PWS-19

PWS-19
General information
Type	Reconnaissance / bomber plane
Manufacturer	PWS
Status	Prototype
Primary user	Polish Air Force
Number built	1
History
First flight	September 1931

The PWS-19 was a Polish reconnaissance and bomber plane prototype of the 1930s, constructed in the PWS (Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów - Podlasie Aircraft Factory).

The PWS-19 was constructed in 1930 in order to replace the French-designed bombers Potez 25 and Breguet 19 in the Polish Air Force. It was a development of the PWS-17, which remained unbuilt. Main designers were Zbysław Ciołkosz and Antoni Uszacki. It was planned to be produced in two variants: reconnaissance PWS-19A2 and bomber PWS-19B2. It was a conventional design, a strutted high-wing monoplane with quite elegant silhouette, open cockpits and fixed landing gear. It was fitted with double tailfins to obtain a good field of defense fire.

In 1934 Antoni Uszacki designed a smaller plane basing on the PWS-19, designated PWS U-6, with G-1620 Mors 400 hp engine. It participated in a contest for an army cooperation plane, but lost against RWD-14 Czapla and was not built.

The only prototype first flew in Biała Podlaska in September 1931. During tests it showed quite good flight characteristics, although the rudders had to be enlarged to improve manoeuvrability and stability. However, on March 17, in 1933, the wings distorted in a dive and the prototype crashed (killing an observer). The Air Force considered ordering the PWS-19A2 powered by a Bristol Pegasus engine, but at the same time, a more modern aircraft the PZL.23 Karaś had been developed by PZL - a low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction. As a result, works upon the PWS-19 stopped.

Mixed construction high-wing (parasol) monoplane. A fuselage of a steel frame, covered with duralumin in front section and canvas in mid and rear sections. Two-spar wings, of wooden construction, plywood covered. Stabilizers, rudder and elevator of metal construction, canvas covered. Twin vertical tailfins. Crew of two (pilot and observer/gunner) in open individual cockpits. Conventional fixed landing gear, with a rear skid. The plane was fitted with RKL/D radio and camera.

Engine: 9 cylinder air-cooled radial Pratt & Whitney Hornet T2 in front, with a Townend ring (there were optional Bristol Jupiter VII or Bristol Pegasus). Two-blade metal propeller of a fixed pitch. Fuel tank 420 L in a fuselage, dropped in emergency.

Armament: single fixed front-mounted 7.7 mm Vickers machinegun with an interrupter gear, in the right fuselage side, single 7.7mm Vickers on a ring mounting of the observer. Up to 250 kg bombs (maximum bomb size - up to 50 kg).

 Poland

• Polish Air Force

Data from ^{[citation needed]}

General characteristics

• Crew: 2 (pilot, observer/gunner)
• Length: 9.17 m (30 ft 1 in)
• Wingspan: 14.5 m (47 ft 7 in)
• Height: 3.16 m (10 ft 4 in)
• Wing area: 29 m² (310 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 1,340 kg (2,954 lb)
• Gross weight: 1,950 kg (4,299 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 2,185 kg (4,817 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney Hornet T2 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 391 kW (525 hp) (nominal)
• Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 234 km/h (145 mph, 126 kn)
• Cruise speed: 190 km/h (120 mph, 100 kn)
• Stall speed: 99 km/h (62 mph, 53 kn) ~
• Range: 700 km (430 mi, 380 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 7,200 m (23,600 ft)
• Rate of climb: 7.5 m/s (1,480 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 67 kg/m² (14 lb/sq ft)

Armament

• Guns: 2 x 7.7 mm Vickers machine guns (1 forward-firing, 1 movable),
• Bombs: 250 kg (550 lb) bombs

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Letov S-328
• PZL.23 Karaś

• Glass, Andrzej (1977). Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893–1939 (in Polish). Warsaw: WKiŁ.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to PWS-19.

• Photos and drawings at Ugolok Neba