View source for Zhukovsky's I-153-M62

{{Specs-Card
|code=i-153_m62_zhukovskiy
|cockpit=332955/1105165
}}
{{About
| about = Russian biplane '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| usage = other uses
| link = I-15 (Family)
}}

== Description ==
<!--''In the description, the first part should be about the history of and the creation and combat usage of the aircraft, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the aircraft in the game. Insert a screenshot of the vehicle, so that if the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, he will immediately understand what kind of vehicle the article is talking about.''-->
[[File:GarageImage_Zhukovskys_I-153-M62.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
'''{{Specs|name}}''' is a premium Rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet biplane {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.31]]. It costs 250 Golden Eagles. The plane is painted after the camouflage scheme of Soviet pilot Sergey Y. Zhukovsky in the 127th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces.

The main purpose of the 153 Chaika is to support operations as an escort, air superiority, or ground attack fighter aircraft. It is best used, however, as an air superiority aircraft. Due to its fast climb rate, tight turning radius, and speed, it outperforms many of its contemporaries. Tactically, climb high at the start of a match to pursue bombers or other fighters by diving on them, targeting engines and fuel tanks. 

Once the threat of enemies at altitude is removed, or when engaging bombers such as the PBY, H6K, Blenheim, or Beaufort, it is highly advisable to kill the gunners of the aircraft and force it to dive, and begin targeting the engines and wings. Against fighters, head-oning is an OK strategy if you disengage and loop around onto the hostile aircraft. At low altitudes, the turning capabilities of the aircraft, coupled with its excellent climb rate, allow you to attack and retreat at will. 

Zhukovsky's Chaika is a distinctive vehicle in mainly appearance. It performs very well and can take bombs and rockets into battle. With a forward armament of 4 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, it can quite quickly ruin enemy planes, and its payload options allow it to deal with a couple lightly armoured vehicles while it's over the battlefield.

== General info ==
=== Flight Performance ===
''Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.''

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="8" | Characteristics
|-
! colspan="8" | ''Stock''
|-
! colspan="2" | Max Speed<br>(km/h at 4,850 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude<br>(meters)
! colspan="2" | Turn time<br>(seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb<br>(meters/second)
! rowspan="2" |Take-off run<br>(meters)
|-
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
|-
| 421 || 409 || 10,700 || 14.1 || 14.4 || 11.3 || 11.3 || 274
|-
! colspan="8" | ''Upgraded''
|-
! colspan="2" | Max Speed<br>(km/h at 4,850 m)
! rowspan="2" |Max altitude (meters)
! colspan="2" | Turn time (seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb<br>(meters/second)
! rowspan="2" |Take-off run (meters)
|-
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
|-
| 466 || 444 || 10,700 || 13.0 || 13.3 || 24.2 || 15.2 || 274
|-
|}

====Details====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | Features
|-
! Combat flap
! Take-off flap
! Landing flap
! Air brakes
! Arrestor gear
|-
| X || X || X || X || X     <!-- ✓ -->
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | Limits
|-
! rowspan="2" | Wing-break speed<br>(km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Gear limit<br>(km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Combat flap<br> (km/h)
! colspan="2" | Max Static G
|-
! +
! -
|-
| 570 || 570 || ??? || ~14 || ~14
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="4" | Optimal velocities
|-
! Ailerons<br>(km/h)
! Rudder<br>(km/h)
! Elevators<br>(km/h)
! Radiator<br>(km/h)
|-
| < 300 || < 340 || < 340 || > 220
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Compressor (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Setting 1
|-
! Optimal altitude
! 100% Engine power
! WEP Engine power
|-
| 2,500 m || 930 hp || 1,116 hp 
|-
! colspan="3" | Setting 2
|-
! Optimal altitude
! 100% Engine power
! WEP Engine power
|-
| 5,000 m || 880 hp || 1,056 hp 
|-
<!--! colspan="3" | Setting 3
|-
! Optimal altitude
! 100% Engine power
! WEP Engine power
|-
| ?,??? m || ?,??? hp || ?,??? hp 
|- -->
|}

=== Survivability and armour ===
<!--''Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured. Describe the armour, if there is any, also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.''-->

* 8 mm Steel plate behind the pilot.
* No armour glazing, open cockpit
* Critical components located at front of aircraft (fuel, pilot, engine, controls)

