Manufacturer

Poncelet, Paul

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Paul Poncelet started at SABCA as a foreman. Passionate about gliding which was starting across the Rhine, it was not long before he designed a glider, which he built with primitive means after his daily work, and devoted his evenings to it for eight months. On February 10, 1923, his glider – the first airplane without an engine to fly in Belgium -, called “Castar”, was brought to Haren at SABCA, where the pilot Victor Simonet made the take-off, launched pulled taut by helpers.

Pomar, Carlos Tenaud

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Peruvian engineer Carlos Tenaud Pomar (1884-1911) built the first Peruvian monoplane. It crashed after a low test flight, but the government sent him to study flying in France, where he qualified for his license (No. 298). He brought a Blériot back to Peru, but soon had an accident, on 2 February 1911. He crashed after hitting electrical power lines and received back injuries that led to his painful death seven months later.

Polzien, Marvin

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Marvin Polzien from Ardmore, Oklahoma, born 1930. Marvin’s interest in flying began early, in a little Iowa country school where he was fascinated with pictures of airplanes in the encyclopedia. His first flight was at age 12 when, defying his mother, he bought a $1 ride in a J3 Cub at a county fair. By 2001 he owned a Piper Malibu DLX, a couple of Bonanza’s, a powered parachute, and a hot air balloon.

Polikarpov

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Nikolai Nikolayevich Polikarpov

Designer of fighter aircraft in early 1930s, such as the I- 16, first monoplane fighter with enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear, but most famous design was the 1927 Po-2 biplane, built in thousands.

Polikarpov Article

Aircraft designer Nikolai Nikolayevich Polikarpov was awarded the Order of Lenin for his development of the I-16, initially as leader of Design Team No 2 of the Soviet Union’s Central Design Bureau in 1932-33.

Nikolai Polikarpov, eventually fell into disfavour with Stalin because some of the other aircraft he designed were deemed failures. But when the 52-year-old designer died of cancer on July 30, 1944, Soviet authorities redesignated the U-2 the Po-2 in his honour.

Nikolai Nikolayevich Polikarpov
1892-1944