POLIKARPOV I-16

Rare POLIKARPOV I-16 flies again in SPAIN

The FIO's I-16 'Rata' is one of these planes with its unmistakable lines, that give the plane a strong personality and its stocky fuselage gave a particular sensation and it could be considered an example of the top of the Russian mid-1930s technology.

After four years on the ground the Spanish Air Force-schemed Polikarpov I-16 ‘Rata’, operated by the Foundacion Infante de Orleans (FIO), flew again for the public on Sunday, 4 February 2024, during the EXHIBICIONES DE VUELO 2024. After a successful test flight on 30 December 2023, the rare aircraft was highlighted along with the museum’s collection of vintage and warbird airplanes.

The FIO is the Spanish historic aviation flying museum, a non-profit organisation formed by a group of aviation enthusiasts and pilots at Cuatro Vientos Airport near Madrid in 1989 for the sole purpose of preserving and sharing Spanish aviation history.

They named it in honour of Don Alfonso de Orleans Borbon (1886-1975) a famous Spanish pilot and aviation pioneer. The FIO set out to retrieve and restore aircraft with a significant place in Spain’s aeronautical heritage and the collection now has around 38 airworthy aircraft, spanning more than 70 years of Spanish aviation culture. They maintain them in their workshop and exhibit their collection to the public once a month with an air display from their home base. One of their most important artifacts is an airworthy Polikarpov I-16 ‘Rata.’