The LWS-2 was the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

air ambulance Air medical services are the use of aircraft, including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to provide various kinds of urgent medical care, especially prehospital, emergency and critical care to patients during aeromedical evacuation an ...

aircraft prototype, designed in the late-1930s in the LWS factory (''Lublin Aircraft Factory'').

Design and development

The LWS-2 was designed as a light ambulance aircraft, for a requirement of the

Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force () is the aerial warfare Military branch, branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 26,000 military personnel an ...

and the Polish

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

(PCK), which was operating military ambulances. A preliminary design was made in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

by Zbysław Ciołkosz, the main designer of the LWS factory, follower by Jerzy Teisseyre's detailed design. It was influenced by

RWD-9 The RWD 9 was a Polish sports plane of 1934, constructed by the RWD team. Development The aircraft was a further development of the RWD 6 - the winner of the ''IIIrd Challenge de Tourisme International'' Challenge 1932 international tourist airc ...

and

RWD-13 The RWD 13 was a Polish touring plane of 1935 in aviation, 1935, three-seater high-wing monoplane, designed by the RWD (aircraft manufacturer), RWD team. It was the biggest commercial success of the RWD. Development The RWD 13 was a touring plane ...

planes of the RWD team, especially their wing construction with rich wing mechanization, that gave it

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...

capabilities. The prototype was built using PCK funds. Aircraft was registered SP-ATP and flown in autumn of

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

. The Polish Red Cross ordered six aircraft, but the LWS factory was busy at that time with military production (

RWD-14 Czapla The RWD-14 Czapla (LWS Czapla) was a Polish army cooperation aircraft (observation, close reconnaissance and liaison aircraft), designed in the mid-1930s by the RWD team, and produced in the LWS factory from 1938. A series of 65 aircraft were ...

and LWS-3 Mewa), and they were not built by the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. LWS's next design, the LWS-3 Mewa close

reconnaissance plane A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as we ...

, utilized many features of the LWS-2, and was generally similar.

Description

Mixed construction (steel and wood) braced high-wing

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

, conventional in layout. Fuselage of a steel frame, canvas covered (engine part with duralumin). Two-spar straight wings of wooden construction, with

slats Super Low Altitude Test Satellite (SLATS) or Tsubame was a JAXA satellite intended to demonstrate operations in very low Earth orbit (VLEO, below 200 km), using ion engines to counteract aerodynamic drag (physics), drag from the atmosphere ...

, flaps and

flaperon A flaperon (a portmanteau of '' flap'' and ''aileron'') on an aircraft's wing is a type of control surface that combines the functions of both flaps and ailerons. Some smaller kitplanes have flaperons for reasons of simplicity of manufactur ...

s, covered with canvas and plywood (in front), rectangular with rounded tips and narrowing near the fuselage. The wings were supported with V-struts and were folding rearwards. Cantilever

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

, covered with plywood (stabilizers) and canvas (rudder and elevators). Conventional fixed

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...

, with a rear skid. Capacity of four in a closed

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...

: a pilot in front, a

doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

behind him, and two lying on

stretcher A stretcher, gurney, litter, or pram is an medical device, apparatus used for moving patients who require medical care. A basic type (cot or litter) must be carried by two or more people. A wheeled stretcher (known as a gurney, trolley, bed or ...

s at the back. It had a 9-cylinder air-cooled Avia-built Wright Whirlwind J-5

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

delivering 220 hp (164 kW) nominal power and 240 hp (179 kW) take-off power. Two-blade metal

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

Ratier, of variable pitch. A 130-liter fuel tank behind the engine. Cruise fuel consumption 48 L/h.

Operational history

On May 19, 1938 the prototype was given to the Air Force. Between July 1 and July 4, 1938, the LWS-2 prototype took part in an International Ambulance Aircraft Contest in Esch in

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, and won first place and a cup for the best accommodation in a cab for the injured. The prototype was later used by the Polish Red Cross. Its fate during the

is not clear, as the damaged plane was captured by the Germans on airfield at

Krosno Krosno (in full ''The Royal Free City of Krosno'', ) is a historical town and Krosno County, county in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland. The estimated population of the town is 47,140 inhabitants as of 2014. The functional ...

Operators

; *

Polish Red Cross Polish Red Cross (, abbr. PCK) is the Polish member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Its 19th-century roots may be found in the Russian and Austrian Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. On regaining its ind ...

operated one prototype, ordered 6 aircraft, none delivered.

Specifications (LWS-2)

References

External links

Photos and drawings at Ugolok Neba
{{LWS aircraft 1930s Polish civil utility aircraft 1930s Polish military utility aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1937 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear