The I-185 was reportedly an excellent fighter. A handful were flight-tested under operational conditions at the front and the pilots who had the opportunity to fly it declared that they thought it was superior to the existing Yak 9 and La 5. However, under the Soviet system aircraft are designed by design bureaus but manufactured in state-owned factories, rather than built by a factory controlled by the people who designed the aircraft. Due to the war situation, the government deciced that it was not worthwhile stopping production of an existing type of combat fighter in order to switch a factory production line over to the manufacture of the I-185. Nicolai Polikarpov died of cancer during 1944 and the engineers who had worked with him were re-assigned to the MiG design bureau.
Frank, e-mail, 25.06.2017 21:05
Hello there!
Where can I find a detIled history of N. N. Polikarpov and his airplane's?
I'm quite interested his derivative airplane's after the I-16 series. Don't get me wrong, I love the "16" and would love to fly it. His post I-16 birds are very interesting because of their unique design and construction materials usage.
Thank!
Aaron, e-mail, 14.08.2010 05:55
I believe this is a picture of the third prototype. The NII VVS' pilots found the I-185 to have good handling and flight charateristics, without any serious vices. Horizontal maneuverability was poor (by Russian standards), however, the machine's high wing loading leading to a large turning circle, though the control surfaces were fairly well co-ordinated. M-71 1900hp (TO and war emergency) gave it a speed of 345mph/SL and 391mph/20,238ft. 3700fpm/SL and 16,400ft/5.2sec. In mid-1942 this would have given the VVS an edge, but political situations concerning Polikarpov would never let it happen. The I-185 was fitted with Handley-Page type leading edge slats on its wings to improve maneuverability. Just an FYI.
Tom, e-mail, 08.02.2009 22:42
You are telling truth about that nice sim and those planes. I fly too, online. And in lots of missions i saw either only late or old planes. I mean most of missions you can choose only one of both - only I - 185 or Lavochkin - 7. I love both of them, they are good dogfighters in fights with their time planes, but the true is that La 7 is better than I 185.
CPS_Xabre, e-mail, 26.01.2009 01:08
This Fighter is featured in the Flight Simm IL2 Sturmovik 1946 both the I185M82 and the I185M71. This Fighter is some what popular with the simm enthusiasts, however many seem to think this particular fighter is over modeled and refer to as an uber fighter along with the LA7 3X20 which in everyones oppinion is the most over modeled fighter in the entire simm.I disgree with all whom that I185M71 is over modeled, on the contrary it has been modeled as close to the original flight characteristics as possible, and as in the history books was an exceptional fighter, but the real fighter was never produced to show its metal on the Russian front.Having said this I would say that if any fighter was extremely over modeled in "IL2Sturmovik 1946" it would the LA7 3X20 is so over modeled in the flight seem that this fighter would make the worst pilot an ace....but not so for the I185M71 it is coser to the true fighter than the LA7.
rodney duffield, e-mail, 11.02.2008 13:26
are there any detailed plans including wing foils spar construction tail feather foil sections ect available ???Iam building a large scale version of this [i 185 m82] plane. I flew it on IL2 and it seemed like a nice aircraft
