The PZL-5 was a Polish two-seat touring and sports aircraft of 1930 constructed and produced by the

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 ...

Design and development

The aircraft was designed in 1929 by an amateur designer Władysław Kozłowski. It was a wooden

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

, similar to de Havilland Gipsy Moth. The PZL State Aviation Works in Warsaw took over the design, searching for an aircraft to participate in a contest for a trainer aircraft, announced by the LOPP paramilitary organization (Air- and Anti-Gas Defense League). Kozłowski worked out a documentation, with a help of PZL bureau and fitted the example with a more powerful 100 hp Gipsy I engine, instead of a planned 85 hp version. The first prototype of PZL-5 was built and flown in May 1930, followed by two pre-series aircraft in June 1930, built on the factory's initiative specially for the

International Touring Competition 1930 The International Touring Competition in 1930 () was the second Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, FAI international touring aircraft contest, that took place between July 18 and August 8, 1930 in Berlin, Germany. Four Challenges, from 1929 ...

(''Challenge'') (registration SP-ACW and SP-ACX).Glass 1977, pp. 222–224. After trials, the design was modified, receiving the designation PZL-5a. Among other changes, the fuselage and wings were shortened a bit, and the nose was modified. The first prototype was rebuilt this way, using a 94 hp Cirrus III engine, receiving the markings: SP-AEE. In 1931, a series of 11 aircraft were built, for aeroclubs' orders. They received markings from SP-AFF to SP-AFP and SP-AGF. Most had Gipsy I engines. A price was 9,600 złoty (£380) for an airframe, plus 14,000 złoty (£560) for a Gipsy I engine. The PZL-5 was too difficult to fly to be a basic trainer, consequently, a modified variant PZL.5bis was designed and built in 1932. It had a 120 hp Gipsy II engine, longer wings and fuselage, larger cockpit openings, changed tail and landing gear. The only prototype was flown in July 1932. It took part in a contest for the basic trainer aircraft for 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 ...

, but it was beaten by the

RWD-8 The RWD 8 was a Polish parasol wing monoplane trainer aircraft produced by RWD (aircraft manufacturer), RWD. It was used from 1934 to 1939 by the Polish Polish Air Force, Air Force and civilian aviation. Development The RWD 8 was designed in re ...

. A further development of the PZL-5bis was the WK-3, built privately by Władysław Kozłowski and flown in 1933. The PZL also proposed in 1930 to build a trainer

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...

under a proposed designation PZL.8 (not to be confused with the PZL P.8), but the Polish Navy was not interested and it was not built.

Description

Wooden construction braced

. Fuselage plywood (front) and canvas (tail) covered. Rectangular wings with rounded ends, canvas covered. Crew of two, sitting in

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...

in open cockpits with windshields. Cockpits with dual controls (a front cockpit had only basic set of controls). The ''Flight'' magazine described the PZL.5 as: ''a very solid looking edition of a cross between the Avian and a

Moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

''. Specifications included: 4-cylinder air-cooled straight engine in front: 100 hp

de Havilland Gipsy The de Havilland Gipsy is a British air-cooled four-cylinder in-line aircraft engine designed by Frank Halford in 1927 to replace the ADC Cirrus in the de Havilland DH.60 Moth light biplane. Initially developed as an upright 5 litre ( ...

I or 94 hp Cirrus III. Two-blade wooden propeller Szomański of a fixed pitch. Conventional

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. Fuel tank 96 L in upper central wing section. Fuel consumption - 23.5 L/hour.

Operational history

Two pre-series aircraft took part in the International Touring Competition (''Challenge International de Tourisme'') in July 1930. Only Ignacy Giedgowd completed the contest flying the PZL.5 SP-ACW, on the 33rd place (for 35 classified and 60 starting crews).Krzyżan, Marian (1988). ''Międzynarodowe turnieje lotnicze 1929–1934'' nternational aviation competitions 1929–1934(in Polish). Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Komunikacji i Łączności. . p. 33,59

Bolesław Orliński Bolesław Orliński (13 April 1899 – 28 February 1992) was a Polish aviator, military, sports and test pilot. He was born on the family estate in Niwerka, Podolia (now Niverka, Kamianets-Podilskyi Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine). During W ...

had to withdraw in Spain due to engine failure, flying SP-ACX. A total of 11 PZL-5as and the prototype were bought by local aeroclubs in Warsaw,

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

and

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and intensively used for sports, training and touring. Along with pre-series aircraft, they were used in numerous Polish aviation competitions, with some success (for example, 2nd place in the 2nd South-Western Poland Rally in 1930 and the 1st place in the 5th Rally in 1933). In 1932, SP-ACX was modified to glider towing and fitted with additional fuel tanks, for 8 hours of flight. SP-AFG was scrapped in 1935, SP-AFH crashed in 1932, SP-AFL crashed in 1935, SP-AFM was damaged in 1933 and scrapped, SP-AFP crashed in 1935. About half survived until 1939, they were longest serving Polish aircraft of wooden construction. Some were bought by private owners. After 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 ...

, SP-ACX 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 ...

Operators

* *

Specifications (PZL-5a)

References

Notes Bibliography * Cynk, Jerzy B. ''Polish Aircraft 1893-1939''. London: Putnam, 1971. . * Glass, Andrzej. ''Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893-1939'' (Polish aviation designs 1893-1939). Warsaw: WKiŁ, 1977 (Polish language, no ISBN).

External links

Photos and drawings at Ugolok Neba
{{DEFAULTSORT:PZL-05 1930s Polish sport aircraft 1930s Polish civil trainer aircraft PZL aircraft Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1930 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear