Почему Сталину соврали про лучший истребитель Поликарпова | И-185

Nikolai Polikarpov, creator of the legendary I-15 and I-16, was the Soviet Union's chief fighter designer by the mid-1930s. After a series of tragedies involving the I-180 and the betrayal of his own employees, who stole the I-200 design, which later became the MiG-1, Polikarpov lost his factory, his team, and his influence. Starting from scratch in an empty hangar, he created the I-185—a fighter that, according to the Air Force Research Institute, was superior to all existing Soviet and foreign aircraft. Frontline pilots of the 728th Regiment confirmed this in combat. But Deputy People's Commissar Yakovlev, himself a designer of competing aircraft, lied to Stalin about the test results, and the reliance on the unreliable M-71 engine and the death of test pilot Stepanchenko in April 1943 put an end to serial production. Chkalov's death on the I-180 in December 1938 and the beginning of the persecution of Polikarpov Theft of the I-200 design by Mikoyan and Gurevich while Polikarpov was on a business trip to Germany The creation of the I-185 from scratch and its outstanding flight characteristics—a speed of 680 km/h with the M-71 engine Yakovlev's lie at a meeting with Stalin in February 1943 about allegedly unconfirmed test data The mysterious death of Stepanchenko on April 5, 1943, due to copper wire in the carburetor and the closure of the program Music: Duty Calls — Rod Kim. Photos and videos taken from archive.org and are in the public domain. #Polikarpov #I185 #I185 fighter #WWII aviation #WorldWarII #sovietaviation #I16 #I180 #Yakovlev #Stalin #NIIVVS #MiG1 #Chkalov #Stepanchenko #Stefanovsky #aviationhistory #sovietfighters #aircraftdesigner #RedArmyAirForces #La5 #M71 #USSRaviation #militaryhistory #fighters #documentary #weaponshistory #WWIIaviation #bestfighter #728thregiment