Editing Polikarpov I-16 (section)

===China, the Far East, and battles at Khalkhin Gol===
[[File:Soviet volunteer.jpg|thumb|I-16 Type 5 with Chinese insignia, flown by Chinese pilots and Soviet volunteers]]
Between October 1937 and September 1939 the USSR delivered 885 aircraft (rising to 1,250 by 1941), including 216 Polikarpov I-16s, predominately '''Type 5s and Type 10s'''. At first the Soviet pilots would have to fly the aircraft over 1,500 miles across China to get them to their destination of [[Lanzhou]], however this was a risky journey and so future batches of aircraft would be disassembled and transported to Hami (closer to Lanzhou), before final assembly and delivery to Lanzhou. The first I-16s were delivered in November 1937, however rushed training of the Chinese pilots meant many were lost to crashes. In Chinese service the I-16 became known as the "Lastochka" or "Swallow". In the early years of the war the I-16 was a capable fighter, however from 1939 onwards its performance was deemed to be lacking in comparison to newer fighters.<ref>{{Cite web |last=osprey.com |title=Polikarpov I-15, I-16 and I-153 Aces |url=https://www.ospreypublishing.com/ca/polikarpov-i15-i16-and-i153-aces-9781846039829/ |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=Osprey Publishing |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Major General Liu Chi-Sheng |url=http://www.century-of-flight.freeola.com/Aviation%20history/WW2/aces/Liu%20Chi-Sheng.htm |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=www.century-of-flight.freeola.com}}</ref>

A number Chinese aces flew the I-16; among them Lo Ying-Teh who in 1938 shot down Japanese unit leader Lt Ryohei Ushioda's A5M2 in his I-16 Type 5. .Another ace to fly the I-16 was Liu Chi-Sheng who achieved 3 of his 10 kills while flying the I-16 Type 5, along with another shared kill.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cheung |first=Raymond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4uHCwAAQBAJ |title=Aces of the Republic of China Air Force |date=2015-05-20 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-0563-8 |language=en}}</ref>

Another 250 '''I-16 Type 10s''' were supplied to China. This model added a second set of 7.62&nbsp;mm (0.30&nbsp;in) [[ShKAS machine gun|ShKAS]] machine guns, armor behind the pilot, and had a slightly upgraded 560&nbsp;kW (750&nbsp;hp) M-25 engine. In 1939, of the 500 I-16s<ref>Kotelnikov p. 109</ref> deployed to the fighting at [[Nomonhan]], approximately 112 were lost during the [[battles of Khalkhin Gol]], of which 88 were destroyed in aerial combat, primarily against the all-metal [[Nakajima Ki-27]] Japanese fighters.<ref>Nedialkov 2011, p. 141.</ref> During test trials in Russia of a captured Ki-27, the aircraft proved superior to the Soviet I-152 (I-15bis), [[I-153]], and the I-16 in aerial combat, as well as having a faster take-off and lower landing speed, requiring shorter airstrips than the I-16, which needed 270 meters to stop and 380 meters for take-off.<ref>Nedialkov p. 24, 25, 148</ref>

Further attempts were made to upgrade the firepower of the aircraft using 20&nbsp;mm (0.79&nbsp;in) [[ShVAK cannon]]s, making the I-16 one of the most heavily armed fighters of the period,<ref>Price 1975, p. 78.</ref> able to fire 28 rounds of ammunition in three seconds. Pilots loved the results, but the cannons were in short supply, and only a small number of the '''I-16 Type 12''', '''17''', '''27,''' and '''28''' were built. The Chung 28 is an unlicensed I-16 built from the spare parts of I-16s provided to the Nationalists, delivered in 1941 and did not include upgraded cannons. The cannons adversely affected performance, with 360° turn time increasing from fifteen seconds in the Type 5 to eighteen seconds. The '''Type 24''' replaced the skid with a tailwheel and featured the much more powerful 670&nbsp;kW (900&nbsp;hp) [[Shvetsov M-63]] engine. The '''Type 29''' replaced two of the ShKAS guns with a single 12.7&nbsp;mm (.50&nbsp;in) [[Berezin UB|UBS]]. Ten '''Type 17''' fighters were supplied to the [[Republic of China Air Force|Chinese Air Force]] where on 20 May 1940, they effectively shot down a [[Mitsubishi Ki-15|C5M scout-attack]] plane and three [[Mitsubishi G3M|G3M]] bombers during the [[Bombing of Chongqing|Battle of Chongqing]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=红岩春秋|first=唐学锋|date=2019-01-17|title=当年设施简陋的梁山机场, 没想到却是中国空军保卫重庆的第一道空中防线! - 上游新闻·汇聚向上的力量|url=https://www.cqcb.com/wenshi2/hongyanchunqiu/2019-01-17/1386817.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-15|website=www.cqcb.com|quote="5•20"梁山空战, 我空军击落日机7架, 这是当时新闻媒体报道的数字, 难免有些夸大.根据南京的中国第二历史档案馆保存的《空军战斗要报》记载: 此役, 我空军一共击落敌轰炸机3架、侦察机1架.其大致情况如下: 1、第24队队长李文庠, 分队长张光蕴、王文骅、队员彭均、李廷凯等5员, 在梁山上空合力击落敌重轰炸机1架(残骸在寻觅中).2、队员陈少成在忠县上空击落敌侦察机1架, 该敌机在忠县汝溪焚毁, 番号为258, 敌乘员3人全毙.3、队员伍国培在梁山上空击落敌重轰炸机1架, 该机在忠县马家祠损毁, 番号为4528, 敌乘员6人全毙.4、分队长韩参在开县击落敌重轰炸机1架, 敌机残骸正寻觅中.从当天中国空军的战斗要报记载来看, 被击落的4架日机, 只有两架是查明了具体坠落的地点, 并找到了残骸, 而另外两架的残骸还在"寻觅"中.}}</ref><ref>Cheung, 2015, pp. 67-68. The 24th PS/4th PG received a small number of the ShVAK 20mm cannon-armed I-16 Type 17 fighters from the Soviets, and were used to good effect intercepting 24 G3Ms and a Ki-15 (C5M) on 20 May 1940</ref>

Types 18, 24, 27, 28, and 29 could be fitted to carry [[RS-82]] unguided rockets. The first successful use of air-to-air missiles in air combat was on August 20, 1939. A Ki-27 was hit by an RS-82 rocket launched from a distance of about a kilometer. The shot was fired by Captain N. Zvonarev.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zVEjAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA30 |title=NASA Technical Translation |date=1959 |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration |language=en}}</ref>

A 1939 government study found the I-16 had exhausted its performance potential. The addition of armor, radio, battery, and flaps during the aircraft's evolution exacerbated the rear weight distribution problems to the point where the aircraft required considerable forward pressure on the stick to maintain level flight and at the same time developed a tendency to enter uncontrolled dives. Extension and retraction of the landing flaps caused a dramatic change in the aircraft's attitude. Accurate gunfire was difficult.