The author of this monograph would like to inform his reader right away that he does not claim to cover the following topic as fully as it could possibly be. At the present time, there are many historical documents, schematic drawings that once were placed in secret archives, memories of historical persons, and participants of long past events. So, if the author tried to describe and publish all the materials about the only plane that took an active involvement in the Second World War – it would be a multivolume publication with an appendix consisting of a thick folder with numerous drafts…

The purpose of this monograph is the author’s desire to introduce the reader to a remarkable fighter aircraft, that which had a great influence on both the pre-war development of Soviet aircraft, and the military developments that occurred in the first few months of the war between Germany and the USSR. And at the same time about its creator - Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov, who had the unspoken title of “King of fighters” during his lifetime. Those readers, who are interested in the technical matter of the topic, could refer to some earlier publications about the I-16 aircraft. Unfortunately, only one publication was published in English. But you may find Russian-language publications, detailed declassified drawings, and a technical description of the aircraft in the global network.