72315 UTI-4 T15B

The Polikarpov UTI-4 (another designation: I-16 Type 15) was a Soviet training aircraft from the interwar period and World War II. The prototype flight took place in 1938. Serial production started in the same year and lasted until 1941 - over 1,600 copies of this machine were certainly produced during it. Some sources even state the number of around 3,190 aircraft of this type produced! The plane was powered by a single M-25A, and later M-25W engine. The Polikarpov UTI-4 was developed on the basis of the I-16 Type 5 aircraft, and its main task was to train pilots for combat flights on the I-16 fighter. Compared to its prototype, it differed primarily in a two-person cabin for the instructor and the trainee. Initially, the machine had a retractable undercarriage, but over time, a fixed undercarriage began to be mounted on it. It is worth adding that in 1941 a prototype version of the I-16 Type 15B was created, which was intended for combat flights and had a place for the second crew member covered with aluminum sheet.