LWD Szpak

LWD Szpak
	Szpak-4T
Role	Utility aircraft
Manufacturer	LWD, WSK-Mielec
Designer	Tadeusz Sołtyk
First flight	October 28, 1945
Introduction	1946
Retired	1955
Primary user	Polish civilian aviation
Produced	1945–1948
Number built	13

Last updated November 20, 2019

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.

Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The name "Sturnidae" comes from the Latin word for starling, sturnus. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, are called mynas, and many African species are known as glossy starlings because of their iridescent plumage. Starlings are native to Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as northern Australia and the islands of the tropical Pacific. Several European and Asian species have been introduced to these areas as well as North America, Hawaii and New Zealand, where they generally compete for habitats with native birds and are considered to be invasive species. The starling species familiar to most people in Europe and North America is the common starling, and throughout much of Asia and the Pacific, the common myna is indeed common.

Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country located in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, covering an area of 312,696 square kilometres (120,733 sq mi), and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With a population of nearly 38.5 million people, Poland is the sixth most populous member state of the European Union. Poland's capital and largest metropolis is Warsaw. Other major cities include Kraków, Łódź, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk, and Szczecin.

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. Common examples of aircraft include airplanes, helicopters, airships, gliders, paramotors and hot air balloons.

Development

The war destroyed the whole Polish aviation industry. As soon as the Eastern part of Poland was liberated by the Red Army in October 1944 a group of designers gathered in Lublin, under the direction of Tadeusz Sołtyk, thus creating the first Polish post-war construction team. They designed a touring low-plane aircraft of a wooden construction called Szpak-1, with a M-11F radial engine. The plane was not built, nevertheless it gave the beginning to a Szpak family. In early 1945 the construction team moved to Łódź and on April 1, 1945, created Lotnicze Warsztaty Doświadczalne (LWD, Aviation Experimental Workshops).

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, frequently shortened to Red Army, was the army and the air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established immediately after the 1917 October Revolution. The Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. Beginning in February 1946, the Red Army, along with the Soviet Navy, embodied the main component of the Soviet Armed Forces; taking the official name of "Soviet Army", until its dissolution in December 1991. The former official name Red Army continued to be used as a nickname by both sides throughout the Cold War.

Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship (province) with a population of 339,682. Lublin is the largest Polish city east of the Vistula River and is about 170 km (106 mi) to the southeast of Warsaw by road.

Tadeusz Sołtyk was a Polish aircraft designer and aerospace engineer, most famous as the creator of the PZL TS-11 Iskra

On October 28, 1945, the prototype of the Szpak-2 was flown for the first time; first Polish post-war civilian plane in operation. It broke its landing gear during a landing, but was repaired. The official first flight took place on 10 November 1945. Szpak was a strutted monoplane low-wing utility/touring plane of wooden construction, powered by a radial engine Bramo Sh 14, left in the country by the retreating Germans. A crew of 4 sat in a closed cab under a multi-part canopy, in two rows. Szpak-2 was not built in series, the single aircraft was used by the factory, then in 1947-1948 by the Polish government as a utility and light transport aircraft. Being the first plane registered in Poland after the war (on 10 May 1946) it carried the registration SP-AAA. It completed some 500 flights and transported some 250 passengers in total and was retired on April 5, 1948.

A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension.

The Siemens-Halske Sh 14 was a seven-cylinder air-cooled radial engine for aircraft produced in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. First run in 1928, it was rated at 93 kW (125 hp).

An aircraft canopy is the transparent enclosure over the cockpit of some types of aircraft. An aircraft canopy provides a controlled and sometimes pressurized environment for the aircraft's occupants, and allows for a greater field of view over a traditional flight deck. A canopy's shape is a compromise designed to minimize aerodynamic drag, while maximizing visibility for pilots and other crewmembers.

The Szpak-2 had a conventional fixed landing gear. On 17 December 1946, for the first time flew its improved experimental variant called Szpak-3 with a fixed tricycle landing gear (markings SP-AAB). It was not built in a series either, and the prototype was used as a courier plane by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during 1947, then by the factory. It was retired on March 6, 1950.

Tricycle landing gear aircraft undercarriage arranged with main gear under the wing or fuselage and a third set under the nose

Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or landing gear, arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle gear aircraft are the easiest to take-off, land and taxi, and consequently the configuration is the most widely used on aircraft.

The next variant, the Szpak-4A, was designed as an aerobatic aircraft. Only one prototype was built, flown on May 20, 1947. It had a steel fuselage frame rather than a wooden one, and a two-men side-by-side open cab. It was not certified as an aerobatic aircraft however, and was used by the factory as a utility plane in 1947–1948.

The only variant produced in a series was the 4-seater utility plane called Szpak-4T, utilizing the steel fuselage frame with a conventional landing gear. Contrary to Szpak-2 and 3, its fuselage was lowered behind a canopy. It was ordered by the Ministry of Communication and ten planes were built in 1947-1948 by the PZL (later WSK) in Mielec as the first Polish post-war planes built in a series. The very first one was flown on January 5, 1948. The planes had markings: SP-AAF to SP-AAO, and SP-AAR. They were used by the Polish civilian aviation - regional aero clubs until 1952, except for the SP-AAG, which was retired in 1955. They are also known as WSK Szpak-4T.

Mielec is a city in south-eastern Poland, with a population of 60,979 inhabitants, as of June 2009. It is located in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship ; previously it was in Rzeszów Voivodeship (1975–1998). Mielec is the capital city of Mielec County.

Aeroklub Polski is the Polish central association of persons practising air sports or recreational flying. It was founded in 1921 and is a member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. It has a headquarters in Warsaw.

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1952:

Survivors

Szpak-1: The design concept which spawned the Szpak series
Szpak-2: (SP-AAA) preserved in the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków (damaged)
Szpak-3: A tricycle undercarriage prototype, (SP-AAB), preserved in the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków (disassembled as of 2008)
Szpak-4a: A single prototype aerobatic aircraft.
Szpak-4T: 10 production aircraft. A Szpak-4T, (SP-AAG), is preserved in the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków (disassembled as of 2008)

Operators

Poland

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Polish Aero Club
LWD workshops

Specifications (Szpak-4T)

Data from^{[ citation needed ]}

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Capacity: 3 pax
Length: 8.05 m (26 ft 5 in)
Wingspan: 11.4 m (37 ft 5 in)
Height: 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in)
Wing area: 18.2 m² (196 sq ft)
Empty weight: 700 kg (1,543 lb)
Gross weight: 1,200 kg (2,646 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Bramo Sh.14A-4 7-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 118 kW (158 hp)
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

Maximum speed: 180 km/h (110 mph, 97 kn)
Range: 630 km (390 mi, 340 nmi)
Service ceiling: 3,350 m (10,990 ft)

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References

Babiejczuk, Janusz and Grzegorzewski, Jerzy: Polski przemysł lotniczy 1945-1973 (Polish aviation industry...), Wydawnictwo MON, Warsaw 1974 (no ISBN) (in Polish)
Krzyżan, Marian: Samoloty w muzeach polskich, Warsaw 1983, ISBN 978-83-206-0432-0 (in Polish)

External links

Photos at Ugolok Neba

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