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.
- VVS SF S.G. Surzhenko, Murmansk 1941.
- Soviet Air Force.
Aantal onderdelen; 43.
Maten;
- Lengte 86 mm
- Spanwijdte 126 mm.
