Jerzy Dąbrowski (September 8, 1899 – September 17, 1967) was a Polish aeronautical engineer. He was the lead designer of the famed

PZL.37 Łoś The PZL.37 ''Łoś'' (''moose'') was a Polish twin-engined medium bomber designed and manufactured by national aircraft company PZL. It is also known as "PZL P-37" or "PZL P.37", but the letter "P" was generally reserved for fighters of Zygmunt Pu� ...

medium bomber. Dąbrowski was born in

Nieborów Nieborów is a village in Łowicz County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Nieborów. It lies approximately east of Łowicz and north-east of the regional capital Łód ...

, west of

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 ...

to a railway clerk family. He studied architecture and then transferred to mechanical engineering at the

Warsaw Technical University The Warsaw University of Technology ( pl, Politechnika Warszawska, lit=Varsovian Polytechnic) 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 professor ...

(Polytechnic). The department offered aviation speciality and had an aviation fan club. Dąbrowski designed and built his first aircraft, biplane ultralight D.1 Cykacz (Ticker) in 1924 at the

Centralne Warsztaty Lotnicze Centralne Warsztaty Lotnicze (Central Aviation Workshops, CWL) was the Polish state-owned aircraft repair works and manufacturer in Warsaw, active between 1918 and 1928. The workshops were created on 20 November 1918, just after Poland had regain ...

(Central Aviation Workshops) in Warsaw. In 1925 Dąbrowski obtained a special permission to complete pilot training at the 1st Air Regiment. Due to financial difficulties Jerzy left the Polytechnic in 1926 and started working at the Plage & Laskiewicz company contributing to the design of the Lublin R.VIII, R.IX. and DUS-III. In 1928 he was asked to join the

PZL PZL (''Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze'' - State Aviation Works) was the main Polish aerospace manufacturer of the interwar period, and a brand of their aircraft. Based in Warsaw between 1928 and 1939, PZL introduced a variety of well-regarded air ...

aviation works in Warsaw. There, with Dr. Franciszek Misztal he designed the all-metal

PZL.19 PZL.19 was a Polish sports aircraft built in 1932 in the PZL works. Ordered by the Ministry of Communications, it was specifically designed for the upcoming Challenge 1932 contest held that year in Germany. Development The PZL.19 was designed by ...

and the

PZL.26 PZL.26 was a Polish sports plane built in 1934 in the PZL works. Ordered by the Ministry of Defence, it was specifically designed for the upcoming Challenge 1934 International Touring Aircraft Contest. Design and development The PZL.26 was a de ...

for the

Challenge 1932 The Challenge 1932 was the third FAI International Tourist Plane Competition (french: Challenge International de Tourisme), that took place between 12 and August 28, 1932 in Berlin, Germany. The four Challenges, from 1929 to 1934, were major aviat ...

and

Challenge 1934 The Challenge 1934 was the fourth and last FAI International Tourist Plane Contest (french: Challenge International de Tourisme), that took place between August 28 and September 16, 1934, in Warsaw, Poland. The four Challenges, from 1929 to 1934, w ...

contests. Dąbrowski's greatest achievement was the design of a very advanced medium bomber

, even though he had not worked on an airplane of this type and size.

submitted a proposal in response to the specification issued by the Departament Aeronautyki (Department of Aeronautics) in 1934 for a twin motor bomber capable of carrying a load of 2000 kg (including 300 kg bombs) with speed in excess of 350 km/h and a range of 1200 km. Dąbrowski's preliminary design won an internal PZL contest for the new plane and in the fall of 1934 Dąbrowski became chief engineer of the project. The all-metal aircraft with a large elliptical wing and aerodynamically profiled fuselage had superb flying qualities. The requirement to cary bombs in the wing resulted in the development of an elongated aerodynamic cross-section with excellent qualities, later identified as a

laminar flow In fluid dynamics, laminar flow is characterized by fluid particles following smooth paths in layers, with each layer moving smoothly past the adjacent layers with little or no mixing. At low velocities, the fluid tends to flow without lateral mi ...

airfoil. The PZL.37 could carry more than 5000 lb of bombs (2500 kg) over a distance of 900 miles (1500 km) and 2200 lb (1000 kg) over 1400 miles (2200 km - to Moscow and back?), however the Polish Air Force did not have a clear philosophy for the use of such plane. Over 100 were produced by the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the last few being the first aircraft manufactured at the new Mielec plant in southern Poland. Only 36 Łoś' were in active bomber units before the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

. A further 18 were in reserve at the Małaszewicze base and a dozen in training. The remainder of the aircraft was being finished slowly at the PZL factories in Warsaw and Mielec, with the main emphasis shifting to the production of fighters. During that time Dąbrowski designed a very promising low-wing fighter with inline engine, PZL.62, but the war prevented its development. During the

Dąbrowski was evacuated to Romania and then to England where he was a technical officer with the Polish Air Force. After the war ended he completed his degree, worked at

Percival Aircraft Hunting Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer that produced light training aircraft and the initial design that would evolve into the BAC 1-11 jet airliner. Founded as Percival Aircraft Co. in 1933, the company later moved to Luton, UK. ...

and

Folland Folland is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alison Folland (born 1978), American actress and filmmaker *Gerald Folland (born 1947), American mathematician *Henry Folland (1889–1954), British aviation engineer and aircraft desi ...

Aviation. In 1955 he moved to the United States working initially at the

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...

Aircraft Co., then Stanley Aviation and finally

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

where he specialized in advanced studies. He died while working in

Renton, Washington Renton is a city in King County, Washington, and an inner-ring suburb of Seattle. Situated southeast of downtown Seattle, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington, at the mouth of the Cedar River. As of the 2020 census, the ...

on September 17, 1967.

References

1. Jerzy B. Cynk (1990): ''Samolot bombowy PZL-37 Łoś'', Wydawnictwo Komunikacji i Łączności {{DEFAULTSORT:Dabrowski, Jerzy Polish aerospace engineers 1899 births 1968 deaths