PZL.37 Łoś
| PZL.37 Łoś | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Bomb plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
June 1936 |
| Commissioning: |
Autumn 1938 |
| Production time: |
1936-1939 |
| Number of pieces: |
92 |
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The PZL.37 Łoś (Elk) was a twin-engined bomber aircraft manufactured by Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze (State Aviation Works), Warsaw. At the beginning of the Second World War it was one of the most modern models of the Polish air force .
Development and production
In October 1934, the State Aviation Works submitted to the Ministry of Aviation a draft of an advanced mid-decker bomb aircraft with retractable landing gear , which Jerzy Dąbrowski had developed as early as 1930, and received the order to build three prototypes. The first machine with the designation PZL.37 / I (No. 72.1) was equipped with two engines built under license from PZL Bristol Pegasus XIIB as well as a conventional tail unit and flew for the first time at the end of June 1936. A series order for 30 aircraft was then received until 1938 were delivered as PZL.37A Łoś A , of which the last 20, however, already received the double control of the second prototype PZL.37 / II , which had been tested in the meantime under the designation PZL.37A bis . These machines were later given dual controls and were used to train bomber crews.
At the end of 1938 the more powerful PZL.37B appeared with Bristol Pegasus XX engines (925 hp each), a modified cockpit and main landing gear with double tires. Originally 150 of this version were ordered for the Polish Air Force , but the order was later reduced to 100 machines. Deliveries began in the spring of 1938.
When the new model was presented to the public at the 1938 Air Show in Belgrade and the Paris Aviation Salon, orders for the machine were immediately received from abroad in early 1939. Two versions equipped with French engines were developed for exports: the PZL.37C for Bulgaria (15 pieces) and Yugoslavia (20 pieces), each equipped with two 1,000 hp Gnome-Rhône 14N01s , and the PZL.37D variant with two Gnome- Rhônees 14N20 / 21 (1,000 HP) for Romania (30 pieces) and Turkey (20 pieces), where the model was also to be built under license (15 pieces), but this did not happen after the outbreak of war. Belgium acquired a production license that could no longer be used before the war began, and Greece ordered 20 copies of the bomber. Denmark , Finland and Estonia also expressed an interest in acquiring a license or a number of these aircraft. Due to the German invasion, only the deliveries to Romania were made.
A total of 92 machines of all variants were produced.
commitment
The training squadron 213 was formed from the first 31 of the PZL.37 ordered for the Polish Air Force.
The newly established bomber brigade, which was under the direct command of the chief of staff , consisted of the two divisions X and XV and was equipped with a total of 36 Łoś B. They were distributed over four squadrons of nine machines each (squadrons 211 and 212 in Division X, squadrons 216 and 217 in Division XV).
At the time of the German attack on Poland , the Polish air forces had de facto 66 Łoś, of which only 46 were fully equipped and took part in the fighting. These aircraft carried out 30 reconnaissance flights and 100 bomb attacks, with a total of about 124 tons of bombs being dropped on the German attackers. The first combat mission took place on September 4 and 5, 1939 against a German tank corps in the region of Częstochowa (German Czestochowa), which suffered heavy losses and had to break off its advance. During the fighting, the gunner of the PZL.37 managed to shoot down a total of five German aircraft, including two Bf 109s and one Bf 110 . In the fighting against the German troops and through attacks on the Polish airfields, 26 PZL.37 were lost. The German Reich and the Soviet Union captured intact machines that were tested by the air forces of these countries and exhibited as spoils of war.
Those aircraft that had survived the fighting were withdrawn from the Germans and flown to Romania. A total of 50 PZL.37A and B flew over the Romanian border (together with the limited combat aircraft of the training squadron). The Romanians confiscated the planes and interned the crews. The latter found their way to France . The PZL.37, on the other hand, were integrated into the Romanian air force and were used until August 1944, mainly against the Soviet troops on the Eastern Front. Perhaps the most spectacular deployment of the Romanian PZL.37 was the pretense of a Soviet bombing of the Slovak city of Košice (then occupied by Hungary ) on June 26, 1941, with which the Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu successfully provoked Hungary's entry into the war against the Soviet Union . After Romania's transition to the side of the Allies , Hungarian units destroyed the PZL.37 stationed at the Cimpia Turzii airfield in retaliation for the bombing of Košice.
Further development
The only further development of the PZL.37 was the PZL.49 Miś ("teddy bear"), which received more powerful engines (1400 hp each) and more powerful on-board weapons (e.g. a 20 mm Oerlikon cannon) and a total of 3000 kg bombs could carry. The only prototype of the PZL.49 was destroyed when the German troops approached.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | PZL.37B | PZL.37D |
|---|---|---|
| crew | 4th | |
| Wingspan | 17.93 m | |
| length | 12.92 m | |
| height | 5.09 m | |
| Wing area | 53.50 m² | |
| Empty mass | 4935 kg | 5200 kg |
| Takeoff mass | maximum 8880 kg | maximum 9000 kg |
| drive | two air-cooled radial engines Bristol Pegasus XX | two air-cooled radial engines Gnome-Rhône 14N21 |
| power | 925 PS / 690 kW each | 1030 HP / 772 kW each |
| Top speed | 445 km / h at an altitude of 3400 m | 460 km / h at an altitude of 4600 m |
| Service ceiling | maximum 5900 m | maximum 7900 m |
| Range | 1500 km with 2200 kg bomb load | maximum 1600 km |
| Armament | two 7.7 mm machine guns of the Wz. 37 Szczeniak type (in the bow and bottom rear) one 7.7 mm machine gun of the Vickers type (top rear) with a total of 1632 rounds |
|
| Drop ammunition | maximum 2580 kg bomb load (bombs of 50, 110 and 300 kg) in the fuselage and wing wells two 12 kg light bombs Wz. 35 under the engine nacelles |
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Countries of operation
Comparable patterns
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France : Lioré & Olivier LeO 451 , Amiot 351 , Bloch MB.175 , SNCAC NC.150
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United Kingdom : Bristol Blenheim
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United States : North American B-25 Mitchell , Martin 167 Maryland
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German Empire : Dornier Do 17 , Heinkel He 111
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Italy : Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 , Cant Z.1007
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Japan : Mitsubishi G3M
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Netherlands : Fokker TV
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Soviet Union : Tupolev SB
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See also
literature
- Olaf Groehler : History of the Air War 1910 to 1980. Military publishing house of the German Democratic Republic, Berlin 1981.
- Kenneth Munson: Bombers, Patrol and Transport Aircraft 1939–45. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1977.
