Józef Lewoniewski (20 March 1899 – 11 September 1933) was a Polish military and sports aviator. He was a brother of the Soviet aviator

Sigizmund Levanevsky pl, Zygmunt Lewoniewski , birth_date = , death_date = , birth_place = St. Petersburg, Russian empire , death_place = Arctic Ocean , image_size = , allegiance = , branch = Soviet Army before 1925Soviet Air Force s ...

. He was born in Russia to a Polish family. In May 1919 he returned to independent Poland and served in the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...

, in a cavalry, during Polish-Soviet war. In 1923 he volunteered for the air force and completed an aviation school in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

, then in France. He served as a fighter pilot, in a rank of Flying Captain (''kapitan pilot''). Lewoniewski was also active in sports flying. In 1930 he participated in

Challenge 1930 The International Touring Competition in 1930 (french: Challenge International de Tourisme) was the second FAI international touring aircraft contest, that took place between July 18 and August 8, 1930 in Berlin, Germany. Four Challenges, from 1929 ...

International Tourist Aircraft Contest, flying

PWS-51 The PWS-51 was a Polish sports plane of 1930, a single-engine low-wing monoplane, constructed by the '' Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów'' (PWS), that remained a prototype. Design and development The plane was designed in 1929 by Stanisław Cywiń ...

, but he had to withdraw due to oil pipe damage. On 15 August 1931 he flew a

PWS-52 The PWS-52 was a Polish sports aircraft of 1930, a single-engine high-wing monoplane, constructed by the '' Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów'' (PWS), that remained a prototype. Development The aircraft was designed in 1929 by Zbysław Ciołkosz a ...

plane around Poland non-stop in 12 hours 35 minutes, covering 1755 km. On 1 September 1931 he flew the same plane from Warszaw to

Saloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

and back (2700 km). Next he came with an idea of flying around the world in

aircraft, but it was abandoned due to lack of funding. From March 1933 he worked in Aviation Technical Research Institute in Warsaw as a test pilot. On 11 September 1933 Józef Lewoniewski with Colonel Czesław Filipowicz, attempted at breaking world's record of flight distance in tourist planes category, on Warsaw -

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...

route, flying modified

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 ...

plane. After 8 and a half hours, the plane went into a

spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

due to an air turbulence, it was brought under control, but it was too low and it hit the ground near

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

. Lewoniewski was killed, while Filipowicz was slightly injured.Glass, A. (1977), p.243-244

References

* *Romeyko, Marian (ed.) (1937) (in Polish). ''Polska lotnicza'', Warsaw. 1899 births 1933 deaths Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents Military personnel from Saint Petersburg Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Polish aviators Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1933 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the Soviet Union People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent {{Poland-bio-stub