The PZL 130 Orlik ( en,

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

t) is a Polish

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...

, single engine, two seat trainer aircraft.

Development and design

The Orlik was designed by PZL Warszawa-Okecie as a trainer for the Polish Air Force, intended as a replacement for its PZL-110 Kolibers. It was also designed to meet the US

FAR 23 The Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) are rules prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) governing all aviation activities in the United States. The FARs comprise Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). A wide variety ...

standard. The project was under the supervision of Andrzej Frydrychewicz, head engineer of PZL Warszawa-Okecie. It was fitted with a low-aspect ratio wing to better simulate the handling characteristics of jet fighters.''Air International'' October 1985, pp. 167–170. The aircraft was designed to be powered by a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

-designed and built

Vedeneyev M14P The Vedeneyev M14P is a Russian nine-cylinder, four-stroke, air-cooled, petrol-powered radial engine. Producing , its design dates from the 1940s (Kotelnikov 2005), and is itself a development of the Ivchenko AI-14 engine. The engine has been ...

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 ...

with the intention of replacing it by a modified Polish built

Ivchenko AI-14 The Ivchenko AI-14 is a nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial piston engine designed in the Soviet Union to power aircraft. A variant known as the M462 was produced under license by Avia. Variants ;AI-14: ;AI-14R:Underwent state trials in Decembe ...

engine in production aircraft.''Air International'' October 1985, p.170. The first prototype Orlik flew on 12 October 1984, with a second prototype following in December and a third in January 1985. While the Polish Air Force planned to power its Orliks with locally produced radial engines, PZL planned a

powered version, the PZL-130T Turbo Orlik for export purposes.''Air International'' October 1985, p.172. The third prototype was therefore re-fitted with a 410 kW (550 shp) Pratt & Whitney PT6A-25P turboprop, flying in this form on 13 July 1986, but was destroyed in a crash in January 1987 while being demonstrated to a representative of the

Colombian Air Force , "We are the Force" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Colombian Air Force Hymn , mascot = Capitan Paz , anniversaries = 8 November , ...

.Taylor 1988, pp. 195–196. Two further turboprop prototypes followed in 1989 and 1990, powered by a Czech-built 560 kW (750 shp) Walter M-601E and a PT6A-25 as the PZL-130TB and PZL-130TP respectively.Lambert 1993, p.246. In 1990, development of the piston-engined Orlik was abandoned, as the Polish built radial engines gave insufficient power, with Polish interest switching to the M-601 powered PZL-130TB.

Operational history

Deliveries of PZL-130TBs to Poland started in 1994, with the aircraft equipping the Military Pilot Academy at

Dęblin Dęblin is a town at the confluence of Vistula and Wieprz rivers, in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Dęblin is the part of the agglomeration with adjacent towns of Ryki and Puławy, which altogether has over 100 000 inhabitants. The population of ...

and the 60th Training Air Regiment at

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975–1 ...

. All Polish PZL-130TBs were upgraded to the TC-1 standard type, with better ejection seats and avionics.Taylor 1999, pp. 48–49.

Variants

;PZL-130 Orlik :The original aircraft with one Vedeneyev M14Pm piston engine ;PZL-130T Turbo Orlik :Variant with a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-25P turboprop engine ;PZL-130TM Orlik :Variant with a Walter M601E turboprop engine ;PZL-130TB Orlik :Variant with a Walter M601T turboprop engine ;PZL-130TC I Orlik :Variant with added Martin-Baker Mk.11, zero-zero class

ejection seats In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an explosive charge or rocke ...

and modernized

avionics Avionics (a blend word, blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, ...

;PZL-130TC II Orlik (Garmin) :Variant with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-25C turboprop, added winglets, modernized

Garmin Garmin Ltd. (shortened to Garmin, stylized as GARMIN, and formerly known as ProNav) is an American, Swiss-domiciled multinational technology company founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquart ...

avionics and changed flight tutor's seat position ;PZL-130TC II Orlik (GC) :Variant with

glass cockpit A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features electronic (digital) flight instrument displays, typically large LCD screens, rather than the traditional style of analog dials and gauges. While a traditional cockpit relies on numerous mech ...

and

Head-Up Display A head-up display, or heads-up display, also known as a HUD (), is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view informa ...

, company name is Orlik MPT (Multi Purpose Trainer).Prezentacja Orlika MPT.
7 March 2014.

Operators

;: * Polish Air Force * Polish Navy – Former operator.

Specifications (PZL-130TC II Orlik)

Notes

References

* Lambert, Mark. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1993–94''. Coulsdon, UK:Jane's Data Division, 1993. . * "Orlik…A Polish Fledgeling". ''

Air International ''AIR International'' is a British aviation magazine covering current defence aerospace and civil aviation topics. It has been in publication since 1971 and is currently published by Key Publishing Ltd. History and profile The magazine was fir ...

'', October 1985, Vol 29 No 4. pp. 167–172. ISSN 0306-5634. * Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1988–89''. Coulsdon, UK:Jane's Defence Data, 1988. . * Taylor, Michael J.H. ''Brassey's World Aircraft & Systems Directory 1999/2000''. London: Brassey's, 1999. .

External links

List of all PZL-130 trainers used by Polish Air Force
{{PZL aircraft PZL aircraft 1980s Polish military trainer aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Single-engined turboprop aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1984