Polikarpov I-16 Soviet Fighter - New Acquisition ??? 

My wife's grandfather flew these for 12 months in 1942. He was a Lt. Aerobatics instructor before WWII. and begged his commanding officer for permission to go to the front line. He was granted permission on the proviso that he came back to base if he was still alive in 12 months. As probably guessed he came back and died in 1962. Was promoted to Colonel and was given a house in Crimea and a priority place in the waiting list for a car.My wife can't remember how many German planes he shot down. His squadron was based near Kharkov and his name was Lt Alexei Kovalev.

It is so cool that somebody like you have a big enough heart to collect all the Aircraft from World War II time. Thank you

In my opinion it's not easy to acquire an airplane with so much history like this,but,it is very important to preserve the legend of military aviation.

It was sad to see the condition of the CAF museum. Sadly the generation that flew these planes are all gone now. My uncle flew Wildcats and Hellcats towards the end of the war and he past on last year. He was the last of his squadron to survive. Planes and WWII equipment interest me because my parents that lived and survived the war talked about it but my kids and grand kids have almost no interest. History needs to be told but it's hard to preserve if no one cares. Thank you Kermit for caring enough to keep them flying.

That Polikarpov 1-16 in Soviet livery is just awesome. Brought me a lot of memories of my late father in law who was an aircraft mechanic who served with the Spanish Republican Air Force during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39, and gave maintenance to the squadrons of “Moscas”, at an airfield near Sabadell. He witnessed several dog fights over the airfield between the “Moscas” and the German and Italian fighters, and in one occasion a “Mosca” was hit and the pilot managed to crash land it near the field, however he died. His personal favorite was the double winged Polikarpov 1-15, which he described as a lot more maneuverable aircraft.

I live in Midland and have an acquaintance with Gena. She told me you had been there looking at the Polikarpov. I covered several flights of that airplane as an aviation media reporter when it was still doing airshows. I hate the thought of it leaving the area, but I do feel good knowing that you are the new owner. CAF is in sad shape since the headquarters moved to DFW with FiFi. I hope the facility survives. By the way, I also helped reassemble that Mig-17 when the CAF re-acquired it a few years ago. Lots of great history on those grounds.

It's so sad to see the business difficulties such facilities are having today. I'm grateful for your dedication to the history and preservation of the magic of aviation! Getting to "ride along" on your adventures (be they on land, sea or air) is very exciting! Thank you and best regards Kermit!

GREAT TOUR! Thanks!

Kermit reminds me of my Uncle that recently passed away. I could listen to him for hours just soaking up his knowledge of airplanes and just things in general. Kermit seems like a rich guy that isnt an asshole!!! Thats why i watch this channel!! Thank you Kermit Weeks!!!

I really wish that P47 you have tucked away would come out of the storage container and on display. I've loved that plane since I was a kid and the men that flew them were my heroes, the 56th FG Zemke's Wolfpack flew the plane throughout the war even though the rest of the 8th transitioned to the P51s... much respect. Thank you for all that you do in preserving the history and the memories of all the people associated with these great aircraft.

Funny I grew up just down the street volunteering there been around that airplane sense I was a baby now she is coming to live 30 minutes from me again can’t wait to see a little peace of my childhood just down the street here in Florida thanks for saving her brother

A really nice purchase. A wooden wonder. It will be interesting to see how this airplane disassembles and reassembles. Sadly that old museum looks like a ghost town.

That Swordfish is super cool!

One of the most memorable sights in my life was 6 fast and low I16,s at Wanaka. The red stars rising video of the show has some amazing footage. Great buy Mr Weeks.

I'd love to see that Swordfish in person - thanks for showing it to us. Seeing all that fabric in those shots... wow. What a crazy plane to be delivering the results that it did!

I just about knew Kermie would buy it, it's the first day of spring and he's got Spring Fever.

These I-16s had no flaps, they were restored in the 90s, with the first arriving in NZ in late 96, and they were all together at Warbirds Over Wanaka in 1998, 2000 and 2002

"The Swordfish is a Looker..." Heh. Well... the Stringbag is certainly... well, it's a "Spectacle", for sure. Let's put it that way. Good grief, the thing looks BIGGER than that Beech-18 sitting next to it! What a monster. On another note, it's good to see a few Tomcats seemingly preserved in functional condition. I mean even if not technically flightworthy, at least the bureaucrats apparently didn't enforce that notion of sawing the dang things in half.

I have really enjoyed fining this channel, so glad it is not "dumbed down" and appreciate your efforts. Hope to make it to your museum one day.

