I-16 type 10 (China)

This page is about the fighter I-16 type 10 (China). For other versions, see I-16 (Family).

␗I-16 type 10

␗I-16 type 17

␗I-16 type 10

␗I-16 type 17

China

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.3	2.0	1.7

Class:

Fighter

Research:7 900

Purchase:10 000

Show in game

Description

The ␗I-16 type 10 is a rank II Chinese fighter with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB), 2.0 (RB), and 1.7 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".

General info

Flight performance

Max speed

at 3 160 m448 km/h

Turn time17 s

Max altitude9 300 m

EngineShvetsov M-25V

TypeRadial

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight2 t

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 3,160 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	430	413	9300	18.0	18.9	14.7	14.7	210
Upgraded	467	453		15.9	16.7	24.8	19.8

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
X	X	✓	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
700	260	N/A	N/A	260	~17	~8

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 300	< 240	< 280	> 190

Survivability and armour

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural0 km/h

Gear260 km/h

• 6 mm steel behind pilot
• Self-sealing fuel tanks (1 in front of pilot)

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB358 → 538

RB729 → 1 096

SB679 → 1 021

Total cost of modifications6 930

6 750

Talisman cost530

Crew training3 000

Experts10 000

Aces125

Research Aces160 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

20 / 60 / 140 %

112 / 112 / 112 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Research: 460 Cost: 450 75 Radiator Research: 460 Cost: 450 75 Compressor Research: 520 Cost: 510 85 Wings repair Research: 580 Cost: 560 95 Engine Research: 580 Cost: 560 95 95 octane fuel usage Research: 750 Cost: 730 120 Engine injection Research: 750 Cost: 730 120	Airframe Research: 520 Cost: 510 85 Cover Research: 750 Cost: 730 120	shkas_belt_pack Research: 460 Cost: 450 75 RO-82 Research: 520 Cost: 510 85 shkas_new_gun Research: 580 Cost: 560 95

Armaments

Offensive armament

Weapon 14 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun

Ammunition3 100 rounds

Fire rate1 800 shots/min

The I-16 type 10 (China) is armed with:

• 2 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, nose-mounted (650 rpg = 1,300 total)
• 2 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, wing-mounted (900 rpg = 1,800 total)

The I-16 type 10 improves upon the I-16 type 5's armament with addition of two extra 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns in the nose, bringing the armament more in line with other aircraft it faces. It should be noted that the nose machine guns have 200 rounds less ammo per gun than the wing guns so will run out sooner. These 7.62 mm machine guns are helpful at low BRs however it is noted that they are not the best and head-on attacks are not recommended for the I-16 type 10

Suspended armament

List of setups (2)

Setup 16 x ROS-82 rockets

Setup 26 x RBS-82 rockets

The I-16 type 10 (China) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 6 x RS-82 rockets
• 6 x RBS-82 rockets

This I-16 type 10 is the first I-16 in the Chinese tree to get access to rockets (or any other suspended ordnance for that matter). The rockets can be used effectively against both ground targets and air targets (with a suitable detonation distance set).

Usage in battles

The I-16 can be used in turnfighting, bomber intercepting and ground pounding. However in this mode, its characteristics appear to be quite conflicting. It is excellent in turning tightly and continuously, yet when manoeuvring it easily gets into uncontrollable spins which isn't beginner friendly. Also the rather big nose blocks the visibility a lot, offering very poor over-the-nose visibility which is a disadvantage in a turn fight, because when leading a shot the enemy will always get obstructed by the engine, making the player guess the shot. More ever, there is no trim control available in a sim battle and the I-16 always pitch up and down. Although not a lot, it is still annoying when trying to get a precise aim.

The small size of the I-16s help in turnfights making them hard to hit and the low turn time helps. However, cutting the throttle is often recommended due to its high speed which can decrease turn times.

It is recommended to set the convergence within 300 m, with vertical convergence on, because the majority of turnfights happen at that range or closer.

