Product Details
The Polikarpov I-1 was the first indigenous Soviet monoplane fighter. It had to be redesigned after the crash of the first prototype, and was eventually ordered into production in small numbers, but it was never accepted for service with the Soviet Air Forces.
33 aircraft were ordered, but the first production aircraft was still a prototype. The aluminum skin was replaced by plywood, the radiator was switched for a honeycomb type, and two synchronised 7.62 mm (0.3 in) PV-1 machine guns were fitted. The production aircraft differed from one another and all were used for testing. This showed that the I-1 did not easily recover from a spin and Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gromov was forced to make the first Soviet parachute jump during one such incident on 23 June 1927. The aircraft never entered operational service.