Ladislao Pazmany

Aviation pioneer Ladislao Pazmany (November 25, 1923 – August 21, 2006) was an aeronautical engineer, designer, builder, pilot, teacher, speaker and author.

Ladislao Pazmany (November 25, 1923 – August 21, 2006) was an aviation pioneer, aeronautical engineer, designer, builder, pilot, teacher, speaker, and author. Born a Hungarian, Pazmany grew up, went to school and worked in his formative years in Argentina, then immigrated to the United States where he lived for the remainder of his life.

His design engineering stretched from early model airplanes made of wood as a child in Argentina through six decades of work on gliders, small planes, jets, and missiles both for private purchase and for the largest defense contractors in America including Convair, General Dynamics and Rohr. Contributions to the unmanned stealth aircraft were utilized in action during the Iraq War in 2004. And for Ryan the Cloudster was his commercial contribution.

With a passion for small personal aircraft he became recognized as a world authority on landing gear, light aircraft, and flight efficiencies through his books, plans and planes: The Pazmany PL-1 and PL-2,[1] were used for training, the PL-4A, is a single seat VW powered, T-Tailed with folding wings; and the PL-9 Stork is a ¾ adaptation of the Luftwaffe STOL warbird. He was inducted into the Experimental Aircraft Association Hall of Fame in 1997 for his work in homebuilt aircraft.

"His work and reputation as an aeronautical engineer stretched across continents and touched people in every level of aviation, from government officials to young amateur pilots."[2]

Ancestry

The Pazmanys, a Hungarian family of landed gentry with a rich cultural heritage, trace their ancestral roots back to the Middle Ages and to prominent Churchman Peter Pazmany, who codified the literary Hungarian language. “Pazmany, a Jesuit Cardinal and a master of Hungarian prose, was outstanding as an orator and essayist. His writing was characterized by a vigorous and clear, though far from simple, style, and the use of popular expressions and solid argument [3] He led the Counter-Reformation in Hungary and is honored as national figure with the University he founded in Budapest which is still a seat of higher learning today.

Childhood and early life

Ladislao made his first model plane at age five, followed by others, and was encouraged by his father to visit the airports and trains stations. He developed an interest in trains, planes, motors and engines, leading to his first flight in gliders at age 15.

Ladislao’s father Zoltan carried on the literary tradition as a journalist and contributing writer who spoke seven languages and, following the devastation of World War I moved his family of wife Maria Kacelli, and young sons Ladislao and Zoltan from the rural enclave of Zenta to the thriving metropolis of Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital city, in 1926. In their new house in the Padilla district, the family prospered.

Older son Ladislao made his first model plane at age five, followed by others, and was encouraged by his father to visit the airports and trains stations, developing an interest in trains, planes, motors and engines - leading to his first flying, in gliders at age 15. A prodigious student, the young Pazmany began teaching elementary aviation to adults while still a young man and later graduated with an honors degree from the prestigious Escuela Tecnica Otto Krause. He continued four years of aeronautical engineering study at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata.[4]

Following his experience with gliders, Pazmany’s first plane was a Piper Cub J-3 then a Cessna, becoming a pilot at only 15 years old. As the barnstorming spirit was very much alive with he and his like-minded friends Pazmany learned to fly over the cow pastures and farmlands outside of Buenos Aires, logging hours and integrating hundreds of air hours of practical flight experience into a growing knowledge of aeronautical engineering.[5]

Career

Buenos Aires, Argentina

For nearly a decade he designed aircraft, pipelines, high tension power lines, suspension bridges, chemical and hydroelectric plants, and was an instructor (at Raggio Escuela Tecnica) an aeronautical school. He also worked as an auto company draftsman -sometimes holding as many as three jobs at the same time.[6][7]

He also did work for The Air Force of Argentina (Fuerza Aerea Argentina), Techint Engineering, the international conglomerate, and finally, spent a year on the wing design of the Dewoitine 7-10, a twin engine light transport by the famous French designer who also produced in the same era, South America’s first jet plane.