We always enjoy a visit from Kermit weeks to the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) Museums! For people who would like to learn more about this museum, here is a brief history. Midland, Texas was the location of the CAF Headquarters offices and CAF Airpower Museum. It was becoming increasingly difficult to run the museum and keep staff in a city the size of Midland. In 2015, the CAF Headquarter's staff moved offices to Dallas Executive Airport. The CAF Airpower Museum was put into the care of the local CAF members, a unit called the High Sky Wing. The High Sky Wing, re-curated the museum to focus on the local WWII heritage, which is the story of the Midland Army Airfield. Managed and run entirely by volunteers this museum is a condensed, but as you see in the video, highly interesting museum to visit. The full collection of artifacts that was in the former CAF Airpower Museum, was sent to secure temperature controlled storage to be used for future projects. One of the more famous exhibits, the Aviation Nose Art Collection, is on temporary exhibit at the EAA Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. On March 1, 2019, the CAF broke ground on a new building, called the Henry B. Tippie National Aviation Education Center. This will be the first phase of a larger campus, to be called the CAF National Airbase, which will be located at Dallas Executive Airport in Dallas, TX. This campus will be a mixed use space with hangar, exhibit, and classroom space. The CAF has more than 60 locations nation-wide, about 10 of these locations have museums open to the public. Museum's range in size from small to very large. You can learn more about the CAF, check out the unit locations and what aircraft and artifacts are housed at each location by visiting the website at www.commemorativeairforce.org.

Loved the pep talk to the ROTC kids. Good advice!

I love this guy!! Keep up the good work Kermit!

Kermit, I was at the '89 Ardmore 'Wings and Wheels'. On practice day Saturday I saw Stephen Gray and Tim Wallis talking about how Tim couldn't hold the Spitfire (Mk9?...Mk14?) tight in a turn. Stephen jumped in and put on a display that was incredible. I videotaped it. It's on my RU-vid channel. (30 years hasn't been kind to the tape, sadly.) Stephen was about 40' off the deck, and under the control tower. Tim crashed it the next day, I believe. My father flew Spits, but died just before I taped Tim's one.

Congrats on your newest addition to Fantacy of Flight, looking forward to seeing you getting back in the air !!!!!!

I see that here at our Air and Space museum. It's open 7 days a week for 8 hours so that is nice but there has been times I go there and I am the only one walking around. They do have temporary exhibits that change every couple months but sad to see so few visit. They do all kinds of things to try and get people in. Weddings, company parties, events, our RC clubs in the area hold indoor and outdoor events once or twice a year. It's amazing they make enough as large as it is to stay open.

Hello and very nice video. Its sad to see the museum in that condition. I hooe you are able to get that plane and do great things with it...I look forward to seeing you fly it.

Do it! What a neat airplane.

Congrats on your new addition! Can't wait to see you fly her!

Can't wait for the I-16 videos. Looking forward to seeing the restoration and flight.

can't wait to see the I-16 when she makes it onto your show floor at fantasy of flight! i totally understand the whole thing about closing for most of the week... my grandpa and I had been going for years... and every time we go we see less and less people there. it's a shame... but that's the way the world is. we all have faith you'll figure something out to bring people back. good luck Kermit! also maybe just advertise more? a lot of my friends locally had no idea about your museum, until I told them about it... even though we're all aviation enthusiasts.

Kermit, Please think about connecting with simulator developers, you can help them with access to the real stuff and they can say their product was develop with access to the real deal. Examples of that are the simulator models for the yak-52, and most reasently the f-14 for DCS. That way I think you could bring attention to your museum and generate revenue with the gaming industry.... it’s just an idea considering how big your collection is! The I-16 is a blast on WWII simulators I wonder if you’ll have as much fun flying the real deal. We need a full flight report.

12:54: The legendary Russian fighter pilot swiftly enters his I-16 to intercept the oncoming enemy fighters!

Beautiful aircraft! But man.. a Swordfish for sale.. that is probably even harder to pass?

Really, really nice! I think you should get that plane which I think is a rare one. Hope you will get that.

get the polikarpov then come back for the swordfish :D

Hi Kermit! Just a heads up for possible future reference for you, but if you come across logbooks in foreign languages, you can type into your smartphone in Google search for translating written language from Russian to English. Hope this helps you? Great videos, BIG fan and subscriber. Thanks for your great vids. Happy skies! 🙂👍

Had a revell or monogram model as a teen. I live in tampa. I've been to your place, excellent.🇺🇸

What an enigmatic little aeroplane this I-16 Rata is,some very clever workmanship has gone into this with woodworking wizardry thrown in,my guess is that engine problems and metal probably grounded this skittish little machine,six were built and the I-153 biplane version which flew in New Zealand with Tim Wallis,six airframes were restored partially from original components . The complex undercarriage has been faithfully reproduced but I cannot work out those flaps ? probably the inboard sections double as flaperons for more agility when needed. The older log books are probably engine logs from yesteryear but I would not place too much reliability in those Kermit ! I look forward to seeing the outcome of your visit but something tells me the Fairey Swordfish is probably of even more interest to you as your body language showed,these are both very worthy machines,the Swordfish was a total surprise to me and this looks like a Mk.1 probably from the Canadian farmers cache of which several survive in museums,this one is probably made from parts from different airframes as there is no known identity ? Kermit already owns a 1-16 N30425 which was to be restored for flight ?

Cool place.

Congrats on the new project KERMIE. 😎

"At the time you couldn't afford it"..................words us mere mortals never thought we would hear you say! Lol

Congrats on your recent purchase.

I like the looks of the I-16 planes, short and stubby like the Gee Bee was.

Kermit, you need to come to Kalamazoo, Michigan and look at what Bob Ellis, Sue and Pete Parrish set up with the "Kalamazoo Air Zoo." They have a base endowment and ties to schools that keep the museum and restoration center running all year, to feed the staff and keep the lights on. It can be done. If anything, in Orlampa you have more opportunities with school groups that visit Disney/etc to run a similar model. I hope you know how many of us are pulling for you and your dream.

These babies fought the skyes of Spain against early Jumo powered BF-109 types on the 1936 Civil War. Such a especial piece of air combat history!

I personally don’t care about the I16 but love the Swordfish!

Seems that with the ability to see just about anything you want online it's going to be harder and harder for physical museums to keep going. It's sad..

Good purchase - Also Naked in Jamaica rum is the bomb

We often forget , the success of the Taranto raid really made the blueprint for Pearl Harbor , it also proved once and for all that warships were vulnerable without adequate air cover, AAA is just not enough to protect your fleet, even in home harbor.. The British truly invented and pioneered so many tactics and cleverly executed raids we loose count in the fray of larger operations.. the old Stringbag proved the Med was not an Italian lake.. set them back a good year

That Is one stubby airplane! I thought the video was distorted at first when the tail came into view to close to the wing, haha

Mr. Weeks, Take a look at Bellanca's Aircruiser. Way cool aircraft. The ones on floats are drop dead gorgeous.

Great acquisition Kermit. On a separate note, do you have a Lockheed P-38? The US's top ace- Richard Ira Bong- flew one, would be great to have one kept in Kermit Kondition! :-)

P.S. I just learned Naked in Jamaica is only available in Florida so far? Well, guess I'll have to plan a work trip there!

I am from Friendswood, TX which used to hangar some of the "Kate" torpedo bombers of the CAF. Used to see them about once a month flying around the neighborhood. So it would be cool to see one of the CAF's collection at Fantasy of Flight from which I now live about 20min from. Hey Kermit next time you are up for a flight, why not fly out near KPCM, and the Brandon/Valrico area and let us see you?

Good luck in West Texas Keep the dream alive..👍👍 I also have to say rum is to die for.🍹

I LOVE I-16s I wish I could see one fly.

Well, hello there! 3:40

Get the Tomcat, Kermit!! :D

Символично, что бортовой номер ,, Ишачка " совпадает с годом Победы.

Guess by now you know the two brown books were the engine logs - on one the word dvigatel’ (motor) was legible. Can’t wait to see them flying - they sounded wicked at Wanaka!

Buy it! I don't care if you bring it airworty, it is not a beauty but it scared the "Legion Condor" pilots. It's a piece of history. 👍

Congrats with the Polikarpov - or Ishachok - you are a lucky son of a....to own it now! :o) Hope you'll make it fly again.

I had a book, years ago that said, "Rata (rat?) rams Ju-88". A tough bunch of pilot's to fly in an open cockpit combat aircraft in Russia!

Kermit there's a group in Poland trying to build replica of PZL P-11c fighter they have very detailed documentation of original sitting in museum in Krakow, recreated machine for corrugating aluminium it could be interesting rare plane for you to have next to I-16 and other 30ties fighters.

You need an AM Zero Kermie !!

Hi there everyone ! Seen this aircraft fly in Madrid , Spain a couple of years ago . I think the aircraft was restored to flying conditions in New Zealand . One aircraft with two names here in Spain depending on your policial view point 😂

I think an F-14 would be a great addition to your flying stable ;)

(Imagine cliche Russian accent): "Fuselage? What the heck are you talking about comrade engineer? You take engine, stick on stubby wings and rudder, put in machine gun and cheap watch- Plane to fight fat facists finished." xD This is one of the coolest planes ever build. =)

My wife is a certified translator and can do Russian to English. Let ua know if you need things translated. We visited Fantasy of Flight in 2004 or 5. My favorite part was the B17 at night display.

