Plastic model aircraft: Polikarpov I-17 (CKB-15) Soviet single-seat fighter prototype
In 1934 at N.N. Polikarpov Design Bureau a unique fighter was created which in accordance with his flying technical characteristics could gather a speed of 500 km/h. The aircraft carried (was armed with) guns and was the incarnation of the latest achievements in the aircraft were carried out by the famous pilot V.P. Chkalov. In 1936 M-17 was on display at aircraft exhibitions in Paris and Milan, of course without arms as a sport plane. However the foreign press guessed right that it was a fighter. Aircraft specialists even named the supposed composition of its arms and flying technical characteristics. The plane"s shortcomings were also animatedly commented upon, namely small cockpit, insecurely system of extending and retracting of the landing gear, discomfort of operation. The aircraft never became a real fighter but it was that precise plane witch was used for thorough development of the aerodynamic scheme of monoplane aircraft with liquid-cooled engine and motor-gun installation on the eve of the Great Patriotic War.