== Armaments ==
=== Offensive armament ===
<!--''Describe the offensive armament of the aircraft, if any. Describe how effective the cannons and machine guns are in a battle, and also what belts or drums are better to use. If there is no offensive weaponry, delete this subsection.''-->
{{main|ShKAS (7.62 mm)}}

'''''Zhukovsky's'' I-153-M62''' is armed with:

* 4 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun, nose mounted (750 + 520 + 500 + 700 (Top right clockwise) = 2,470 total)

=== Suspended armament ===
<!--''Describe the aircraft's suspended armament: additional cannons under the wings, bombs, rockets and torpedoes. This section is especially important for bombers and attackers. If there is no suspended weaponry remove this subsection.''-->
{{main|FAB-50 (50 kg)|RS-82|RBS-82}}

'''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' can be outfitted with the following ordinance:

* Without load
* 4 x 50 kg FAB-50 bombs (200 kg total)
* 8 x 82 mm RS-82 rockets
* 8 x 82 mm RBS-82 rockets

== Usage in battles ==
<!--''Describe the tactics of playing in an aircraft, the features of using vehicles in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''-->
As described earlier, climbing at an aggressive rate during the beginning of the game is extremely beneficial. Once at bomber altitude, building up speed is a must as the biplane bleeds speed in high altitude turns. However, once this is achieved, the plane has free reign overruling the sky. Play mainly as an interceptor and air-defence fighter and watch as the enemy plummets towards the ground.

Anything with .50 cals will usually knock your engine out almost immediately. Also, tracer belts easily light this on fire, and the burning is usually fatal. As a result, turn-fighting to keep yourself out of enemy guns is advisable. 

Many aircraft will attempt to Boom & Zoom you if you remain at low altitudes. Should this happen, engage as though you were going to head-on and break off at the last moment. By swinging around, you'll be able to catch them as they pull up and destroy them.

===Manual Engine Control===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | MEC elements
|-
! rowspan="2" |Mixer
! rowspan="2" |Pitch
! colspan="3" |Radiator
! rowspan="2" |Supercharger
! rowspan="2" |Turbocharger
|-
! Oil
! Water
! Type 
|-
| Controllable || rowspan="2" | Not controllable || rowspan="2" | Not controllable || rowspan="2" | Not controllable || rowspan="2" | Separate || rowspan="2" | Not controllable || rowspan="2" | Not controllable
|-
|}

===Modules===
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="1" | Tier
! colspan="2" | Flight performance
! colspan="1" | Survivability
! colspan="2" | Weaponry
|-
| I
| Fuselage Repair
| Radiator
| 
| Offensive 7 mm
| DZ-40
|-
| II
| 
| Compressor
| Airframe
| 
| RO-82
|-
| III
| Wings Repair
| Engine
| New 7 mm MGs
| 
| 
|-
| IV
| 
| Engine Injection
| Cover
| 
| 
|-
|}

* As Zhukovsky's I-153-M62 is a premium vehicle, it comes will all modules researched.

=== Pros and cons ===
<!--''Summarize and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".''-->

'''Pros:'''

* Incredible turn radius
* Great climb rate
* High rate of fire with 4 7.62 mm machine guns

'''Cons:'''

* Low speed
* Minimal damage output with default belts for the 7.62 mm machine guns

== History ==
''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== Encyclopedia Info ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).''

=== In-game description ===
"The Polikarpov I-153 ""Chaika"" (""Seagull"") was an advanced version of the I-15 fighter developed in 1932 (thus its designation, meaning ""I-15 Third Model""). The first aircraft of this type took off in August 1938, but it was only a year later that it was launched into full-scale production.

The prototype served as ""Black 69"" with the 127th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Western Military District. This aircraft was piloted by Sergey Yakovlevich Zhukovsky, a Soviet ace who scored 13 planes destroyed and 15 shared destroyed.

By the start of the war, Zhukovsky was a Junior Lieutenant and a Flight Commander with the 127th Fighter Aviation Regiment at Grodno. On June 22, 1941, he took part in nine air duels and shot down five enemy aircraft (three of them while piloting ""Black 69""), and on June 29, he scored three more victories. He flew a total of over 500 sorties during the years of the war.

Sergey Yakovlevich Zhukovsky was awarded with the Order of Lenin, six Orders of the Red Banner of Labour, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class, two Orders of the Red Star, and sixteen medals. He retired from the Soviet Air Force as a Colonel General of Aviation."

== Media ==
''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.''

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the aircraft;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the aircraft;''
* ''other literature.''

{{USSR fighters}}