Polish Wings

[ALVAMA]

Such excellent work again, damn awesome!!!!

[Guillermo2312]

The Dreamliner has been drawn!! Awesome

[Hood]

Awesomeness abounds on this thread!!
Truely great work, I'm sure the military sections will be well worth the wait and the sports aircraft also sounds very interesting...

[Bombhead]

Excellent work again eswube, a true master. If you ever run out of aircraft to draw I would love to see a Vickers VC 10.

[eswube]

Thank You all for all Your praises.
It seems that B787 has been received much better than I'd expect.
As usual, on monday the generics will be posted.

@Hood
I hope You won't be disappointed.

@Bombhead
When I was drawing Il-62 it actually came to my mind that it would make a nice pair with VC.10. For a while I have what to draw, though. But I'll think of it. (some good references might be useful)

[eswube]

After the airliners, now it's the time for some small and light planes of the Polish Wings!

Today and in the next two parts I'll try to entertain You with Polish pre-war sports planes. Unfortunately, that's not a complete preview (far from it, actually), since some, especially amateur planes are lacking proper source.

Also, some sports planes were used also in large numbers as military trainers or liason planes, and therefore will be included in the military part of the thread, somewhat later.

Note: actual paint scheme for some of the aircraft was uncertain and therefore I decided to show them in generic colours.

Pioneer aircraft (pre-1918)

Probably the earliest 20th century attempt by a Pole to create a powered, heavier-than-air air vehicle was made by Józef Lipkowski, senior engineer in well-known Putilov Works in St.Petersburg in Russian Empire. In 1903 he designed a huge helicopter with two co-axial rotors and separate propulsion for level flight, significantly inspired by earlier ideas of Jules Verne. Initial design of 1903 called for empty weight of 2300kG (including 960kG of rotors themselves), but actually only one rotor was built for static tests, which begun in March 1905 yet ended in relative failure since with diameter of 16 meters and blades area of 200m2, powered by electrical engine of 35hp it gave just 50% of expected lift. Later Lipkowski proposed a modified design for military purposes with empty weight of 3880kG and total of 5320kG, including 490kG of bombs and flight endurance of 5 hours. Lipkowski's design assuptions were, however, criticized by famous aerodynamics theorist Nikolai Zhukovski as wildly over-optimistic. Eventually, because of unsuccessful trials Lipkowski lost interest in construction of helicopters. After the war he become a highly meritorious organized of the armaments industry in independent Poland.

Poland, Lipkowski


Around 1905, Czesław Tański, an established painter and already creator of several successful gliders (modeled after Otto Lilenthal's designs), turned his interests towards helicopters. In 1907 he built a muscle-powered helicopter with two co-axial rotors named "Śrubowiec" ("śruba" is Polish for screw). First attempts to use a Russian soldier as "engine" failed, while later (static) test with small combustion engine were bit more promising only that available engine had a power of just 2,5hp and lacked cooling, thereby overheating before it could give any meaningful results.

Poland, Tański Śrubowiec


First (actually flying) aircraft built on Polish soil (at the time under Russian rule) was French-designed Farman IV made by Warszawskie Towarzystwo Lotnicze "Awiata" (Warsaw Aeronautical Society "Awiata") starting from april 1910. 10 of such aircraft were made there and used for pilot training until 1912 when tsarist authorities dissolved the institution.

France/Poland, Farman IV


In the same year, 1910, Adolf Warchałowski, Austrian citizen of Polish origin, living in Vienna, started designing and building aircraft based roughly on Farman design. Within two years he built 15 aircraft that differed with various details. Warchłowski's planes were highly succesful for a time and gained several records of Austria.

Poland, Warchałowski


Also during the spring of 1910 Stefan Kozłowski built in Warsaw a plane inspired by Bleriot and Wright designs. Unfortunately the plane got damaged during take-off to it's maiden flight on 16 june 1910 and it's creator lacked funds for repair.

Poland, Kozłowski 1910


In 1910 Pole Rozum and Czech Bechiny built in Kraków an aircraft broadly modelled after Bleriot XI and with engine of their own design. Static tests of the engine and airplane were apparently successful, but it's unclear if there were any flights made on it.

