The RWD-10 was a Polish

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...

sports plane, single-seat

parasol wing 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 ...

monoplane, used from

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

and constructed by the RWD team.

Development

The aircraft was designed as a single-seater aerobatic sports plane that could also be used as a trainer for fighter pilots. Its chief designer was

Jerzy Drzewiecki Jerzy Drzewiecki (7 August 1902 – 15 May 1990) was a Polish aeroplane constructor, an engineer and one of the founders of the RWD construction bureau, along with Rogalski and Wigura. He was born in Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), of ...

of the RWD design team at the DWL (''

Doświadczalne Warsztaty Lotnicze Doświadczalne Warsztaty Lotnicze (DWL) (''Experimental Aeronautical Workshops'') was the Polish aircraft manufacturer, active in 1933-1939. It was a home of the RWD construction team and manufactured aircraft under a brand RWD. History The ...

'') aircraft factory. Its silhouette was similar to the

RWD-8 The RWD 8 was a Polish parasol wing monoplane trainer aircraft produced by RWD. It was used from 1934 to 1939 by the Polish Air Force and civilian aviation. Development The RWD 8 was designed in response to a Polish Air Force requirement in 193 ...

. The first prototype (registration SP-ALC), was flown in July

by Drzewiecki. Its stability was not satisfactory, but after modifications, including lengthening of the fuselage, it turned out to be a successful design, completing state trials in 1935. In a mock dogfight with the

PZL P.11 The PZL P.11 was a Polish fighter aircraft, designed and constructed during the early 1930s by Warsaw-based aircraft manufacturer PZL. Possessing an all-metal structure, metal-covering, and high-mounted gull wing, the type held the distinction of ...

c fighter, the RWD-10 kept on the P.11's tail. The first public aerobatics show of the RWD-10 took place during the

Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning The Gordon Bennett Cup (or ) is the world's oldest gas balloon race, and is "regarded as the premier event of world balloon racing" according to the ''Los Angeles Times''. Referred to as the "Blue Ribbon" of aeronautics, the first race started fro ...

on September 14–15,

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. * ...

in Warsaw. In 1936, the

LOPP Air and Chemical Defense League (Polish: ''Liga Obrony Powietrznej i Przeciwgazowej'', ''L.O.P.P.'') was a mass Poland, Polish paramilitary organization, founded in 1928 as a result of the merger of the ''State Air Defense League'' (Polish: ''Lig ...

paramilitary organization ordered 20 aircraft, the purchase funded by a public collection for aviation development. They were built in 1937 and then distributed among the Polish regional aero clubs - the largest number going to the Warsaw Aero Club. In 1938, another two were built. In total, approximately 22 serial RWD-10s were produced. Three aircraft crashed before the war, the rest were probably destroyed during 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 ...

in 1939.

Description

Mixed construction single-engine single-seat braced high-wing (

) monoplane, conventional in layout. Fuselage of a steel frame, covered with canvas on a wooden frame, in aluminum in engine section. Straight double-trapezoid two-part wing, of wooden construction, covered with canvas and plywood in front, two-spar. The wing was supported by a central pyramid and twin struts. Wooden construction 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 ...

, covered with plywood (stabilizers) and canvas (rudder and elevators). A pilot in an open cockpit, had a 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. Four-cylinder air-cooled inverted

straight engine The straight or inline engine is an internal combustion engine with all cylinders aligned in one row and having no offset. Usually found in four, six and eight cylinder configurations, they have been used in automobiles, locomotives and aircraft ...

PZInż. Junior (licence built

Walter Junior The Walter Junior was a family of four cylinder air cooled horizontally-opposed engines produced by Walter Aircraft Engines in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s for aircraft, characterised by a bore and stroke of , a displacement of and producing rou ...

) with 82 kW (110 hp) nominal power and 90 kW (120 hp) take-off power. Two-blade wooden propeller Szomański, of a fixed pitch. Fuel tank in the fuselage: 54 L (fuel consumption 25 L/h).

Specifications (RWD-10)

References

External links

Photos and drawings at Ugolok Neba site
{{RWD aircraft 1930s Polish sport aircraft

RWD-10 The RWD-10 was a Polish aerobatics sports plane, single-seat parasol wing monoplane, used from 1933 to 1939 and constructed by the RWD team. Development The aircraft was designed as a single-seater aerobatic sports plane that could also be used ...

Aerobatic aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933

Development

Description

Specifications (RWD-10)

See also

References

Further reading

External links