According to some recent historians, such as Mikhail Maslov, the cancellation of the I-180 was caused by personal and non content-related reasons and might be considered an error. Especially after Chkalov's death, the Soviet authorities started to promote young designers, in preference to Polikarpov, despite the fact that the I-180 was the best performing Soviet fighter at the time of its cancellation and that it was faster than the Bf 109. One prototype series I-180 developed a speed of 585 km/h, that could be improved after projected changes, such as adding a closed canopy. The next best fighter, Yakovlev's I-26 (Yak-1 prototype), suffered from a troublesome and protracted development cycle, but Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev was one of Stalin's favorites, which most probably saved his design. In addition, the I-180 could have been available much earlier than the Yak-1 and LaGG-3 types, and there was the possibility of producing it with a temporary M-87 engine, until the M-88 could be improved. Crashes of I-180 prototypes were mostly accidental, and should not be regarded as disqualifying the design. Moreover, the I-180 showed much fewer "teething problems" than its counterparts, especially the Yak-1, confirming Polikarpov's competence in aircraft design. Another advantage was that the construction of the I-180 was similar to the I-16, which was familiar to the Soviet industry and pilots, but handling of the I-180 was even easier and it was more stable. The same situation recurred with Polikarpov's next design, the advanced I-185, based on the I-180 design.