FS2004/FSX Polikarpov I-152 biplane fighter
In 1936, the Polikarpov I-15 fighter surfaced suddenly in the Sino-Japanese War. With it's Soviet "volunteer" pilots, this agile little biplane was quickly inflicting heavy losses against Japanese Units with such names as "The Four Lords of the Winds", and "The Flying Samurai."
Simultaneously, the I-16 "monoplane" was failing to provide the answer against the agile Italian and German "biplane" fighters in Spain.
With the successes of the I-15 biplane against the Japanese Mitsubishi A5M monoplanes during the Sino-Japanese War, the Soviet Government was encouraged to increase production of single-seat biplane fighters in relation to that of the co-existing monoplane fighter types.
Polikarpov's design team began immediate development of the new I-15bis (I-152). The I-152 represented an extensive modification of the earlier I-15. The distinctive "gull" shape of the upper wing was replaced with a more traditional "straight" wing supported above the fuselage by a pair of "N" center section struts. The nine cylinder M25 radial engine of 775 horsepower was enclosed in a long chord cowling. The cantilever single strut undercarriage was retained, and some machines were fitted with wheel spats.Official trials were successful, and the type went into quantity production in early 1937. Several hundred were sent to Spain as soon as they were available, and shortly thereafter, the new fighter began appearing in airbattles against the Japanese in the Far East.The I-152 was an improvement in some ways, and a step backward in others. The new upper wing, and the inclusion of trim tabs helped eliminate the high speed instability of the earlier I-15. Better engine cowling and "some" sensitivety to aerodynamics, coupled with a more efficient engine running higher boost values provided a slightly higher top speed in level flight. This was tempered somewhat by a larger wing area and a heavier net weight. The extra weight also meant that the I-152 could not climb as quickly as it's predecessor, but it could dive faster.
While the I-152 was indeed a nimble fighter, it was marginally less manouverable than the I-15 had been.
But the greatest effect on the dwindling success of the Polikarpov biplanes was the ever quickening introduction of fast, effective monoplane types from Japan, Germany and Italy.
Standard armament was four 7.62 ShKAS synchronized machine guns, and light ordinance and extended range tanks could be carried beneath the wings on racks.

Flying the model
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-Having started the engine, line up down the runway and advance throttle to 100 % to begin your take-off roll. Move the joystick gently forward to bring the tail up at about 48Kts/56Mph. Lift off will occur shortly thereafter. The I-152 climbs efficiently, and is very stable.
-Stall will occur at about 48Kts/55Mph. At extreme low altitude (landing/take-off) ground effect can be a factor, causing one wing to stall before the other, allowing the plane to slip lateraly into a fatal drop. At higher altitude, the I-15 shows very docile stall tendencies. The controls will flutter gently...as the nose begins to fall away. A little speed is gained...the nose lifts...and the little Polikarpov flies on happily.
-This model is also pitch and yaw sensitive to thrust input. Add power, the nose will lift. Reduce power, the nose will drop. Keep this in mind whilst in combat, or in final approch for landing. Pulling the throttle back to zero a few hundred feet before flaring out could put you into a nose-down, unrecoverable stall. Reduce power gently until you flare out, being aware of your angle of attack and glide path. Without flaps or any form of airbrake...this is definitely a "low and slow" candidate for well planned final approaches.
-The rudder is highly sensitive to prop thrust. That last turn to final can be achieved at fairly low speed, and kept very flat, using a little rudder/throttle to slew the tail around. But take care, a careful balance must be maintained to prevent dropping a wing into a stall or spin.
-Final approach...the last "few hundred" yards should find you at an altitude of a "few hundred" feet...and a speed of about 88Kts/100Mph. As you descend to the apron, reduce to 55Kts/63Mph just as you pull (GENTLY) back to stall her into a three point landing at about 47Kts/54mph. Keep the stick movements smooth and subtle to avoid low speed/low altitude stalls.
-Ground handling is easy, she rolls and steers effortlessly with very little throttle input. Watch-out though, the landing gear is fairly narrow, and the biplane platform offers a high center of gravity when all lift is lost. Keep the ground speed low, or you'll be digging in a wing tip.


Effects
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-On startup there is automatic engine smoke.
-Then follow the exhaust flames with smoke.
-Wing vortex effect appears by default at 2.5g or quick roll rate.
-Nose guns with flash, smoke and falling cartridges can be triggered with the standard Strobe key (O).
It is much nicer however if you put the FS2004/FSX standard Strobe key (O) to the trigger from your joystick. You can change this in the Key menu.
It is a good idea if you replace the standard (L) key for lights by the L+CTRL, (normaly activating the landing lights only). This avoids you having to have all lights on when pulling the trigger.
-Cowling plates open/close with the standard "cowl" keys.

Installation:
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-Unzip " Polikarpov I-152" into a temporary file and move the "Polikarpov I-152" folder into the main Aircraft directory.
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-Read instructions carefully when installing the gauges , say YES...when asked if the gauges sources should be trusted. If you say no....most of the gauges are not going to work !
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-Leave the instruments_Russ.cab in your panel folder.
-Copy the effects into the Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator X\effects folder.
-Add the 20can.wav in your Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator X\sound folder.
-Sound aliased to Douglas_DC_3.
ATTENTION :
-For FS2004, change the FS9_Wing_Guns.fx into FX_Wing_Guns.fx
-For FSX change the FSX_Wing_Guns.fx into FX_Wing_Guns.fx
-If having trouble with the cockpit transparencies or turningprop in FSX acceleration, copy the glass.bmp and Prop_B.bmp from the Acceleration.texture into the plane's texture folder.

CREDITS
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Special thanks to :
-GMAX for the drawing program and Microsoft for their makmdls.mdk.
-James Bank and CM Carlson whose original mdl and some of its textures contributed to the creation of this GMAX mdl.

LEGAL:
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The project is released as freeware. You may modify it and repaint it. You may upload this file to another website as long as it is not for profit.
You need the written permission of the original authors to use any of these files for commercial purposes, otherwise a simple credit would be nice. Non commercial repaints-remakes are welcome but I would appreciate very much receiving a copy of your model.
This file should not cause any problems with your computer, but I accept no responsibility if you think it does. Remarks and hints are welcome and are being considered.


Happy Landings!

A.F.Scrub
May 2010
Email: af_scrubbypc@hotmail.com