The LWD Żak was a Polish touring and
trainer aircraft of the late 1940s, designed in the
LWD and built in a short series.
Design and development
The Żak (old-fashioned "student") was designed in the
Lotnicze Warsztaty Doświadczalne (LWD, ''Aviation Experimental Workshops'') in Łódź, directed by
Tadeusz Sołtyk in 1946, as one of the first Polish post-war aircraft. It was a light low-wing cantilever monoplane of a mixed construction, with a crew of two, sitting side by side, and fixed conventional
landing gear
Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Marti ...
. The first prototype Żak-1 was first flown on March 23, 1947. It was powered by the Czechoslovak 65 hp straight engine
Walter Mikron III and carried markings SP-AAC. The second prototype Żak-2 was powered by the 65 hp flat engine
Continental A-65 and had an open cockpit. It was flown on November 27, 1947, and carried markings SP-AAE.
The design appeared successful and the Ministry of Communication ordered a series of 10 aircraft. They were to be powered by licence-built A-65 engines, but since plans of engine production were abandoned, it was decided to fit them with Walter Mikron engines. They were also fitted with a closed
canopy, sliding rearwards, and named Żak-3. Ten planes were built by the LWD in the end of 1948, the first of them was flown on November 8, 1948. They had markings: SP-AAS to SP-AAZ, and SP-BAA to SP-BAC. At least one (SP-AAX) had engine replaced later with 85 hp (63 kW) Cirrus F.III. They were used in the Polish regional
aero clubs until 1955.
On October 20, 1948, there was flown a prototype of the last variant, Żak-4, meant for a
glider towing. It had stronger 105 hp Walter engine and an open canopy. Since it showed unsuitable for glider towing, and old
Polikarpov Po-2 appeared the better plane for this purpose, Żak-4 was not built in series, and the prototype was re-fitted with a closed canopy and used as a touring plane in aero club (markings SP-BAE).
Variants
;Żak-1 (SP-AAC)
:The first prototype powered by
Walter Mikron III
The Walter Mikron is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted straight engine for aircraft.
Development
Developed in Czechoslovakia in the early 1930s, the engine saw limited use in late 1930s and early 1950s. In the 1980s an initial batch of engi ...
engine.
;Żak-2 (SP-AAE)
:The second prototype without canopy and powered by
Continental A-65 engine.
;Żak-3
:Main production version with closed canopy and powered by Walter Mikron III engine, 10 built.
;Żak-4 (SP-BAE)
:Prototype of the glider towing version with open canopy (later refitted with a closed one) and powered by Walter engine.
Operators
;
*
Aeroklub Polski
Survivors
Żak-3 SP-AAX is preserved in the
Polish Aviation Museum in
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 159 ...
(disassembled as for 2007)
Specifications (Żak-3)
See also
References
*Babiejczuk, Janusz and Grzegorzewski, Jerzy: ''Polski przemysł lotniczy 1945-1973'' (Polish aviation industry...), Wydawnictwo MON, Warsaw 1974
* Bridgman, Leonard. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953-54''. London:Jane's,1953.
*Krzyżan, Marian: ''Samoloty w muzeach polskich'', Warsaw 1983,
Photo and description at Poser page
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lwd Zak
Zak
1940s Polish civil trainer aircraft
1940s Polish civil utility aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Low-wing aircraft