Editing Polikarpov I-16 (section)

===Spanish Civil War===
At the start of the [[Spanish Civil War]] in 1936, Republican forces pleaded for fighter aircraft. After receiving payment in gold, [[Joseph Stalin]] dispatched around 475<ref name = "Gunston p. 85">Gunston 2003, p. 85.</ref> I-16 Type 5s and Type 6s. The first I-16s appeared in Spanish skies in November 1936.<ref name= "Maslov p.25">Maslov 2010, p. 25.</ref> The Polikarpov monoplanes had their baptism of fire on 13 November 1936, when twelve I-16s intercepted a Nationalist bombing raid on Madrid. Soviet pilots claimed four air victories and two German [[Heinkel He 51]] pilots were killed.  But the Soviets suffered losses too; the group commander collided with an enemy aircraft and another I-16 pilot crash landed.<ref name="Maslov p.26">Maslov 2010, p. 26.</ref> The Polikarpovs immediately began dominating the enemy Heinkel He 51 and [[Arado Ar 68]] biplanes{{Citation needed |date=September 2011}} and remained unchallenged until the introduction of the [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]].  The arrival of the newest Bf 109Bs and the overwhelming numerical superiority of Nationalist fighters were the primary cause of the heavy I-15 and I-16 combat losses suffered throughout 1937.<ref name = "Maslov p.30">Maslov 2010, p. 30.</ref> A number of aviation publications called the new Soviet fighter a "Boeing" due to the incorrect assumption that it was based on the [[Boeing P-26]]'s design.  The Nationalists nicknamed the stubby fighter ''Rata'' (Rat), while the Republicans affectionately called it ''Mosca'' (Fly).

Combat experience showed that the I-16 had deficiencies; several aircraft were lost after structural failure of the wings, which was quickly remedied by reinforced structures. Heavy machine gun bullets could sometimes penetrate the armored backrest, and fuel tanks occasionally caught fire in spite of being protected. The hot Spanish summers required the addition of oil radiators, and dust adversely affected the life of the engines. Although some aircraft accumulated up to 400 hours of flying time, the average life of an I-16 was 87 days, of which one sixth was spent on maintenance. The biggest complaint in service was the light armament of only two 7.62&nbsp;mm (0.30&nbsp;in) [[machine gun]]s. This was urgently addressed with the '''Type 6''' which added a third ShKAS in the bottom of the fuselage. The four-gun '''Type 10''' was nicknamed "Super Mosca" or simply "Super".
The total number of I-16s delivered to Spain from 1936 to 1938 amounted to 276. When the war ended on 1 April 1939, 187 ''Ratas'' had been lost in Spain: 112 lost in combat, one shot down by anti-aircraft fire, eleven destroyed on the ground, one force-landed and 62 lost in accidents.<ref name="Maslov p.32">Maslov 2010, p. 32.</ref>