Polikarpov I-16
 

I was first introduced to this plane in IL-2 Sturmovick: BoP and fell in love with it right away.

http://my.picresize.com/vault/M0GU1SOB1Y.jpg

Artist: mongol


At fist I played with it only in arcade and few time in realistic (did not have sim unlocked.) modes. I was pretty decent offline and online, but now that I am trying it on Simulator I am finding that I am always stalling.:cry:

Ok, here are my control setup.

I am using the Saitek Flight stick and I have my sensitivity set to about 60% - 65%.

When I bank left or right I try to keep the nose at the 10 or 2 a clock angle while turning in a slow smooth action, but I keep finding myself going into a stall.

What I am doing wrong?

Note: I know that this plane does have a performance issue when it comes to sudden turns or too sharp of angles.

Thanks in advance.:grin:

The key thing I've found in BoP flying Sim with the I-16, is that keeping it 6 or 7 notches from the bottom (Both Elevator and Aileron) usually keeps it fairly maneuverable and I can keep out of an enemies gunsights. As for speed, I've come to the conclusion that the I-16 always needs it's speed at 100% (WEPing it only so often to get a good deflection shot.)

Having had 'the pleasure' of seeing an i16 fly at Duxford this year a couple of things stand out:
- You'd have to be brave or mad to fly this thing
- I'm sorry to say it sounds terrible! Almost tractor-esque. It's a pity we don't get the true recreation of the sound in BoP. What I thought would be quite a torquey engine did seem to lose speed quite quickly when climbing. Admittedly this was only an airshow but it did not impress me particularly especially as there were aircraft there from the same era.

And just so you don't flame me, here's a couple of pics to calm you down!!!!

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1212.jpg

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/a...gill/i16-1.jpg

Drop me a pm if you so desire and I'll happily email you the originals

I love the I-16 for the simple reason that it looks like it was designed by a cartoonist.

So, would you like the Red Air Force/Army to come get you now, or later when it's more convenient? :P

Lol! Is that the red air force that is still chucking Bears at our northern airspace or are you going to sail east over the pond yourself! (always thought mother Russia was west of here!!!)
If you can find me of course seeing as I live in the remotest part of England!!!

:cool: I think a dozen or so nuclear warheads should find you? Or the radiation, with some witty sayings on the bombs that you can read before they hit. Some are: "HI GILLY!" "GREETINGS FROM MOTHER RUSSIA!" "HOPE YOUR DAY DOESN'T SUCK!" "THIS ISN'T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" and finally "YEAH, THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" :-P

There's a parade in russia every week where they wheel out the prototype I-153 and celebrate it's role in the Great Patriotic War.

Here's a pic.


http://www.okaaa.org/images/parade2006.jpg

I'm lying.. (it's obviously too advanced to be russian)

lmfao (That was a good one.) Kinda reminds me of one of those cheaply made British SE5a's from after WW1 actually. :P

Does Russia still have nukes? Thought most were decaying in Murmansk! Would be a waste mind as it's me and about 30,000 sheep!!!!

And on engines didn't the i16 run an M22 engine, derived from a Bristol engine and the type 24 featured in the game was a Shvetsov engined version I belive?

I dunno, Russia's got nukes all over the place. Hidden here and there, supposedly destroyed and gotten rid of. But who knows, I can't give away Soviet secrets. :cool:

And to answer your question, the prototype I-16 up to the I-16 Type 4 had the Russian licensed version of the Bristol Jupiter, that was the M22. But the M22 had some faults (Couldn't stand up to the Russian Winters), so they went to the M25 (which the I-15bis was also powered with, because the I-15 was powered by an American Pratt&Whitney or an earlier Wright engine? (Can't remember off hand. But it was getting up there in age and reliability, so they changed to the Wright R-1820.) Anyway, so the Type 5 I-16 (which was used mainly in the Spanish Civil War) had the Wright R-1820 or the Russian licensed M25. Up until the prototype I-16 (which became the I-16 Type 18 ) all I-16s had the M25. After that, they got the better powered M62 which was another Cyclone but Russian licensed, and then finished at the M63. (Which the M62 and M63 are the exact same engine, just designated differently for some reason that I don't know of.) So the I-16 in BoP is powered with the M63 designation, but could be a M62 as well... depending on how technical and deep you want to get on the whole thing. :P

Landing
 

I have yet to have a hard time landing the I-16 in sim, on my first try I landed and received my achievement for it. So far in Sim I have tried and successfully land her 23/30 tries.

I like to keep logs and stuff for different things that I try or did.

One question about sim or realistic.

When you run out of fuel can you refuel if you land at a runway or do you just crash and burn every time?

i think some of the racing ac of the time like the Gee Bee influenced military designs...

Nope, there's not way to refuel. Once you're tanks empty, you're done for the day (or night) depending. As for landing, you've just got to keep your speed up and not suddenly drop down either right on the wheels like a stone being dropped, or by coming in too slow and having a problem. When I played it on Sim, I didn't have a problem landing if I came in with enough speed and burned it off as I landed.

You know, it just so happens that most American, Japanese, Russian, and French planes of the 30s were highly influenced by racing designs. Most of them (like the Gee Bee) were meant for high speeds with stubby planes... though the flat nose on the I-16 kinda restricts the speed, it's a good TnB plane... but for it's time it was a fast plane with 1,000hp engine compared to the American 970hp Wright Cyclones that were the same thing.

that only stands to reason...most of the racing was pylons. so tight turns were essential.

http://s763.photobucket.com/albums/x...t=DSCF2586.mp4

Heres from Duxford.......

Damn, hear that R-1820 rumble! Like beautiful music to my ears.