Poland, Rozum-Bechiny


In 1910 Edmund Libański of Lwów (then under Austrian rule, presently in Ukraine) designed a bit peculiar aircraft that was supposed to have advantages of both mono- and biplane through use of lift areas of different size (with upper plane much smaller than the lower one). During the take-off to first flight the engine exploded leading to crash. Designer dropped the idea of rebuilding the plane and instead designed a year later a much more succesful two-seat airplane named Jaskółka (Swallow). It was later transported to Vienna where it made many succesful flights.

Poland, Libański Monobiplan, Libański Jaskółka



Emil Plage, son of the founder of Mechanical Works Plage & Laśkiewicz in Lublin (which, in independent Poland become one of major aircraft manufacturers) built in 1910 at Rumpler works in Berlin a biplane modeled after Farman aircraft. Unfortunately, during the first flight attempt the engine malfunctioned and aircraft crashed, although the designer/pilot was unhurt.

Poland, Plage I


Brothers Wincent and Rudolf Schindler, wealthy millers from Kraków, built in 1908 a working model airplane and in 1910 they commissioned a talented engineer Henryk Brzeski to built a plane to their ideas, named Aquila (latin for "eagle"). In August 1910 it was demonstrated on the ground to emperor Franz-Josef I, and several days ago a test-flight attempt was made, during which it crashed into a fence at the outskirst of the airfield.

Poland, Brzeski Aquila


Professor of the Politechnika Lwowska (Lvov Institute of Technology) Zygmunt Sochacki and his assistant Jan Weber designed and begun construction of Farman-inspired aircraft. In November 1910 it made first short flight that ended with damage after it hit an obstacle. A repair was attempted but snowfall caused collapse of the shed in which it was stored.

Poland, Weber-Sochacki


In late 1910 Czesław Zbierański and Stanisław Cywiński of Warsaw started building their own airplane, that eventually made it's first flight on 25 september 1911. This aircraft was the first truly succesful airplane designed and built in Warsaw, as well as one of the first (if not the first) planes with metal construction (instead of wood, though still with fabric covering).

Poland, Zbierański Cywiński


In 1911 Bronisław Głowiński built in Tarnopol (in today's Ukraine) a monoplane loosely modeled after Bleriot XI, but with metal construction and certain other design changes. Unfortunately, the fuselage grid was accidentaly built slightly deformed while the Anzani engine was purchased second-hand and was already quite worn-out. Therefore the planes performance was relatively disappointing and eventually the engine ceased to work, while the designer couldn't afford the repairs.

Poland, Głowiński


In the years 1910-1911 dr.eng. Bolesław Bronisławski developed in France the original system of the airplane steering in longitudinal axis by other means than conventional ailerons or by twisting the wingtips. His design utilized vertical axis on wingtips which had several surfaces mounted diagonally to the surface (flight level) and were rotaded to achieve roll movement. Initial trials were conducted on modified Farman III aircraft. After relatively successful trials the system was further refined and installed on a new aircraft that was built utilizing large parts of Farman and tested 1911-1912.

Poland, Bronisławski


In 1909 Czesław Tański (already mentioned above) started design works on an aircraft with longitudinal axis steering done by change of the angle-of-attack of the whole wing. Construction lasted until 1911 and in autumn of that year, the airplane, named Łątka (Dragonfly) underwent trials at Warsaw's Mokotów airfield. Unfortunately, Tański, witnessing numerous undercarriage failures on other aircraft, designed very heavy one for his aircraft, which resulted in aircraft - powered by relatively weak Anzani engine - never managed to take off the ground.

Poland, Tański Łątka


After the unsuccessful Plage I, it's designer Emil Plage continued his works in Berlin and in 1911 he designed there, together with Max Court a very ellegant and aerodynamically well developed for it's time monoplane aircraft. It made first flight in Autumn 1911 and was met with interest from German military authorities which run it's further trials. In the next year Plage and Court built slightly upgraded version of the aircraft, which made numerous flights, including successful participation in several air contests, until it crashed in October 1912.

