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Polikarpov И-153 Чайка / I-153 Chaika
Technical Information

Background
During 1937, Polikarpov Design Bureau submitted a proposal for a new fighter called I-153 (literally, I-15, 3rd version) that was similar to the Polikarpov И-153 Чайка / I-153 Chaika with retractable landing gear. In Russian, Чайка (Chaika) means seagull. The first prototype powered by the Shvetsov M-25 engine was completed in August 1938. It failed factory testing due to numerous defects which were mostly corrected in the second prototype and the aircraft entered production concurrently with testing and development. The first I-153 (M-62) was delivered on June 16, 1939 and production ended in 1941.

While the overall I-153 performance was satisfactory, the aircraft failed government acceptance trials. While numerous improvements were proposed, many were too radical to be implemented as the plane was already in production. One of the rarely mentioned characteristics of the I-153 was its poor performance in a spin.

The I-153 lacked 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.

Wartime History
The I-153 first entered combat in 1939 during the Soviet-Japanese undeclared war Nomonhan Incident / Batle of Khalkhin Gol in eastern Mongolia. About 550 served in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, where it was nicknamed "Chato" (flat-nosed). Also used in the Finnish War and 1941 against the Luftwaffe invading the Soviet Union.

Production
A total of 3,437 were built.

Technical Details
Crew  One (pilot)
Engine  1 x Shvetsov M-62 1,000 hp 9 cylinder radial engine with a two bladed propeller
Wingspan  10 m / 32' 10"
Length  20' 3" / 6.17 m
Height  9' 2" / 2.8 m
Maximum Speed  276 mph at 15,100 / 444 km/h at 4,600m
Range  290 miles / 470 km
Armament  4 x 7.62mm ShKAS machine guns with a total of 2,600 rounds
External  8 x 3.2" / 82 mm RS-82 rockets



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