The Polikarpov I-15 (russian: И-15) was a Soviet

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

of the 1930s. Nicknamed ''Chaika'' (''russian: Чайка'', "Seagull") because of its gulled upper wings,Gunston 1995, p. 299.Green and Swanborough 1979, p. 10. it was operated in large numbers by the Soviet Air Force, and together with the

Polikarpov I-16 The Polikarpov I-16 (russian: Поликарпов И-16) is a Soviet single-engine single-seat fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world's first low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to attain o ...

monoplane, was one of the standard fighters of the Spanish Republicans during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

, where it was called Chato (snub-nose).

Design and development

The design for the 14th fighter for the VVS, the I-14, started as an advanced (for the era) monoplane under the direction of

Andrei Tupolev Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev (russian: Андрей Николаевич Туполев; – 23 December 1972) was a Russian and later Soviet aeronautical engineer known for his pioneering aircraft designs as Director of the Tupolev Design ...

. He grew concerned that the design would not mature, and ordered two backup biplane designs as the I-14A and B just to be safe.

Polikarpov Polikarpov Design Bureau was a Soviet OKB (design bureau) for aircraft, led by Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov. Dux Factory was acquired by the USSR and became part of Polikarpov. After the death of Polikarpov on 30 July 1944 at the age of 5 ...

had just been released from prison in August 1932, and was handed the I-14A project. When both the I-14 and I-14A were ordered into production, Polikarpov's design, a development of the

I-5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

fighter became the famous I-15. The first flight was made in October 1933 with V.P. Chkalov at the controls, powered by an imported

Wright R-1820 Cyclone The Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 is an American radial engine developed by Curtiss-Wright, widely used on aircraft in the 1930s through 1950s. It was produced under license in France as the Hispano-Suiza 9V or Hispano-Wright 9V, and in the Soviet Uni ...

engine.Green and Swanborough 1979, p. 9. The I-15, also known by its development name TsKB-3, was a small biplane fighter with a gulled upper wing. The single bay wings were of wooden construction, while the fuselage was of mixed steel and duralumin construction, with a fabric covered rear fuselage. Production started in 1934, initially being powered by the

Shvetsov UEC-Aviadvigatel JSC (Russian: АО "ОДК-Авиадвигатель", lit. Aeroengine) is a Russian developer and builder of aircraft engines, most notably jet engines for commercial aircraft. Based at the Perm Engine Plant, its products powe ...

M-22, a license-built version of the

Bristol Jupiter The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments turn ...

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

. While less powerful than the Cyclone, the M-22 powered aircraft were still superior to the I-5 which it replaced, demonstrating excellent manoeuvrability. Production switched to the

Shvetsov M-25 The Shvetsov M-25 was an aircraft radial engine produced in the Soviet Union (USSR) in the 1930s and 1940s, a licensed production variant of the Wright R-1820-F3. Design and development The first M-25s were produced from kits imported from th ...

engine (a license-built, metricified Cyclone) in late 1936. A total of 671 I-15s were built, 284 in the Soviet Union and a further 287 under license by CASA in Spain.Gordon and Dexter 1999, p. 120. The gulled upper wing of the I-15 was unpopular with some pilots, as it was felt to restrict visibility, so Polikarpov's

design bureau OKB is a transliteration of the Russian initials of "" – , meaning 'experiment and design bureau'. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military application ...

produced a revised version, again powered by the M-25, with a longer span un-gulled upper wing. This version, the I-15bis, commenced production in 1937,Green and Swanborough 1979, p. 18. a total of 2,408 I-15bis' being delivered by the time production finished in 1940.

Operational history

China

In August 1937, the Chinese

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Ta ...

Government signed a non-aggression pact with the USSR, and in autumn of the same year, the Soviet Union commenced to ship I-15s as a part of a programme of military aid to the

Chinese Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Peo ...

(CAF) in its defensive war against Japan. More than 250 Soviet pilots volunteered to fly the 255 I-15s supplied to China in autumn 1937. By 1939, the total number of Polikarpov biplanes delivered to CAF reached 347 I-15/I-15bis.Maslov 2010, p. 33. The I-15bis also saw a great amount of action in the

Soviet–Japanese border conflicts The Soviet–Japanese border conflicts, also known as the Soviet-Japanese Border War or the First Soviet-Japanese War,was a series of minor and major conflicts fought between the Soviet Union (led by Joseph Stalin), Mongolia (led by Khorloo ...

along the

China–Mongolia border The China–Mongolia border is the international border between China and Mongolia. It runs from west to east between the two tripoints with Russia for , with most of the boundary area lying in the Gobi Desert. It is the world's fourth longest ...

. From 1938-1941, I-15s in the Nationalist Air Force of China, fought many major battles, and skirmishes against invading and occupying Japanese forces, including the

Battle of Taierzhuang The Battle of Taierzhuang () was a battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938, which was fought between the armies of the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The battle was that war's first major Chinese victory. It humiliated the Jap ...

