The Polikarpov I-16 was a Soviet fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world’s first low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to have attained operational status and as such « introduced a new vogue in fighter design. »^[1] The I-16 was introduced in the mid-1930s and formed the backbone of the Soviet Air Force at the beginning of World War II. The diminutive fighter, nicknamed « Ishak » (« Donkey ») by Soviet pilots, prominently featured in the Second Sino-Japanese War,^[2] the Battle of Khalkhin Gol^[2] and the Spanish Civil War^[3][4]—where it was called the Rata (« Rat ») by the Nationalists or Mosca (« Fly ») by the Republicans. The Finnish nickname for I-16 was Siipiorava (« Flying Squirrel« ).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wre6DUAbMIg&w=960&h=720]