The Product is great and the Interest is there certainly - it's just a matter of connecting the two effectively. Getting subliminal advertising in video games (War Thunder, etc) could be a way?

Mig-17 with very psychedelic camo-is this more or less real camo colors or a variation on a theme?

Kermit, il fallait négocier plus fort et faire un Lot de deux avions, Le Polikarpov I-16 et le Fairey Swordfish , ils sont tous les deux magnifiques!! ;-) J'ai pas tout compris avec la traduction, il semble que le swordfish est un modèle statique, c'est bien ça ? Pour le Polikarpov I-16 c'est vraiment un superbe avion , je trouve le cockpit très spacieux, par contre il y a peu de visibilité, ça va être une restauration très intéressante et surtout voir la conception interne une fois les toiles changé. Merci de nous faire rêver Kermit et toute votre équipe, vous avez beaucoup de travail a faire.

Сервисные книжки-формуляры не менее интересны, чем сам аппарат.

+KermitWeeksBlogVideos *The Central Design Bureau (RUS) **_Istrebeitel_** 16 shown here packed four 7.62x54R **_Pulemjoti Shpital'nogo-Komarit'skogo,_* two in the fuselage behind the Arkadij Shvetsov 25 (a licence-build of the Wright R-1820 Cyclone; later models had the Arkadij Shvetsov 62 or 63) and two in the wing. Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov and his subordinates used the fuselage of the _Istrebeitel_ 15 biplane and a new monoplane wing with manually-retractable mainmounts in this 1933-vintage design, which proved quite sensitive to control inputs but had better spin and recovery characteristics than the _I_ 15.

looking at a Polikarpov always makes me think of a weaponized GB

There is just something about the smell of a old cockpit.

Now that is one odd plane. Loved seeing the Swordfish as well, lot bigger than I thought it would be. Good luck with the Russian plane. Yeah, the workers in the furniture factory would need to be 100 and something +

Got to get a Swordfish......Huge........airplane....Wow ....is obtainable possible?

Only Kermit could walk past an F-14 and not even glance at it.

When does this tour of a carpark start and what did you post it for?

Swordfish is bigger than I thought!

Chinese and Soviet pilots pitted the I-16 well against the Mitsubishi A5Ms and G3Ms in the China theater, but not as well in the Nomohan battles against the Ki-27s, and even worse against the Messerschmitt Bf-109s... these were represented in the Chinese Air Force movie "Heroes of the Eastern Skies" (笕桥英烈转, 1977); I-15s and I-16s became the main workhorse fighters of the Chinese against increasingly overwhelming odds of the Japanese army and naval airpower after the initial frontline force of Curtis's Hawk IIs and IIIs and Boeing P-26/281 Peashooters we're depleted and US support waned, and Soviet assistance became vital from late 1937-40/41... when the Chinese were pushed far inland into Sichuan (Szechuan) province, and poor quality 65-70 octane gas made the Polikarpovs increasingly poor performers against the high-flying massed Japanese aerial raids burning 90-100 octane gas... then came the Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" which pretty much destroyed the Chinese Air Force... the US finally took this war seriously after what happened on December 7th, 1941.

Good news! The Polikarpov is an interesting little airplane, even if it looks like a flying cigar butt.

It seems to me that there are no problems getting new engines for Polikarpov I-16. Engines from Antonov An-2 should go to him.

I Put Together Gerry Reagan's 2, I-16s.Then was Handed his Mig -3 ,To get To Flight status,The Rear Fuselage of Both airplanes share the same Wood construction design. Trust me Folks,You don't want to fly these airborne farm Vehicles.

What a treasure.

My Grandfather was a Spanish Republican Pilot and Fought with these planes in Spanish Civil War. Ruben Martin Captain also fought with Polikarpov II or Mosca. In front of Italian Fiat Models, and Messermitch bf109.

Do it --Please !!!!!

The mig are beautiful

Yay!!!

OMG I never imagined they still existed. I'm a bit of a fan of the Il2 to be honest.

cuidalo amigo !

Hello.If you need anything translated from Russian language please do not hesitate i can do it for you .I live in ST.Petersburg FL. I visited Fantasy of flight few times in the past.Love the place and the old airplanes and helicopters.

any videos soon of it arriving to FOF? the s-55s you trucked last year.

No gunsight ?

The torpedo would hold more rum than the bomb. Buy the Swordfish. Haha!

Save the planes! Good deal.

Reminds me of a GEE BEE.

Buy it!

Anything you "plug" Kermit sir i want to see!