After the end of World War II and a decade of political, social and economic unrest, the Peron regime ended and the many restrictions on professionals- including engineers, were lifted, allowing Ladislao Pazmany to pursue the unlimited possibilities of aeronautics in the United States, with its growing economy, expanding commercial aviation, and huge cold war contracts in the defense industry.[8]

Immigration to the United States

In 1948 Ladislao Pazmany married Margarita Byro, a ballet dancer and an artist, also Hungarian with a similar ancestry, and with whom he had two young daughters when he arrived in San Diego, California in May 1956. With a house downtown just minutes from Lindbergh Field, Pazmany would make a home for his family, raise his children to maturity, become an American citizen, and years later have residence and office overlooking the airport and bay.[9]

Career

San Diego, California

“In 1953, the Soviets exploded a thermonuclear device and were supposedly working on ICBMs to carry uranium and hydrogen warheads. In reaction to this, in March 1954, the Western Development Division, a special missile command agency created by the Air Research and Development Command, awarded Convair its first long-term contract for engineering and fabrication of an ICBM.”[10]

The threat of Soviet supremacy in the nuclear age heightened Cold War tensions and spurred an expansion of spending, research and building in the defense industry that would continue unabated until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In addition to the strengthening of the American deterrent, great strides were made in aeronautics that spread and applied to all fields of aviation.

Pazmany quickly earned a position at Convair which was a division of General Dynamics, and worked on the company’s innovative Delta wing designed jets – the F-102 Delta Dagger an interceptor plane which was known as the “Deuce” and was used in Vietnam, and the more advanced F-106 Delta Dart a supersonic jet technology which prevailed well into the 1980s.

During this period of some 25 years, starting with Convair, and General Dynamics Pazmany also worked at McDonnell Douglas for aerostructures and engines. Douglas was a specialist in fighter aircraft who merged with Boeing in 1967. At Rohr he produced related components, including engine nacelles, thrust reversers, and mounting pylons for both military and commercial aircraft. Pazmany’s engineering talents stretched from conventional prop-driven aircraft to jets, missiles, cruise missiles, and unmanned stealth craft, aero systems and parts. He earned seven patents for inventions for aircraft thrust reversers to emergency natural gas shut-off valves that activate during earthquakes.

He researched, analyzed and wrote the NASA contractor report: “Potential Structural Material and Design Concept For Light Airplanes” NASA CR93258" 1968, for mission analysis division. National Aeronautics Space Administration. Ames Research Center Moffett Field, California.[11][12]

Pazmany then joined the legendary Claude Ryan (Lindbergh’s Spirit Of St. Louis is credited to Ryan) and his son in developing the Ryson ST-100 Cloudster, a tandem two seat motor glider that was intended for cross country flight and as the latest contribution to Ryan’s pioneering tradition in the San Diego aviation industry.

“The Cloudster is a powered sailplane or an airplane that soars, whichever you prefer. As a touring airplane, it cruises at 135 mph (75-percentpower) using just 6 gph to yield a range of 690 miles. At lower power settings, the range can be greatly increased. Only 20-percent power is required to keep the Cloudster in level flight.”[13]

University teaching

From his this defense work Pazmany introduced new concepts, innovations, principles and practices as a lecturer at both UCSD, the University of California at San Diego, 1979–1980; and SDSU, San Diego State University, 1975-1979. Subjects ranged widely from light aircraft design, engineering, and construction to larger, jet, missile, and space applications.[14]

Experimental Aircraft Association

After only one month of arriving in the United States and getting his start at Convair a dedicated Ladislao Pazmany attended his first EAA meeting - the new, Experimental Aircraft Association that had just been founded shortly before in January 1953, at Curtis-Wright Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Led by Paul Poberezny and a small group of aviation enthusiasts who promoted sport aviation, these pilots quickly expanded their mission to include antiques, classics, warbirds, aerobatic aircraft, ultra-lights, helicopters, and contemporary manufactured aircraft.The EAA embodied the spirit of the Wright Brothers and a commitment to personal aviation.[15]

