Polikarpov I-15 "Chato"

 I-15 "Chato"

The Polikarpov I-15 was nicknamed "Chaika" (Gull) by the Soviets, after its swept back upper wing. 

The first I-15s were delivered to Spain in October 1936 along with Soviet pilots they soon made their presence felt over the battlefield and the Rebels called the planes "Curtiss" after aparently mistaking the fighters for Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawks! The Spanish Republicans soon nicknamed them "Chato" (snub nose).

Eventually the Soviets delivered 116 aircraft. The Republican Government bought licences to produce the aircraft and Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) first at their factories at Getafe factory, then later around Alicante (plus another factory in Sabadell) built aircraft for the government, by the end of the war they had built 287 aircraft!

For most of the Civil War the Chato was the main-stay of FARE (Fuerzas Aéreas de la República Española), it was greatly respected by both sides and the Rebels were quick to use captured examples. At the end of the war quite a few Chatos ended up in Rebel hands and became part of the new Ejercito de l`Aire, in fact Aire Grupo 24 (Valencia) and Grupos 33 & 34 (both based around Alicante) all had I-15s in a report dated 29 February 1940. Also I read another report about aircraft serving with the Ejercito de l`Aire which said even on 31 August 1945, they still had 108 (both standard and bis types still in service).

A flight of Ejercito de l`Aire I-15s flying at Rabassa (Alicante)

Truthfully this kit by SMER (art. 0832) is actually the later I-153 with the retractable landing, but as it only cost me 5 Euro at a flea market, I couldn`t resist and fudged the underside and landing gear using thin plasticard and filler.