RWD (aircraft manufacturer)

RWD was a Polish aircraft construction bureau active between 1928 and 1939. It started as a team of three young designers, Stanisław Rogalski, Stanisław Wigura and Jerzy Drzewiecki, whose names formed the RWD acronym.

History

They started work while studying at Warsaw University of Technology. In December 1925, with some other student constructors, they set up workshops at the Aviation Section of Mechanics Students' Club (Sekcja Lotnicza Koła Mechaników Studentów), where they manufactured their first designs. From 1926 they designed several aircraft alone (Drzewiecki JD-2 and WR-1), in 1928 they joined forces as one team, starting with RWD-1 sportsplane. Apart from building planes, J. Drzewiecki was a test pilot of their designs, while S. Wigura flew as a mechanic in competitions. In 1930 the team was moved to new workshops at Okęcie district in Warsaw, near the Okęcie aerodrome, today's Warsaw International Airport, founded by the LOPP paramilitary organization. On 11 September 1932, Stanisław Wigura died in an air crash in the RWD-6 during a storm, but the RWD name continued to be used for new designs (according to a popular story, the letter W now de facto stood for engineer Jerzy Wędrychowski, but he was not a designer). In 1933, Rogalski, Drzewiecki and Wędrychowski founded the company Doświadczalne Warsztaty Lotnicze (DWL, Experimental Aeronautical Works) in Warsaw, which became a manufacturer of further RWD aircraft. Apart from Rogalski and Drzewiecki, in a construction bureau worked designers Tadeusz Chyliński,Bronisław Żurakowski, Leszek Dulęba and Andrzej Anczutin and several engineers, including Henryk Millicer.

RWD 15

The RWD-15 was a Polish touring aircraft of 1937, designed by the RWD team.

Design and development

The RWD-15 was an enlarged development of the RWD-13 three-seat touring aircraft, designed by Stanisław Rogalski of the RWD team, in the DWL workshops in Warsaw. The prototype first flew in spring 1937 (registration SP-BFX). It inherited RWD-13's advantages, like ease of flying, with good stability. In 1939, five aircraft were produced. A series of 10 RWD-15 was ordered by the Polish Air Force as liaison aircraft in 1939, but they were not completed before the outbreak of World War II. A planned air ambulance variant with two stretchers and an aerial photography version then remained unbuilt.

Description

Five-seater touring strutted high-wing monoplane of mixed construction. Fuselage frame was metal, covered with canvas, the engine section covered with aluminium sheets. A two-spar rectangular wing was of wooden construction, covered with canvas and plywood leading edges, supported by V-struts. Wings were rearwards folding, and were equipped with automatic slats. Cantilever wooden tail unit, covered with plywood (stabilizers) and canvas (rudder and elevators). The cabin was enclosed, with two front seats fitted with dual controls, and behind them a bench with three seats. The cabin had a single door on the left and a pair of doors on the right side. Behind the cabin were two luggage compartments. Engine at the front - 205 hp de Havilland Gipsy Six II, with a two-blade metal tractor propeller (DH Hamilton 1000) of variable pitch, 2.28 m diameter. Conventional fixed landing gear, with a rear wheel. Fuel tanks in wings - 240 l.

RWD 2

The RWD-2 was a Polish sports plane of 1929, a single-engine high-wing monoplane constructed by the RWD team.

Development

The RWD-2 was constructed by the RWD team of Stanisław Rogalski, Stanisław Wigura and Jerzy Drzewiecki in the Aviation Section of Mechanic Students' Club of Warsaw University of Technology. It was a development of their first design RWD-1. Its feature was a unique, fish-shaped fuselage, with good aerodynamics, but without a direct view forward from the pilot's seat. For this reason, they were later nicknamed: blind mice.

The first prototype (registration SP-ACE) was completed and flown by the designer Jerzy Drzewiecki in July 1929. Since it appeared successful in sports flying, three more RWD-2s were built in 1930 (registration SP-ADJ, -ADG, -ADH).

Use

In August–September 1929, Franciszek Żwirko and Stanisław Wigura flew the prototype across Europe, on the 5000 km Warsaw-Paris-Barcelona-Warsaw route (it was the first long foreign raid of the Polish-designed aircraft). On 16 October, 1929, Żwirko and Antoni Kocjan set an international FAI altitude record of 4,004 m (13,133 ft) in the light tourist plane class (below 280 kg / 616 lb empty weight).