Pazmany PL-1

The EAA chapter in San Diego began a group design project that evolved into Pazmany’s own unique vision of a two seat, side-by-side, low-wing, tri-cycled gear airplane that was stressed for aerobatics with a plus 9 and minus 4 1/2G ultimate load factor at full gross weight and that carried all its fuel in two 13 gallon fiberglass wing tip tanks.“P” for Pazmany, “L” for Laminar, “1”for prototype. It would be quickly followed by an improved successor, the PL-2.[16]

Pazmany PL-2

The basic configuration of the PL-2 incorporates two-place, side by side seating, a low wing of rectangular plan form, and tricycle landing gear. The overall layout is compact and light compared with some other contemporary aircraft in the same category. The structure is stressed to + 6 g’s limit for safety and aerobatics. Aluminum 2024-T3 is the basic material. Landing gear and engine mount are made from 4130 steel tubes and plates. There are no double curvature skins in the whole airplane. Very few formed blocks are necessary, considering that the wing and horizontal tail have constant chord. The wing has a 15% thickness laminar airfoil, with the single spar located at the maximum thickness and is assembled as a unit to the fuselage and can be removed in approximately two hours. The wing-fuselage connection is provided by two bolts at the main spar and two bolts at the rear spar. The seats form an integral structure with the wing. Also, the control sticks and flap control lever are directly attached to the wing structure. The elevator trim is located in a center box between the seats. Aileron and flaps are piano-hinged to the bottom skin. The elevator trim is located in a center box between the seats. Aileron and flaps are piano hinged to the bottom skin. Ailerons are mass-balanced and push-pull controlled, having differential displacement. The flaps run through the fuselage and have three positions.

Top Speed 138. Stall 41 Rate of Climb 1200 Engine Lycoming Length 19.3 Wing Span 27.8 [17]

Trainers

“Due to Pazmany’s great concern for safety his planes were used as trainers because they would respond exactly as expected to the requirements of flight”[18]

Recommended by US Air Force personnel, Nationalist China Taiwan initially committed to build 70 PL-2s as a trainer for its military flying school at Kangshan during the early1970’s. At the time, Major-General Chao, Vice-Commander of the Air Academy, indicated that the Academy was most pleased with the results of the program, although it was still in its infancy. Major-General T. M. Lee, Commanding General of the Air Technical School, discussed the very substantial savings in airframe costs and a vital saving in training time for airframe mechanics. Because the cost of the program was only the plans themselves “Nationalist China may have picked up the smallest bill in history for the design of a military aircraft ”and Pazmany’s “ yield comes largely from the satisfaction of knowing that many persons consider his aircraft the finest in its class.[19]

Following the success of PL-1 and PL-2 as a military trainer in Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Pakistan and Sri Lanka began pilot training programs of their own based on Pazmany-designed aircraft.

Pazmany PL-4A

The PL-4A is a sport airplane intended to answer the need for a well designed, all-metal airplane which is easy to build, easy to fly, with low initial and operating costs, and folding wings so that it may be towed behind an automobile and stored at home. It is a low-wing airplane, VW-powered, with a closed or open cockpit large enough to accommodate even very large persons, and a generous baggage compartment. A “T” tail configuration improves rudder effectiveness and prevents the stabilator from interfering with the folded wings. Wing: In order to favor takeoff and climb performance, a high aspect ratio of 8 is used, which in combination with a large diameter, slow turning prop should provide good performance even at high altitude airports. The airfoil is the NACA 633418, which has a mild stall and a good overall performance even at “standard roughness.” The 18% thickness provides a deep spar, high torsional rigidity, and makes possible the simple, compact fittings at the wing folding joint, which are band-sawed from aluminum plate. The chord is constant at 40 in., and there is no washout. The ailerons have differential travel to minimize, adverse yaw. They are hinged at the bottom skin with standard piano hinges, as in the PL-1 and 2, providing smooth airflow over the top of the “down” aileron, and a good gap seal. The mass balance is concentrated in a lead weight attached to an arm extending into the wing box.[20]

Single seat monoplane, Top Speed 120 mph. Stall 39 mph. Rate of Climb fpm 650. Length 16.5 Wing Span 26.7, Landing gear Tail Wheel.

The PL-4A won the "Outstanding New Design" and "Outstanding Contribution to Low-Cost Flying" awards at the 1972 EAA Fly-In.[21][22]

Pazmany PL-9 Stork

The original German Luftwaffe Fieseler F-156 Storch was an outstanding WWII airplane, designed to take off and land in extremely short distances. The Storch had a take off ground roll of 131 feet and a landing roll of 36 feet with 13 miles per hour head wind. The Pazmany PL-9 Stork is a 3/4 replica, with the same flying and handling characteristics as the original German Aircraft. The PL-9 Stork is a professionally designed STOL aircraft. It has a well-proven aircraft configuration designed for a number of functions such as fish spotting, forest fire detection, farm work, missionary work, etc. It features a welded chrome alloy steel tube fuselage and aluminum sheet metal/fabric covered wings and empennage. The PL-9 Stork has a cruise speed of 104 mph with a standard Lycoming O-320/150 hp engine.[23]

“The PL-9 was started in March 1990 with an extensive literature search. I acquired books, reports, manuals, microfilm reproductions and movies. I also talked with former Luftwaffe pilots who had flown the Storch.” For the redesign of the PL-9 Stork maximum effort has been made to reproduce the performance of Fi-156.”[24] With PL-9, amateur builders were provided with a STOL aircraft which will please the sport pilot, the nostalgia pilot and the bush pilot.

“Pilots have always been fascinated by the Storch because it was capable of flying in and out of almost any open space and moping along at incredibly low airspeed when desired. The thought that occurs to any pilot is that one could fly the airplane with almost complete confidence that should engine failure occur, it could be landed anywhere within gliding range without fear of injury to its occupants.[25]

The Stork is a high wing, two seat monoplane: Top Speed 116 mph. Stall 33 mph. Rate of Climb fpm 1400. Length 24.3 Wing Span 36, Landing gear Tail Wheel.[26]

Pazmany Aircraft Corporation

Created in 1957, the company was the organizational, financial and legal foundation to 50 years of business activity – planes, plans, books, videos, website, PDFs, e-books, and decades of meetings, fly-ins, conventions and international travel. It remains in operation today.

Close up of airplane engine, complete with propeller and mounts from a page of Pazmany blueprint plans for a Pazmany PL. This homebuilders plan utilizes high detail to aid amateur construction.

Plans

From his home office and workshop Pazmany quickly set new standards in the production of homebuilt aircraft plans, with an attention to detail that became his trademark “homebuilt plans must show more detail than a commercial or military model because the amateur needs more guidance and is unfamiliar with aircraft shop practices” he explained, and “with a complete bill of materials”. The Pazmany the PL-2 redesign took 7000 man hours, with a specific objective – partially derived in conversations with other pilots – a structurally sound airframe but also a sensitivity of control, utilizing primarily metal and fiberglass, have clean lines aerodynamically – and finally, it should be attractive. Twenty years later the Pazmany PL-9 Stork would require 9000 man hours of design before the prototype’s first test.[27][28]

Known as "Paz" to all of his friends and business associates,[29] Pazmany was an excellent pilot with over a half century of consistent air hours who continually tracked, and recorded in-flight data that was used to re-formulate efficiencies, revise plans, rebuild parts and re-apply changes for flight. This was done in concert with the many brother pilots of the EAA. Results were shared and published in Engineering Change Notices (ECN) and regular newsletters for a number of years – as promised with a unique pledge by Pazmany to each homebuilder to assist, support and help them in the completion of their aircraft [30]

Thousands of sets of plans have been sold worldwide, and planes built and flying around the world, with still more in construction today.

Books

Used as a text in several universities.. A popular book on light airplane design. The reasoning behind each feature of these airplanes.

