Polikarpov I-153

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polikarpov_I-153

The Polikarpov I-153 Chaika (Russian ?????, '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 Mongolia and
was one of the Soviets' major fighter types in the early years of the Second
World War. Three I-153s are still flying.

In 1937, the Polikarpov design bureau carried out studies to improve on the
performance of its I-15 and I-15bis biplane fighters without sacrificing
manoeuvrability, as Soviet tactical doctrine was based on a mix of high
performance monoplane fighters (met by the Polikarpov I-16) and agile biplanes.
Early combat experience from the Spanish Civil War had shown that the I-16 had
problems dealing with the Fiat CR.32 biplanes used by the Italian forces
supporting the Nationalists, which suggested a need to continue the use of
biplane fighters, and as a result, Polikarpov's proposals were accepted, and his
design bureau was instructed to design a new biplane fighter. Polikarpov
assigned the task to the design team led by Aleksei Ya Shcherbakov, who was
assisted by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich (who would later set up the MiG
design bureau).

The new fighter (designated I-15ter by the design bureau and I-153 by the Soviet
Air Forces (VVS)) was based closely on the design of the I-15bis, with a
stronger structure, but was fitted with a manually retractable undercarriage to
reduce drag. It reverted to the "gulled" upper wing of the original I-15 but
used the Clark YH aerofoil of the I-15bis. The four 7.62 mm PV-1 machine guns of
the I-15bis were replaced by four ShKAS machine guns. While still rifle-calibre
weapons, these fired much faster than the PV-1s, (1,800 rounds per minute rather
than 750 rounds per minute) giving a much greater weight of fire. The new
fighter was to be powered by a Shvetsov M-62 an improved derivative of the
Shvetsov M-25 that powered the I-15 and I-15bis with twin superchargers.

The aircraft was of mixed metal and wood construction, with the fuselage
structure being based on chromium-molybdenum steel with duralumin skinning on
the forward fuselage, and fabric covering on the fuselage aft of the front of
the cockpit. The aircraft's wings were made of fabric covered wood, while the
tail surfaces were of fabric covered duralumin. The aircraft was fitted with a
tailwheel undercarriage, with the mainwheels retracting rearwards, rotating
through 90 degrees to lie flat in the wing roots, being actuated by cables
operated by a pilot-driven handwheel. The solid rubber tailwheel did not
retract, but moved in conjunction with the rudder.

One of the rarely mentioned characteristics of the I-153 was its poor
performance in a spin. While the Polikarpov I-16 had gained notoriety for
entering spins, pilots found it easy to recover from a spin. In contrast, while
the I-153 was difficult to spin, once it lost control, recovery was difficult to
the point where intentional spinning was forbidden for some time. A spin
recovery procedure was eventually developed but, while effective, it required
flawless timing and execution.

By the end of production in 1941, a total of 3,437 I-153s were built.


Role
Fighter

Manufacturer
Polikarpov

Designer
Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov

First flight
1937

Introduction
1939

Primary user
Soviet Air Force

Produced
1939-1941

Number built
3,437

Developed from
Polikarpov I-15

The I-153 first saw combat in 1939 during the Soviet-Japanese Battle of Khalkin
Gol in Mongolia. The Japanese Army Air Forces' Type 97 Fighter (Nakajima Ki-27)
Nate proved a formidable opponent for the I-15bis and I-16, but was more evenly
matched with the I-153, which retained agility inherent to biplanes while
featuring improved performance. While the overall I-153 performance was
satisfactory, some significant problems were revealed. Most troublesome was the
absence of a firewall between the fuel tank mounted in front of the cockpit and
the pilot. Combined with strong draft coming in through the wheel wells, fuel
tank fires invariably resulted in rapid engulfment of the cockpit and severe
burns to the pilot. In addition, the M-62 engine suffered from a service life of
only 60–80 hours due to failures of the two-speed supercharger.

The Polikarpov I-153 Chaika never flew with any Spanish Air Force units during
or after the Spanish Civil War. Two earlier variants of this aircraft, the I-15
and the I-15bis, did fly with the Republican Air Force during the conflict and,
later, captured examples of both types were used by the Fuerzas Aéreas till the
early 1950s.

Specifications (I-153 (M-62))

General characteristics
Crew: One
Length: 6.17 m (20 ft 3 in)
Wingspan: 10.00 m (32 ft 9½ in)
Height: 2.80 m (9 ft 2¼ in)
Wing area: 22.14 m² (238.3 ft²)
Empty weight: 1,452 kg (3,201 lb)
Loaded weight: 1,960 kg (4,221 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 2,110 kg (6,652 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Shvetsov M-62 radial engine, 597 kW (800 hp)

Performance
Maximum speed: 444 km/h (243 knots, 280 mph) at 4,600 m (15,100 ft)
Cruise speed: 297 km/h (160 knots, 184 mph) at 2,000 m (6,600 ft)
Range: 470 km (254 nmi, 292 mi)
Service ceiling: 10,700 m (35,105 ft)
Rate of climb: 15 m/s (2,985 ft/min)
Climb to 1,000 m (3,300 ft): 0.85 min
Climb to 7,000 m (23,000 ft): 8.3 min

Armament

Guns: 4 × 7.62×54mmR ShKAS machine guns, 2,600 rounds of ammunition total
Rockets: 8 x 82mm RS-82 rockets




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