Soviet “Cuties…”

[Blitzen]

I very seldom fly Soviet aircraft but make an exception for the I-16 and the new superbly modeled I-153. What fun they are and their 1930’s Steam Punk Deco GeeBee inspired looks are heart warming as well. So what if they are hopelessly obsolete! I hope some enterprising mission maker will put together missions or campaigns that use them both!

Ah yes some of you may have been thinking more along these lines…

Edited May 28 by Blitzen
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[peterk1]

The I-16 looks like what you would get if you asked the cartoonists who made Bugs Bunny to draw a fighter plane. It makes me smile, but I hate flying them (correction.....I like flying them, I hate fighting in them).

 

Saw a Youtube video a little while ago where a flying club in Australia paid for an expedition to go into some frozen parts of Siberia and retrieve some I-16 wrecks. Then they brought the parts that were still intact to the villages where they were originally built and tried to see if it would be able to rebuild a brand new one. Some of the people who worked in their factory were relatives of people who built the plane in WW2 and they found some of the original jigs and tools that were used.

Edited May 28 by peterk1

[Dagwoodyt]

TBH the GB I-16 is a bit bland compared to the other. I'm not very much encouraged that the I-153 is going to be any more interesting to fly than the I-16. Sounds for the I-16 are especially meh, so I'd not set my hopes for anything dramatically improved for the I-153 in that regard.

[Jaegermeister]

10 hours ago, Blitzen said:

 

Ah yes some of you may have been thinking more along these lines…

 

That's exactly what I was thinking... I thought perhaps you were going to comment on the cockpit pictures. 

 

Anyway... I am relatively sure that someone will be inspired to do a heroic Defense of Odessa Scripted Campaign in the I-16 and/or the I-153. It's more than obvious that it needs to be done.

[Sandmarken]

6 hours ago, Jaegermeister said:

Anyway... I am relatively sure that someone will be inspired to do a heroic Defense of Odessa Scripted Campaign in the I-16 and/or the I-153. It's more than obvious that it needs to be done.

The new map has great potential for scripted campaigns, both historically and it looks great! It also features a very interesting matchup with mostly Il-16s against early and non-uber Axis planes like IAR 80s and early 109s. (And He112s that we do not have.. yet) 😄

[Elem]

Very nice! But, not to burst your bubble, the top one is an I-15bis, not an I-153. 😉

Edited May 30 by Elem

[Blitzen]

23 hours ago, Elem said:

Very nice! But, not to burst your bubble, the top one is an I-15bis, not an I-153. 😉