RWD (aircraft manufacturer)


RWD was a Polish aircraft construction bureau active between 1928 and 1939. It started as a team of three young designers, Stanisław Rogalski, Stanisław Wigura and Jerzy Drzewiecki, whose names formed the RWD acronym.

History

They started work while studying at Warsaw University of Technology. In December 1925, with some other student constructors, they set up workshops at the Aviation Section of Mechanics Students' Club, where they manufactured their first designs. From 1926 they designed several aircraft alone, in 1928 they joined forces as one team, starting with RWD-1 sportsplane. Apart from building planes, J. Drzewiecki was a test pilot of their designs, while S. Wigura flew as a mechanic in competitions. In 1930 the team was moved to new workshops at Okęcie district in Warsaw, near the Okęcie aerodrome, today's Warsaw International Airport, founded by the LOPP paramilitary organization. On 11 September 1932, Stanisław Wigura died in an air crash in the RWD-6 during a storm, but the RWD name continued to be used for new designs. In 1933, Rogalski, Drzewiecki and Wędrychowski founded the company Doświadczalne Warsztaty Lotnicze in Warsaw, which became a manufacturer of further RWD aircraft. Apart from Rogalski and Drzewiecki, in a construction bureau worked designers Tadeusz Chyliński, Bronisław Żurakowski, Leszek Dulęba and Andrzej Anczutin and several engineers, including Henryk Millicer.
in the Challenge 1932.
At first, the RWD team designed and built light sportsplanes. Early designs RWD-2 and RWD-4 were built in small series and used in Polish sports aviation, including their debut at the Challenge 1930 international contest. Their next designs performed particularly well in competitions - the RWD-6 won the Challenge 1932 and RWD-9s won the Challenge 1934 international contest. The sportsplane RWD-5 was the lightest plane to fly across the Atlantic in 1933. Three types saw mass production: the RWD-8, which became the Polish Air Force basic trainer, the RWD-13 touring plane and the RWD-14 Czapla reconnaissance plane.
Other important designs were the RWD-10 aerobatic plane, RWD-17 aerobatic-trainer plane and RWD-21 light sport plane. World War II prevented further development and serial production of later RWD designs, and put an end to the RWD construction bureau and the DWL workshops.

List of RWD designs

DesignFirst flightTypeSeatsNo. built
RWD-11928sports high-wing, [|1] engine[|2]1
RWD-21929sports high-wing, 1 engine24
RWD-31930sports high-wing, 1 engine21
RWD-41930sports high-wing, 1 engine29
RWD-51931sports high-wing, 1 engine220
RWD-61932sports high-wing, 1 engine23
RWD-71931sports high-wing, 1 engine 121
RWD-81933primary trainer high-wing, 1 engine2~ 550
RWD-91933sports high-wing, 1 engine48
RWD-101933aerobatics high-wing, 1 engine123
RWD-111936passenger low-wing, 2 engines2+61
RWD-12observation plane high wing, 1 engine 220
RWD-131935sports and touring high-wing, 1 engine3~100
RWD-14 Czapla1935reconnaissance aircraft, high-wing, 1 engine265 3
RWD-151937touring high-wing, 1 engine56
RWD-161936sports low-wing, 1 engine21
RWD-16bis1938sports low-wing, 1 engine22
RWD-171937trainer-aerobatics high-wing, 1 engine224
RWD-17W1938trainer floatplane, 1 engine26 4
RWD-18touring and ambulance high-wing, 2 engines5
RWD-191938sports low-wing, 1 engine21
RWD-201937experimental touring high-wing, 1 engine 621
RWD-211939sports and touring low-wing, 1 engine24
RWD-22torpedo floatplane project, 2 engines30
RWD-231938trainer low-wing, 1 engine 721
RWD-24light bomber project, 2 engines 830
RWD-25low-wing, fixed-wheels fighter project, 1 engine10
RWD-26trainer low-wing project, 1 engine20

Notes
  1. Built as a record plane, it set off after less than 20 metres runway
  2. Derived from RWD-8
  3. Produced by the LWS, all commissioned by Polish Airforce
  4. Out of 125 ordered by the Polish Army and Polish Navy
  5. First flight planned in December 1939; it was one of the first two engine civilian planes in the world
  6. Based on a RWD-9 prototype, designed to test a 3-wheel gear for the RWD-18
  7. Designed as a successor of the RWD-8
  8. Land-based version of the RWD-22