The PWS-52 was a Polish sports aircraft of 1930, a single-engine high-wing

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

, constructed by the '' Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów'' (PWS), that remained a prototype.

Development

The aircraft was designed in

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

Zbysław Ciołkosz Zbysław Ciołkosz (23 March 1902 – 25 June 1960) was a prolific Polish American aircraft designer, whose work includes the P.Z.L. 27, PWS-20, LWS-3 Mewa, RWD-11, LWS-6 Żubr, PWS-1, PWS-54, PWS-19, LWS-2, and PWS-52.''Obituary'' (1960) Fli ...

and Antoni Uszacki in the ''Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów'', specifically to participate in the Challenge international touring aircraft contest (along with PWS-50,

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 ...

and

PWS-8 The P.W.S.8 was a 1930 Polish sports plane, constructed by the '' Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów'' (PWS), that remained a prototype. Design and development The plane was designed in 1929 by Jarosław Naleszkiewicz in ''Podlaska Wytwórnia Samol ...

). The design was generally modelled after

de Havilland Puss Moth The de Havilland DH.80A Puss Moth is a British three-seater high-wing monoplane aeroplane designed and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company between 1929 and 1933. It flew at a speed approaching 124 mph (200 km/h), making it o ...

. The aircraft was first flown in early July 1930 by Franciszek Rutkowski in Biała Podlaska, weeks before the contest.

Operational history

The prototype, with markings SP-ADD and contest number O8, took part in the

Challenge International de Tourisme 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 ...

contest in 20–31 July 1930, flown by Franciszek Rutkowski. Unfortunately, after landing in Saint-Inglevert, the aircraft was overturned by the wind and was damaged. Jozef Lewoniewski

After repairs the rudder shape was changed. Later the aircraft took part in some competitions in Poland, with limited success. Among others, flown by

Józef Lewoniewski 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. He was born in Russia to a Polish family. In May 1919 he returned to independent Pola ...

it took the 4th place in the 3rd Polish Light Aircraft Contest in September–October 1930. Lewoniewski then came up with an idea of solo flying the PWS-52 around the world. In 1931 the aircraft was fitted with three extra fuel tanks, giving a maximum capacity 760 L of fuel, which resulted in a range of 4000 km. The aircraft was fitted with a radio and a place for a

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

. The rudder shape changed again, and the engine DH Gipsy I (85 HP) was changed to DH Gipsy III (120 hp), altering the aircraft's nose. Its maximum take-off weight rose to 1160 kg (with empty weight of 480 kg). The modified aircraft was ready in April 1931, and Lewoniewski flew it around Poland on 15 August 1931, on a distance of 1755 km without landing, with one passenger. On 1 September 1931 Lewoniewski flew the aircraft from Warsaw 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). On the way, he had to land in Hungary and Greece due to engine faults. Lack of funds and problems of the PWS factory caused the plan to fly around the world to be abandoned. In 1937 the aircraft was bought by a private owner from the PWS Aviation Club, who dismounted the extra tanks and used it in a sports aviation. The plane crashed in 1939 during a training flight.

Description

The PWS-52 was single-engine mixed construction braced high-wing

. A fuselage was built on a steel frame, covered with canvas and aluminium in engine part. Rectangular three-section wings with rounded tips, two-spar, were covered with plywood in forward part and canvas in a rear part. A central part of wings was some distance above the canopy, supported with struts. Side sections of wings were supported with V struts and folds rearwards. The aircraft can seat two, sitting side by side in a covered cockpit. A luggage compartment was behind a cockpit, that could fitted with a 3rd seat. The PWS-52 had a fixed

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

, with a rear skid. The aircraft used 4-cylinder air-cooled straight engine

de Havilland Gipsy I The de Havilland Gipsy is a British air-cooled four-cylinder in-line aircraft engine designed by Frank Halford in 1927 to replace the ADC Cirrus in the de Havilland DH.60 Moth light biplane. Initially developed as an upright 5 litre (30 ...

in front, 85/95 hp nominal/take-off power, later replaced with

de Havilland Gipsy The de Havilland Gipsy is a British air-cooled four-cylinder in-line aircraft engine designed by Frank Halford in 1927 to replace the ADC Cirrus in the de Havilland DH.60 Moth light biplane. Initially developed as an upright 5 litre (3 ...

III, 120 hp, with two-blade wooden propeller of a fixed pitch. Fuel tank (170 L capacity) is placed in a central wing section (normal amount of fuel - 90 L). Fuel consumption rate is 25 L/hour (Gipsy I) or 28 L/hour (Gipsy III).

Specifications

References

External links