets defeated the Japanese in the Khalkin Gol / Nomonhan - The I-16 was
faster than the Ki27's and the A5M's, and even the I-153s were better fighters than
Japanese fighters, when flown by competent Russian pilots.
12:15 The I-16 was NOT more fire-prone than the Japanese fighters - and, once a fighter
has been lit on fire, it will burn all the way to the ground. This myth of fires going
out on burning aircraft is a Wart Thunder fantasy.
You really need to do more, better research, with more and better sources.
Paul R. Ward
Can you recommend a better source? Genuinely curious and happy to correct errors in the future with a new upload.
@@RexsHangar I am going to send you a message on your E mail that
is listed here on UA-cam - We can take this offline
@@RexsHangar I am having trouble e mailing you. Do you have a solution ?
Your e mail here on UA-cam is not working.
@@paulrward it should work fine as others have emailed me already. If you are attaching a large file or something that may be causing an issue
@@paulrward
As much as I appreciate all the time stamps you put into your comment so diligently, I'd love to know your sources for this (apart from that one pilot you spoke with).
Right now, I can't tell if you're making all of this up, or whether you should start your own aviation UA-cam channel! ;)
i was fortunate enough back in 2006 to go to Wanaka Airshow in New Zealand where they had 3 I-16s and 4 I-153s, they did a ''scramble'' type takeoff using the concrete and adjacent grass strip on display. probably one of the last times one could witness 2 flights worth of Polikarpovs taking of together before they eventually got sold to different parts around the world. theres videos of the takeoff on youtube
Was a beautiful sound too!
Nice work Rex. The operational histories of I-16 over Spain, China, Finland, and Soviet Union could each have their own video. The modern I-16 restorations would also make for a interesting story that hopefully someone will tell. Given their mixed construction, I’m very curious how much of the original aircraft made it into the current flying I-16s.
Love this funky little plane.
Don't forget the SBP dive bomber version that served as the offensive half of the Sveno-SBP strategic weapon system:
In 1938, Vakhmistrov devised the Zveno-SPB (SPB: Sostavnoi Pikiruyuschiy Bombardirovschik, Combined Dive Bomber) which consisted of a Tupolev TB-3-4AM-34FRN mother ship and two Polikarpov I-16 Type 5 fighters. Each of the fighters was armed with a pair of 250 kg (550 lb.) FAB-250 high-explosive bombs. Although an I-16 Type 5 could get airborne on its own with no more than 100 kg (220 lb.) of bombs, once hoisted in the air by the TB-3 it could reach 410 km/h (220 knots, 255 mph) at 2,500 m (8,200 ft.), had a service ceiling of 6,800 m (22,310 ft.), and could dive at up to 650 km/h (350 knots, 405 mph) while carrying 2x 250 kg bombs. Once the bombs were dropped, the SPB-launched I-16s performed like conventional Type 5s. The three-aircraft Zveno-SPB had a total takeoff weight of 22,000 kg (48,500 lb.), a top speed of 268 km/h (145 knots, 165 mph), and a range of 2,500 km (1,350 NM, 1,550 mi). The use of a mother ship increased the range of the I-16s by 80%.
The SPB first flew in July 1937, with TB-3 piloted by Stefanovskiy, and I-16s piloted by Nikolayev and Taborovskiy. Following the successful test program in 1938, Zveno-SPB was accepted into service. By 1 February 1940, Soviet Air Force was supposed to receive 20 TB-3s and 40 I-16s, ith the same number going to the Soviet Navy. Vakhmistrov was also asked to investigate the possibility of using Tupolev TB-7, Tupolev MTB-2, and GST (PBY Catalina) as the mother ships, as well as arming I-16s with 500 kg (1100 lb.) bombs. By 1939, the government support for the project had waned, the Navy canceled all of its orders, and the Air Force reduced the number of fighters from 40 to 12. However, Soviet military observers noted the success of the Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers in the opening stages of World War II. As the Soviet Union had no
dive bombers, it was decided to resume low-scale work on the Zveno-SPB. Testing of the first production Zveno began in June 1940. It differed from the prototype in using the much more powerful I-16 Type 24 fighters.
