The PWS-24 was a Polish single-engine passenger aircraft for 4 passengers, built in PWS factory, used from

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

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 ...

LOT Polish Airlines LOT Polish Airlines, legally Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A. (, ''flight''), is the flag carrier of Poland. A founding member of IATA, it is one of the world's oldest airlines. With a fleet of 87 aircraft as of June 2025, LOT is Europe's 16th ...

. In spite of its limited capacity, it was the only series-built airliner of domestic design ever used by the LOT. PZL.4, PZL.27,

PZL.44 Wicher The PZL.44 Wicher (''gale'') was a prototype of 14-seat, twin-engine Polish airliner, built in the Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze (PZL) in 1938 in aviation, 1938. It was to compete with the Douglas DC-2, DC-2 and Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra, Loc ...

and PZL MD-12 were evaluated by LOT, being prototypes.

Development

The aircraft was a development of an unsuccessful

PWS-21 The PWS-21 was a Polish passenger aircraft for 4 passengers, built in PWS (aircraft manufacturer), PWS factory in 1930, that remained a prototype. Development The aircraft was developed for a contest for a successor of Junkers F-13 in LOT Polish ...

, utilizing its lightweight construction wing (weight 300 kg). A fuselage and stabilizers were new. The main designer was Stanisław Cywiński. The prototype (markings SP-AGR) first flew in August

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

Biała Podlaska Biała Podlaska (; ) is a city in the Lublin Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 56,498 inhabitants It is the capital of Biała Podlaska County, although the city is not part of the county (it constitutes a separate city county). The city lies on ...

. After trials and some modifications, it won a Ministry of Communication's contest for a successor of Junkers F-13 in LOT airlines, against

Lublin R-XVI The Lublin R-XVI was a Polish passenger and air ambulance aircraft, designed in the 1930s in the Plage i Laśkiewicz factory in Lublin and built in a small series. Design and development The Lublin R-XVI was conceived as a small 4-seater passenge ...

. In June 1932 it took the first place in a passenger aircraft race at the international air meeting in Warsaw. Polish Ministry of Communication ordered a series of 5 aircraft for LOT airlines, built in

(markings: SP-AJF, -AJG, -AJH, -AJJ, -AJK). In 1932, the prototype SP-AGR was fitted with a more powerful engine, the 300 hp Lorraine Algol, instead of the 240 hp

Wright Whirlwind J-5 The Wright R-790 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical Corporation, with a total displacement of about and around . These engines were the earliest members of the Wright Whirlwin ...

. It was later tested with a 400 hp

Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior is a series of nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial aircraft engines built by the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company from the 1930s to the 1950s. These engines have a displacement of ; initial versions produced ...

engine. Maximum speed improved from 185 to 225 km/h, comparing with the basic variant. In

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

a production of further 5 aircraft started, with Wasp Junior engines, designated PWS-24bis (markings: SP-AMN, -AMO, -AMP, -AMR, -AMS). Also one PWS-24 was converted to PWS-24bis (SP-ASY, ex. SP-AJH).

Usage

PWS-24 were put into use in

from May 1, 1933 on domestic lines. Their flight characteristics and durability proved however worse, than of single-engined Fokker F.VIIa/1m, used by LOT, so their service was not long. In

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

three PWS-24 (SP-AGR, -AJF, -AJJ) were converted to

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...

variant, but in

four PWS-24s were broken up. The last, SP-AJJ, was broken up 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 ...

. PWS-24bis entered service in LOT in 1935. They were used there however only until

. PWS-24bis SP-AMR was sold in April 1935 to 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 used as a staff machine. It had a slight accident and compulsory landing on 27 April 1935,Morgała 2003, p. 310 its further fate is not known. SP-ASY and -AMN were broken up in 1936-1937. SP-AMO was sold in 1936 to

Maritime and Colonial League The Maritime and Colonial League (Polish: ''Liga Morska i Kolonialna'') was a mass Polish social organization, created in 1930 out of the Maritime and River League (''Liga Morska i Rzeczna''). In the late 1930s it was directed by general Marius ...

paramilitary organization and soon crashed in July 1936 during testing of a new variable-pitch propeller. The remaining two PWS-24bis (SP-AMP and-AMS) were converted to aerial photography in 1936 and used until 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 ...

in September

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 ...

. After the German invasion, SP-AMP was damaged during bombing, while SP-AMS was evacuated to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, where it was seized by Romanian government in February 1940 and later used by the

LARES Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ) were Tutelary deity#Ancient Rome, guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an ama ...

line to aerial photography.Mazur 2016, p. 51-57 It was broken up after an accident 8 September 1940.

Operators

; *

Description

High-wing cantilever

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 ...

of mixed construction, with closed cab and single engine. A fuselage of a steel frame, covered with

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

on a wooden frame. Straight one-piece wooden wing, with elliptical endings, two-spar, plywood covered. Tailfins of steel frame, canvas covered. Crew of two (pilot and mechanic), in a cab before the wing, with twin controls. Next and below in a fuselage, under the wing, there was a cabin for 4 passengers, with wide rectangular windows and a door on the left side. Radial engine in fuselage front, fitted with a

Townend ring A Townend ring is a narrow-chord (aircraft), chord cowling ring fitted around the cylinders of an aircraft radial engine to reduce drag and improve cooling. It was patented in 1929, and found use on various aircraft of the 1930s and into the 1940s ...

. Two-blade metal propeller of variable pitch. 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; struts with shock absorbers joined the main gear with wings. Fuel tanks 260 L in central wing section (cruise consumption 50-58 L/h in PWS-24, 95 L/h in PWS-24bis). Engine: *PWS-24 - 9-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. ...

(240 hp take-off power, 220 hp nominal power) *PWS-24bis - 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine Pratt and Whitney Wasp Junior TB (420 hp take-off power, 400 hp nominal power)

Specifications (PWS-24bis)

References

*Andrzej Glass: "Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893-1939" (''Polish aviation constructions 1893-1939''), WKiŁ, Warsaw 1977 (Polish language, no ISBN) * *

External links

Photos and drawings at Ugolok Neba site
{{PWS aircraft 1930s Polish airliners 1930s Polish civil utility aircraft 1930s Polish military utility aircraft PWS aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1931 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear