Airworthy I-16!

[Sternjaeger II]

Originally Posted by PE_Tigar

Nice pics. Funny enough, it's much easier to get an I-16 (or I-15, or I-153) flying then, let's say, any Yaks or German warbirds, due to the wide availability of M-62 (ASh-62) engines... Must be fun to fly .

Yeah, well actually it's Chinese versions of the M-62 and similar that are easy to find, which are renown for two things: burning oil like mofos and being as reliable as Gary Glitter in a primary school..

The I-16 is pretty rudimental, and more than fun I would define flying with it challenging: manual landing gear operation, very short fuselage, massive torque to compensate with tiny wings, not particularly keen on spins.. yeah, doesn't sound like too much fun, but it's surely interesting to see in the air, the small size of it makes it look even faster than what it actually is.