Sim is different from realistic, so discard the habit of bringing the least fuel. Bring at least 30 minutes of fuel, although it decreases the plane's performance a bit, it prevents constant refuelling which saves time for patrolling and fighting.

As your I-16 roars down the runway, you will notice that it shifts severely to the side, and the nose will tip down. If you don't correct it it will eventually strike the ground, causing a failed takeoff. Thus you must put rudder input as opposed to the side it's shifting towards, and apply positive pitch to keep the propeller off the ground. You do not want to use flaps anywhere except takeoff and landing, since they are very weak and will rip at more than 260 km/h, while the average speed during a battle tends to be around 300 km/h. Once one or both flaps are gone it creates an imbalance in the roll axis, making spins more common. It also makes landing harder.

Before engaging a fight, it is better to have an altitude advantage first. When approaching the fight try to figure out which is your teammate and which is the enemy, to avoid going for a second pass, as the energy retention of the I-16 is rather slow. Also pick your target carefully. For easier aiming, you want to go for those unmanoeuvrable twin engine aircraft like Ju 88 or Ki-45, or bombers if there are any. Given the bad forward visibility of the I-16, these are the best options as they are quite slow and sluggish, and are a bigger target to hit. However getting hits on them tend to do little work, as your MGs lack damage. When dealing with fighters, it is way harder to aim. The elevator control of the I-16 is extremely sensitive, giving it good manoeuvrability, but at the same time, bad handling. The I-16 will respond in a very fast turn upon moving your stick / mouse by a little bit, which makes tracking nimble planes quite hard. But once you get used to it, try to lure every enemy into a turnfight, as that is where the I-16 shines. Quite a bit of bullets are required to effectively damage the enemy so you must be patient. If you find an enemy at your 6, utilise your great roll rate to do defensive manoeuvres like scissors to make them overshoot. Or you can simply do tight turns, most monoplanes won't be able to cut inside your turn and they might disengage. Important note: DO NOT put too much rolling and pitching input at once, as aforementioned the I-16 tend to enter spins easily.

If you are not very experienced in sim, you can also go for even bigger targets (bombers) for easier aiming. However you want to be more careful when hunting bombers, since with the Sim control (whether it be mouse joystick or a real stick) the plane will manoeuvre much more gently, making itself a great target for the bomber's gunners. DO NOT follow behind a bomber's 6 unless you are sure that its tail gunners are unconscious. Chasing behind a bomber makes yourself stationary for the tail gunners, and you will be showered with bullets. Your big radial engine will usually get damaged. Instead, before attacking, get an altitude advantage over the bomber by flying around 2 km above it. The bomber should only fill up about 1/6 of your gunsight. The best position for an attack is at the bomber's high 6 so you can adjust the lead much easier. Dive at the bomber, but not directly at it, try to predict where you two will crash by imagining yourself as a missile, that's where you should aim at (deflection shooting). To maximise the damage it is better to aim for their wings and engines, as the fuselage usually soaks up quite some bullets. Only fire when the bomber passes in front of your guns. This short window might seem inadequate to do anything, but with a accurate burst on the engine the 4 MG can at least damage it. With an engine damaged most bombers cannot go far.

Ground pounding ability is limited as there is only rockets. The 6 rockets, with accurate aiming, can destroy 3 targets, whether them be tanks or pillboxes. Once the suspended armaments are gone, the 4 MG are good for killing soft targets like trucks, artillery and AA cars.

Just like the SB 2M, the I-16 can still fly when it's extremely slow, causing it to bounce up during landing which can lead to a fatal crash. The trick is similar: slow it down more than other aircraft. Make sure you are around 1 km from the start of the runway and is no more than 300 m high. When the runway fills up your gunsight, drop speed to around 210 km/h and deploy landing flaps. The good thing is, the I-16 will not pitch up drastically upon using its flaps so you don't need to counter the extra lift. Make sure that you extend landing gears early as they move very slow (takes around 15 seconds to deploy). When you are about to touch down you should be flying at around 140 km/h. You must control your rate of descent (I-16's gears are fragile) and make sure that you are slightly pitching upwards with the nose obstructing the horizon. This way the I-16 should land gently without having to brake for too long. Once you are sliding on the ground, fully deflect your elevators upwards to counter the momentum that can push the nose into the ground. You must release brakes once every 4 seconds, because if you only release them as the nose dips down, it's too late.

