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Polish aerospace manufacturer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów (PWS; Podlachian Aircraft Factory) was a Polish aerospace manufacturer between 1923 and 1939, located in Biała Podlaska.
 Logo | |
| Industry | Aerospace |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1923 |
| Founder | |
| Defunct | 1939 |
| Headquarters | , Poland |
Key people |
|
| Parent | PZL (1936–1939) |
| Divisions | Lwowskie Warsztaty Lotnicze (1937–1939) |
| Subsidiaries | Lubelska Wytwórnia Samolotów (1936–1939) |
Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów SA was created in 1923. The first aircraft produced were 35 Potez XV bombers for the Polish Air Force, under the French licence, built from 1925.[2] By 1929 the company had produced 150 Potez XXV and 155 Potez 27, under French licence, and 50 PWS-A fighters, which was the Czech Avia BH-33 built under licence. It also produced 50 Bartel BM-4 trainers in 1931, designed by Samolot.[2]
In 1925, a design office was established which included, among others, Stefan Cywiński, Zbysław Ciołkosz, August Bobek-Zdaniewski.[2] Despite a large number of prototypes, few were produced in series. The first aircraft of their own design to be mass-produced was the PWS-10 fighter of 1930 of which 80 examples were built. Smaller production runs of the PWS-14 trainer and the PWS-24 passenger aircraft were also made. The PWS-10 and PWS-24 were the first fighter and the first passenger plane of the Polish construction built in series, respectively. In 1929 the factory built a wind tunnel, the first in Poland. All PWS-designed aircraft had wooden or mixed construction.[2]
In 1932 the PWS was nationalized to prevent its bankruptcy.[2] It then produced 500 RWD-8 trainers (designed by RWD) and 50 of the British Avro Tutor under licence as the PWS-18 trainers.[2] The factory then designed its own successful PWS-16 and PWS-26 advanced trainers, 320 of the latter built from 1936 to 1939.
In 1936 the factory was subordinated to the Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze (PZL). It developed a series of projects for military planes, but they were not built due to outbreak of World War II. The PWS-33 Wyżeł twin-engine advanced trainer and the PWS-35 sports biplane were ordered into production but no aircraft were delivered before the outbreak of war.
Lwowskie Warsztaty Lotnicze (LWL, Lwów Aviation Workshops) was formed in October 1937 as a division of PWS. It built gliders, among others designated with letters PWS. Some 160 gliders were built before the war.[3]
After the outbreak of World War II, the PWS factory was bombed by the Germans on September 4, 1939, who destroyed about 70% of the factory. The remains of equipment were plundered by the Soviets after their invasion of Poland.
| Model name | First flight | Number built | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| PWS XV | 1925[1] | 35 | License built single engine biplane light bomber |
| PWS XXV | 150 | License built single engine biplane light bomber | |
| PWS XXVII | 155 | License built single engine biplane reconnaissance airplane | |
| PWS-A | 50 | License built biplane fighter | |
| PWS-1 | 1927 | 1 | Single engine monoplane fighter |
| PWS-2 | N/A | 1 | Single engine monoplane trainer[4][5] |
| PWS-3 | 1927 | 1 | Single engine monoplane sport airplane |
| PWS-4 | 1928 | 1 | Single engine monoplane sport airplane |
| PWS-5 | 1929 | 7 | Single engine biplane liaison airplane |
| PWS-6 | 1930 | 1 | Single engine biplane liaison airplane |
| PWS-7 | 1928 | 1 | Single engine biplane liaison airplane |
| PWS-8 | 1929 or 1930 | 1 | Single engine biplane sport airplane |
| PWS-10 | 1930 | 80 | Single engine monoplane fighter |
| PWS-11 | 1929 | 2 | Single engine monoplane trainer |
| PWS-12 | 1929 | 3 | Single engine biplane trainer |
| PWS-14 | 1933 | 20 | Single engine biplane trainer |
| PWS-16 | 1933 | 40 | Single engine biplane trainer |
| PWS-18 | 1935 | 40 | License built single engine biplane trainer |
| PWS-19 | 1931 | 1 | Single engine monoplane light bomber |
| PWS-20 | 1929 | 2 | Single engine monoplane airliner |
| PWS-21 | 1930 | 1 | Single engine monoplane airliner |
| PWS-24 | 1931 | 11 | Single engine monoplane airliner |
| PWS-26 | 1935 | 320 | Single engine biplane trainer |
| PWS-33 Wyżeł | 1938 | 2 | Twin engine monoplane trainer |
| PWS-35 | 1938 | 2 | Single engine biplane trainer |
| PWS-40 Junak | 1939 | 1 | Single engine monoplane trainer |
| PWS-50 | 1930 | 1 | Single engine monoplane sport airplane |
| PWS-51 | 1930 | 1 | Single engine monoplane sport airplane |
| PWS-52 | 1930 | 1 | Single engine monoplane sport airplane |
| PWS-54 | 1933 | 1 | Single engine monoplane airliner |
| PWS-101 | 1937 | 12 | Glider |
| PWS-102 Rekin | 1939 | 2 | Glider |
| PWS-103 | 1939 or 1940 | 2 | Glider |
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