Ryszard Bartel (22 March 1897 – 3 April 1982) was a Polish engineer, aircraft designer and aviator, one of Poland's

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

pioneers.

Life and career

Bartel was born in Sławniów village near Pilica. He was interested in aviation from his youth, and in 1911 he built his own gliders capable of short flights. In 1916, he enrolled in the

Warsaw University of Technology The Warsaw University of Technology () is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professors (including 145 titular professors). The student body ...

, being one of three founders of the Aviation Section of that university's Students' Mechanical Club. In 1917, he completed a pilot course, and he joined the underground aviator organization (Warsaw was under

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

occupation at that time). In 1918, after Poland regained its independence, he volunteered 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 ...

. He completed further military flying courses and he took part in the Polish-Soviet War, flying

Breguet 14 The Breguet XIV (in contemporary practice) or Breguet 14 is a French biplane bomber and reconnaissance aircraft of World War I. It was built in very large numbers and production continued for many years after the end of the war. The Breguet 14 w ...

s in the 16th Reconnaissance Squadron and in the Central Lithuanian Air Squadron. He was demobilized in December 1920, and graduated from the Warsaw University of Technology in 1924 as an

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

. He also took second place in the first Polish

soaring Soaring may refer to: * Gliding, in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes * Lift (soaring), a meteorological phenomenon used as an energy source by some aircraft and birds * ''Soaring'' (magazine), a magazine produced ...

competition in 1923. In 1925, his design of the Bartel BM-1 ''Maryla''

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

received an award in the first Polish contest for military aircraft, but the design was not built. In 1924-1926 he worked in

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, supervising production of aircraft for Poland and he also undertook research on aerodynamics there. From 1926, he was a chief designer of the

Samolot Samolot (full name: Wielkopolska Wytwórnia Samolotów ''Samolot'' '' S.A.'') was the Polish aerospace manufacturer, located in Poznań and active between 1924 and 1930. It manufactured among others aircraft under the Bartel name. The name ''Samo ...

aircraft manufacturer in

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 ...

. He designed and built there a prototype of a trainer aircraft, the Bartel BM-2 (1926), then trainers

Bartel BM-4 The Bartel BM.4 was a Polish biplane primary trainer aircraft used from 1929 to 1939 by the Polish Air Force and Polish civilian aviation, manufactured in the Samolot factory in Poznań. It was the first plane of Polish design put into productio ...

(1927) and Bartel BM-5 (1928), built in small series for the Polish Air Force (the BM-4 was Poland's first domestic design that was put into production). From 1930 he worked in the Aviation Department of the Polish War Ministry, then, from 1932 to 1937, in 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 ...

aircraft works in Warsaw, which had obtained several of the Samolot projects upon that company's closure. His duties included overseeing aircraft production. During 1937-1939 he was a technical director for the

Lubelska Wytwórnia Samolotów Lubelska Wytwórnia Samolotów (LWS; translation from Polish language, Polish: ''Lublin Aircraft Factory'') was a Polish aerospace manufacturer, located in Lublin, created in 1936 from Plage i Laśkiewicz works and produced aircraft between 1936 ...

(LWS) works and supervised

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some Polish designs to

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and

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. During

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 ...

he stayed in Poland and worked under the

occupation as a teacher in technical schools. After Poland's liberation in 1945, Bartel worked in the Polish Civil Aviation Department of Ministry of Communication, but in 1948, with the advent of

Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...

in Poland, the communist authorities removed him from work in aviation, along with many other pre-war experts. He worked among other places in the Polish Normalization Institute. From 1951 he was a professor at the Warsaw University of Technology. He retired in 1966. From the 1960s, his passion became the history of the Polish aviation industry. He was active in aviation associations such as the

Polish Aero Club The Polish Aero Club (''Aeroklub Polski'', AP) is the Polish central association of persons practising air sports or recreational flying. It was founded in 1921 and is a member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. It has a headquarte ...

. He received the Knight's Cross of the

Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, ...

and the Polish Cross of Merit (silver in 1927, gold in 1948). Bartel also held a Field Pilot Badge (1922).

List of aircraft designs

* Bartel BM-1 (1925) Single-seat single-engine parasol-wing fighter aircraft design. Not constructed * Bartel BM-2 (1926) Two-seat single-engine biplane trainer aircraft design. One prototype was constructed * Bartel BM-3 (1926) Two-seat single-engine advanced trainer aircraft design. Not constructed *

(1927) Two-seat single-engine trainer aircraft design. Constructed in quantity * Bartel BM-5 (1928) Two-seat single-engine advanced trainer aircraft design, a development of the BM-4. Constructed in quantity * Bartel BM-6 (1930) Two-seat single-engine advanced trainer aircraft design. Two prototypes were constructed

Sources

* Jerzy R. Konieczny, Tadeusz Malinowski: "Mała encyklopedia lotników polskich - Tomik II" (''Small encyclopaedia of Polish aviators, II''), WKił, Warszawa 1988, (in Polish).
Ryszard Bartel web page
(in Polish). {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartel, Ryszard Polish aviators Polish aerospace engineers 1897 births 1982 deaths Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Warsaw University of Technology alumni Academic staff of the Warsaw University of Technology