The Bartel BM 6 was a Polish biplane trainer

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

of 1930. It did not advance beyond the

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

stage.

Design and development

The aircraft was designed by Ryszard Bartel in the Samolot factory in Poznań, as a trainer-fighter plane. The BM-6 prototype, designated BM 6a, was flown on 8 April 1930 in Poznań. Its advantage was an easy construction and maintenance, according to Bartel's design philosophy. A distinguishing feature of all Bartels was an upper wing of a shorter span, because lower and upper wing halves were interchangeable (i.e. the lower wingspan included the fuselage width). It first introduced a mixed construction to Bartel's designs. After trials, the prototype was modified in July 1930. The prototype was later redesignated BM 6a/II after it was substantially modified. It offered quite good flight characteristics and was capable of

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 "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...

flight. It was demonstrated in a fighter-plane competition in Bucharest in 1930, along with the similar PZL P.1. The second prototype BM 6b, with a Wright Whirlwind 220 hp radial engine, was ordered, but work upon it ceased with closure of the Samolot factory in mid-1930. The

PWS PWS may refer to: * Pressure wave supercharger, a type of super-charger technology *Performance work statement, term used to summarize the work that needs to be done for a contract * Personal weather station, a weather station owned and operated by ...

works, which inherited many of Samolot's projects, did not continue the project, for it had its own similar design, the PWS-11.

Description

Mixed construction

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 ...

. Steel framed fuselage, rectangular in cross-section, canvas covered (engine and upper sections - aluminum covered). Rectangular two-spar wings with rounded ends, plywood and canvas covered. Upper wing span: 7.36 m, lower wing span: 8.10 m. Lower and upper wing halves were interchangeable. Single pilot, sitting 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 ...

, with a windshield. The V8 engine

Hispano-Suiza 8 The Hispano-Suiza 8 was a water-cooled V8 SOHC aero engine introduced by Hispano-Suiza in 1914, and was the most commonly used liquid-cooled engine in the aircraft of the Entente Powers during the First World War. The original Hispano-Suiza ...

Be was modified to lower power output (from 220 hp to 180 hp).

Radiator Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

below the fuselage. Fixed landing gear, with a rear skid. Two-blade wooden

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

of fixed pitch. Fuel tank in fuselage: 168 L capacity.

Operational history

After state trials in 1931, the prototype was used in an advanced training school in Grudziądz, then in an aviation training center in Dęblin.

Operators

; *

Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force ( pl, Siły Powietrzne, , Air Forces) is the aerial warfare 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 16,425 mil ...

(single prototype)

Specifications (BM 6a)

References

External links

Photos and drawingsUgolok Neba site
(in Russian) {{Bartel aircraft BM 6 Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes 1930s Polish military trainer aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1930