I think this one fits within the rules of the Upgrades and Life Extensions GB ...
For ages I had been playing with the idea of Polikarpov I-16s upgraded by the French on behalf of the Spanish Republic. Then, recently, I was fiddling about with Arsenal VG series fighters ... which provided me with a fresh idea for replacement parts for the accidentally wingless I-16s that I had envisioned arriving by sea at Bordeaux.
The one-piece wooden wings from the VG 33 made far more sense than my original ideas - which I'll save in case we ever have a 'Dumb Idea' GB! (BTW, the images shown here were modified from a V-VS I-16 Type 10 profile by the great Ronnie Olsthoorn.)
So, here I present the Arsenal-winged Polikarpov I-16R and I-16F.
Top An Arsenal/Polikarpov I-16 Mosca R (for Raffinés) as issued to 4ª Escuadrilla de Moscas - a Fuerzas Aéreas de la República Española (FARE) fighter squadron - in the late Winter of 1939.
Prior to arriving at the hybrid Arsenal/Polikarpov solution, some of the wingless I-16 tipo 17 airframes in France had been robbed of their 750 hp Shvetsov M-25B engines to provide spares for the FARE. Later, civilian Wright Cyclone engines were substituted.
The 770 hp R-1820-F53s had been chosen to circumvent US sanctions on Spanish Civil War participants. However, since civilian R-1820-F53 engines lacked synchronisation gear, the machine gun armament of Wright-powered Arsenal/Polikarpov I-16s would consist of 4 x wing-mounted Darnes.
Bottom Completed too late to help the Republicans, small numbers of I-161F (Français) were taken into Armée de l'Air service to act as fighter lead-in trainers for Bloch MB 151 squadrons. This aircraft has a three-bladed, 2-pitch Ratier propeller.
Never intended for operational use as fighters, in Armée de l'Air service, these aircraft were designated Arsenal 161E.1 (for Entraînement single-seater), sometimes given as 161 Ent.1.
