The PZL.48 Lampart (''leopard'') was a Polish heavy

fighter-bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, wh ...

design, that remained only a project, owing to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Design and development

The PZL.48 was a development of the heavy fighter-bomber PZL.38 Wilk, designed by Franciszek Misztal. Owing to problems with PZL.38's PZL Foka V8 engines and the excessive weight of the prototype it was decided in 1938 to build a variant of the plane using more powerful radial engines, named PZL.48 Lampart. Despite the new plane appearing almost identical to the PZL.38, apart from the engines, it was, in fact, redesigned in order to decrease weight. French 640 hp

Gnome-Rhône 14M The Gnome-Rhône 14M was a small 14-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial engine that was used on several French and German aircraft of World War II. While having the same appearance, number of pistons (14) and two-row layout typical of Gnome-Rhô ...

engines of small diameter were chosen. The building of a prototype started in 1939, but by the summer of 1939, only a wing had been made, while the fuselage was still under construction. It was planned to carry out static trials in Autumn 1939 and to fly the prototype in the first half of 1940. Further plans were to produce 110 Lamparts for the Polish Air Force in 1941. Owing to the German invasion on 1 September 1939, all plans were cancelled. In early 1939 Misztal also worked out the initial design of the

PZL.54 Ryś The PZL.48 Lampart (''leopard'') was a Polish heavy fighter-bomber design, that remained only a project, owing to the outbreak of World War II. Design and development The PZL.48 was a development of the heavy fighter-bomber PZL.38 Wilk, designed ...

—a development of the PZL.48 with Hispano-Suiza 12L in-line engines.

Operators (planned)

; *

Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force () is the aerial warfare Military branch, 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 26,000 military personnel an ...

Specification

It was a twin-engine low-wing cantilever

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 wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

of metal construction, metal covered. The fuselage was semi-

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

, elliptic in cross-section. The crew of two—pilot and rear gunner/bombardier/observer—sat under separate canopies, far from each other, fitted with dual controls. The canopy of the pilot's cockpit opened sideways. Three part wing, outer parts built around light closed profiles. Wings fitted with

slats Super Low Altitude Test Satellite (SLATS) or Tsubame was a JAXA satellite intended to demonstrate operations in very low Earth orbit (VLEO, below 200 km), using ion engines to counteract aerodynamic drag (physics), drag from the atmosphere ...

and split flaps. Twin vertical stabilizers. Engines in underwing nacelles with NACA covers. Retractable

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...

, with main wheels retracting into engine nacelles, and a rear skid. Three-blade variable-pitch propellers. Integral fuel tanks in wings. Armament (planned): two fixed 20 mm guns and two 7.92 mm PWU wz.36 machine guns in the fuselage nose, twin 7.92 mm PWU wz.37 machine guns of a rear gunner, hiding in the fuselage (Lampart A) or 8 fixed machine guns (Lampart B). It could carry 300-kg of bombs.

Specifications

PZL.54 Ryś

The PZL.54 Ryś (''lynx'') was a pre-war

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

heavy fighter A heavy fighter is an historic category of fighter aircraft produced in the 1930s and 1940s, designed to carry heavier weapons or operate at longer ranges than light fighter aircraft. To achieve performance, most heavy fighters were twin-engine ...

design developed in 1939 by the

PZL PZL, may refer to: Places * PZL, an IATA airport code for Phinda Airfield in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa * PZL, a location code for the Złotów County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, in the system of the vehicle registration plates of Polan ...

company. Although intended as an evolution (and a replacement of) the PZL.48 Lampart, it never went beyond drawing boards due to

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

and the outbreak of

. The aircraft was to be equipped with more powerful

Hispano Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft engines, trucks and weapon ...

12Z inline engines, and was slated to become one of the basic

s of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

. Heavier than its predecessors due to larger and heavier engine, the PZL.54 was to be faster, feature a higher bombload (with heavier 500 kg bombs mounted under the fuselage) and operational range. While primarily designed as a heavy fighter, thanks to its strong armament the aircraft was to be also suitable as a bomber or fighter-bomber. The aircraft was to be an all-metal (

duraluminium Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium–copper alloys. The term is a combination of ''Düren'' and ''aluminium'' . Its use as ...

) low-wing monoplane, with a classic retractable

and a fixed tail wheel. The aerodynamic profile was based on the highly successful

PZL.37 Łoś The PZL.37 ''Łoś'' ('moose') was a Polish twin-engined medium bomber designed and manufactured by national aircraft company Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze (PZL). It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as "PZL P.37", but the letter "P" was reserve ...

bomber, including the double tail fins. The aircraft was to be armed with six 7.9 mm machine guns (3 in each wing), two 20mm cannon (in the nose) and twin 7.9 mm MGs in the rear gunner's station. In addition, the aircraft was to be able to deliver a single 500 kg aerial bomb mounted below the fuselage - or a collection of smaller bombs. The construction of the first prototype was stopped by the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War. While the design looked promising, the PZL.54 was based around the new Hispano-Suiza engines that at the time were still under development and could deliver only 1000 out of planned 1600

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...

References