RWD-6

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RWD-6

RWD-6 of Franciszek Zwirko during a short take-off trial at the Challenge 1932
Type	Sports plane
Manufacturer	Warsaw University of Technology workshops
Designed by	RWD team
Maiden flight	1932-06-03
Introduced	1932
Retired	1935
Primary user	Polish civilian aviation
Number built	3

The RWD-6 was a Polish sports plane of 1932, constructed by the RWD team. It was a winner of the Challenge 1932 international tourist aircraft contest.

1 Development
2 Description
3 Specifications
4 References

[edit] Development

The aircraft was designed specially for the purpose of competing in the international tourist aircraft contest Challenge, which RWD attended in 1930, without major success. It was constructed by the RWD team of Stanislaw Rogalski, Stanislaw Wigura and Jerzy Drzewiecki in the workshops of Students' Mechanical Club of Warsaw University of Technology (their designs were named RWD after their initial letters). The new plane differed from previous RWD designs, having a cab with two seats next to each other, folding wings and good wing mechanization (slats and flaps).

Only 3 aircraft were built, the first one was flown on June 3, 1932 by its designer Jerzy Drzewiecki. The aircraft were given civilian registrations SP-AHL, SP-AHM and SP-AHN. During trials, SP-AHM crashed and J. Drzewiecki was hurt. After some modification of tails, two remaining RWD-6s were sent to the Challenge contest.

Challenge 1932, held between August 11-August 28, 1932, was eventually won by Franciszek Żwirko (pilot) and Stanisław Wigura (mechanic) in their RWD-6 SP-AHN, with a start number O6. The other RWD-6, flown by Tadeusz Karpiński, took ninth place out of 43 competitors (SP-AHL, nr. O4). During contest, the RWD-6 was given the highest note for technical evaluation of all participating aircraft.

Franciszek Żwirko and Stanisław Wigura in the RWD-6 airplane (1932).

On September 11, 1932, the RWD-6 SP-AHN with Franciszek Żwirko and Stanisław Wigura aboard crashed during a storm, flying to an air meeting in Czechoslovakia, and both died. The cause was found to be too weak wing mounting, that caused wing warping at higher speeds. The last remaining RWD-6 (SP-AHL) was modified after this accident, receiving a strengthened wing with V-shaped struts and the new designation RWD-6bis. The RWD-6bis was completed and flown in September 1933. In 1935 it was broken up, and its fuselage was used to create the RWD-13 touring plane prototype. A direct development of the RWD-6 as a sport plane was a four-seater RWD-9, a winner of the Challenge 1934.

[edit] Description

Two-seater sports and touring strutted high-wing monoplane of a mixed construction. A fuselage of a metal frame, covered with canvas, in engine section with aluminium sheets. Rectangular single-spar wing of wooden construction, canvas and plywood covered. Wings were folding rearwards, and were equipped with automatic slats and flaps. Closed cabin with two places side-by-side, with double controls. The cabin had a pair of doors. 7 cylinder Armstrong Siddley Genet Major radial engine of 104 kW (140 hp) (119 kW, 160 hp start power). Two-blade metal propeller. Conventional landing gear, with a rear skid. Fuel tanks in wings (140 l, 34 US gal). Take-off: 111 m (to altitude 8 m), landing: 106 m (from altitude 8 m - best results from the Challenge contest).

[edit] Specifications

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Capacity: 1
Length: 6.6 m (21 ft 8 in)
Wingspan: 11.0 m (36 ft 1 in)
Height: 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in)
Wing area: 16.00 m² (172 ft²)
Empty weight: 474 kg (1,045 lb)
Useful load: 276 kg ()
Max takeoff weight: 750 kg (1,650 lb)
Powerplant: 1× Armstrong Siddley Genet Major air-cooled 7-cylinder radial engine, 160 hp (119 kW)