Czesław Michał Zbierański (1885–1982) was a Polish
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
, pioneer of Polish aviation,
major
Major most commonly refers to:
* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
* People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames
* Major and minor in musi ...
of
Polish Army
The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...
. In 1910–1911, with
Stanisław Cywiński, he constructed an aircraft with two pairs of wings, the first Polish aircraft constructed partially with metal. In the 1920s, Zbierański was producing cars, motorcycles and rail
draisine
A draisine () is a light auxiliary rail vehicle, driven by service personnel, equipped to transport crew and material necessary for the maintenance of railway infrastructure.
The eponymous term is derived from the German inventor Baron Karl D ...
s. He was also a
Polonia activist, and founder of an
English language
English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
book collection of the Aviation Institute in Warsaw (1962). He was awarded the 5th Class
Virtuti Militari
The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', ) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was established in 1792 by the last King of Poland Stanislaus II of Poland, ...
.
Biography
Zbierański was born on 6 December 1885 in
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
.
He developed aviation interests after graduating at
Lviv Polytechnic
Lviv Polytechnic National University () is a public university in Lviv, Ukraine, founded in 1816. According to the Times Higher Education, as of 2024, it ranks first as a technical institution of higher education and second among all instit ...
. He co-founded ''
Aviators Circles'' () in which, with
Stanisław Cywiński (who joined to the circles later), he planned, designed and constructed an aircraft,
Zbierański i Cywiński. The first attempt to fly, in May 1911, failed. The reason for failure was that a part of the aircraft skin burned. On September 25, 1911 in Warsaw,
Michał Scipio del Campio successfully flew the aircraft for a distance of about 15–20 kilometers in 15 minutes.
During
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Zbierański was in
Polish Legions. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he worked on the construction of
anti-aircraft warfare
Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...
, and as a technical supervisor in production of
Avro Anson V at the
Federal Aircraft Company. Before the end of World War II he moved to U.S., dying in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
on 31 May 1982.
See also
*
List of aviation pioneers
Aviation pioneers are people directly and indirectly responsible for the creation and advancement of human flight capability, including people who worked to achieve manned flight before the invention of aircraft, as well as others who achieved si ...
References
*
*
*
1885 births
1982 deaths
Engineers from Warsaw
Polish aerospace engineers
Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party members
Polish legionnaires (World War I)
Blue Army (Poland) personnel
Polish Army officers
Polish aviators
Aviation pioneers
Lviv Polytechnic alumni
Polish emigrants to the United States
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