Poland, Plage-Court Torpedo II


Stefan Drzewiecki (1844-1938) was a World-renowned scientist and inventor, credited with - among others - designing kilometric counter for cabs (1867), automatic railway coupler (1872), device plotting ship's course on map (1872), first submarine using a periscope (1877) and first one with electric propulsion (1888). From 1877 Russian Navy built 50 small submarines of Drzewiecki's design. In 1901 navies of Russia and France introduced torpedo launchers operating on pressurized air designed by Drzewiecki. In 1892 he wrote (in France) theoretical work regarding scientific methods of manufacture of ship (and plane) propellers and in 1920 presented a general theory for screw-propeller thrust (which in turn led to creation of propellers with adjustable blades).
Aeronautics was also among Drzewiecki's interests. His works regarding aircraft stability led to building in 1911-1912 a "self-stable" aircraft in canard layout. Interesting feature of the plane was lack of typical steering areas - altitude was adjusted by changing engine power while turning was done by adjusting AoA of either half of the nose wing. First flight was made in 1913, but because of this unusual steering features pilots were reluctant to fly. Eventually Drzewiecki designed improved version, but outbreak of World War I stopped further development.

Poland, Drzewiecki Canard


Shortly before the outbreak of the Great War, student Jerzy Rudlicki (who later become known aircraft designer), after building several succesful gliders 1912-1913 designed an aircraft named R-I. It's construction commenced with support of the Aero Club of Odessa (where Rudlicki resided at that time), which supplied Anzani engine. When the war erupted the plane was nearing completion and was therefore requisitioned by the Russian military which finalized the construction and made several (3 or 4) flights on it (before the plane crashed due to engine failure).

Poland, Rudlicki R.I


In 1909 the then-17-year old student of engineering Władysław Zalewski begun designing an airplane being essentialy a scaled-down Farman. In 1911 he proceeded to construction works but financial constraints caused a break until 1913 when they resumed only to be interrupted again year later by the outbreak of the Great War, this time for good. Interestingly, already built elements managed to survive the war and years later some of them were used in construction of Zalewski's another aircraft, WZ-XI/XII (see below).

Poland, Zalewski WZ-I


During the Great War Zalewski was serving as technician in the 2nd Aviation Depot of the Imperial Russian Air Service in Warsaw and later at Smolensk, headed by Vladimir Savleyev, who attempted to design a heavy multi-plane bomber. Zalewski joined him in this effort, and in suggested building a small quadruplane to gather necessary practical knowledge. Such plane was built with use of many elements from Morane G (plus some parts from Farman and Albatros aircraft) and was officialy credited Savleyev-Zalewski Chetyrekhplan or Savleyev-Zalewski No.I, with Zalewski himself counting the design as WZ-III. Test flights showed very good maneuverability and speed bit higher than the original Morane, despite higher weight. Later Zalewski heavily modified the plane by, among others, increasing wingspan and using stronger engine. The modified aircraft was designated SZ No.2 or WZ-IV and was earmarked for series production, which, however never materialized, but the prototype was for a time being used for reconnaissance flights until it was crash-landed and while it was recovered, the repair never happened because of the revoultions of 1917.

Poland/Russia, Zalewski WZ-IV (Savleyev-Zalewski SZ-2)


In September 1916 Imperial Russian Army opened contest for a design of a three-seat army co-operation aircraft. Zalewski designed a quadruplane (which he designated WZ-V) that was to be built at Kiev, but overall situation made it impossible. The designed aircraft had a crew of three (two seating abreast in the front cockpit plus gunner behind them), a wooden construction and 220hp Renault engine.

Poland/Russia, Zalewski WZ-V


Background of the design pictured below is somewhat sketchy. It is known (as mentioned above) that Savelev and Zalewski worked on a quadruplane bomber already in 1915 - and on that year is dated the source drawing I used for this work. What is also known, that in 1917 Zalewski worked on a heavy bomber that he later described as WZ-VI (in the overall sequence of his designs). However, the link between "1915" and "1917" designs is unclear, although to me it personally it looks not unlikely.