, the

Battle of Wuhan The Battle of Wuhan (武漢之戰), popularly known to the Chinese as the Defense of Wuhan, and to the Japanese as the Capture of Wuhan, was a large-scale battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Engagements took place across vast areas of Anhui ...

, the

Battle of South Guangxi The Battle of South Guangxi () was one of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In November 1939, the Japanese landed on the coast of Guangxi and captured ...

, the Battle of Chongqing-Chengdu, etc. The tough

was quite clearly outmatched during the debut dogfight against the new

Mitsubishi A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. The A6M w ...

fighter over

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Co ...

on 13 September 1940, although I-15bis pilots Maj. Zheng Shaoyu, Lt.

Gao Youxin Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an impor ...

, and Lt. Xu Jixiang were able to target and damage some of the Zeroes, with Lt. Gao believing he had shot one down (all Zeroes returned to base in

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...

, with four Zeroes suffering some damage); all three of those pilots survived the battle.

Mongolia

In 1939 Polikarpov fighters were extensively used during the

Battles of Khalkhin Gol The Battles of Khalkhin Gol (russian: Бои на Халхин-Голе; mn, Халхын голын байлдаан) were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolia, ...

fought around the Khalkha River in

Dornod Province Dornod ( mn, Дорнод, ; "East") is the easternmost of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia. Its capital is Choibalsan. Population Halh are the ethnic majority of the Dornod aimag, but Buryat ethnic group is 22.8% of population total ...

. The battles were fought during 11 May–16 September 1939, and involved more than 600 planes. When hostilities commenced, the only I-15bis in the area were 14 aircraft of 70th IAP. Their number increased in the following weeks: on 23 May, 35 I-15bis from 22nd IAP arrived from the Trans-Baikal region. However the Polikarpov pilots had been hastily trained and they suffered heavy losses against the more experienced Japanese. During this conflict, the Soviet Union and Japan lost more than 200 aircraft each.Maslov 2010, p. 42. 10 aircraft were delivered to the Mongolian People's Army Air Force in mid-July 1939 and flight personnel were trained for rear air defence. Afterwards, they received more than 30 aircraft in March 1942.

Spain

The I-15 was used extensively in combat by the Republicans in the

and proved to be one of the best fighter biplanes of its time. The Nationalists called the fighter "Curtiss", apparently believing it to be the

Curtiss F11C Goshawk The Curtiss F11C Goshawk was an American naval biplane fighter aircraft that saw limited success. It was part of a long line of Curtiss Hawk airplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for the American military. Design and devel ...

. The first batch of 25 Polikarpovs arrived in Cartagena, Spain, on 28 October 1936, with 15 pilots, led by future ace

Pavel Rychagov Pavel Vasilievich Rychagov (russian: Павел Васильевич Рычагов; 2 January 1911 – 28 October 1941) was the Commander of the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) for a brief time from 28 August 1940 to 14 April 1941.Hooton, E.R. ''The L ...

. A few days later a further group of 10 pilots and 15 aircraft arrived in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

.Maslov 2010, p. 16. The Soviet pilots first went into action 4 November, when I-15s shot down two

Junkers Ju 52 The Junkers Ju 52/3m (nicknamed ''Tante Ju'' ("Aunt Ju") and ''Iron Annie'') is a transport aircraft that was designed and manufactured by German aviation company Junkers. Development of the Ju 52 commenced during 1930, headed by German aero ...

/3ms and two CR.32s over Madrid, and forced a third Ju 52 and a Heinkel two-seater to crash-land. No losses were reported among the Soviet pilots. During the next two days, ''Chato'' pilots claimed 12 more victories, at the cost of two I-15s lost.Maslov 2010, p. 18. On 16 November, while dogfighting with

Fiat CR.32 The Fiat CR.32 was an Italian biplane fighter used in the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. Designed by the aeronautical engineer Celestino Rosatelli, it was a compact, robust and highly manoeuvrable aircraft for its era, leading to ...

s over Madrid, future ace Rychagov was shot down Maslov 2010, p. 17. and four days later the number of combat-ready Polikarpov in the central area had fallen to 15 aircraft: seven had been lost in combat, two had force-landed and one was undergoing repair. In December 1936 and January 1937, two more shipments of 30 aircraft arrived in Spain, making it possible to form four full-strength I-15 squadrons. Until the spring of 1937, central Spain was the main war theatre for I-15s. And in May 1937, another batch of 31 Polikarpov landed in Spain, taking the total number of I-15s delivered to 116.Maslov 2010, p. 21. ''Chato'' losses in the Spanish Civil War were comparable to those of its principal rival, the

. By 1 January 1939, 197 Polikarpovs had been lost: 88 shot down by enemy aircraft and nine by anti-aircraft artillery, 27 destroyed on the ground and 67 written off in accidents.Maslov 2010, p. 24.

World War II

More than 1,000 I-15bis fighters were still in Soviet use during the German invasion when the biplane was employed in the ground attack role. By late 1942, all examples still in service had been relegated to second line duties.

