The 38:1 kill to loss rate against Soviet aircraft of all types still proves a mega-point.
No other Finnish piloted fighter type came halfway close to this.
Between 1942 and 1943 one BUffalo squadron, with just 18 Buffaloes, managed to achieve 274 confirmed kills for the loss of just 2 Buffaloes through Soviet action, of which was shot down killing the pilot and one was written off when it crash landed at base.
The I-153, whether flown by Fins or Russians, was hopelessly outclassed by modern high speed bombers such as the SB-2M, Blenhiem II, Blenhiem IV, etc. with the latter being simply able to throttle up and leave pursuing I-153s far behind. The I-153 makes 288 MPH and the Blienhiem makes 293 MPH.
A fighter need to be at least 100 MPH faster than a bomber that it is dealing with. Being slower or just about able to match speed makes it an easy target for a bomber's gunners.
With modern bombers being faster and able to out perform the I-153 at altitude (and the I-16), the only other roles open to the I-153 were as a dogfighter and ground attack fighter-bomber.
Most bombers it faced could simply fly high and out of reach.
As a dogfighter it lacks the performance at altitude and the speed to deal with the fighters it faced, apart from Finnish Gladiators, Bulldogs and D-21, German Hs-123 ground attack aircraft.
The I-15 and I-15 Bis may have performed well against other bi-planes such as the He-51 over Spain, but by 1941 it was just a dinosaur fighter in a changing world, only outclassing similar dinosaur fighters and bombers flown by both the Fins and Russians. The premise for creating the I-153 as a dogfighter was flawed because by 1938, the age of the high speed maneuverable monoplane was beginning.
As for ground attack, the only other bi-plane to carry rockets was the Fairey Swordfish.
Apart from being an easier target for enemy FlaK, bi-planes do perform better in ground attack roles than faster monoplanes with less agility. Short take off and landing is also an advantage.
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