Is there a Messerschitt 163 in the game?

[Soviet Ace]

Originally Posted by David603

The I-153 was not an I-16 biplane. The two plane might share some resemblance in features such as the shape of the cockpit and tail, due to their sharing a designer, but they are rather different apart from this. The I-153 was the final development of a family of fighter biplanes that started with the I-5 in 1931. The I-15(1934) was a heavily revised version of this with a M22 engine and the famous gulled wing which lead to the Chaika(Seagull) nickname. In turn this became the I-15bis(1937) with a straight upper wing and a M25V engine, and a further development was the I-153(1939) with a return to the gulled upper wing and consequently the old nickname, an M62 engine and a retractable undercarriage.

The I-16 was first introduced to service in 1934, only months after the I-15. The two planes shared the M22 engine but very little else. The I-15 was a biplane with a metal forward forward fuselage and a fabric covered rear fuselage, wooden wings and fixed undercarriage, while the I-16 was a monoplane with a metal frame covered in wood and a retractable undercarriage. The I-16 mirrored the advances in engines fitted to the I-15 family, which where produced alongside the I-16, and was fitted in turn with the M25V, M62 and M63 engines as these became available, but without any name change.

What the I-153 Chaika is is an revised I-16 type 24 with a gull wing. The plane had to be slimmer so it could work better with being a Biplane. The first I-153s were actually modified I-16s, which is where they found the problem of the fuselage being to bulky for the biplane (there are pictures to support this, and several books). So they slimmed the body down, added the M25 engine, later the M63 (because of delays something like that.) So the I-153 IS an I-16 but with biplane modifications. Having a solid metal biplane like that would have severely slowed it down, and made it into a tug. That's why it was given an aluminum body (not really aluminum, but something close to it, back then.) The I-153 was just an improved I-16, but being a Biplane, it couldn't take on all the weight the I-16 could since it had a lighter more flexible frame.

[David603]

Originally Posted by Soviet Ace

What the I-153 Chaika is is an revised I-16 type 24 with a gull wing. The plane had to be slimmer so it could work better with being a Biplane. The first I-153s were actually modified I-16s, which is where they found the problem of the fuselage being to bulky for the biplane (there are pictures to support this, and several books). So they slimmed the body down, added the M25 engine, later the M63 (because of delays something like that.) So the I-153 IS an I-16 but with biplane modifications. Having a solid metal biplane like that would have severely slowed it down, and made it into a tug. That's why it was given an aluminum body (not really aluminum, but something close to it, back then.) The I-153 was just an improved I-16, but being a Biplane, it couldn't take on all the weight the I-16 could since it had a lighter more flexible frame.

I don't see where you are getting the idea that the I-153 was derived from the I-16. Every historical reference I have seen points to the I-153 having been developed from the I-15, and they have very little in common in the way of construction, even the fuselages are made from different materials, with the I-16 having a wooden covered metal frame and the I-153 having an all metal forward fuselage and fabric covered metal tube rear fuselage. The I-16 and I-153 differ in not just construction but also virtually every point of detail, and in shape the I-153 has far more in common with the I-15 than the I-16.