The Crystal Ball

[pupo162]

im pretty sure the spanish side ( one of them cant recall the name, sorry) who flew the mosca, gave it that name becosue the planes had "moscow" right on its side in cyrilic wich looks a lot like "mosca", wich indeed means "fly" in english.


i could call it Rata too, but for some reason its uncofrtable since its a slang in my language for the true objective of every men's life.

[bongodriver]

i could call it Rata too, but for some reason its uncofrtable since its a slang in my language for the true objective of every men's life.

Rata means beer?

[JG53Frankyboy]

well, the pilots who flew it, never called it Rata - only its enemy pilots called them so.........

[FAE_Cazador]

The nick "Rata" (rat) was given by the Franco's Nacionalist and Legion Condor German pilots to the newly received I-16 that were destinated by Republican Air Force to Madrid Front. At that time Madrid was heavily pounded by Franco's and Legion Condor bombers, without almost opposition. Then they started to see the I-16 taking off hurrily to intercept bombers formations from airfields around Madrid and then flying low over Madrid's roofs trying to climb to get them. Hence the nick "Rat", as rats could be seen running on the roofs of old houses of that age.

"Rata" is also a Spanish despective name. I guess, it was also applied when "Ratas" gained air superiority in the following weeks over Franco's He-51 and CR-32 and bombers started to be shot down.

The nick "Mosca" (fly) was given by republican pilots and republican gouvernement propaganda as the wooden boxes containing the disassembled planes received by ship from URSS had the word "Mockba" (Moscow) in cyrillic stenciled on the sides, as another poster said. Hence the spanish common started to call her "Mosca".

Two nicknames for same plane.

[swiss]

Wiki says the Spanish nationalists called it Rata.

edit: too slow.

[ElAurens]

Originally Posted by bongodriver

Rata means beer?

A worthy pursuit IMHO, and over all, far less costly in the long run.


I've always enjoyed flying the I-16 in IL2. And I remember waiting with great anticipation for the patch that made it flyable.

[pencon]

It's one my favorite crap planes along with the MC200 (which i also have an RC model of )

[Qpassa]

Originally Posted by Plt Off JRB Meaker

Oh now come along Qpassa that 'thing'ain't no beautiful aircraft,it is a bloody eye sore of the highest order!.........the Spitfire,now that is a beautiful aircraft,it's sleek,has slender lines,it's looks like a thorough bred,the Bf109 is a beautiful aircraft it again has superb lines and is a pleasure to the eye.

The aerodynamics of this aircraft must be non existent,just look at the shape of the thing,it's terrible!,no surprise then that it did'nt go down in the history books as an outstanding fighter of WW2.Just imagine being a Nazi pilot during the battle of Moscow and coming across that thing in combat,you must have thought it was your lucky day,lol.

That thing,I can't even call it an aircraft,is an abomination,it's damn right hideous,and one can only draw to a conclusion that it was an after thought after one too many vodkas...........yes,I don't like it,sorry if this will upset someone.

lol I like it btw it's small , and do faster turns than most of the planes. Also I-15 is beautiful

[Plt Off JRB Meaker]

Lol,hehe...........it's a free world mate,enjoy

[ElAurens]

When introduced, in 1933, the I-16 was the most modern fighter on the planet.