LWS-3 Mewa
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The LWS-3 Mewa ("
Seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...
") was a Polish observation and close
reconnaissance aircraft 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 Aerial photography, photography), signals ...
, designed in the late-1930s by the LWS factory. It was ordered by the Polish Military Aviation, but did not manage to enter service before the outbreak of World War II.


Design and development

The aircraft was designed as the successor to the obsolete
Lublin R-XIII The Lublin R-XIII was the Polish army cooperation plane (observation and liaison plane), designed in the early-1930s in the Plage i Laśkiewicz factory in Lublin. It was the main army cooperation plane in the Invasion of Poland. Its variant Lu ...
army cooperation plane. First sketches were drawn 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 chief designer of the LWS factory (''Lubelska Wytwórnia Samolotów''). It was similar to the earlier light ambulance plane LWS-2, which itself was inspired by the
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 ...
plane
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 ...
wing design. After Ciołkosz had left LWS in 1937, the project, named LWS-3 Mewa, was modified and further developed at the LWS bureau. In the same year, the Polish Air Force ordered three prototypes. The first prototype LWS-3/I was flown in November
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 ...
. It revealed some handling deficiencies, but otherwise a good performance. Following tests, the design of the aircraft was improved. In
1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...
, the second prototype LWS-3/II was flown. It had a crank mechanism to lower tailfin and rudder in order to increase angle of the rear machine gun fire, but as it proved impractical, the next prototype LWS-3/III from autumn 1938 again had a classic tailfin design. The third prototype, with some further changes, among others to the engine cover and
canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...
, was the pattern for serial production. The first prototype was exhibited at the 16th International Paris Aviation Salon in November 1938 (as "
PZL PZL, may refer to: Places * PZL, an IATA airport code for Phinda Airfield in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa * PZL, a location code for the Złotów County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, in the system of the vehicle registration plates of Polan ...
Mewa"), where it met with interest. Official tests were satisfactory, and in 1938 the Polish Air Force ordered 200 aircraft of the production variant LWS-3A Mewa (or "Mewa A"). The production started in early
1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...
, and first aircraft were to be ready in the summer. In August 1939, about 30 aircraft were almost completed (10 ready, but lacking
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 ...
s, 7 in painting and 10 in final assembly). LWS-3B Mewa variant powered with a Fiat R74 860 hp (640 kW) engine for
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
was being developed as well as a
floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...
LWS-3H (hydro) variant for the Polish naval aviation. None were produced due to the war outbreak.


LWS-7 Mewa II

In 1939, the LWS-7 Mewa II was being developed at the LWS as the development of Mewa. Before the war, only a model for
aerodynamics Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...
tests was made. Drawings of LWS-7 were evacuated in September 1939 to the Polish embassy in Romania by the LWS director Aleksander Sipowicz. Many publications claim that they were handed over to Bulgarians, but it is not clear (possibly, it concerned the LWS-3B plans, in fact). The Bulgarian-built reconnaissance plane KB-11 Fazan bore some resemblance to Mewa.


Operational history

None of the aircraft entered service in the Polish Air Force before the outbreak of the
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 ...
on September 1, 1939. The problem was with propellers, which had to be delivered from France. The first two aircraft were ready for delivery on September 2, but one of them was damaged on the factory airfield in
Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...
by German bombers. The fate of the other one is not clear. Following that, some of the almost finished aircraft were hidden in Lublin park and in a forest nearby. A couple were modified to use wooden propellers with a fixed pitch. Two such aircraft were evacuated to an airfield near
Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
, and given over to the 26th Observation Escadre on September 12. One of them crashed during a night landing on Medyka airfield near
Przemyśl Przemyśl () is a city in southeastern Poland with 56,466 inhabitants, as of December 2023. Data for territorial unit 1862000. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It was previously the capital of Prz ...
on the same day, the other was burned on September 17, when it could not be evacuated. According to some sources, two other Mewas were assigned to the 23rd Observation Escadre on September 11, but this has not been confirmed. It is not clear whether any of these aircraft were armed. One of the aircraft was also seen during evacuation to
Pinsk Pinsk (; , ; ; ; ) is a city in Brest Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Pinsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is located in the historical region of Polesia, at the confluence of t ...
in mid-September. The rest of uncompleted aircraft were seized by Germans and scrapped. Contrary to its direct predecessor,
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 ...
, the Mewa was a modern 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 ...
, comparable with leading foreign aircraft of that period, like
Henschel Hs 126 The Henschel Hs 126 was a twin-seat parasol wing reconnaissance and observation aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Henschel. The Hs 126 that was derived from the Henschel Hs 122. The pilot was seated in a pro ...
or
Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British Army cooperation aircraft, army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operat ...
. Its advantages were quite short take-off and landing, which enabled it to operate from short or unprepared remote fields.


