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Owing much to a line of light cabin monoplanes and advanced trainers, the I-16, designed by Karlis Irbitis and built as a single prototype by the Valsts Elektrotechniska Fabrika (State Electro-Technical Factory) at Riga, was a single-seat lightweight fighter. Of wooden construction with plywood skinning and a fixed, faired undercarriage, the I-16 was powered by a 454hp Walter Sagitta I-SR 12-cylinder inverted-Vee engine. It carried an armament of two 7.9mm fuselage-mounted machine guns which could be augmented by two wing-mounted 20mm cannon. The success of initial flight testing of the I-16 in 1939 prompted the Latvian authorities to order prototypes of the heavier and more powerful I-19 air superiority fighter, but this was still on the drawing boards when Latvia was occupied by Soviet forces on 17 June 1940. The sole prototype of the I-16 was subsequently flown in Soviet markings which gave place to Luftwaffe markings when the Wehrmacht advanced into Latvia during the following year.
 | A three-view drawing (1647 x 1110) |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 1540 kg | 3395 lb |
| Empty weight | 1100 kg | 2425 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 8.23 m | 27 ft 0 in |
| Length | 7.30 m | 23 ft 11 in |
| Wing area | 11.43 m2 | 123.03 sq ft |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 483 km/h | 300 mph |
| Range | 805 km | 500 miles |
| hichkoks, pezo104(@)mail.ru, 30.03.2008 if,same body haw this plane correct drawing, please write me pezo104@mail.ru | | Aero-Fox, 30.03.2008 This is one sexy fighter, I would say. I've always been a fan of the 'civilian-aircraft conversion' school of fighter design, which is what this appears to be. If it had been given a bigger engine I would imagine it could've given any Axis or Allied fighter of the day a hard time. |
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