Poland/Russia, Savelev-Zalewski bomber


Other designs (pre-1918)
1908
Stibor-2 - Ostoja-Ostaszewski from Wzdów near Sanok built a muscle-powered helicopter-ornitopter which, however, never flew due to impracticality of it's design.
1910
Wróbel - certain citizen of Opole built an aircraft modeled after (German) plane by H. Grade, which made a series of flights during the spring of 1910;
Benni - a mechanic from Lublin began construction of an airplane, but there are no iformations wether it was ever completed nor how did it looked like;
Gold - Willibald Gold began construction of an airplane inspired with Farman design albeit monoplane, but it was never finished;
Kolousek - Stanisław Kolousek of Kraków designed and built an elaborate flying model of a biplane aircraft, powered with single-cyllinder petrol engine, there were further plans to built a "real" aircraft but were never fulfilled;
Chlebowscy - brothers Władysław, Henryk and Stefan Chlebowscy ("Chlebowski" being a singular form of the name) were aviation enthusiasts from Łódź, who built a flying model of a triplane (with rather awkward construction of the upper wing) that made numerous successful flights, and later attempted to built a full-size, crewed aircraft but failed due to financial constraints;
Rosenman-Rożniewski - a scientist from Lwów built a model of a highly unusual plane with two coleopter-type wings in tandem arrangement, with a propeller inside each. It made successful flights but no further details are known;
Naszkiewicz - Stanisław Naszkiewicz built models of biplane and ornithopter of his design; later he made an early gas-turbine engine, which he exhibited at the 1913 Exhibition Aeronautique in Paris, but the idea was too far advanced for the time;
Poznański - M. Poznański conceived a study of what apparently (from text description) was an early design of "a ducted-fan type of turbine powerplant" (quote from J. Cynk) and apparently a model was exhibited in 1911 but no further details are known;
Knyszyński - A. Knyszyński, Pole living in Berlin, built a model of a proposed full-scale machine, but nothing else is known about it;
Rubczyński - certain citizen of Lwów built a rubber-powered model of the planned aircraft with twin propellers.
1911
Joachimczyk - Polish engineer working in Berlin, Alfred Marceli Joachimczyk, at Deutsche Flugmaschinenbau-Gesselschaft an experimental triplane with tandem wings but the design was apparently a complete failure;
Kaczka-Nadzieja (Utka-Nadieżda) - Michał Bohatyrew, Polish-born engineer and officer of the Russian Army built at Modlin an airplane with canard configuration, which crashed during first flight;
Kass Ery I - Józef Kass of Warszawa built in France a "self-stable" monoplane, though there are no conclusive informations about its flights;
Berthaud / Wróblewski - Piotr Wróblewski-Salvez built in France in Berthaud factory at Ambrieu near Lyon a monoplane aircraft with partially metal construction (of fuselage) which made numerous successful flights (piloted by designer's brother Gabriel Wróblewski-Salvez); year later it was heavily modified and in July 1912 it made some flights with passengers, one of which was then-12-years old Antoine de Saint-Exupéry for whom it was his first flight. Later Wróblewski-Salvez brothers built an improved design but during one of the test flights in 1914 it crashed, killing both brothers;
Makowiecki - Karol Makowiecki was a landowner living in Odessa and an aviation enthusiast, who has made a balloon already in 1906 and in 1911 he made a copy of Farman biplane and later established a factory of aircraft equipment where - besides the main production - two more "Farman-like" aircraft were made;
Borucki - engineer from Kielce built two aircraft, one modeled after Bleriot and another after Farman airplane. Because of his wife's serious illness he didn't made any flight attempts on these but the "Farman" plane was purchased my Russian military, thereby suggesting that flights on it were made;
Gumieniuk - certain carpenter from Łastowice built an aircraft but there are no informations about flights;
Sobański - pilot of Awiata society Antoni Sobański in Kiev a construction of an aeroplane but never finished it;
Wiśniewski - engineer Bronisław Wiśniewski built at Grażewski Factory a monoplane with 20hp engine but it's construction details and information about fligts are unknown;
Granowski - Polish expatriate in Italy, Julian Granowski, has established an aviation laboratory in Pegli near Genoa where he worked on a design of a delta-winged aricraft;
Grzegorzyca - Józef Grzegorzyca of Gliwice patended an aircraft of his design in Germany;
Moszkowski - a citizen of Lwów has purchased in 1910 a Bleriot aircraft and later made a design of an own aircraft based on it, but didn't managed to actually build it.
1912
LJaM (LYaM) - Jerzy Jankowski, Maximilian von Lerche and Francesco Mosca built at workshops of Moscov Aeronautical Society and airplane modeled after Bleriot aircraft with 50hp Gnome engine. It was apparently very well designed and built aircraft that made numerous succesful flights, including one on 14th of May 1912 when Jankowski broke on it Russian flight altitude record of 1775m;
Chałupscy - brothers Chałupscy ("Chałupski" being a singular form of the name) displayed two models of ornithopters propelled by compressed air engines at the international aviation exhibition in Vienna in 1912.
1913
Świeściak - Antoni Świeściak from Warsaw built an aircraft named "Polonia" which is said to be of wooden monocoque design and most likely never flew;
Herzig - - in response to a contest announced in Paris on a "flying bicycle" capable of at least 10m-long flight, Władysław Herzig from Poland designed and built such vehicle which is said to make successful "jumps" of at least several meters.
1914
Florjańscy - brothers Tadeusz and Władysław Florjańscy ("Florjański" being a singular form of the name) built in Lwów (then Lemberg in Austria-Hungary, now Lvov inUkraine) a biplane aircraft. When the war broke out the plane was nearing completion and was confiscated by military authorities and earmarked for evacuation. However, rapid advance of Russian army led to its capture and being finished by new owners which apparently made some operational reconnaissance flights before it crashed;
Fleger - Tomasz Fleger of Warsaw (who already designed in 1911 a floatplane and airship) designed and built a small monoplane pusher, which, however, never flew;
- in 1914 an unknown designer built a small, unmanned VTOL vehicle with forward-swept wings and co-axial propellers; because of it's bizzare design it never flew; in the 1930s it was on exposition at Warsaw's Museum of Technic and Industry;
1917-1918
Bartel - - in the final years of the World War I, and shortly before Poland regained independence, Ryszard Bartel - then a university student who later became a known aircraft designer, designed an aircraft modelled after Fokker Spinne. Construction was interrupted by Poland's declaration of independence when Bartel volunteered to join the Polish Military Aviation, where he served until 1920.