Enemies worth noting:

Ki-27, N1K1, He 51, Gladiator, etc. - Those commonly seen planes are equally good at turnfights and will be a hard target to down since they are very small and agile. To deal with them you need to practice leading and deflection shots, plus manoeuvres like barrel rolls and scissors. They still need plenty of bullets to get damaged, so these kind of targets are the hardest to kill and requires great skills from the player.

He 111 H-6 - This bomber is not only quite durable, but also pretty fast. In level flight it can outrun the I-16 rather easily. Avoid being on its 6 as it will have at least 2 x 7.92 mm MGs facing its tail, and their rapid rate of fire and good penetration is a big threat. Either go for a head-on or use deflection shooting and aim for its engines. If you cannot keep up with it, disengage. If it flies way higher than you, change your target.

Sunderland Mk IIIa - This flying boat's huge fuselage is very spacious and can absorb lots of bullets and shells. It also has lethal defensive firepower: two 7.7 mm MGs in the nose, four forward-facing, two on the top and four at the tail, so attacking from behind, in front or above aren't the best options. Dive under it and suddenly pull up to shoot its defenseless underpart. Aim at the engines, avoid shooting the fuselage.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Not controllable Not auto controlled	Not controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Combined	Not controllable 1 gear	Not controllable

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent turning ability- with combat flaps deployed it can out-turn He 112, He 100 and even turn fighters like the early Spitfire
• Extreme roll rate allows it to do offensive / defensive scissors easily, which is an advantage over Bf 109 and Spitfire as their roll rate aren't as good
• 4 x ShKAS machine guns have good rate of fire, adequate velocity and accuracy, and plenty of ammo (3,100 rounds total) for longer fights
• Suspended armament provides rockets and bombs which, to an extent, allows some ground attack ability
• Is a very short and small plane, offering the enemy a harder target to hit

Cons:

• Extremely poor level speed, climb rate, dive acceleration and energy retention- will get outran, out-climbed and out-dived easily by Bf 109 E, He 100, and sometimes even struggles to keep up with bombers
• Engine tends to overheat when diving at more than 500 km/h
• Control surfaces are unresponsive over 450 km/h
• Flaps are very weak and will break over 250 km/h, severely limiting its sharp-turning potential at higher speeds
• No manual trim controls in Simulator which makes it hard to handle
• Although manoeuvrable, it can still get out-turned by biplanes like Ki-10 or He-51
• Hard to fly in SB -- very unstable in pitch, poor over-the-nose visibility and is prone to enter flat spins

History

On the 7th July 1937, fighting broke out between Chinese and Japanese forces, starting the Second Sino-Japanese War. When the war began the Chinese air force was using many obsolete aircraft such as the Hawk III, which were no match for the Japanese A5M fighters. China rapidly signed the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact with the USSR, and as part of the agreement the Soviets began Operation Zet to secretly supply China with aircraft and pilots.

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.

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.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the I-16 type 10 (China) from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• Official data sheet - more details about the performance
• [Wikipedia] Polikarpov I-16
• Biplane fighter aces China - General Lo Ying-Teh
• Biplane fighter aces China - Major General Liu Chi-Sheng
• Aviation during World War 2 - Major General Liu Chi-Sheng

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Cheung, R., & Davey, C. (2015). Aces of the Republic of China Air Force. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing.
• Maslov, M., & Postlethwaite, M. (2013). Polikarpov I-15, I-16 and I-153 Aces. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing.