Polikarpov I-153 History
The Polikarpov I-153 was designed in the latter part of the 1930's, by Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov, as a biplane fighter for the Soviet Air Force with an unusually low upper wing. As a fighter the Polikarpov I-153 was effectively obsolete when introduced in 1939, although manoeuvrable it badly lacked speed and should it enter a spin, the unfortunate pilot was un-lightly to recover from it. The necessities of war however resulted in this aircraft remaining in service and production until 1941, although relegated to a ground attack role.

Polikarpov I-153 M-22 Fighter Design
The construction of this biplane consisted of a steel framed fuselage skinned with aluminium and wooden fabric covered wings. This aircraft had it's faults. For example it's engine supercharger tended to fail after between 60 and 70 hours, requiring a complete engine change; and the lack of a firewall in front of it's cockpit gave rise to a reputation for severely burning it's pilots when damaged in aerial combat.

Various scale models, model kits and plans of this aircraft have been available in the market place.

Polikarpov I-153 M-22 Biplane Specifications:

Polikarpov I-153 Crew: Pilot only
Polikarpov I-153 Length: 6.10 m (20 ft)
Polikarpov I-153 Wingspan: 9.75 m (32 ft)
Polikarpov I-153 Height: 2.20 m (7 ft 3 in)
Polikarpov I-153 Wing area: 21.9 m² (236 ft²)
Polikarpov I-153 Empty weight: 1,012 kg (2,231 lb)
Polikarpov I-153 Loaded weight: 1,415 kg (3,120 lb)
Polikarpov I-153 Engine: Single 353 kW (473 hp) M-22 radial engine (licence built Bristol Jupiter)
Polikarpov I-153 Maximum speed: 350 km/h (220 mph)
Polikarpov I-153 Range: 500 km (310 mi)
Polikarpov I-153 Service ceiling: 7,250 m (23,800 ft)

Polikarpov I-153 M-22 Fighter Armament:

Guns:
Four forward-firing 7.62 mm PV-1 machine guns
or twin forward-firing 12.7 mm BS machine guns

Bombs:
Maximum of 100 kg (220 lb) of bombs
or six non-guided RS-82 rockets