Arrangement of Landing Gear, Ground Loop, Tires. Wheels, Brakes, Wheels and Brakes without TSO, Brake Systems, Loads and Deflections. Main Gears. Nose Gears. Tail Gears.

Trade-offs in shock absorber design of a nose wheeled aircraft. Geometry, horizontal tail loads at rotation, elevator angle required for rotation, tires selection, FAR 23 design loads, shock absorber stroke, approximate sizing of main gear fiberglass spring.

For the homebuilder - for the construction of almost any airplane. Drawing dimensioning. Tools required to build a sheet metal airplane. Riveting inspection. Forming of ribs, frames and skins. Structural assemblies. Assembly jigs.

How to make ribs, frames.,fittings, form blocks, jigs. Construction tips. Forming of parts. Assemblies. “Pop riveting’ techniques. Fitting and drilling of Plexiglass. VW engine assembly instructions, parts list, installation photo, etc.

Depicts one major assembly. All part numbers are shown. The builder can easily visualize each and all finished parts and how they go together in the assembly.[31]

Pazmany Efficiency Contest

Pazmany created and conducted the first real world evaluation of homebuilt aircraft for the EAA, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 1970. It is still used as the standard for high quality homebuilding. While a great many people had searched for years to find some standard of airplane performance it was Pazmany, with his scrupulous attention to detail, combined with his aeronautical appreciation of flight data that made the breakthrough. Paz created and for several years conducted the Pazmany Efficiency Contest at Oshkosh - which gave EAAers one of their first real world evaluations of homebuilt performance [32]

Now designers, engineers, pilots and companies could address how a plane could be improved, where technique came into play, where an aircraft stood in comparison to its peers, and what are the basic performance factors that allow for results. This was especially important in trying to compare different types of aircraft - Cubs, TaylorCrafts, and Sidewinders - with the low speed performance of the airplane -aviator combination factor as a key to the overall efficiency coefficient. And at low, minimum speed, different type of aircraft could be compared, and evaluations also made within the design concept of an aircraft by its engineers.[33][34]

EAA Hall Of Fame

On Friday evening October 31, 1997 induction ceremonies were held at the EAA aviation centerin the dramatic setting of Eagle Hangar of the Aerospace Museum with the inductees, their guests, and officers and directors with Paul Poberezny presiding - and honoring Ladislao Pazmany, who was present, into the Homebuilder's Hall of Fame, at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The award is based on exemplary contributions to the history, growth, and development of aviation, and is accompanied by a trophy and inscription in the Hall Of Fame display.[35]

Digital Age

Helped by friends and family, the Pazmany Aircraft Corporation opened an extensive multi-page website in 1999 complete with photos, descriptions, specifications, downloadable articles, videos, and technical support through e-mails, and aeronautical information through PDFs and e-books. It was thought by many to be innovative, and thorough in its informational ability.

Retirement

In the summer of 1999 an ailing Ladislao Pazmany would travel to Oshkosh for the last time to attend the AirVenture, as it has now been called. Pazmany spoke to guests both formally in presentation and informally around the first showing of the now completed Pazmany PL-9 Stork, a plane that would have over hundred plan requests within its first years of availability. Partially incapacitated by Parkinson’s disease, Pazmany, while infirmed, retained much of his acute intelligence, strong will, humor and appreciation of life, commenting, shortly before his death, and ignoring his adversities, “life has many good things”.[36]

Awards

Legacy

The Pazmany signature was used for over a half century in magazine articles, plans, books, in product PDFs and online in the website as a mark of professionalism.

