Despite potent propaganda
the
Winter War with Finland proved the Red Air Force was deficient in many areas, especially modern, ski-equipped fighter planes suited for combat under conditions of severe cold.
Hot on the heels of the successful
Polikarpov I-36 monoplane, a bit more industrial espionage was employed to obtain the blueprints of an even better aircraft. Thus the plans for the famous Curtiss P-40 ended out in Soviet hands.
It was determined this aircraft would be used as the basis for a new generation of ski-equipped fighters.
A team of engineers of some sort were tasked with developing the new winter fighter. Retractable landing gear was demanded to maintain aerodynamics.
While mostly resembling a P-40, the shamelessly-designated I-40ski was different in a few respects, most noticeably the landing gear. Another difference was the two-bladed propeller which was due to the fact that while Soviet agents managed to steal most of the P-40 plans, those for the prop were missing.
While work began before the end of the Winter War, the prototype aircraft wasn't rolled out until 15 March, 1940. It was given the spurious Bort #91 in hopes of deceiving any onlookers that the Red Air Force had over ninety of the things.
While the skis didn't fully retract, this was seen as a feature since it would enable a pilot to land the aircraft almost completely intact should the skis fail to deploy.
Flight tests were promising, but unfortunately the spring thaw came early and by the end of March, testing was put on hold since the skis didn't work well in mud.
There were plans to further develop the landing gear so the skis could be swapped out with wheels, but petty political in-fighting meant the I-40ski program was never allotted tires so this never got off the ground.
By the time the next winter came around, the Red Air Force no longer saw the need for a specialized, ski-equipped fighter as the Finns had been defeated. Not long afterwards, the Soviets were able to obtain all the legitimate P-40s they wanted through Lend-Lease. Thus the I-40ski met an ignominious end and the only example was scrapped.
Today this ground-breaking aircraft has been largely forgotten and many believe it never really was since tangible evidence of it is scarce. No kit of the I-40ski exists, but a one-off conversion set was briefly available under the table at the recent IPMS Seattle Spring Show with the caveat that its accuracy could not be verified.
Brian da Basher