Independent Poland 1918-1939

Gabriel brothers (1921-1925)

Brothers Paweł and Jan Gabriel from Bydgoszcz began building gliders already before World War One. In 1921 they built diminutive plane P.V (wingspan: 5 m, length: 4 m) inspired by Fokker E.V, first flown in 1921. Encouraged by its good quality designed several larger aircraft, largely inspired by Fokker D.VII. Of these only one, P.VI was actually built and flown in 1924. Although very good plane, it unfortunately didn't get any orders, leading brother to lose interest in aviation.

Poland, Gabriel P.V, P.VI



Rudlicki (1922)

Jerzy Rudlicki (already mentioned above), during the World War I joined Polish Army in France where he received a formal military pilot training and during the Polish-Soviet war led an army co-operation squadron. After the war Polish authorities sent him for advanced studies in aeronautical design to French Ecole Superieure de l'Aeronautique, from which he graduated in 1922 with gold medal. As his diploma work Rudlicki presented a design of a highly advanced for its time passenger aircraft with all-metal construction (only rear fuselage and tail were to be fabric-covered), aerodynamically sophisticated lines and retractable undercarriage, powered by three engines and capable of carrying 20 passengers.

Poland, Rudlicki Project d'Avion Ru-type chassis pliant


Sopora (1923-1931)

Brothers Edward and Wojciech Sopora were owners of small mechanical workshop in Chorzów where in 1923 (after renaming the workshop, somewhat enthusiastically, into Pierwsza Śląska Fabryka Samolotów - First Silesian Airplane Factory) they started building airplanes, first of which was designated Silesia S-3. This small plane was underpowered and too heavy, therefore being rather sluggish in flight and after it was damaged in 1924 it was decided not to repair it, but to use components for next plane - Silesia S-4, first flown in 1925. Still not particularly succesful design, was bit more promising, leading Aeroklub Śląski (Silesian Aero-Club) to order improved plane designated S-10. However when S-4 crashed in 1931, killing the pilot, order was cancelled and factory liquidated.

Poland, Sopora-Silesia


Dąbrowski (1925-1928)

Student of Politechnika Warszawska (Warsaw Institute of Technology) Jerzy Dąbrowski, future designer of PZL 37 Łoś bomber, built his first airplane in1925. D-1 Cykacz (roughly: "Ticker" or "Chirper") was a tiny (wingspan 5 meters, length 3,7 meters) wooden biplane powered by Blackburn Tomti engine with power of just 12 kW. It was able to make short flights with speed of up to 100 km/h and maximum altitude of about 300 meters. Later Dąbrowski worked in Plage i Laśkiewicz works in Lublin, where in 1927-1928 together with Antoni Uszacki he designed and built sport plane DUS-III Ptapta (jocular name comes from the favorite word of the test pilot's Antoni Mroczkowski's baby daughter). Shortly later Dąbrowski moved to PZL in Warsaw, where he designed, or participated in designing, of some of the most famous airplanes of this manufacturer. When the war broke out in 1939, he was evacuated to Great Britain. After the war he worked for Percival Aircraft (participating with work on Pembroke and Jet Provost), then Folland (working on Gnat) and later moved to USA where he worked for Cessna, Stanley Aviation (escape capsule for B-58 Hustler) and Boeing. Jerzy Dąbrowski died in Renton, WA in 1967, aged 68.

Poland, Dąbrowski D-1 Cykacz, DUS-III Ptapta



Działowski brothers (1925-1932)

Brothers Stanisław and Mieczysław Działowski (Działowscy) also from Bydgoszcz built their first plane DKD-I in 1925 (maiden flight in 1926). After it was damaged in 1927 it's components were used to build DKD-III plane which happened to be a quite good design that during next several years made some 1800 flights. Next plane of Działowski brothers, the DKD-IV was built in 1929 in small series of three (and an - ultimately cancelled - order for 25 for the military), followed by single DKD-V plane that remained in use for next several years. In 1929-1930 they designed a three-seater sports planes DKD-VII and DKD-VIII (differing only with engine: Siemens 55hp or Genet 80hp respectively), however aerodynamical trials at Aerodynamics Institute in Warsaw exposed numerous shortcomings of the design further work was cancelled. Final design, although unfinished, of Działowski brothers was DKD-X Aeromobil - flying car intended as military liason vehicle.

Poland, Działowski DKD-I, DKD-III, DKD-IV, DKD-V, DKD-VII, DKD-X Aeromobil







Skraba (1926-1929)

Bolesław Skraba was an engineer in Centralne Warsztaty Lotnicze (CWL) in Warsaw. In 1926 he designed and year later flew a small all-metal sports plane named ST-3, which was the first such aircraft of such construction built in Poland. Although ingeniously designed and competently built, it wasn't a successful design due to high weight.

Poland, Skraba ST-3


Kozłowski (1927-1933)
Student of high school in Kalisz, Władysław Kozłowski, after reading a series of articles from the Lotnik (Aviator) monthly entitled Jak zbudować szybowiec i samolot sportowy? (How to build a glider and a sports airplane?) designed and built (this part with help of more experienced adults) his first airplane WK-1 Jutrzenka (Aurora). Year later two young workers from Railway Workshops in Ostrów Wielkopolski, Józef Moryson (Morrison) and Józef Nawrot built second, slightly modified such aircraft named Ostrovia. In 1929 Kozłowski made a project of small biplane sports plane, that was further refined by PZL and put into production as PZL-5, and in 1933 built another small biplane WK-3, that was used until 1939 by Aero-club of Łódź.

Poland, Kozłowski WK-1 Jutrzenka, WK-3



Zalewski (1927-1939)

Władysław Zalewski designed his first airplane already in 1914, but it's construction was halted by war. From 1914 to 1918 he was serving as engineer in Russian Imperial Air Service and participated in airplane design works. After he returned to Poland he worked as a designer in Centralne Warsztaty Lotnicze (Central Aviation Workshops), making there projects of several military aircraft (that hopefully will be presented sometime later). In 1927, as a private wenture, he designed and built tiny airplane WZ-XI Kogutek ("Cockerel"), that was also first Polish sports aircraft with domestic engine (WZ-18 with a power of 13 kW). By mid 1930s he started designing improved version of that plane (utilizing the same engine), designated WZ-XII Kogutek II, that was test-flown in 1937. Although a good, maneuverable plane, it was crashed in 1938. Later Zalewski designed much more advanced WZ-XIV with twin-seat enclosed cockpit and more powerful engine, but it's construction was halted by the outbreak of war.

Poland, Zalewski WZ-XI and WZ-XII and WZ-XIV Kogutek



Grzmilas (1928)

Lieutenant Tadeusz Grzmilas built (with some support from the military) in 1928 a small sports plane named Orkan II (Orkan I was an earlier glider by the same designer). It had quite good flight characteristics, but due to worn-out (purchased second-hand) engine its performance suffered. It was occasionaly flown by its designer until the war.

