Polikarpov I-15



The Polikarpov 'I-15' was a Soviet biplane fighter aircraft of the 1930s. Nicknamed Chaika ("Seagull") because of its gulled upper wings, it was operated in large numbers by the Soviet Air Force, and together with the Polikarpov I-16 monoplane, was one of the standard fighters of the Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, where it was called Chato (snub-nose) in the Republican Air Force, or "Curtiss" (because its resemblance to Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk) in the Nationalist Air Force.

Polikarpov I-15 in The War That Came EarlyGreat Purge
The I-15 was still present on the battlefeild when war broke out in Europe over Czechoslovakia in 1938. Chaim Weinberg who had been so used to Nationalist air supirority accidently thought that the I-15 that flew above him for an enemy plane, that he nearly shot at it.