When receiving an AIAA award for Outstanding Technical Achievement In Aerospace Engineering in 1984, Pazmany was portrayed in Achiever magazine as a "man who has pursued for over four decades, aircraft designs of perfection". It is an ambition he compares with a classic symphony. . .“the ultimate flight efficiencies blended with many components into a single machine.” This vision of Pazmany is evident in the planes, plans, and books which guide and inform young designers, engineers, pilots, and educators – and as stated by the EAA, at the time of his death “ His work and reputation as an aeronautical engineer stretched across continents and touched people in every level of aviation, from government officials to young amateur pilots.“[39]

Notes

  1. ↑ Jane’s Encyclopedia of Aviation 1980.
  2. ↑ EAA News “Aviation Pioneer Ladislao Pazmany Passes Away” www.eaa.org
  3. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica. Com. Peter Pazmany Contribution to Hungarian Literature
  4. ↑ Margarita Pazmany Interview: “Biography” Early Years March 2011 www.Pazmany.com
  5. ↑ Kitplanes September 1996 “The Chinese Connection” By Shirley Hanson
  6. ↑ Sport Aviation December 1997 Hall Of Fame Inductions”, Ladislao Pazmany
  7. ↑ Sport Aviation October 1971 Ladislao Pazmany Designer and Builder” By Roy Gordon
  8. ↑ Juan Domingo Peron : A History AuthoAlexander, Robert Jackson, Westview Press, 1979
  9. ↑ Margarita Pazmany Interview: “Biography” Immigration March 2011 www.Pazmany.com
  10. ↑ U.S.Centennial of Flight Commission www.centennialof flight.go
  11. ↑ http://www.boeing.com/history/narrative/n080mdc.html
  12. ↑ Rohr, Inc: Private Company Information - BusinessWeek
  13. ↑ Plane and Pilot February 10. 2009 Ryson ST-100 Cloudster”
  14. ↑ Sport Aviation December 1997 Hall Of Fame Inductions, Ladislao Pazmany
  15. ↑ History, The EAA. www.eaa.org
  16. ↑ Air Progress August/September 1963 “We Fly The Pazmany PL-1” Don Downie
  17. ↑ Pazmany Blueprint Homebuilder Plans Pazmany PL-2 Specifications 1968 Ladislao Pazmany
  18. ↑ Margarita Pazmany Interview: “Biography” Career March 2011 www.Pazmany.com
  19. ↑ San Diego Union Tribune Sunday December 8, 1968 “China Gets A Bargain” By Russell Van Densburgh
  20. ↑ The Pazmany PL4A By Ladislao Pazmany PDF 1999 www.pazmany.com
  21. ↑ Plane & Pilot: April 1973 “Pazmany VW-Engine Homebuilt" Don Dwiggins
  22. ↑ The Encyclopedia of Homebuilt Aircraft. Markowski, Mark (1979). Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania:
  23. ↑ Aircraft Spruce : PL-9 Stork www.aircraftspruce .com
  24. ↑ Sport Aviation February 1991 The Pazmany PL-9 Stork”' Ladislao “Paz” Pazmany
  25. ↑ Sportsman Pilot Summer 1993 Editorial Review “Pazmany PL-9 Stork”'
  26. ↑ Pazmany PL-9 Stork Plane Profile 1999 www.pazmany.com
  27. ↑ Sport Aviation October 1971 “Ladislao Pazmany Designer and Builder” By Roy Gordon
  28. ↑ Sport Aviation “'The Pazmany PL-9 Stork” by Ladislao Pazmany February 1991
  29. ↑ Sport Aviation “The Pazmany PL-9 Stork” by Ladislao Pazmany February 1991
  30. ↑ Newsletters and ECNs:www.pazmany.com
  31. ↑ http://www.pazmany.com
  32. ↑ Sport Aviation 1997 “Hall of Fame Inductions” 1997
  33. ↑ Sport Aviation July 1974 “The Pazmany Efficiency Test, Make it Work For You” Phillip B. Groelz
  34. ↑ EAA 2431, July 1970. “Airplane Efficiency Contest” L. Pazmany
  35. ↑ Sport Aviation 1997 Hall of Fame Inductions”'.
  36. ↑ Margarita Pazmany Interview: "Biography" Retirement March 2011 www.Pazmany.com
  37. ↑ http://www.pazmany.com Achievements”
  38. ↑ http://airandspace.si.edu/support/wall-of-honor/profile-detail.cfm?id=000084682716350
  39. ↑ EAA News “Aviation Pioneer Ladislao Pazmany Passes Away” August 2006 www.eaa.org

References

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