POLIKARPOV I-16 'RATA'

 

A splendid "colourised" photograph of a Polikarpov I-16 "Rata" with pilot and ground crew. Just one of the "colourful interwar types" of aircraft to be found in (or above) the Hereford VBCW. Some historians argue that this photograph was taken in Spain, during the Spanish Civil War. While the 'Rata' is clearly in Republican colours, VBCW researchers point to the similar insignia of the "Escadrilla Espana" in Herefordshire during 1938, and argue that "the treeline" just visible in this photograph clearly identifies Shobdon Airfield.