The RWD 7 was a Polish sports plane of

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, constructed by the RWD team.

Development

The RWD 7 was constructed by the RWD team of

Stanisław Rogalski Stanisław Rogalski (25 May 1904 – 6 February 1976) was a Polish aircraft designer, born in Olomouc, best known as one of the founding trio of the inter-war period RWD airplane factory in Warsaw. He obtained his degree at Warsaw University of ...

Stanisław Wigura Stanisław Wigura (9 April 1901 – 11 September 1932) was a Polish aircraft designer and aviator, co-founder of the RWD aircraft construction team and lecturer at the Warsaw University of Technology. Along with Franciszek Żwirko, he won the in ...

and

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 ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. It was based upon their earlier designs, especially the

RWD 2 The RWD 2 was a 1929 Polish single-engine high-wing monoplane sports plane constructed by the RWD team. Development The RWD 2 was constructed by the RWD team of Stanisław Rogalski, Stanisław Wigura and Jerzy Drzewiecki in the Aviation Section ...

and

RWD 4 The RWD 4 was a Polish sports plane of 1930, constructed by the RWD team. Development The RWD 4 was constructed by the RWD team of Stanisław Rogalski, Stanisław Wigura and Jerzy Drzewiecki in Warsaw. It was based upon their earlier RWD 2 des ...

. The RWD 7 was meant to be a record-beating plane, so it had a more powerful engine, while its mass was reduced. From its predecessors, it took the same fish-shaped fuselage without a direct view towards forward from the pilot's seat. The only RWD 7 built (registration SP-AGH) was flown in July

by its designer Jerzy Drzewiecki. On August 12, 1931, Drzewiecki and Jerzy Wędrychowski established an international FAI speed record of 178 km/h (111 mph) in the light touring plane class, (below 280 kg / 616 lb empty weight). On September 30,

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, Drzewiecki and

Antoni Kocjan Antoni Kocjan (12 August 1902 – 13 August 1944) was a renowned Polish glider constructor and a contributor to the intelligence services of the Polish Home Army during World War II. Early life and education Antoni was the son of Michal K ...

set a height record of 6,023 m (19,755 ft). The RWD 7 was used in Warsaw Aero Club, among others, for

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 ...

, then in 1936 it was bought by a known 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 ...

for touring flights and used until

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

. The RWD 7 was known for its extremely short take-off run: with a single crew member only 18 m (59 ft), with two crew members, 30 m (98 ft).

Description

The RWD 7 was a wooden construction, conventional in layout, high-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 ...

. The fuselage was rectangular in cross-section (narrowing in upper part), plywood-covered, apart from the engine section, which was aluminium sheet-covered. The wings were trapezoid, single-spar, single part, canvas and plywood covered. A crew of two was sitting in

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

, with a pilot in the rear cab. The crew cabs were open on upper sides, and had doors on the right side. The engine was 5-cylinder Armstrong Siddeley Genet II

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

, 56 kW (75 hp) nominal power. Two-blade wooden propeller of a fixed pitch. The plane had a

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. A 30 L fuel tank was in central part of wing. A cruise fuel consumption was 18 L/hour.

Specifications

References

{{RWD aircraft RWD 07 RWD 07 Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1931

Development

Description

Specifications

See also

References