RWD 7
Polish sports plane of 1931
title: "RWD 7" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1930s-polish-sport-aircraft", "rwd-aircraft", "single-engined-tractor-aircraft", "high-wing-aircraft", "aircraft-first-flown-in-1931"] description: "Polish sports plane of 1931" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RWD_7" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Polish sports plane of 1931 ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox aircraft"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| primary_user | Polish civilian aviation |
| number_built | 1 |
| :: |
|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 sat 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
|ref=Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893–1939 |prime units?=met General characteristics
|crew=1 |capacity=1 / 194 kg |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= Powerplant
|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= Performance
|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=0.23 kW/kg |more performance=
- Take-off run: 18 - |avionics=
References
References
- (1977). "Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893–1939". WKiŁ.
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