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RWD-6

(Redirected from RWD 6)

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


Contents

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 DWL workshops (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 11-28, 1932, was eventually won by Franciszek Zwirko (pilot) and Stanislaw Wigura (mechanic) in their RWD-6 SP-AHN, with a start number O6. The other RWD-6, flown by Tadeusz Karpinski, 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.

On September 11, 1932, the RWD-6 SP-AHN with Franciszek Zwirko and Stanislaw 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 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 the RWD-9 , a winner of the Challenge 1934 .

Description

Mixed construction (metal and wood) sport and touring plane, conventional in layout, with high-wings, canvas and plywood covered, with closed canopy. Crew of two, sitting next to each other. The wings were folding rearwards, and were equipped with slats and flaps. 7 cylinder Armstrong Siddley Genet Major radial engine of 104 kW (140 hp) (119 kW, 160 hp start power). Two-blade propeller. Conventional landing gear, with a rear skid. Fuel tanks in wings (140 l, 34 US gal).

Specifications

General Characteristics

  • Crew: Two
  • 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: 474 kg (1,043 lb)
  • Loaded: kg ( lb)
  • Maximum takeoff: 750 kg (1,650 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1x Armstrong Siddley Genet Major , 119 kW (160 hp)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 216 km/h (135 mph)
  • Range: 850 km (531 miles)
  • Service ceiling: 6,000 m (19,680 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 330 m/min (1,082 ft/min)
  • Wing loading: 5.3 kg/m² ( lb/ft²)
  • Power/Mass: kW/kg, hp/lb


Related Content

Related Development: RWD-9 - RWD-13

Comparable Aircraft:

Designation Sequence: RWD-3 - RWD-4 - RWD-5 - RWD-6 - RWD-7 - RWD-8 - RWD-9

Last updated: 05-09-2005 19:13:20
Last updated: 05-13-2005 07:56:04