The WN-3 was a Polish seven-cylinder air-cooled

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 ...

of the 1950s, produced by WSK-Kalisz, designed by Wiktor Narkiewicz.

Design and development

In 1946, Wiktor Narkiewicz, who prior to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was technical director of the Czechoslovakian

Avia Avia Motors s.r.o. is a Czech automotive manufacturer. It was founded in 1919 as an aircraft maker, and diversified into trucks after 1945. As an aircraft maker it was notable for producing biplane fighter aircraft, especially the B-534. Avia ...

aero-engine factory, was appointed chief designer of the Polish Central Engine Office, and later the Aero-engine department of the Polish Aviation Institute (''Instytut Lotnictwa'', IL). He led the design of the WN-1, a air-cooled

flat-four A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the boxer-four engine, ...

piston engine which was the first post-war Polish aero-engine, followed by the WN-2 in 1947, but both of these engines failed to enter production.''Flight'' 26 July 1957, p. 127. In 1952 Narkiewicz set up a small design team to design a new seven-cylinder

, the WN-3. The first prototype, rated at was completed in 1954, and by the time testing was completed in 1955, the engine's power rose to . The WN-3 entered production in 1956,Cynk ''Flight International'' 4 January 1962, p. 17. powering the

PZL TS-8 Bies The PZL TS-8 ''Bies'' (Devil) is a Polish trainer aircraft, used from 1957 to the 1970s by the Polish Air Force and civilian aviation. Development The aircraft was designed in response to a Polish Air Force requirement for a modern piston-engine ...

training aircraft. The engine was produced in 1957-1960 by WSK-Kalisz in

Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...

, it might be known also as PZL WN-3, or (in Western sources) as Narkiewicz WN-3.

Variants

;WN-3 :Production version, . ;WN-4 :Modified version for use in helicopters.

Applications

Taylor 1961, pp. 121–122. *

PZL MD-12 The MD-12 is a Polish four-engined short-range passenger and civil utility aircraft of the 1960s, which remained in the prototype stage. The PZL brand is conventional, since it did not enter production, and was referred to under its project desi ...

(prototype)Taylor 1961, pp. 118–119. * BŻ-4 Żuk (prototype)

Specifications

References

* * * *{{cite book , last1=Babiejczuk , first1=Janusz , last2=Grzegorzewski , first2=Jerzy, date= 1974, title=Polski przemysł lotniczy 1945–1973 , trans-title= Polish aviation industry 1945-1973, language= pl, location=Warsaw , publisher= Wydawnictwo MON, pages=145, 149–151 1950s aircraft piston engines Aircraft air-cooled radial piston engines