Variants

;TsKB-3bis :Prototype. ;TsKB-3ter :Prototype fitted with the more powerful M-25V radial piston engine. ;I-15 :First production series. ;I-15bis :Single-seat fighter biplane, armed with four PV-1 or ShKAS machine guns, plus up to of bombs. The I-15bis was powered by the more powerful

V radial piston engine. It had a straight upper wing. A total of 2,408 machines were built. ;I-152 :Modernised version of I-15bis. One built in 1938. Series production was not undertaken, since it was decided to build I-153 instead. ;I-152GK :(''Germetichyeskoi Kabine'' – hermetic (pressure) cabin) – One aircraft fitted with a pressure cabin. ;I-152TK :(Turbo Kompressor – turbo-charged) – One aircraft fitted with two turbochargers. ; I-15ter (I-153) :Development of the I-15 with retractable landing gear, see

Polikarpov I-153 The Polikarpov I-153 ''Chaika'' (Russian ''Чайка'', "Seagull") was a late 1930s Soviet biplane fighter. Developed as an advanced version of the I-15 with a retractable undercarriage, the I-153 fought in the Soviet-Japanese combats in Mon ...

. ;UTI-1 :(''Oochebno Trenirovochnyy Istrebitel' '' – fighter trainer) – Factory-built two-seat trainer version, front cockpit moved forwards, dual controls fitted, 20 built in 1934 but not used by VVS

Operators

; *

Chinese Nationalist Air Force Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

; *

Finnish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = 159 , equipment_label ...

(captured) ; *''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

'' (captured) ;

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...

* Mongolian People's Army Air Force- received more than 40 aircraft in July 1939 – 1942 ; *

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

Soviet Naval Aviation Soviet Naval Aviation (AV-MF, for ''Авиация военно-морского флота'' in Russian, or ''Aviatsiya voyenno-morskogo flota'', literally "aviation of the military maritime fleet") was the naval aviation arm of the Soviet Na ...

; Spanish Republic *

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics ('' Aeronáutica ...

; *

Spanish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = Spanish Air and Space Force Anthem , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 December , equipment ...

– Post civil war.

Specifications (I-15 M-25)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Abanshin, Michael E. and Nina Gut. ''Fighting Polikarpov, Eagles of the East No. 2''. Lynnwood, Washington: Aviation International, 1994. . * Cheung, Raymond. ''OSPREY AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES 126: Aces of the Republic of China Air Force''. Oxford: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2015. . * Drabkin, Artem. ''The Red Air Force at War: Barbarossa and the Retreat to Moscow – Recollections of Fighter Pilots on the Eastern Front''. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword Military, 2007. . * Gordon, Yefim and A. Dexter. "Polikarpov Biplane Fighter Variants". ''Wings of Fame'', Volume 17. London:Aerospace Publishing, 1999, pp. 106–129. . * Gordon, Yefim and Keith Dexter. ''Polikarpov's Biplane Fighters'' (Red Star, vol.6). Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing, 2002. . * Gordon, Yefim and Dmitri Khazanov. ''Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War, Volume One: Single-Engined Fighters''. Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 1998. . * Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "Of Chaika and Chato... Polikarpov's Fighting Biplanes". ''

Air Enthusiast ''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to ''Air International'' maga ...

''. Issue 11, November 1979 – February 1980, pp. 9–29. ISSN 0143-5450. * Gunston, Bill. ''The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995''. London: Osprey, 1995. . * Lannon, Frances. ''The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 (Essential Histories 37)''. London: Osprey Publishing, 2002. . * * * Léonard, Herbert. ''Les avions de chasse Polikarpov'' (in French). Rennes, France: Editions Ouest-France, 1981. . * Léonard, Herbert. ''Les chasseurs Polikarpov'' (in French). Clichy, France: Éditions Larivière, 2004. . * Maslov, Mikhail A. ''Polikarpov I-15bis (Wydawnictwo Militaria 199)'' (in Polish). Warsawa, Poland: Wydawnictwo Militaria, 2004. . * Maslov, Mikhail A. ''Polikarpov I-15, I-16 and I-153''. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2010. . * Stapfer, Hans-Heiri. ''Polikarpov Fighters in Action, Part 1 (Aircraft in Action number 157)''. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1995. . * 徐 (Xú), 露梅 (Lùméi). ''隕落 (Fallen): 682位空军英烈的生死档案 - 抗战空军英烈档案大解密 (A Decryption of 682 Air Force Heroes of The War of Resistance-WWII and Their Martyrdom)''. 东城区, 北京，中国: 团结出版社, 2016. .

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20070727063151/http://www.aviation.ru/Po/#15 * http://www.wio.ru/tacftr/polikarp.htm {{Authority control 1930s Soviet fighter aircraft I-015 World War II Soviet fighter aircraft Articles containing video clips Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1933 Gull-wing aircraft World War II Chinese fighter aircraft World War II aircraft of Finland