RWD 15
| RWD-15 | |
|---|---|
| Role | Touring plane |
| Manufacturer | DWL |
| Designer | RWD team |
| First flight | 1937 |
| Primary users | Poland Romania British Mandate of Palestine |
| Produced | 1939 |
| Number built | 6 |
| Developed from | RWD-13 |
The RWD-15 was a Polish touring plane of 1937, designed by the RWD team.
Design and development
The RWD-15 was an enlarged development of a 3-seater RWD-13 touring plane, designed by Stanisław Rogalski of the RWD team, in the DWL workshops in Warsaw. The prototype first flew in spring 1937 (registration SP-BFX). It inherited RWD-13's advantages, like ease of flying, with a good stability. In 1939, 5 serial aircraft were produced. A series of 10 RWD-15 was ordered by the Polish Air Force as liaison aircraft in 1939, but they have not been completed before the outbreak of World War II. Also planned variants of air ambulance for two stretchers and of aerial photography plane has not been built by the war.
Operational history
RWD-15 were used by the Polish civilian aviation, one was used by the Presidential Chancellory. One aircraft (SP-KAT) was completed in a long-range variant, with fuel tanks in a place of rear seats, owned by the LOPP paramilitary organization. It was planned to fly it to Australia in marketing goals, but the plans were canceled after the German invasion on Czechoslovakia in March 1939.
The prototype RWD-15 was exported to Palestine in 1939 and used there by Aviron company (registration: VQ-PAE, ex. SP-BFX). From 1945 it was used as a communication plane on lines from Lod to Tel Aviv and to Egypt. In December 1947 it had to be abandoned in Lod while undergoing a repair, and was burned on 6 April 1948 by the Arabs[1].
After the outbreak of the World War II, two aircraft (SP-ALA, SP-KAT) were evacuated to Romania. After a fall of Poland, they were taken over by the Romanian civil aviation (with registration YR-FAN and YR-TIT). After Romania joined the war on Axis side and took part in an attack on the USSR, RWD-15 were used as liaison planes on the eastern front by the Romanian Air Force.
According to some publications, one RWD-15 was sent to the World's Fair to the USA, along with the RWD-13, and then sold there, but there is no evidence of such plane in the US register[1].
Operators
Specifications
Description
Five-seater touring strutted high-wing monoplane of a mixed construction. A fuselage of a metal frame, covered with canvas, in engine section with aluminium sheets. Two-spar rectangular wing of wooden construction, covered with canvas and plywood in front, supported by V-struts. Wings were folding rearwards, and were equipped with automatic slats. Cantilever wooden empennage, covered with plywood (stabilizers) and canvas (rudder and elevators). Closed cabin with two front seats fitted with double controls, behind them a bench with three seats. The cabin had a single door on the left and a pair of doors on the right side. Behind a cabin there were two luggage spaces. Engine in front - 205 hp de Havilland Gipsy Six II, with a two-blade metal tractor propeller DH Hamilton 1000 of variable pitch, 2.28 m diameter. Conventional fixed landing gear, with a rear wheel. Fuel tanks in wings - 240 l.
Data from Glass, A. (1977)
General characteristics
- Crew: 1, pilot
- Capacity: 4
Performance
See also
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
References
- Andrzej Glass: "Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893-1939" (Polish aviation constructions 1893-1939), WKiŁ, Warsaw 1977, p. 320-322 Template:Pl icon
External links
- Photos and drawing at Ugolok Neba site (in Russian)