Sal’s Polikarpov I-16 – Valery Chkalov Red Five

The Polikarpov I-16 (Russian: Поликарпов И-16) was a Soviet single-engine single-seat fighter aircraft of advanced design; it was the world's first low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to attain operational status, and as such "introduced a new vogue in fighter design. The I-16 was introduced in the mid-1930s and formed the backbone of the Soviet Air Force at the beginning of World War II. In 1941, its main opponent in the sky was...