The PWS-51 was a Polish sports plane of 1930, a single-engine low-wing monoplane, constructed by the ''

Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów (PWS; ''Podlachian Aircraft Factory'') was a Polish aerospace manufacturer between 1923 and 1939, located in Biała Podlaska. History Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów S.A. (corporation), SA was created in 1923. The f ...

'' (PWS), that remained a prototype.

Design and development

The plane was designed in 1929 by Stanisław Cywiński in ''Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów'', on factory's initiative, specially to participate in the

Challenge 1930 The International Touring Competition in 1930 () was the second FAI international touring aircraft contest, that took place between July 18 and August 8, 1930 in Berlin, Germany. Four Challenges, from 1929 to 1934, were major aviation events in pr ...

international touring aircraft contest (along with

PWS-50 The PWS-50,(PWS - Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów - Podlasie Aircraft Factory), was a prototype Polish single-engine mid-wing monoplane sports aircraft of 1930, constructed by ''Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów''. Design and development The aircr ...

PWS-52 The PWS-52 was a Polish sports aircraft of 1930, a single-engine high-wing monoplane, constructed by the ''Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów'' (PWS), that remained a prototype. Development The aircraft was designed in 1929 by Zbysław Ciołkosz a ...

and

PWS-8 The P.W.S.8 was a 1930 Poland, Polish sports plane, constructed by the ''Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów'' (PWS), that remained a prototype. Design and development The plane was designed in 1929 by Jarosław Naleszkiewicz in ''Podlaska Wytwórni ...

). The plane was built with a financial help of

LOPP Air and Chemical Defense League (Polish: ''Liga Obrony Powietrznej i Przeciwgazowej'', ''L.O.P.P.'') was a mass Polish paramilitary organization, founded in 1928 as a result of the merger of the ''State Air Defense League'' (Polish: ''Liga Obrony ...

organization and it was first flown in spring of 1930 by Franciszek Rutkowski in

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 ...

. It's noteworthy, that it was only 10 kg heavier, and its maximum speed was 15 km/h higher, than estimated.

Operational history

The prototype, with markings SP-ADC and contest number O7, took part in the

international contest in July 1930, flown by

Józef Lewoniewski Józef Lewoniewski (20 March 1899 – 11 September 1933) was a Polish military and sports aviator. He was a brother of the Soviet aviator Sigizmund Levanevsky. He was born in Russia to a Polish family. In May 1919 he returned to independent Pola ...

. He completed most of a rally over Europe, but had to withdraw after a forced landing near

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

on July 28, due to an oil pipe damage. Later the plane took part in some competitions in Poland, without much success, among others it took the 10th place in the 3rd Polish Light Aircraft Contest in 1930. In 1931 during repair, a radial engine Genet was replaced with a radial engine

Walter Vega The Walter Vega was a five-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft use, built in Czechoslovakia in the late 1920s. Applications * Aero A.34 * ANBO V * Avia BH-11 * Couzinet 22 * Fizir AF-2 * Pander E85 * PWS-8 Specifications Se ...

NZ (from

aircraft) 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 ...

. It was used then by an Aviation Club of the PWS factory. In June 1933 the plane was damaged. During repair it was fitted with a straight engine Cirrus III (from broken up

aircraft). It crashed during the 4th Winter Air Contest of

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 ...

and

Podlasie Podlachia, also known by its Polish name Podlasie (; ; ), is a historical region in north-eastern Poland. Its largest city is Białystok, whereas the historical capital is Drohiczyn. Similarly to several other historical regions of Poland, e.g ...

in 2–4 February 1934, flown by A. Uszacki, and was broken up. PWS51

Description

Single-engine mixed construction braced low-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 ...

. Fuselage rectangular in cross-section, built on a steel frame, covered with canvas and aluminum in engine part. Rectangular two-section wings with rounded tips, two-spar, covered with plywood in forward part and canvas in a rear part, supported with upper struts. Crew of two, sitting in tandem in open cockpits with windshields, fitted with dual controls. A luggage compartment behind a cockpit. 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. 5-cylinder air-cooled radial engine

Armstrong Siddeley Genet The Armstrong Siddeley Genet is a five-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft use built in the UK, first run in 1926. It developed 80 hp at 2,200 rpm in its final form and was a popular light aircraft powerplant. Following ...

in front, 80 hp nominal power and 88 hp take-off power (later replaced with

NZ 5-cylinder radial engine, 85 HP nominal power, and Cirrus III 4-cylinder straight engine, 85 HP nominal and 94 take-off power). Two-blade wooden propeller of a fixed pitch. Fuel tank 100 L before a cockpit. Fuel consumption - 22 L/hour.

Specifications

References

External links