Though it looked like a stumpy racer, the Polikarpov I-16 was very much a fighter, and the first in the world to go into service combining cantilever monoplane wings with retractable landing gear. It was also the greatest fighter of its day, but it was slightly marred by being tricky to fly and dangerous to an inexperienced pilot. By 1930, the Soviet Union was looking at increasing its number of fighter aircraft and, at the same time, investigating new forms of armament and aircraft designs. Almost all the world's fighters were bipanes but to many of the Soviet Design Bureaus the monoplane seemed to be potentially superior. The decision was made in 1931 to order new fighter monoplanes and the task was assigned to Mr A.N. Tupolev. With P.O. Sukhoi in charge, the I-14 (at that time the most modern fighter in the world) first flew in 1933. This was bad news for Nikolai Nikolayevich Polikarpov, who had designed almost all of the Soviet Unions smaller aircraft up until that time. Worse, he was in prison, along with his design team, but the success of his I-4 won his freedom in January 1933. He was full of ideas to improve his I-5 (which eventually became the I-15), but his immediate priority was to design a rival to the I-14. On the last day of 1933, his prototype flew under snow-leaden skies. The aircraft was seemingly inferior to the I-14, as it appeared that he had tried to make the aircraft as short as possible. The aircraft soon proved to be rather difficult to fly - it was almost unstable under all three axes, and had to be flown with ceaseless attention. On the plus side, its rolls and loops were so fast as to be quite startling. Despite problems with the design, it was judged potentially superior to the I-14 and in May 1934, production of the I-16 was organised at two factories. The outbreak of Civil War in Spain on the 18th July 1936 led to urgent pleas from the Republicans to Russia for fighter aircraft. After a suitable payment in gold, Stalin despatched a large number of I-16's for Republican service. Straight into action, the stubby monoplane mastered most opposition with ease. The I-16 survived in Spain until almost 1950. In 1937 more than 250 I-16's were supplied to China. These aircraft fought over China until 1943, finding the Mitsubishi A5M of the Imperial Japanese Navy a roughly equal opponent (all other Japanese types were easy opponents). In 1940, however, the Mitsubishi Zero-sen proved better in virtually all respects. Further large scale action took place in fighting between the Soviet Union and Japan in 1939. The I-16 had pretty much held its own up until this point, and also coped reasonably well in the Winter War against Finland. By 1941 the I-16 was still the most numerous Russian fighter. Hundreds were destroyed in the Luftwaffe's initial attacks on airfields, and from the start of the Great Patriotic War, it was obvious that the I-16 was no match for the Messerschmitt or Focke Wulf. Despite this, the need for fighters was so desperate production continued. Many were shot down in this swan song of the I-16. A total of 7,005 single seat and 1,639 two seaters were produced. | 
