The Polikarpov I-16 Soviet Fighter

An overview of the Polikarpov I-16 Soviet Fighter while highlighting some places it shows up in pop culture (Movies/Video Games).

Movies/Video Games Featured:

Air Strike 2018
The Winter War 1989
Empire of the Sun 1987
My Way 2010
Youjo Senki 2019
War Thunder (Video Game)
Fortress of War 2010
Battle of Sevastopol 2015
Il-2 Sturmovik (Video Game)
Dneprovskiy Rubezh 2009

#ww2 #soviet #aircraft #planes

[kevting]

My favorite low tier flyer in War Thunder. It’s fun bring it to high tier matches and dunk on the better planes.

[JWQweqOPDH]

I think the I-16 looks very nice. It looks like a caricature and resembles WWI aircraft in some ways.

[themajesticmagnificent]

The first aerial kill by the Germans over Russia was the I-16, by a BF-109E-7..First kill by the Russians, when the Germans invaded was a Bf-109E-7 by a I-16..
Great video on the I-16..Thank you.👍

[nikolaykhramov]

The latest modifications of the Soviet I-16 had as many as three 20 mm cannons. and the German He-111 was smashed to pieces, and with a successful maneuver, the faster Bf 109s.

[Firefocus-fzwe]

0:50 Nice, Youjo Senki is a gold mine for historical weapons

[lucagerulat]

I have seen one in a museum and its a really cute little plane. kind of looks like an airpllane drawing from a child.

[kturrent]

"You might have seen a housefly, maybe even a superfly but I bet you ain't never seen a donkey fly."

[MrLolxu]

The I-16 was NOT too old to be used as a fighter plane for the VVS as they did show its prowess in the Caucasus region as far as 1944.

With all monoplanes being bigger and more powerful, it made it real hard to control and navigate across the Caucasus mountains and the Soviets soon realized that too. Apart from their I-16 fleets that they still had post-Barbarossa, the VVS was receiving tons of newer aircraft like the Lavochkin La-5 and 7s and the Yakolev Yak-3 fighters.
However, those newer, more powerful and massively bigger monoplane fighters were more suited for open area combat where massive evasive actions can be pulled easily and they can openly open the throttle and go against any Luftwaffe planes they came in contact with which, the Luftwaffe was also facing the same issue with their Messerschmitt BF-109s and Focke-wolf FW-190s.
When these planes went into the Caucasus, it was soo hard to move across the mountainous terrain and valleys that these modern fighters had to cut alot of speed just to not clip anything and crash to their deaths. The VVS soon realized this too and to counter air superiority in the region, they didn't choose to toss new planes to the region but instead sent whatever remaining I-16 that they had in hand together with the older yet still workable I-15 biplanes to airbases near the Turkish borders.

When the Luftwaffe, Romanian and VVS pilots met, the Axis airforces pilots were in for a rude shock that what they perceived as an older and way outdated plane was effortlessly tracing their evasive moves across the valley despite them ducking and weaving and whatever speed was safer but still fast for them and the I-16s had no issue tracing them. Many of the Axis pilots were in fact shot down in the valley by the Soviets in either the I-15 or I-16 (Mostly I-16). Estimate was that between 1942 with Sevestapol and till 1944 after the Soviets pushed into both Germany and Romania, the I-16 squadrons in the Caucasus region shot down over 400 planes at the loss of just about 140 which, in retrospect, was pretty good considering the treacherous terrain.

[Sofuss]

Awesome video! Both I-16’s design and history have a vibe of the Little engine that could. :)

[nirvana]

The I-16 was indeed one of the better fighters of the 1930s. Both its mobility and ground attack capability.

[andyho]

Nice video! I-16 had help my country to fight Japanese invader. Many heros of our air force had ever flown I-16. Happy to see our nation insignia on wingtips in the video.

[brothercaptainwarhammer]

I always wondered about this Little Donkey of a Workhorse when I discovered it years ago, but Life and my Forgetfulness made me forget about it... But now my Knowledge on it has Expanded, Thanks Johnny!

Such a Beautiful Piece of Russian Aviation History and Engineering!

Keep up the Damn Fine Work, Johnny!

[TallDude]

Great video, love the information beyond just splicing together movie scenes

[evancrum]

I didn't know much about this plane but I did recognize it. Thanks as always!

[СергейЖуков-сю]

I love this plane in the game war thunder. Very maneuverable and fast enough. And of course excellent weapons - four machine guns with a huge rate of fire literally "cut apart" enemy planes. The legendary I-16.

[warfighter]

I remember the first time I ran into this in war thunder. Didn’t think much of it since I had already had quite a few dogfights in my Zero. Imagine my shock when I got completely out maneuvered by this flying barrel haha. Needless to say I never underestimated this thing again.

[gomipajgd]

I've never shot down Zero with an I-16 fighter.

[bolnol]

Hey Johnny. Just recommending and not trying to say you have to do this but would you consider doing a video on the f-86 Sabre?

[BrianRosborough]

One of my few warthunder planes I have a 3:1 Kill to death ratio with. The donkey with 20 mm cannons is pretty nasty. As usual, JJ, you’ve out done yourself. Much love to you brother, God speed!

[korbell]

USA: "Our equipment is built by the lowest bidder."

USSR: "We have that beat, ours is quality built by convict labor!"

Fun Fact: In the book "God is My Copilot" by Robert Scott, he mentions that in the early aircraft with manual gear retraction, pilots would fly upside down while cranking to let gravity assist in raising the gear.