A total of six mother ship-fighter combinations (six TB-3s and twelve modified I-16 Type 24s) were completed. All were attached to the 2nd Special Squadron of the 32nd IAP (Fighter Regiment) of the 62nd Aviation Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force stationed in Eupatoria. Mirroring the nickname of the Zveno experiments, the squadron was dubbed Shubikov's Circus (Цирк Шубикова) after its commander Arseniy
Shubikov.
I write for the Admiralty Trilogy game system, and I did this research for a Sveno-SBP scenario attacking the Romanian oil transport system (the King Carol I Bridge over the Danube River).
Cool
@@NathanDudani yeah...indeed!
Id love to see the I-16 in modern Russian Air force camo. That plane would look good ins the blue and white and yellow brown and white camo
@Lurking Carrier lol
Well done. My grandpa had told me about these. In the Wehrmacht, they were called "Rata" (rat). He said that the pilots occasionally threw hand grenades from the open cockpit.
I’m sure that would be a concerning event
Improvised airstrike
And many were used - as they hardly were able to match the then contemporary fighters of the Luftwaffe - as ramming fighters against german bombers.
I've always liked the I-16, she has nice lines. I would love to have one to fly, as well as the P-26. Since I wouldn't have to use them in combat, they would be fun to fly. I a chance to have a close use look at the I-16 that the Commemorative Air Force in Midland, TX. It has since been sold and move to Florida with Weeks.
The amount of times one of these has run circles around my plane in Warthunder is beyond count
The Polikarpov was in service in the spanish civil war. The engine durability was disasterous, only 100 flight hours and the engine was burned out. They were optimized in Terrassa (Catalonia-Spain) and equiped with an oil cooler gaining a total of 200 flight hours. No dought that the planes manouverability was excellent.
"only 100 flight hours and the engine was burned out." Sounds perfectly sufficient for the time and what limited flight time would be needed in this war.
@@tucoramirez4558 We know wars are expensive, but spend money for crap is unecessary and a ruin.
@@danijuggernaut Actually in wars every piece of equipment has an optimal cost-for-performance ratio. Sadly those who view everything in absolute terms and compare apples and oranges don't understand this. Is the F35-Lightning II crap? Considering its whopping cost and running compared to whatever small advantage it has over cheaper designs it's truly crap.
And on the other side of the spectrum there are the cheap workhorses. Some arguably bad. Others quite good for the money invested.
@@tucoramirez4558 Bla, bla, bla, read the history of the Spanish Civil War.
Spitfire woud burnout the engine in 15 minutes on WEP
Awesome vid. 👍. Very well researched, appreciate learning of new details. Always thought this plane looked like it was inspired by a can of pineapple juice :).
Interesting information: While on the main front, the I-16 and it's relatives were outclassed by German aircraft, in the Caucasus they held up extremely whel due to their high maneuverability.
Always one of my all time favorite early war fighter planes. Was also one of the first scale model that I made with accurate detail and weathering so it stands out among the rest for me.
Hey, good job with the video! As you can guess by my nickname and profile picture, I have a bit of a very sweet spot for this plane, so glad to learn a bit more about it. I believe that my grandfather's brother flew in one of those furing the Spanish civil war, but I can't corroborate it.
A small trivia fact about why it was called a "fly" by Spanish pilots:
The planes came dissasembled in boxes as to assemble those in Spain. The boxes had "Moscow" ("Moskva") printed on them (I imaigne in the case we needed to fill a return). Now, the Spanish word for fly is "mosca", which is very similar, so pilots got to nickname it that way, for fun or because they though it was the model name. I guess it also made sense as they where quite meneuvrable too, as flies are.
This aircraft is definitely in my list of 40 favorite WWII fighters.
Hahaha....
And mine. 😁
by far my favorite airplane, ever!
Ahh yes, 'employed' by the Soviet Union. Your pay is not being shot today, comrade. Note that pay may be withheld at overseer's discretion.
Just like servants under indenture or statute as apprentices, not much changes
At that time he was a convict, and the government let him "atone the guilt with hard work."
So it is not a surprise his workplace was guarded - he was in a prison where he was doing time.
The conviction tho was spurious, caused by his conflicts with some generals. He did some lousy work, too (who doesn't? those who don't work!) which allowed building a case against him.
And also actual engineers pay, in money, as a salary. That they could spend as they like or save until their release. And no, convicts could not be killed at overseer's discretion. We can and should question the judicial system back then from our modern standards, but it still was a judicial system, not a slave labour camp.
I've always liked this airplane. It's sort of a military Gee Bee.
It was truly a splendid looking fighter.
Uhm no it wasnt
@@osvaldoromeros.7115 I’m guessing you’re not a fan of the Gee Bee.
My main man Bob Hall
Yeah but I wouldn’t want to fight a ME109 in this flying coffin…
@@bingobongo1615 Depends on the model of the Bf-109 really. Later models of I-16 would completely dunk on Bf-109 up until version E came along
My favorite early soviet fighter in war thunder :)
At 1:55 the simulated Englishman states that an I-19 early prototype had a "wooden monocoque fuselage with fabric covering". Monocoque means the primary strength comes from the covering. Unless the covered the metal skin with fabric, this airplane would have been as strong as a heavily starched sock, if what you say is true. Has Rex been replaced by an AI? Otherwise a good video, like the rest.
Was fortunate enough to witness demo flights of both biplane and monoplane versions while in New Zealand in 2008. The aircraft reminded me of a flying cigar butt. The engine revs did not appear to be over 2000 revs and certainly didn’t appear to belong to the performance of the aircraft as it flashed past at low altitude and impressive speed with an engine sound being a deep languid chortle.
Cheers from Downunder👍
RUSSIAN engineers later built the YAK aircraft that more than matched the BF 109 that German pilots avoided the YAK in combat, This polikarpov at the time was chubby but that was at the time the racing profile. The aircraft design proved to be in flight to be inferior to the Zero but how many aircraft were at the commencement of the Sino Japanese war were a match for the Zero but its superiority soon declined .
I have nothing but admiration for Russian test pilots who put their lives at risk testing the many Soviet era aircraft.
Красивая машина, в опытных руках опасный агрегат, хотя на начало 40-х и устарел, но во 2-й половине 30-х был отличнейшей машиной.
Когда появился Ме-109, И-16 устарел мгновенно!
@@ОлегЧайка-л9т That's why Soviet union created the yak 9
Закона Науки ,Аэродинамики на всех Звёздах и Планетах ОДНИ
It was a good, innovative little fighter for it's time and despite it eventually being obsolete, it still did what it was asked and did it well. Can't ask for much more than that.
Is she good looking? Who Polikarpov I 16? No she's a little plane. 😆👍👊.
Here are some translations
1:14 : 1 and 2-y VARIANT
9:19 (apologies in advance for this crude translation) : Glory to the heroes that partook in the war! Glory stalinism sokolam (i have no clue what "sokolam" means)
11:11 : For the USSR! (and fun fact : the acronym "USSR" is a direct translation of the russian acrnym word for word so its full name is "Союз Советских Социалистических Републик" (Latinised : Soyuz Sovetkikh Sotsialisticheskikh Repyblik) which of course translates to Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)
"Sokolam" is "Falcons"
Сталинским соколам- Stalinskim sokolam- for Stalin's falcons
Glory to the heroes of the patriotic war! Glory to Stalin's falcons!
I'm russian and I'm aviation fan, and of course I know about history of this legendary plane which is one of symbols of Victory in Great Patriotic War in our country. But I am really very interested in a look from the outside at the creations of our designers, besides, sometimes in Western sources there are some details that we can only find in the archives. And other videos on this channel are just a godsend for such an aviation history lover like me!
Hope you are one of the decent ones and not pro-Putin.
@@KateLicker hopefully you are one of the liberal side who can let people to believe in what they want to believe, even if it is Putin.
Hello Matvey, as a Westerner I would like to apologize on behalf of KateLicker , nice to see that the interest in aviation history is something we all can enjoy.
@@ccmadminstrator No, I concede that I cannot actually prevent people from following monsters or supporting and participating in monstrous events, but that does not have to mean I have to endorse or fail to condemn it, which is apparently the at-best apathy of you and your buddy KD here.And btw I did not accuse the Russian poster of taking that position either, I said that I hoped he was not one of the accomplices to it.
@@KateLicker why bring politics into a conversation about a plane? Please shut up
As a Canadian, I always asked myself why the American radial engines never ever had these Russian cowlings with the shutters in front. Back in the day, way up in the Yukon, I would have been tickled pink having such shutters. If it is minus 30 on the ground, it will be minus 70 aloft. Yeah, right, no shutters, darn.
Not so hot 🔥 in the Pacific though....
My favourite fighter!!!
The I--16's nickname wasn't related to its bulky look but rather to its name. "I-16" ( "И Шестнадцать" in Russian) starts with sounds of "И" (`Ee`) and "Ш" (SH), exactly like the word "ИШак" - "jackass"
I believe the planes in Wanaka NZ were actually new ones.
One of the cutest planes ever
Thanks for the well done and informative video. I especially appreciated the correct and vintage photos. I am really tired of articles that use footage that just shows a generic aircraft of the era that doesn't even represent what is being discussed. I have subscribed and I am looking forward to more of your excellent content.
Agreed. That's exactly what got him my subscription about 30 seconds ago.
Hear hear!
Yeah, better a still than footage of the wrong aircraft. Dark Skies, anyone? If the guy on that channel always sounds like that, and I had to be around him constantly, I'd brain him.
Nice job! Subscribed! One thing for sure, if you had to choose between speed and maneuverability, it's speed hands down. The faster guy can choose when to fight, and therefore is usually the hunter. The slower guy can't choose when to fight and is usually the hunted, unless the faster guy was foolish.
I can certainly understand turning a GB Racer into a fighter plane, as Polikarpov seemed to have in mind, but leaving the cockpit open really seems to be defeating the purpose.
Always reminds me of the American G bee race aircraft with its stubby airframe and chunky motor.
Long live the "Mosca"
Note: some American pilot's in the FARE thought it was a P-26.
During the Spanish Civil War this airplane was called the "Rata" (rat).
I thought so. Thanks.
In Spanish Civil War, Republicans name it "Mosca" , fly in english, fascist name it "Rata", Rat in english
It was only called 'Rata' by the Fascists. The Loyalists ( Republicans ) called it
the ' Mosca ' or the ' Mono ' .
Pog, it look chunky xD
It reminds me on Don canaille the Air Pirate from the 90s comic Balou and his Crew
The I-16 is the most over rated fighter of all time. it was not the first monoplane to become standard for a country. Nor was the ussr the first country to switch to monplanes.
El "polikarpov - 16 llamado" chato"fue la estrella de la guerra en el aire durante la guerra civil española.. Saludos desde Fontainebleau 🇨🇵
The author of the I-16 in 1941 was a good fighter and was quite competitive with the Me-109E, according to the memoirs of the fighter pilot Golodnikov, the I-16 of the last series 28 and 29 with engines of 1000 horsepower was superior in acceleration speed and easily caught up with the Me-109E and horizontally and if he tried to go up from And-16, the only way the Germans could get out from under the blow was only to go into a dive due to the high speed of the dive. The situation changed with the massive appearance of the Me-109 F among the Germans, but they were also beaten by our pilots.For example, the fighter aviation regiment of the Baltic Fleet shot down 2 times more Me-109s than they lost their I-16s.Here is a good movie with a REAL I-16 in the frames of the first series ua-cam.com/video/eduXMo0OMLo/v-deo.html , second series ua-cam.com/video/xNzmNuuOvZI/v-deo.html .What is shown in this film is the cruel TRUTH (hundreds of thousands of residents of besieged Leningrad died in the war from hunger and cold, but did not surrender the city to the Germans and Finns, thousands of children were taken to the depths of the USSR), only it will give you the opportunity to understand why for us Russians that war which we call the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 is sacred, as and ANY soldier of the USSR who died in that war is sacred to us, for example , both my grandfathers died in that war and my mother and father grew up fatherless
В итоге к началу войны "ишачки" отставали от "мессеров" и их щёлкали как мух. Пытались отдельные личности, конечно, выжать всё что можно из того что есть, но в основном брали числом и старались выбирать бомберы без конвоя.
