The Bartel BM 2, originally Bartel M.2 was a Polish

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 ...

primary

trainer aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...

prototype of

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

Design and development

The aircraft was designed by

Ryszard Bartel Ryszard Bartel (22 March 1897 – 3 April 1982) was a Polish engineer, aircraft designer and aviator, one of Poland's aviation pioneers. Life and career Bartel was born in Sławniów village near Pilica. He was interested in aviation from h ...

, a chief designer of

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 ...

factory in

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

. It was the first Polish design of a trainer plane. Initially it was known as Bartel M.2, then BM 2 (M was for designer's wife Maryla). The prototype was flown on 7 December 1926 in Poznań. In June 1927 it was shown at the first Aviation Exhibition in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. It was tested in 1927 and evaluated as quite good, but it was not built in series, because Bartel decided to design an improved aircraft, which resulted in the Bartel BM 4 trainer, which was produced in quantity. After flight testing, the prototype was removed from service. A distinguishing feature of the BM 2 and all Bartels was an upper wing of a shorter span, because the lower and upper wing halves were interchangeable (i.e. the lower wingspan included the width of the fuselage). Also Bartel put a stress on standardizing the construction materials used: steel pipes, metal sheet etc., in order to make production and repairs easier. A distinguishing feature of the BM 2 was the upper wing directly over the lower wing - unstaggered wings, while in later Bartel designs, the wings incorporate forward stagger - where the upper wing is mounted ahead of the lower wing.

Description

Wooden construction

, conventional in layout.

Fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

rectangular in cross-section,

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

-covered (engine section - metal covered). Rectangular two-spar wings, plywood- and canvas-covered. Crew of two, sitting in

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

in open

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

s, with individual windshields. Cockpits with twin controls, the instructor seated aft. Fixed

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

, with a rear skid (main gear with a common axle, sprung with a rubber rope).

Radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

in the fuselage nose, without a

cowling A cowling is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings are a cove ...

Specifications

References

Bibliography

External links