''Lotnicze Warsztaty Doświadczalne'' (LWD) was the Polish

aerospace manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of Aircraft design process, designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a hi ...

and construction bureau, located in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, active between

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

and

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

. The name meant Aircraft Experimental Workshops. It was the first Polish post-war aerospace construction bureau.

History

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 ...

and German occupation destroyed the whole Polish aviation industry. After eastern Poland was liberated, in October 1944 a group of designers gathered in

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

as a Design Bureau in the Ministry of Communication. It was directed by Aleksander Sułkowski, but Tadeusz Sołtyk became the main designer. In primitive conditions, the bureau started work on a utility aircraft, the Szpak-1. In early 1945 the construction bureau moved to liberated

. On April 1, 1945, the bureau established the Aircraft Experimental Workshops (LWD), subordinated to the Ministry of Communication. The Szpak-1 was not built, but LWD designed and built its development variant, the

LWD Szpak The LWD Szpak (''starling'') was a Polish utility aircraft of 1945, the first Polish aircraft designed after World War II and built in a short series. Development The war destroyed the whole Polish aviation industry. As soon as the Eastern part of ...

-2 utility plane. It first flew on October 28, 1945, as the first Polish post-war plane. Only single prototypes of the Szpak-2 and Szpak-3 were built, but in 1947, PZL-Mielec built 10 Szpak-4 - the first Polish post-war plane to go into production. The next design (also in 1947) was the LWD Żak, a two-seater touring and trainer plane. A series of 10 Żak-3 was built in LWD in 1948, plus prototypes of the Żak-1, Żak-2, and Żak-4. LWD's most successful design was a military and civilian trainer, the LWD Junak of 1948. Its improved variants, Junak-2 and Junak-3, were produced from 1951 in the WSK-4 Okęcie in Warsaw (a total of 252), although its further development was carried out outside of LWD. The LWD Zuch of 1948 was a civilian aerobatics and trainer variant of the Junak. It was a successful design, but only 7 were built in LWD because of lack of proper engines. LWD also designed the two-engine light transport plane LWD Miś of 1949, but it was not successful and was not produced. The last LWD design was the LWD Żuraw, a two-seater military liaison and utility high-wing plane prototype completed in 1951. It was not produced either. In 1950 LWD was converted from a construction bureau and experimental works to a production factory and renamed WSK-6 (''Wytwórnia Sprzętu Komunikacyjnego 6'' - Communication Equipment Factory 6). This put an end to its activity. Soon it was disbanded because of too small production capabilities. Chief designer Tadeusz Sołtyk organized a new construction bureau in the Aviation Institute in Warsaw.

Aircraft

References

Footnotes

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Lotnicze Warsztaty Doświadczalne – Samoloty w Lotinctwie Polskim

Lotnicze Warsztaty Doświadczalne LWD, Poland – Polish Propellers

Polish Aviation Industry - Part 12 – Polot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotnicze Warsztaty Doswiadczalne Aircraft manufacturers of Poland Science and technology in Poland