Истината е че немската военна техника е била най-добрата през ВСВ!
I just love how much it looks like a comic design.
Saw one of these flying at duxford a few years ago. Very distinctive sound. Sounded like a tractor.. developed a fondness for it though. .
Very interesting video. Why does the I 16 have cut out openings in the front of the cowling instead of the much more common fully open cowling?
Cold weathet flight requires shuttering the cowling. This cowling can be closed to ensure it doesn't ice up
Looks like a mini P47 Thunderbolt.
Four of these were built from scratch in Russia on behalf of the Alpine Fighter Collection which is based at Wanaka in New Zealand. They all flew together at the year 2000 show. These can be seen flying at Wanaka on You tube.
The fly it use to be called by Spanish pilots. La Mosca.
Oh, please do a video about the first missile kill too!
It's so adorable, absolutely cute airplane.
It looks like something someone built in their garage in their spare time.
Cute little plane
But who knew that it was the first fighter to pack missiles?
Good video
i16 a bit out-classed by 109's, but had their moments, and were 'what they had' at the beginning of barbarossa. better things on the way,
Completely outclasses as the number of losses also show and the fact that indeed the Soviets got rid of it when they could
A great vehicle for its time👍
Some people say it’s ugly, but I think it looks like a cool menacing bee
A good family friend (Brian Parker)'s son (Greg?) worked on several of these here in New Zealand. I got to see them fly in Warbirds over Wanaka.
Is it just me, or does this plane have a set of lines that are absolutely timeless? This was beautiful in 1930, it is beautiful in 2023.
This comment reminds me of the saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Mainly because i would be hard pressed to find a more ugly aircraft.
You like your women on the chubby side, don't you :).
People working on the Manhattan project ate, slept and worked there under armed guard, no possibility of leaving. Never heard that called prison
It was the degree of volunteering involved that made the difference , plus the whole being shot for poor performance thing .
Policarpov was in actual prison on the account of being convicted of being guilty in a number of crimes (mostly spurious, tho one could argue that he did fail some work).
Those were harsh times, and the big war was coming, so nobody tolerated even minor faults.
"Manhattan project ate, slept and worked there under armed guard, no possibility of leaving." HAHA
The difference is that scientist were leaving Los Alamos because they were not a prisoners and the place was not a pison.
And onlythx to that all the Soviet spies were able to get all the data from Manhattan project and Stalin copied everything even the layout of the Los Alamos facilities was copied...
@@Bialy_1 the Soviets weren't in a prison either, they left. It's brain washed American propaganda against the USSR and now Russia. The US needs to sort out its own failing democracy and extreme wealth inequality before criticising ANYONE.
Most nicknames of Russian weaponry come not from what it look resembles but simply from what its name sound like. I-16 pronounced like “ee-shest-nadtsat’” and donky in Russian pronounced like “ee-shahk”
Thanks for this knowledge.
Love the channel, as an aircraft nut it is great. You are the aircraft equivalent to Mark Felton for me.
Wow, thanks!
Great comparison.
I-16 made many Finnish aces. It not match with Brewster, which has same style, bulky fuselage and good maneuverability.
I've heard the I-16 served in the Spanish Airforce, till the early 50s.
The I-16 might seem obsolete but it depends on how you see it and the quality definitely isn't Polikarpov's fault.
In fact, the plane was useful to the Russians that they continued using it in small numbers till the end of war.
Due to it being way smaller and nimbler than the BF-109, the Soviets soon realized that in open grounds in the central Russian plains, it was useless as the BF-109 could fly rings around it and it would be a sitting duck whereas in the Carpathian mountain and Caucasus region where the planes are mostly flying extremely low and ducking and weaving between mountain ranges, the I-16 proved to be the king and they often use one to bait the BF-109 to go low and chase one into the ranges and once the Luftwaffe pilot becomes encumbered with the burden on the mountainous terrain, another I-16 would come in and swoop the BF-109.
It worked soo well that pilots soon rejected any other planes except the I-16 and whatever the Soviet Air Force had left that wasn't destroyed be given to the air forces down south to fight the Luftwaffe threat at the Caucasus.
I think another large dose of bad press the plane got came from the Chinese theater where Kuomintang I-16 piloted by seals went against Japanese unicums flying Zeros and Soviet volunteers were too few to made up the differences. Real life seal clubbing if there ever was one.
Of course Jiang is not going to openly accept his air forces are filled with potatoes so the plane took the blame. The image stuck.
@@thanakonpraepanich4284 The I-16 actually never took the blame at all during the Chinese theater. In fact, it has one of the best ratios out there, far superseding the Eastern Front ones.
When the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, China had a relatively small airforce and the I-16 only had about 250-300 units in the air and only about 150 pilots that can fly it across the vast landscape of China and by 1941 since the outbreak started in 1936, the tallies if I remember correctly was about 250 planes downed in total for the I-16 with various pilots with the loss of 85 planes where most of the pilots were useless Chinese conscripts or Russian pilots who were too strung after long stints of combat.
When the Russians fully backed out, the I-16 lost parts and that's why they wern't really flown again in China and the new pilot situation did not help either.
Yes the count of 250 or so planes vs the loss of 85 themselves seems like a high count but it was within a span of like 7 years which itself was pretty amazing considering the state the Chinese Air Force was in and the constant mismatched planes they had.
In 1933 and 1934, this was the best airplane in the world. But, the problem is, the airplanes improved very quickly in the 30's and the 40's.
Один в один,самолётик из Египетских Пирамид
El famoso “Mosca” de la guerra civil española
When you are talking about Khalkhin Gol the picture you are showing is of a Nationalist Chinese Aircraft with a Chinese pilot. The Soviets gave the Nationalists a number of aircraft - including I-16's.
You don't often hear much about it - but these aircraft were among those the Chinese were using to try to defend their War Time Capital of Chunking from Japanese Bombing Raids.
It was against such as the I-16's that the Japanese accumulated the Combat Experience they would carry forward into the rest of the Second World War.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polikarpov_I-16
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The origonal I16 was probably unique in having a complete canopy that slid forwards not backwards on rails. You can see it in one of the earlier photos. Cant think offhand of any other plane that did that.
The designers were kept inside the factory by soldiers, because, back then and even now, airplanes were considered unbelievable top secret, mainly, the design stage. No one wants the enemy to get the design before them.
intreasting and well written - "intreasting stability developments " i know what that feels like :-) subscribed
I have the game Squadron Scramble and it has a I-16 as the only Russian plane to be represented. I’ve always liked this plane because it reminds me so much of the GeeBee racing plane that I had a model of. Cute planes. Very chibi. Much adorbs 🥰
Yes the I-16 reminded me of a GeeBee as well, similar aircraft from the same time period. Important difference: the I-16 wasn't as unstable as the GeeBee. The GeeBee was just a large radial engine with stubbly wings, practically no tail surfaces, oh yeah, better put a pilot in it somewhere as well.😅
На редкость мерзотный самолет. Дошло до того что приказом было запрещено летать на нем молодым летчикам, только высококлассным. Кроме американского двигателя остальное в нем - ерунда.
то-то Сафонов на "мерзотном" самолете 14 "охуительных цивилизаторских самолетов" сбил всего за 4 месяца. И погиб он на "демократическом"
@@SanovichSit единичный эпизод пытаешься за массовое явление выдать? Давай без русской лжи обойдемся, ок?
@@dmitriypermyakov5402 так ты шумер. Тогда понятно. Проходите мимо
@@SanovichSit башкой поехал? Или для тебя русский - неродной язык? Читай по слогам.
As close to a production GeeBee fighter as it got. Great design.
Landing gear, singular and plural. It had landing gear that folded.
What a cool looking little plane.
Russians: 'we'll make it up as we go along' And so Jazz was born....
Honestly love this plane and those like it in War Thunder. They're so nippy and swift and dish out a surprising amount of damage. A real barnstormer!
Always found it curious that it has virtually zero dihedral….