RWD 7
{{Short description|Polish sports plane of 1931}}
{{Infobox aircraft
|name =RWD 7
|image =RWD 7 - Drzewiecki Wedrychowski.jpg
|caption =Jerzy Drzewiecki and Jerzy Wędrychowski by the RWD 7
|type =Sports plane
|manufacturer =Warsaw University of Technology workshops
|designer = RWD team
|first_flight =July 1931
|introduction =1931
|retired =1938
|status =
|primary_user =Polish civilian aviation
|more_users =
|produced =
|number_built =1
|unit cost =
|variants =
}}
The RWD 7 was a Polish sports plane of 1931, constructed by the RWD team.
Development
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 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).
Description
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.
Specifications
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893–1939{{cite book|last1=Glass|first1=Andrzej|title=Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893–1939|date=1977|publisher=WKiŁ|location=Warsaw|language=Polish |pages=298–299}}
|prime units?=met
|crew=1
|capacity=1 / {{cvt|194|kg|0}}
|length m=9.8
|length note=
|span m=6.3
|span note=
|height m=2
|height note=
|wing area sqm=13.6
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=246
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=440
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity=
|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Armstrong Siddeley Genet II
|eng1 type=5-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine
|eng1 hp=75
|eng1 note=
|prop blade number=2
|prop name=fixed-pitch propeller
|prop dia m=
|prop dia note=
|max speed kmh=186
|max speed note=
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed note=
|stall speed kmh=65
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed note=
|range km=260
|range note=
|ferry range km=
|ferry range note=
|endurance=
|ceiling m=6000
|ceiling note=
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=
|wing loading kg/m2=32
|wing loading note=
|fuel consumption kg/km=
|power/mass={{cvt|0.23|kW/kg}}
|more performance=
- Take-off run: {{cvt|18|-|30|m|0}}
|avionics=
}}