A real Chaika

[TUCKIE_JG52]

This is one of the Wanaka's Polikarpov I-153 Chaika. Recently it has been bought by Aeroclub Barcelona-Sabadell here in Spain and passed to FPAC historical foundation, so it has a general appeal with the I-15 Chato that served into Spanish Civil War, always keeping in mind that Chaika never served into SCW and it is not a Chato.

I was able to jump into the cockpit and saw it on startup, so there's a pair of videos:

Cockpit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=718ic_Qy9Pc

Startup:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVBHHIGNcBI

Engine is a 1000cv from An-2. Propeller is a modification of An-2 one, with two blades removed. It's the loudest thing I had so near in my life!

For the moment it does not fly, so its current pilot is still knowing the plane and also legal papers are on the way.

If some of you are interested to see this startup in real life, every third sunday of every month they publicly make it in Barcelona-Sabadell Aerodrome, at 12:00 AM.

I post this here so you all can compare a warbird cockpit from the real life to Il-2...