Soviet Aircraft Designer. Known as the "King of Fighters," he designed many of the biplane and fixed winged aircraft used in the Soviet military. He was arrested in October 1929, and sent to Butyrka Prison in Moscow, for failing to deliver the I-6 fighter on time under the 1928 Five Year Plan. Initially sentenced to death, his sentence was changed to 10 years of forced labor. He was granted amnesty in July 1931 after a successful demonstration of the I-5 fighter prototype. Polikarpov's most revolutionary design was the I-16 Ishak (1933), the world's first cantilever-winged monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear. Some 500 I-16s were used by Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War, and it was a mainstay of the Soviet Air Force until the model was retired in 1943. Polikarpov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (1940) and won Stalin Prizes in 1941 and 1943. Polikarpov Peak in the Pamir region of Central Asia is named in his honor. He died from gallbladder disease shortly after celebrating his 52nd birthday.
Soviet Aircraft Designer. Known as the "King of Fighters," he designed many of the biplane and fixed winged aircraft used in the Soviet military. He was arrested in October 1929, and sent to Butyrka Prison in Moscow, for failing to deliver the I-6 fighter on time under the 1928 Five Year Plan. Initially sentenced to death, his sentence was changed to 10 years of forced labor. He was granted amnesty in July 1931 after a successful demonstration of the I-5 fighter prototype. Polikarpov's most revolutionary design was the I-16 Ishak (1933), the world's first cantilever-winged monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear. Some 500 I-16s were used by Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War, and it was a mainstay of the Soviet Air Force until the model was retired in 1943. Polikarpov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (1940) and won Stalin Prizes in 1941 and 1943. Polikarpov Peak in the Pamir region of Central Asia is named in his honor. He died from gallbladder disease shortly after celebrating his 52nd birthday.
Bio by: Nils M. Solsvik Jr.
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