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3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Poliakarpov I-153 Musee du Bourget P1010993: Pline· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. I-153 RA-1562G (6066213064): Aleksandr Markin· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 3. Polikarpov I-153 SA-kuva 20616: Ruponen· Public domain
what is it?
The Polikarpov I-153 Chaika (Russian: Чайка, lit. 'gull') is a late 1930s Soviet sesquiplane fighter. Developed from the I-15 with a retractable undercarriage, the I-153 fought in the Soviet-Japanese combats in Mongolia and was one of the major Soviet fighter types in the early years of the Second World War. Three I-153s are still in flying condition.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 10 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 89 years ago, in 1937.
- Top speed is 3.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 10 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
- Can fly 1.2× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1937
- introduced
- 1939
- retired
- 1945
- status
- retired
- number built
- 3,437
- role
- fighter
- makers
- Dux Factory
- engines
- 1× Shvetsov M-62
- length
- 6.2 m
- wingspan
- 10 m
- height
- 2.8 m
- max take-off weight
- 2,110 kg
- top speed
- 444 km/h
- cruise speed
- 297 km/h
- range
- 470 km
- ceiling
- 10,700 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
family
Sources: Wikidata Q700671, Wikipedia: Polikarpov I-153 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.