Tupolev I-4

what is it?

The Tupolev I-4 was a Soviet sesquiplane single-seat fighter. It was conceived in 1927 by Pavel Sukhoi as his first aircraft design for the Tupolev design bureau, and was the first Soviet all-metal fighter.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 11.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 257 km/htop speed
• range 524 kmwithout refuelling
• size 1,430 kgmax take-off weight
• built 369made in total

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 99 years ago, in 1927.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 11.4 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1927-08-10

introduced

1930

retired

1935

status

retired

number built

369

role

fighter

origin

🇷🇺 Soviet Union

makers

Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center

engines

1× Shvetsov M-22 / Bristol Jupiter

crew

1

length

7.3 m

wingspan

11.4 m

height

2.8 m

max take-off weight

1,430 kg

top speed

257 km/h

range

524 km

ceiling

7,655 m

wings

sesquiplane

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.