PZL M26 Iskierka () or M26 Airwolf is a Polish trainer and

aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...

aircraft, designed at WSK PZL-Mielec (later PZL Mielec).

Design and development

The M26 Iskierka was conceived as an economical plane for civilian pilot training and primary selection of military pilots. It offers training in both VFR and

IFR In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ''Instrument Fly ...

flying as well as

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...

. Its construction is partly based upon the twin-engine PZL M-20 Mewa utility plane (

Piper PA-34 Seneca The Piper PA-34 Seneca is a twin-engined light aircraft, produced in the United States by Piper Aircraft. It has been in non-continuous production since 1971. The Seneca is primarily used for personal and business flying as well as multi-engine ...

II, built under licence in WSK-Mielec). It shares the vertical stabilizer, rudder and main landing gear with the Mewa, while the wings and tail part of fuselage are unified to some degree. The plane is constructed according to FAR-23 rules. The main designer was Krzysztof Piwek. The first prototype M26-00, powered by a PZL-Franklin 6A-350C1 air-cooled

flat-six A flat-six engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-six, is a six-cylinder piston engine with three cylinders on each side of a central crankshaft. The most common type of flat-six engine is the boxer-six engine, where each pair of opposed c ...

engine rated at , flew first on July 15, 1986. The second prototype was the more powerful M26-01 variant, powered by a Lycoming AEIO-540-L1B5D engine, and first flew on June 24, 1987.Lambert 1992, p. 180. It was tested in a military aviation school in

Dęblin Dęblin is a town at the Confluence (geography), confluence of Vistula and Wieprz rivers, in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Dęblin is the part of the agglomeration with adjacent towns of Ryki and Puławy, which together have over 100,000 inhabitan ...

in 1992. Only a short series of 9 aircraft were manufactured, of which one remains in Poland. The plane is still offered by the PZL Mielec and is certified in the US, Australia and Europe (EASA). In the USA it is offered under the name Airwolf or Air Wolf, and eight were exported there, beginning from 1996. In 1998 two were delivered to the

Venezuelan National Guard The Bolivarian National Guard of Venezuela ( - GNB), is a gendarmerie component of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela, National Armed Forces of Venezuela. The national guard can serve as gendarmerie, perform civil defense roles, or ...

. There were plans to fit a

Walter M601 The Walter M601 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Walter Aircraft Engines of the Czech Republic. The company's first turboprop, the M601 is used in business, agricultural and military training aircraft. Development The turboprop was ...

turboprop engine, for eventual customers' demand, however it was determined that the changes to the airframe would be significant and the project was abandoned.

Description

The M26 Iskierka is a 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 ...

, conventional in layout, metal covered with a semi-

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

fuselage. Rectangular single-spar wings. 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 ...

, under a common

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 ...

, with double controls (student in front, instructor in rear). The rear seat is raised by 15 cm. The canopy is dropped in emergency. Retractable

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

. Three-blade propeller (1.9 m diameter). Fuel tanks in wings (377 L). The plane may be fitted with a camera gun and racks for two small bombs.

Operators

* * *

Specifications (M26 01)

References

*Krzysztof Piwek, Wiesław Tomecki: ''Samolot M26 Iskierka'' in
Polska Technika Lotnicza - Materiały Historyczne 10(3/2005) - a lecture given on 19-2-2005 in Muzeum Techniki, Warsaw
* Lambert, Mark (ed.) ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1993–94''. Coulsdon, UK:Jane's Data Division, 1993. . * "Poland's Novel Tuitional Trio". ''

Air International ''AIR International'' is a British aviation magazine covering current defence aerospace and civil aviation topics. It has been in publication since 1971 and is currently published by Key Publishing Ltd. History and profile The magazine was fir ...

'', Volume 32, No. 5, May 1987. pp. 227–231. .

External links

PZL Mielec page
{{PZL aircraft 1980s Polish civil trainer aircraft 1980s Polish military trainer aircraft M26 Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1986