POLIKARPOV I-16 TYPE 10

Polikarpov's design signature during the mid and late 1930s was a stubby, barrel-shaped fighter. The primary machine during that era was the I-15 biplane. Like their barrel-shaped brothers on the other side of the world, the Grumman F3Fs, the I-15 was going to be transformed almost directly into a monoplane fighter, the I-16. In the transformation, the I-15's upper wing was deleted and the lower wing strengthened to carry the full load. With a wingspan one meter shorter than the I-15, the early I-16 was powered by the same 700hp M-25 radial engine as the late-model I-15. The I-16 also incorporated retractable landing gear. Armament for the early I-16 was a pair of 7.62mm machine guns.

The I-16 Type 10 was the version that was produced in the largest numbers. The main differences between the Type 10 and earlier I-16 versions were the addition of two additional 7.62mm machine guns (for a total of four), and the adoption of the M-25V producing 750hp.

Drie uitvoeringen mogelijk:

I-16 Type 10 - Fuerza Aereas Republicanas (Spanish Rpublican Air Force), Spanish Civil War, 1938.
I-16 Type 10 - Training unit, Soviet Air Force, 1944.
I-16 Type 10 (Sky-equipped) - Soviet Air Force.