Poland, Grzmilas Orkan II


Offierski (1928)

Michał Offierski, technician in Samolot factory in Poznań, designed and built in 1928 a small sports plane. Although promising design, it suffered due to weak engine. Plans were made to put stronger propulsion, but after crash-landing they were dropped. Later Offierski become well-known glider and moto-glider pilot.

Poland, Offierski O-2


Stelmaszyk (1928)

Władysław Stelmaszyk was another worker of Samolot factory, and like Offierski, in 1928 he built a small sports plane. Decent design, it's history was rather short because the engine was only borrowed and had to be given back, while Stelmaszyk couldn't afford a new one.

Poland, Stelmaszyk S-1 Bożena


Woroniecki (1928)

Cpt. Ryszard Woroniecki was an instructor at Dęblin air force school and in 1928 he designed and built at the school's workshop a small monoplane sports plane with very smooth and sophisticated for the era and type aerodynamical lines (esp. visible in the wing-fuselage joining). Test flights proved aircraft had good flying characteristics and was later donated to Poznań aeroclub but crashed during ferry flight there in 1930.

Poland, Woroniecki


Sido (1930-1933)

Józef Sido was a student of engineering on Akademia Górnicza (Mining Academy) in Kraków when he built his S-1 plane in 1930. A very succesful design, it was built in a small series of three and in 1933 a construction of five more (designated S-1bis) has begun, although it was unfortunately never completed.

Poland, Sido S-1


Moryson (Morisson) (1930-1935)

Józef Moryson (Morisson) was already mentioned here in the entry about amateur planes built by Władysław Kozłowski. After building (with Józef Nawrot) an airplane Ostrovia based on Kozłowski's design, Moryson designed and built in 1930 another plane, named Moryson II "Ostrovia II". It was used until 1936, undergoing in that period several modernizations. Later he designed several other sports planes but none of them were flown.

Poland, Moryson II Ostrovia II


Wacyk-Tyrała (1930-1931)

Stanisław Wacyk and Tadeusz Tyrała built in 1930-1931 small plane intended for breaking a speed record in small planes category. It was first flown in 1931 and while it's performance was promising, it had also very difficult handling. Worse, engine was only borrowed and had to be returned after just few flights, while the designers couldn't afford other.

Poland, Wacyk-Tyrała WT-1


Nowotny (1930-1931)

Adam Nowotny, associate of Politechnika Lwowska (Lwów Institute of Technology) and of the Lwów Aeroclub designed in early 1930s an ellegant trainer designated Ny-4. It was initially being built in the workshops of Lwów Aeroclub but finished by Plage i Laśkiewicz in Lublin. Flight tests in 1934 proved that performance is even higher than anticipated. Further development was stopped when designer died in glider crash.

Poland, Nowotny Ny-4


Toczołowski-Wulf TW-12 (1933)

Henryk Toczołowski and Józef Wulf, employees of Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów designed between 1930-1932 and built in 1933 a small low-wing monoplane sports aircraft inspired by German Klemm airplanes. Test flights proved it had rather poor flying characteristics but was nonethless used until 1935 when it crashed during landing.



Gabriel Śląsk (1937)

Antoni Gabriel (unrelated to Gabriel brothers), after fulfilling his obligatory military service obligation as assistant technician in the military aviation, returned to his home village with strong commitment to build an amateur airplane. With help of a friend and heavy use of recycled materials, he managed to build in 1937 his Śląsk (Silesia) aircraft, which made two successful flights before authorities demanded their cessation for unspecified reasons.

Poland, Gabriel Śląsk


MIP (1937)

In the 1937 three students of Politechnika Warszawska: Ludwik Moczarski, Jan Idźkowski and Jerzy Płoszajski built a small and light (187kg empty weight) airplane Smyk (roughly "Kiddie"). Registered as motoglider, it was the first Polish sports aircraft with retractable landing gear.

Poland, MIP Smyk


Ścibor-Rylski (1939)
While being the student of the Warsaw Institute of Technology, Adam Ścibor-Rylski designed around 1936-1937 a small and simple aircraft that potentially could be produced in kits for home assembly by enthusiasts. In the spring of 1939 Ścibor-Rylski became a technical manager of the Śląskie Warsztaty Szybowcowe (Silesian Glider Workshops) in Bielsko (now: Bielsko-Biała) where the construction of his plane commenced and the airframe was completed by summer of the same year. Information regarding the further fate of this airplane is uncertain, though. According to Andrzej Glass the plane was never flown - first because of the problems with engine and then because of the outbreak of war, and when Germans arrived it was destroyed to prevent it's falling into hands of occupiers. According to Jerzy Cynk it was actually flown in the last days of August 1939 - which would make it the last Polish plane to make a maiden flight before the outbreak of World War 2 - and was later captured intact by Germans and transported to Dortmund where it flew for some time.

