Foreign planes built under license
IAR designs
IAR-11 and IAR CV-11 fighter
IAR-12 fighter
IAR-13 fighter
IAR-14 fighter-trainer
IAR-15 fighter
IAR-16 fighter
IAR-37 reconnaissance / light bomber
IAR-38 reconnaissance / light bomber
IAR-39 reconnaissance / light bomber
IAR-80 fighter
IAR-81 fighter-bomber

The IAR-16 fighter

 

At the same time the IAR-15 was being developed, another fighter was taking shape on the drawing boards : the IAR-16.
The IAR-16's most innovative feature was its all-metal airframe structure, covered with duralumin sheets, plywood and fabric. Generally, the aircraft's fuselage outlines mirrored those of the IAR-14, and the wings followed the same rule, although their area was increased from 19.8 square meters to to 20.3 meters. A new Townsend ring, much narrower than the NACA one used on the IAR-15, was mounted in the nose, covering the new Bristol engine.
As usual the tail went through the redesign process, common to all its predecessors, the rear fuselage and the tail becaming round this time. The same two-strut undercarriage was employed with the sole difference that the tail wheel was abandoned and replaced by a "ski".
A new British engine was chosen as powerplant : it was the Bristol Mercury IV S2 nine-cylinder, radial engine, which could produce 560 HP at 4500 meters. One interesting detail about it is the fact that individual exhaust pipes were mounted to each of the nine cylinders. The engine drove a Bristol-made two-blade wooden propeller, fitted with a large cone.
The IAR-16 was armed with the same two Vickers 7.7 mm machine guns, but this time they were not mounted in the nose but in the wings, and they fired outside the propeller arc rather than straight through it.
The prototype was ready by mid-1934, and the usual serie of test flights began. During these flights, it was realised that because of the new all-metal configuration, wing load had become a bit too high at 70.14 kg/square meter, and, overall, the aircraft was inferior to the IAR-15. There was only one exception : climb speed had improved significantly, allowing now to reach 5000 meters in 6 minutes and 30 seconds.

 

         
 
An ARR comission studied the aircraft, but since its capabilities weren't equal even to those of the IAR-15, it wasn't a surprise that they rejected it. No other planes of tis type were built except for the prototype. It was used on the 16th of July, 1935 by Lt. Alexandru Papana to set a new national altitude record of 11631 meters, altitude which he reached in 47 minutes.
  The IAR-16 fighter  
During 1935 and 1936, Papana also used it to perform spectacular acrobatics at various air shows, much to the delight of the crowds.

The IAR-16 fighter

Technical data for the IAR-16

Wingspan
11.7 meters
Wing area
20.3 square meters
Length
7.37 meters
Height
2.8 meters
Weight ( empty )
1430 kg
Weight ( loaded )
1650 kg
Maximum speed at 4000 meters
342 km/h
Climbs to 5000 meters
6 minutes and 30 seconds
Range
600 km
Maximum operational ceiling
10000 meters
Engine
Bristol Mercury IV S2 rated at 560 HP
Armament
2 Vickers 7.7 mm machine guns mounted in the wings
Crew
1
Numbers produced
1
With the IAR-16 the serie of fighter projects came to a temporary end. Although none of them ( apart from the IAR-14 ) entered mass-production, a lot valuable experience was gained by Romanian engineers. The lessons learned were put to too good use five years later, when in the morning of April the 20th, 1939, the prototype of the famous IAR-80 took to the skies for the first time...

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