Markings for I-16 Type 10 1/48

Leningrad, the Soviet Union, 1941

Some I-16s survived in the war for a surprisingly long time. For example, this “red four”, which is a somewhat mysterious aircraft. No details are known, but it is thought it served as a liaison aircraft or possibly as a training one for some unit in the northern sector of the front in 1944. The livery was typical of the first half of the Great Patriotic War. Thus, the upper surfaces were in AII green and AII black (AMT-6), the lower in AII blue. The band in front of the tail surfaces is sometimes given as yellow, however, yellow stripes were not used by the Soviet Air Force for obvious reasons, and it is very likely that the stripe was in fact white.

Genmjr. Ivan A. Lakeev, 46 IAP, Vasilkov, the Soviet Union, 1941

Ivan Alexeyevich Lakeev was a member of the first group of Soviet airmen to arrive in Spain in November 1936. With ten kills achieved with I-16 Type 5, he became one of the most successful fighters of the Spanish Civil War. Some sources even give 12 individual kills and another 16 in cooperation. Lakeev left Spain in August 1937 and was awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. He later fought over Khalkin-Gol, where he is credited with another kill. Some sources, however, list four kills, while others none. During the Great Patriotic War, he achieved three more individual kills and four in cooperation. Here too are discrepancies in the documents and only one kill is reported. Lakjeev’s I-16 Type 10 is a nice example of a personal aircraft of a high VVS officer. The typical Soviet camouflage of the early 1940s with the upper surfaces in AII green and the lower in AII blue was complemented by red accessories, a highly polished steel band and ideological slogans on the fuselage sides. It is uncertain whether these slogans were also on the other side of the fuselage – probably not. The aircraft was serving with 46 IAP at Vasilkov airfield. It was very carefully cared for and kept in perfect condition.

The Soviet Union, summer 1941

Among the many aircraft that fell into the hands of the advancing Germans during the summer of 1941 were a large number of I-16s of various versions. This one is probably the most famous one captured during Operation Barbarossa. The aircraft sported an unusual camouflage, which can best be interpreted as a brush-on green paint (probably AE-7) over the original light gray livery of AE-9. This camouflage was apparently hastily applied shortly after the surprise German attack on June 22, 1941. The VVS RKKA (Soviet military air force) emblem on the VOP was a fairly popular feature on Soviet aircraft in the early years of the Great Patriotic War.

Maj. Mikhail N. Yakushin, the Red Five aerobatic group, the Soviet Union, 1939

The Red Five (Krasnaya Petyorka) was an aerobatic group of the Soviet military air force (VVS – Voyenno vozdushnye sily), operating in 1939–1940. Today, three of its five members are known: the leader of the group, Major Mikhail Nesterovich Yakushin, Lieutenant Colonel V. Klevtsov and Captain Y. Shishkin. Mikhail Yakushin (alias Rodrigo Mateu) was the ace of the Spanish Civil War, where he shot down five enemy aircraft (three CR-32s and two Ju 52s) and another one achieved as shared victory. Yakushin spent half a year in Spain (from May 31 to November 15, 1937) flying I-15s. In 1938 he was also serving in China. During the Great Patriotic War, he served in various command positions, ending the war with the rank of colonel as commander of the 215 Fighter Division. The aircraft of the Red Five were fully armed ones, ready for combat deployment. The paint scheme was pre-war gray AE-9 camouflage paint with a black AE-11 engine cowling and additional decorative elements – a white-lined black stripe on the fuselage (extending over and onto the leading edge of the elevator) and a bright red aft.