Technical description

Mixed construction (steel and wood) monoplane, conventional in layout, with braced high wings, canvas and plywood covered. Wings folded rearwards. 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 tailwheel. Crew of two, sitting in tandem 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 ...
, with large transparent canopy surfaces. The crew had dual controls. Prototypes were armed with two forward-firing 7.92 mm machine guns fixed on the undercarriage covers, but it appeared, that their accuracy was low due to vibration, and (according to J. Cynk) production aircraft were intended to have twin machine guns on fuselage sides. The observer had a 7.92 mm wz.37 machine gun in a rear station, covered by opening canopy. 14-cylinder air-cooled
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. ...
Gnome-Rhône 14M01 (prototypes) or 14M05 (serial) with 660 hp (490 kW) nominal power and 730 hp (540 kW) maximum power. Three-blade metal propeller (planned) or two-blade wooden propeller (installed on some aircraft). Fuel capacity about 380 L in wings. The aircraft was fitted with radio and cameras.


Variants

;LWS-3/I: The first prototype. ;LWS-3/II: The second prototype, equipped with a crank mechanism to lower tailfin and rudder in order to increase angle of the rear machine gun fire. ;LWS-3/III: The third prototype with a classic tailfin design and some further changes, among others to the engine cover and
canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...
. Pattern for serial production. ;LWS-3A Mewa (Mewa A): Basic production variant, 200 ordered for Polish Air Force, only 30 completed or almost completed. ;LWS-3B Mewa (Mewa B): Planned variant for Bulgaria powered with a Fiat A.74 860 hp (640 kW) engine. ;LWS-3H (hydro): Planned
floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...
variant for the Polish naval aviation. ; LWS-7 Mewa II: Planned development of Mewa with new wings, a
semi-monocoque The term semi-monocoque or semimonocoque refers to a stressed shell structure that is similar to a true monocoque, but which derives at least some of its strength from conventional reinforcement. Semi-monocoque construction is used for, among o ...
fuselage and stronger 916 hp (683 kW) engine PZL Pegaz XX (
Bristol Pegasus The Bristol Pegasus is a British nine-cylinder, single-row, air-cooled radial engine, radial aircraft engine, aero engine. Designed by Roy Fedden of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, it was used to power both civil and military aircraft of the 1 ...
XX) or a planned 1000 hp (750 kW) PZL Waran.


Operators

;Wartime: ; *Polish Military Aviation ;Planned: ; *
Bulgarian Air Force The Bulgarian Air Force () is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and protect the sovereignty of Bulgarian airspace, and jointly with ...
ordered 60 aircraft of the LWS-3B variant in April 1939. None were produced due to the war outbreak.


Specifications (LWS-3A)


See also


References


Bibliography

* Glass, Andrzej. ''LWS 3 Mewa, Wydawnictwo Militaria 11''. Warszawa, Poland: Wydawnictwo Militaria, 1996. . * Glass, Andrzej. ''Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893-1939'' ("Polish aviation designs 1893-1939"). Warszawa, Poland: Wydawnictwa Komunikacji i Łączności (WKiŁ), 1977. (Polish language, no ISBN). {{LWS aircraft 1930s Polish military reconnaissance aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1938 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear