Zygmunt Puławski

Zygmunt Puławski, 1901–1931

Zygmunt Puławski (born October 24, 1901 in Lublin , † March 21, 1931 in Warsaw ) was a Polish aircraft designer and pilot.

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Zygmunt Puławski was a volunteer in a battalion of Polish scouts ZHP ( Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego ) in the Polish-Soviet War in 1920 . Then he began studying at the Technical University of Warsaw , where he designed several gliders in the mechanical engineering student association. After successfully completing his studies in 1926, he gained his first professional experience at Breguet in France, attended the military flight school in Bromberg and became a pilot. From 1927, Puławski was a senior designer at a Warsaw state aircraft manufacturer, which became Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze (PZL) from 1928 .

Zygmunt Puławski initially developed the PZL P.1 aircraft , which did not go into series production, but caused a sensation in specialist circles due to its concept. This was followed by the design of the well-known all-metal fighter aircraft type PZL P.7 and type PZL P.11 under his leadership at PZL . These were the modern backbone of the Polish air forces until they were broken up during the attack on Poland .

The characteristic feature of these shoulder -wing planes was the so-called Puławski wing , a gull wing that gave the aircraft extraordinary maneuverability. Soon after the P.1 was presented, drafts that took up this design feature appeared in other countries.

When the prototype of the P.11 was ready to fly, Puławski was killed in a crash of his newest seaplane PZL.12 in March 1931 at the age of 29.