The RWD-16 was a Polish two-seat low-wing sports plane of

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

, constructed by the RWD team, that remained a prototype.

Development

The aircraft was designed in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

by Andrzej Anczutin of the RWD bureau, as a light and economical sports plane. The plane was a wooden low-wing monoplane, with two seats side-by-side in a closed cockpit, powered by 50 hp

Walter Mikron The Walter Mikron is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted straight engine for aircraft. Development Developed in Czechoslovakia in the early 1930s, the engine saw limited use in late 1930s and early 1950s. In the 1980s an initial batch of eng ...

I straight engine.Glass, A., op.cit., p. 322-323. The prototype was built and first flown in early

(registration SP-AXY), funded by the Polish division of

Osram Osram Licht AG is a German company that makes electric lights, headquartered in Munich and Premstätten (Austria). Osram positions itself as a high-tech photonics company that is increasingly focusing on sensor technology, visualization and tre ...

factory. The plane did not appear a successful design, though. Test revealed lack of directional stability, therefore its rudder was much enlarged, the wings were fitted with fixed

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 from the Earth's atmosphere which i ...

and a windshield was redesigned. It did not improve the situation much, and in 1937-1938 the prototype was rebuilt and fitted with stronger 60 hp Avia 3 engine in a lengthened nose, while the vertical stabilizer and rudder were made smaller. Most significant feature became a front windshield with a negative slope. After final changes, the prototype still was not satisfactory, but it served as a basis for the RWD-16bis design, which was a new, redesigned aircraft, produced as the

RWD-21 The RWD 16bis and RWD 21 were Polish two-seat low-wing touring and sports planes of the late 1930s, constructed by the RWD bureau, sharing the same construction, main difference of the RWD 21 being a stronger engine. Development The RWD 16bis w ...

. The prototype RWD-16 was given then to a known touring aviator

Zbigniew Babiński Zbigniew Juliusz Babiński (13 May 1896 – April 1940) was a Polish military and sports aviator. He was born in Sosnowiec. While in school he constructed two simple biplane gliders in 1912 and 1913 in Milanówek. The first one crashed during ...

Description

Wooden construction 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 planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

, conventional in layout, with a fixed landing gear and a closed cockpit. 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, ...

, plywood-covered. Single-piece trapezoid wings with rounded tips, two-spar, plywood (in front) and canvas covered. Conventional cantilever

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

, plywood (fins) and canvas (elevators and rudder) covered. Two seats side-by-side, with twin controls, under a common canopy, with a fixed windshield. Conventional fixed

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

with a rear skid.

I inline engine in front, with two-blade wooden propeller Szomański, 1.8 m diameter. In later variant, Avia 3 inline engine was installed.

Specifications (RWD 16bis)

References

External links

Photos and drawings at Ugolok Neba
{{RWD aircraft 1930s Polish sport aircraft RWD-16 Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1936