A high wing, three seat, single engine sports and touring aircraft. First flying in 1936, approximately 100 were built.

The Germans used RWD-13s as air ambulances in World War II.

After to war, two RWD-13s, VQ-PAL and VQ-PAM, and a suspected third, VQ-PAF, found their way to Palestine and served with Aviron Ltd. The original Czech 130 hp Walter Major 4-1 was replaced by a 130 hp DH Gipsy Major.

A low wing, 2 + 6 seat, twin engine passenger aircraft. First flying in 1936, one was built.

A high wing, single seat, single engine aerobatics aircraft. First flying in 1933, 23 were built.

A high wing, four seat, single engine sports aircraft. First flying in 1933, eight were built.

A single engine, high wing, two seat primary trainer. First flying in 1933, approximately 550 were built.

It was also built under licence in Eastonia and Yugoslavia.

Originally powered by a Czech 110 hp Walter Junior 4-1, two delivered to Aviron Ltd, Israel (VQ-PAG and VQ-APK) were fitted with the more powerful 130 hp DH Gipsy Major.

RWD-8
Engine: 110 hp Walter Junior 4-1
Wingspan: 36 ft
Length: 26 ft 3 in
Height: 7 ft 6 in
Empty weight: 616 lb
Loaded weight: 1659 lb
Max speed: 105 mph
Cruise: 97 mph
Endurance: 3 hr

The RWD 7 was constructed by the RWD team of Stanisław Rogalski, Stanisław Wigura and Jerzy Drzewiecki in Warsaw. It was based upon their earlier designs, especially the RWD 2 and RWD 4. The RWD 7 was meant to be a record-beating plane, so it had a more powerful engine, while its mass was reduced. From its predecessors, it took the same fish-shaped fuselage without a direct view towards forward from the pilot’s seat.

The RWD 7 was a wooden construction, conventional in layout, high-wing cantilever monoplane. The fuselage was rectangular in cross-section (narrowing in upper part), plywood-covered, apart from the engine section, which was aluminium sheet-covered. The wings were trapezoid, single-spar, single part, canvas and plywood covered. A crew of two was sitting in tandem, with a pilot in the rear cab. The crew cabs were open on upper sides, and had doors on the right side. The engine was 5-cylinder Armstrong Siddeley Genet II radial engine, 56 kW (75 hp) nominal power. Two-blade wooden propeller of a fixed pitch. The plane had a conventional landing gear, with a rear skid. A 30 l fuel tank was in central part of wing. A cruise fuel consumption was 18 l/hour.

The only RWD 7 built (registration SP-AGH) was flown in July 1931 by its designer Jerzy Drzewiecki. On August 12, 1931, Drzewiecki and Jerzy Wędrychowski established an international FAI speed record of 178 km/h (111 mph) in the light touring plane class, (below 280 kg / 616 lb empty weight). On September 30, 1932, Drzewiecki and Antoni Kocjan set a height record of 6,023 m (19,755 ft). The RWD 7 was used in Warsaw Aero Club, among others, for aerobatics, then in 1936 it was bought by a known aviator Zbigniew Babiński for touring flights and used until 1938.

The RWD 7 was known for its extremely short take-off run: with a single crew member only 18 m (59 ft), with two crew members, 30 m (98 ft).

Engine: 1 × Armstrong Siddeley Genet II, 75 hp (56 kW)
Length: 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 6.3 m (20 ft 8 in)
Wing area: 13.60 sq.m (146 sq.ft)
Height: 2.0 m (6 ft 7 in)
Empty weight: 246 kg (541 lb)
Loaded weight: 440 kg (968 lb)
Useful load: 194 kg
Maximum speed: 186 km/h (116 mph)
Cruise speed: 160 km/h
Stall speed: 65 km/h
Range: 260 km (163 miles)
Service ceiling: 6,000 m (19,680 ft)
Rate of climb: 6.2 m/s (1,220 ft/min)
Wing loading: 32 kg/sq.m (6.6 lb/sq.ft)
Power/mass: 0.23 kW/kg
Take-off run: 18-30 m
Crew: 1
Capacity: 1

The RWD-6 high wing, single engine sports aircraft was first flown in 1932. A two seater, three were built.

The RWD 5 was constructed by the RWD team of Stanisław Rogalski, Stanisław Wigura and Jerzy Drzewiecki (their designs were named RWD after their initial letters). It was a further development of earlier RWD aircraft series, especially of its direct predecessor, the RWD 4. It shared the same wing shape and construction, while the fuselage was totally new, constructed of steel frame, unlike its wooden predecessors. The fuselage had a modern shape and a closed canopy with panoramic windows.

Mixed construction (steel and wood) high-wing cantilever monoplane, conventional in layout. The fuselage of a steel cro-mo tube frame, covered with canvas on a wooden frame (with duralumin in engine section). Trapezoid one-part wing, canvas covered (plywood in front), two-spar, with no mechanization, fastened to the fuselage framework with four clamps. Elastic trailing edge connecting rib ends extended from the fuselage to the ailerons. After the coating was tightened there were characteristic bogging. Ailerons – cantilever, differential +10 deg/-25deg. The wing was designed in accordance with technical documentation of the yet unbuilt wing to the PZL-3 bomber by engineer Władysław Zalewski. The undivided tapered wing, a two-spar structure of wood with plywood D leading edge, was covered with fabric and bolted direct to the top of the fuselage. On the standard production aircraft the wing aspect ratio was slightly reduced, the overall span being cut from 34 ft 5.5 in (10.5 m) to 33 ft 10 in (10,3 m), and wing area increased from 161.5 sq.ft (15 sq.m) to 166.8 sq.ft (15.5 sq.m). The stabilizers were cantlever, wooden construction, covered with plywood. Control surfaces without balancing surfaces and trimming tabs, covered with cloth. Horizontal stabilizer adjustable during flight with a handwheel placed on the left-hand side of a pilot’s cabin. Fin and tailplane were ply-covered, and rudder and elevators were fabric-covered, in later models a taller fin and rudder was employed. A crew of two, sitting in tandem in a glazed cockpit, with dual controls and individual doors on the right (one in RWD-5bis). Control stick from the back seat could be removed. The baggage holder was behind the back seat. Control panel was equipped with speedometer, altimeter, compass, time clock, engine-speed indicator, oil manometer and fuel indicator. A noise muffler installed on the exhaust gas pipe, and cabin heating was with hot air taken from a heater installed on the exhaust gas pipe (it was removed on RWD-5bis). Conventional fixed landing gear, with a rear skid, wheels in teardrop covers on serial aircraft. Fixed, two wheels, with tail landing skid, three-legs, oil-air shock absorbtion. Tail landing skid half-springing, not controllable. Wheels with low-pressure tyres suspended on forked rocker arm supported on shock-absorbing angle strut and shielded with alluminium fairings. The undercarriage of the production model was of the divided type and consisted of two D.W.L. rubber-in-compression legs, running from the sides of the fuselage, with the lower ends hinged to the bottom of the fuselage by short axles and radius rods. The compression legs were enclosed in streamlined fairings, and the medium-pressure Dunlop wheels were often fitted with large spats. A semi-leaf spring tailskid was used. The wheel track was 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m).Some models of RWD-5 were equipped with wheel brakes. SP-AGJ prototype had high-pressure tyres and three-legs with shock-absorber supporten on lower fuselage section. The shape of wheel fairings differed on different models. Fuel tanks of capacity 110 liters in center of wing section.

Alternative powerplants included the 105-115 hp Cirrus-Hermes IIB, 120-130 hp Cirrus-Hermes IV, 130 hp de Havilland Gipsy-Major, or 110 hp Walter Junior four-cylinder inverted in-line air-cooled engines, driving a Szomanski two-blade wooden airscrew. Other in-line engines of similar output could be installed. Two fuel tanks, with a total capacity of 58.12 gal (220 l) were mounted side by side in the wing above the cabin. The oil tank was carried externally at the bottom of the fuselage on the port side.

The first year of D.W.L.’s existence was a critical one, and, apart from the RWD 5 prototype, only one other aeroplane, the record-breaking RWD 7, was completed in 1931. Soon, however, the prospects began to improve, and in addition to a Government contract for a new Challenge tourer, the RWD 6, orders for the RWD 5 were mounting. Work on the machine was delayed by the move from the University’s primitive workshop to the new establishment at Warsaw-Okecie. Construction of the prototype began at the new factory in September 1930, but due to extreme financial difficulties and other problems arising from the move, the aircraft was not finished until July 1931. In the spring of 1932 work on the first batch of ten RWD 5s began, and this was followed by another batch of ten in 1933.

Powered by the Cirrus-Hermes IIB the RWD 5 flew for the first time on August 7, 1931, proving eminently successful. Registered SP-AGJ (c/n 34) the aircraft was flown a week later to victory in the 3rd Tour of Southwestern Poland by Mieczyslaw Pronaszko, and less than two months after its first flight it came first in the 4th National Lightplane Contest, piloted by Franciszek Zwirko.

The production model differed from the prototype in having a redesigned undercarriage with medium-pressure wheels and a more efficient windscreen and improved cabin windows. The first two production machines, the Cirrus-Hermes IIB powered SP-AJA and SP-AJB, c/ns 58 and 59, named Kolejarz I (Railwayman) and Kolejarz II, were financed by the Railwaymen’s Union, and officially presented to the Warsaw Aeroclub on November 13, 1932.

Engine in front, with tractor two-blade wooden propeller of a fixed pitch. A variety of 4-cylinder air-cooled inverted straight engines were used, most typically Cirrus Hermes IIB (105 hp (78 kW) nominal power and 115 hp (86 kW) take-off power). Used also were 130 hp Hermes IV or de Havilland Gipsy III, or 120 hp Walter Junior 4. The RWD 5bis and RWD 5 SP-LOT had a 130 hp (97 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major.

The first prototype (registration SP-AGJ) was flown on 7 August 1931 by its designer Jerzy Drzewiecki. It was built in new workshops of Warsaw University of Technology near Okęcie airport, from 1933 converted to Doświadczalne Warsztaty Lotnicze (DWL) company.

After successes of the prototype in air competitions, a small-scale series production was set up, mostly for the Polish Aero Club. Series aircraft had improved landing gear. Two were built in 1932 (registration SP-AJA and AJB), five in 1933 (including the single-seater RWD 5bis), eleven in 1934 (including one in Aero Club workshops in Lublin) and one more in 1937 (SP-BGX), for a total of 20 aircraft. In 1932, the RWD 5 was shown at the International Air Show in Paris.

The prototype, SP-AGJ, underwent various modifications; in 1933 it was re-engined with a Cirrus-Hermes IV, and later was fitted with a production-type wind screen and Dunlop medium-pressure wheels in place of the earlier Palmer wheels. Several RWD 5s were re-engined during their life, including SP-AJA, which was fitted with a Gipsy Major in 1936. In addition to the twenty RWD 5s produced by D.W.L., one monoplane of this type was completed before the end of 1933 by the Central Aeroclubs’ Workshops in Lublin.

The RWD 5s played a prominent role in the development of Polish popular flying and, in addition to extensive touring and sporting activities, some of the machines, such as SP-ARP (c/n 68), owned by the Central Board of the Aeroclub of the Polish Republic, and SP-LOP (c/n 84), owned by the Central Board of Aviation League, were operated as executive aircraft. The RWD 5s achieved a number of victories in national and regional rallies and meetings, most outstanding among them being the success in the 5th National Lightplane Contest; the competition was won by Cirrus-Hermes IV powered SP-AGJ, piloted by Pronaszko, and two Cirrus-Hermes IIB powered RWD 5s qualified for the fourth and fifth places.

The RWD 5 participated also in several international events, and gained considerable fame in the Tour of Algeria and Morocco, staged in April 1933, in the course of which SP-AJB, flown by Robert Hirszbandt, with Bohdan Kwiecinski as passenger, covered a route of 7,077 mls (11,389 km) without a hitch. Flying in greatly varying climatic conditions over difficult terrain, the monoplane won the ‘Foreigners’ Prize’ at the Casablanca Meeting. However, all these successes were overshadowed by one of the greatest epics in the annals of Polish flying, Skarzynski’s Atlantic flight.

RWD-5bis, in the place of the back seat had additional fuel tank of capacity 300 liters, the doors and windows for back seat were removed. RWD-5bis had more comfortable pilot’s seat, designed for long flights, with rubber pneumatic pillows, armrests, footrests and lighting for night flights. On RWD-5bis an additional tank of capacity 300 liters was installed in place of the back seat, and two additional wing tanks, each 113 liters were installed. Oil tank of capacity 35 liters was placed just in front of the pilot’s seat, under the cabin’s floor.

RWD 5s were mostly used as trainers and sport planes by Polish regional aero clubs. They scored good results in local competitions, starting from 1931, when the prototype won the 3rd South-Western Poland Flight (pilot M. Pronaszko) and the 4th Touring Aircraft Contest (pilot Franciszek Żwirko). As sport and touring planes, they were later superseded by the RWD 13, and were relegated mostly for training. Three were written off before 1939.

In March 1933 a special single-seater variant was built, called RWD 5bis (registration SP-AJU), powered with 130 hp Gipsy Major engine. The rear cabin was replaced with an additional 300 l (79 US gal) fuel tank, and the windows were removed. Additional fuel tanks were added in wings, the fuel capacity reached 752 l (199 US gal) in total and a range increased to 5,000 km (3,100 mi). Stanisław Skarżyński flew this plane from Warsaw to Rio de Janeiro from 27 April to 24 June 1933, on a path of 17,885 km (11,113 mi).

During his travel, on 7 May/8 May, Skarżynski flew the RWD 5bis across the southern Atlantic, from Saint-Louis, Senegal to Maceio in Brazil. The flight took 20 hours 30 minutes (17 hours above the ocean). He crossed 3,582 km (2,226 mi), establishing a distance record in the FAI light tourist plane class. The RWD 5bis was at that time the smallest plane that has ever flown across the Atlantic — its empty weight was below 450 kg (1000 lb), loaded 1100 kg (2425 lb). The plane had no radio nor safety equipment, due to weight. It returned to Europe on a ship. After its record-breaking flight, the RWD 5bis was converted to a two-seater variant without additional tanks, and used by Skarżyński.

One aircraft was used by LOT Polish Airlines in 1933–1936 for taxi flights (registration SP-LOT), one by LOPP organization (SP-LOP). After the outbreak of World War II, during the Polish September Campaign, at least one RWD 5 was utilized as liaison aircraft. Also, Maj. E. Wyrwicki flew RWD 5 from Romania to besieged Warsaw. None of the RWD 5s survived the war.

One RWD 5 was sold to Brazil in 1938 (former SP-LO, removed from the Polish registry on 4 December 1936) and registered there as PP-TDX in 1939. Its airworthiness expired in 1943.

In late 1990s, a flying replica of the RWD 5, named RWD 5R, was built in Poland by EEA991 association. It flew first on 26 August 2000, and is powered with 140 hp LOM Praha Avia M-332 engine.

Gallery

RWD 5
Engine: 1 × Cirrus Hermes IIB, 115 hp (86 kW), Hermes IV, 130 hp / Gipsy III, 120 hp / Walter Junior, 120 hp
Wingspan: 10.2 m (33 ft 5 in)
Length: 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)
Height: 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)
Wing area: 15.50 m² (166.8 ft²)
Wing chord: 1.75 m
Wing profile: Bartel 37 IIA
Empty weight: 430 kg (950 lb)
Loaded weight: 760 kg (1,675 lb)
Useful load: 330 kg
Fuel consumption: 22 l/h
Maximum speed: 202 km/h (109 knots, 126 mph)
Cruise speed: 170 km/h
Stall speed: 75 km/h
Range: 1,080 km (583 nm, 670 mi)
Endurance: 6 hr
Service ceiling: 4,700 m (15,400 ft)
Take-off run: 110 m
Rate of climb: 4.6 m/s, 276 m/min (905 ft/min)
Wing loading: 49 kg/m² (10.0 lb/ft²)
CX min: 0.035
CZ max: 1.35
Crew: One, pilot
Capacity: One, passenger / trainee or second pilot

RWD-5bis
Engine: DH Gipsy Major, 130 hp
Wingspan: 10.2 m
Wing Area: 15.5 sq.m
Wing profile: Bartel 37 IIA
Wing Chord: 1.75 m
Length: 7.2 m
Height: 2.05 m
Max Take-Off weight: 1100 Kg
Empty weight: 447 Kg
Max Wing Load: 71 Kg/sq.m
Max Speed: 210 Km/H
Cruise Speed: 175 Km/H
Landing Speed (With Max Load): 90 Km/H
Flight Endurance: 29 hr
Theoretical Max Range: 5000 Km
Fuel Consumption: 26 Lt/Hr
Cx Min: 0.035
Cz Max: 1.35
Crew: 1 Pilot

The RWD 4 was constructed by the RWD team of Stanisław Rogalski, Stanisław Wigura and Jerzy Drzewiecki in Warsaw. It was based upon their earlier RWD 2 design, but enlarged and fitted with more powerful inline engine. It retained the same fish-shaped fuselage without a direct view forward from the pilot’s seat, though the view improved due to thin fuselage profile before the pilot. Also a silhouette became slimmer. The aircraft development was ordered by the Ministry of Communication especially for participation in the Challenge 1930 international air competition. At the same time, the RWD developed similar liaison aircraft project, the RWD 3, which shared many features with the RWD 4.

Wooden construction sports plane, conventional in layout, high-wing cantilever monoplane. The fuselage rectangular in cross-section (narrower in upper part), plywood-covered. Trapezoid one-part wing, canvas and plywood covered. A crew of two, sitting in tandem in the fuselage, with dual controls. The cockpits were open to the sides, with individual doors on the right. Principally powered by a 4-cylinder air-cooled 115 hp Cirrus Hermes straight engine (105 hp nominal power, 115 hp take-off power), driving a two-blade wooden propeller, the aircraft was also known to be fitted with 85 hp Cirrus III and 105 hp de Havilland Gipsy II engines. Landing gear was conventional, fixed, with a rear skid. The fuel tank capacity was 110 litres held in-wing giving fuel consumption of 21 litres per hour.

