PZL.12

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PZL-12 (PZL-H)
Type Touring amphibious flying boat
Manufacturer PZL
Maiden flight February 1931
Status Prototype
Primary user Poland
Number built 1

PZL.12 (PZL-H) was a prototype of a Polish amphibious flying boat designed and built in 1931 by Zygmunt Puławski, a pioneering Polish designer. He was fatally killed in a crash involving this design.

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[edit] Design and development

The Polish designer Zygmunt Puławski of the PZL works designed PZL-H in 1930, as a small touring amphibious aircraft, for his own needs. The factory agreed to construct a single aircraft for Puławski. At the same time, the Polish Navy revealed interest in training and liaison seaplanes, and PZL-H was proposed to the Navy. In late 1930 the prototype was built in the PZL in Warsaw in a semi-amateur way. It finally was given a designation PZL.12.

The prototype was first flown in February 1931 in Warsaw by Puławski, in a land configuration (without auxiliary floats). The plane was not tested on water. During the sixth flight on 21 March 1931, right after take-off, the plane stalled due to strong wind and crashed in Warsaw, killing Puławski. The death of this talented designer of fighter aircraft was recognized as a heavy blow to the Polish Air Force capabilities. Further work upon PZL.12 ceased.

[edit] Design

Mixed construction high-wing cantilever monoplane flying boat. A fuselage of duralumin construction, metal-covered, square in cross-section, split into watertight compartments. A V-shaped bottom was single-stepped. Engine on struts above a fuselage, with a two-blade pusher propeller. Two-spar trapezoid wings with rounded ends, of wooden construction, plywood and canvas covered. A tail of wooden construction. Crew of two, sitting side by side in an open cockpit. Retractable landing gear: main gear folding under wings, rear skid. There were planned auxiliary floats under wings. Fuel tank 100 l.

[edit] Specifications

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1, pilot
  • Capacity: 1
  • Length: 7.8 m ()
  • Wingspan: 11.05 m ()
  • Height: 2.9 m ()
  • Wing area: 19 m² (ft²)
  • Empty weight: 440 kg ()
  • Loaded weight: 660 kg ()
  • Useful load: 220 kg ()
  • Powerplant:de Havilland Gipsy III air-cooled 4-cylinder straight engine, 130 hp ()

Performance

Armament

  • unarmed

[edit] References

  • Glass, Andrzej. Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893-1939 ("Polish aviation constructions 1893-1939"), WKiŁ, Warsaw 1977 (Polish language, no ISBN).

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

Comparable aircraft

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