Poland, Ścibor-Rylski RS-III


Other designs (1918-1939)
1925
Lipczyński - young (a pupil at the secondary school at the time) aeroplane enthusiast Kazimierz Lipczyński designed in 1925 a small (wingspan: 8,54m, length: 5,4m) monoplane aircraft. Design was scrutinized and approved by aeroclub specialists and consctruction begun, although most likely was never completed for financial reasons.
1927/28
Siegel MS-5 and MS-6 - Mieczysław Siegel, a village schoolteacher from Skrzynice near Lublin, had already some experience with designing and building fairly amateur gliders when he decided to turn to somewhat more ambitious endeavour of building an aircraft. In 1927 he built a small MS-5 plane with parasol configuration, which was then deliberately destroyed during static tests. Year later Siegel built an improved MS-6 airplane but failed to acquire engine, which made the designer decide to stick to gliders.
1930
Janowski - Antoni Janowski was a designer at Samolot factory in Poznań designed and built a modern sports plane with two seats abreast and enclosed cockpit. Unfortunately the plane crashed during the test flight and second plane, which was also to be built, was therefore never completed.
1931
Muszyński-Wnęk - Zbigniew Muszyński and Władysław Wnęk, university students from Kraków, designed small parasol sports plane. Construction commenced but was never completed.
1936
SSS - On the initiative of prof. Gustaw Mokrzycki three students of the Warsaw Institute of Technology: Edmund Szutkowski, Leszek Szwarc and Jan Staszek designed, starting in 1936, as part of their diploma thesis, a small tailless plane. Unfortunately the outbreak of war made construction of this very interesting plane impossible.
1938-1939
ITS designs - Instytut Techniki Szybownictwa (Institute of Glider Technology) was a research and certification institution located in Lwów (using facilities of local Institute of Technology) created in 1932. Under it's auspices during the 1930s a number of glider designs were made (some of which were subsequently built) and final years of the decade a series of designs for light but aerodynamically advanced sports aircraft was made: ITS Drozd (Thrush), ITS Jaskółka (Swallow) and ITS Wróbel (Sparrow).



Sources:
Glass Andrzej, Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893-1939, Warszawa 1977;
Cynk Jerzy B., Polish aircraft 1893-1939, London 1971;
http://www.samolotypolskie.pl


to be continued...

EDIT: 27.01.2014 - added: Drzewiecki Canard, Gabriel P.V, Działowski DKD-X, Skraba ST-3, Grzmilas Orkan II, Offierski O-2, Stelmaszyk S-1 Bożena, Moryson II Ostrovia II, Wacyk-Tyrała WT-1, Nowotny Ny-4
EDIT: 09.07.2014 - added: Gabriel Śląsk
EDIT: 07.11.2015 - added: Bronisławski, Brzeski Aquila, Działowski DKD-VII, Głowiński, Libański Monobiplan, Lipkowski, Plage 1, Plage-Court Torpedo, Rozum-Bechiny, Rudlicki R.I, Ścibor-Rylski RS-III, Tański Łątka, Tański Śrubowiec, Weber-Sochacki, Woroniecki, Zalewski WZ-I, Zalewski WZ-IV, Zalewski WZ-V, Zalewski WZ-VI, Zalewski WZ-XIV and "other designs"
EDIT: 30.12.2017 - added: Toczołowski-Wulf TW-12

[ALVAMA]

Excellent work!! The Farman and all other old school aircrafts are just wunderbar!

[Hood]

You have surpassed yourself here. So many unknown aircraft and so much new info, great drawings and even some very early pioneer biplanes (I think the first in FS scale?). This is a crowning glory and I'm sure there's so much other great stuff to come too. A truely outstanding thread!

[Portsmouth Bill]

My usual habit of following Hood (and no I'm not his sockpuppet ) So yep, these are great, what this forum is about!

[eswube]

Thank You dear Friends!