The RWD-10 was a Polish

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 ...

sports plane, single-seat

parasol wing 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 confi ...

monoplane, 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 ...

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 constructed by the RWD team.

Development

The aircraft was designed as a single-seater aerobatic sports plane that could also be used as a trainer for fighter pilots. Its chief designer was

Jerzy Drzewiecki Jerzy Drzewiecki (7 August 1902 – 15 May 1990) was a Polish aeroplane constructor, engineer and one of the founders of the RWD construction bureau, along with Rogalski and Wigura. He was born in Warsaw. Among his most notable constructions ...

of the RWD design team at the DWL (''

Doświadczalne Warsztaty Lotnicze ''Doświadczalne Warsztaty Lotnicze'' (DWL) ('Experimental Aeronautical Workshops') was the Polish aircraft manufacturer, active in 1933–1939. It was a home of the RWD construction team and manufactured aircraft under a brand RWD. History ...

'') aircraft factory. Its silhouette was similar to 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 ...

. The first prototype (registration SP-ALC), was flown in July

by Drzewiecki. Its stability was not satisfactory, but after modifications, including lengthening of the fuselage, it turned out to be a successful design, completing state trials in 1935. In a mock dogfight with the

PZL P.11 The PZL P.11 is a Polish fighter aircraft, designed and produced in the early 1930s by Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze. Possessing an all-metal structure, metal-covering, and high-mounted gull wing, the type held the distinction of being widely cons ...

c fighter, the RWD-10 kept on the P.11's tail. The first public aerobatics show of the RWD-10 took place during the

Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning The Gordon Bennett Cup (or ) is the world's oldest gas balloon race, and is "regarded as the premier event of world balloon racing" according to the ''Los Angeles Times''. Referred to as the "Blue Ribbon" of aeronautics, the first race started fr ...

on September 14–15,

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 ...

in Warsaw. In 1936, the

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 ...

paramilitary organization ordered 20 aircraft, the purchase funded by a public collection for aviation development. They were built in 1937 and then distributed among the Polish regional aero clubs - the largest number going to the Warsaw Aero Club. In 1938, another two were built. In total, approximately 22 serial RWD-10s were produced. Three aircraft crashed before the war, the rest were probably destroyed during the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

in 1939.

Description

Mixed construction single-engine single-seat braced high-wing (

) monoplane, conventional in layout. Fuselage of a steel frame, covered with canvas on a wooden frame, in aluminum in engine section. Straight double-trapezoid two-part wing, of wooden construction, covered with canvas and plywood in front, two-spar. The wing was supported by a central pyramid and twin struts. Wooden construction cantilever

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

, covered with plywood (stabilizers) and canvas (rudder and elevators). A pilot in an open cockpit, had a windshield. 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. Four-cylinder air-cooled inverted

straight engine The straight engine (also called inline engine) is a configuration of multi-cylinder piston engine where all of the cylinders are arranged in a single row, rather than radially or in two or more cylinder banks. Design A straight engine is eas ...

PZInż. Junior (licence built

Walter Junior The Walter Junior was a family of four cylinder air cooled inverted inline engines produced by Walter Aircraft Engines in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s for aircraft, characterised by a bore and stroke of , a displacement of and producing roughly ...

) with 82 kW (110 hp) nominal power and 90 kW (120 hp) take-off power. Two-blade wooden propeller Szomański, of a fixed pitch. Fuel tank in the fuselage: 54 L (fuel consumption 25 L/h).

Specifications (RWD-10)

References

External links

Photos and drawings at Ugolok Neba site
{{RWD aircraft 1930s Polish sport aircraft RWD-10 Aerobatic aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft

Development

Description

Specifications (RWD-10)

See also

References

Further reading

External links