The first three aircraft (registration SP-ADK, -ADL and -ADM) were completed and flown by the designer Jerzy Drzewiecki in early 1930. In late 1930, a further six aircraft were built for the Polish Aero Club (registration SP-AEK, -AEL, AEY, -AEZ, -AFC, -AGP).
Service

The first three aircraft took part in the Challenge 1930 competition in July. Only Jerzy Bajan completed the race on SP-ADM on the 32nd place (of 35 classified and 60 starting crews). Franciszek Żwirko (flying with Stanisław Wigura) withdrew due to engine failure, while the third pilot Tadeusz Karpiński withdrew due to illness.

RWD 4s were later used in Polish local air competitions, with some success (for example, F. Żwirko won the 3rd Polish Light Aircraft Contest in 1930, and other RWD 4s took the 2nd, 5th and 6th place). In 1931, in an international air meeting in Zagreb, Jerzy Bajan won 2nd place overall and the 1st place in aerobatics. RWD 4s were also used for training and glider towing in regional aero clubs. The first two were withdrawn in 1931, the last were scrapped in 1936, after quite short, but meritorious service in Polish sporting aviation.

Engine: 1 × Cirrus Hermes, 115 hp (86, kW)
Length: 7.0 m (22 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in)
Wing area: 15.0 sq.m (161.5 sq.ft)
Height: 2.26, m (7 ft 5 in)
Empty weight: 398-420 kg (875-924 lb)
Loaded weight: 700 kg (1,540 lb)
Useful load: 280-382 kg
Max. takeoff weight: 780 kg (1,716, lb)
Wing loading: 46.5 kg/sq.m (9.5 lb/sq.ft)
Maximum speed: 180 km/h (97 knots, 112 mph)
Cruise speed: 160 km/h
Stall speed: 75 km/h
Range: 800 km (432 nm, 497 mi)
Service ceiling: 5,000 m (16,400 ft)
Rate of climb: 4.6, m/s (905 ft/min)
Take-off run: 110 m
Take-off run to 8.5 m: 243 m
Crew: One, pilot
Capacity: One, passenger, student or second pilot

The RWD 3 was constructed by the RWD team of Stanisław Rogalski, Stanisław Wigura and Jerzy Drzewiecki in Warsaw. Since their earlier design, the RWD 2 sports aircraft appeared quite successful, the Polish Military of Defence ordered in 1929 to develop its enlarged variant as a liaison aircraft. It retained the same fish-shaped fuselage without a direct view towards forward from the pilot’s seat, though the view improved due to a thin fuselage profile before the pilot. At the same time, the RWD developed similar enlarged sports aircraft, the RWD 4, which shared many features with the RWD 3, but was powered with an inline engine and did not have folding wings.

Wooden construction single-engine high-wing cantilever monoplane, conventional in layout. The fuselage was rectangular in cross section (triangular in upper part), plywood-covered. Two-spar wings, covered with canvas, in front with plywood, were folding rearwards, unlike other early RWDs. Cantilever empennage, covered with plywood (stabilizers) and canvas (rudder and elevators). Crew of two was sitting in tandem in the fuselage. The cockpits were open in upper part on the sides, with individual doors on the right side. 5-cylinder air-cooled 88 hp radial engine Armstrong Siddeley Genet (80 hp nominal power, 88 hp take-off power) was mounted in front and drove two-blade wooden propeller. Conventional fixed landing gear, with a rear skid. Fuel tank in central wing section.

One prototype was built for ground trials and one flying prototype. It was completed and flown by the designer Jerzy Drzewiecki in April 1930. Since it was found unsatisfactory as a liaison aircraft, it was handed over to sports aviation – Academic Aero Club in Warsaw, with the civil registration SP-WAA. It was used for training and in some competitions. Unlike the RWD 3, the RWD 4 appeared more successful design.

Engine: 1 × Armstrong Siddeley Genet, 65 kW (88 hp)
Length: 7 m (22 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in)
Wing area: 15.0 sq.m (161.5 sq.ft)
Height: 2.26 m (7 ft 5 in)
Empty weight: 380 kg (836 lb)
Loaded weight: 560 kg (1,232 lb)
Useful load: 180-310 kg
Max. takeoff weight: 690 kg (1,518 lb)
Wing loading: 37 kg/sq.m (7.56 lb/sq.ft)
Maximum speed: 170 km/h (91 knots, 105 mph)
Cruise speed: 140 km/h
Stall speed: 68 km/h
Crew: one, pilot
Capacity: one passenger