LWD Zuch

LWD Zuch
Role	Trainer/aerobatics aircraft
Manufacturer	Lotnicze Warsztaty Doświadczalne
First flight	1 September 1948
Introduction	1949
Retired	1963
Primary user	Poland
Produced	1948-1950
Number built	7
Developed from	LWD Junak-1

The Zuch was a Polish aerobatics and trainer aircraft, built in 1948 in the LWD bureau and produced in a small series.

Design and development

The aircraft was a development of a military and civilian trainer plane

flaps

and had slightly enlarged rudder (similar improvements were later adapted in Junak-2).

Description

Mixed construction (steel and wood) low-wing

Bramo Sh 14

(118 kW / 160 hp) with a ring cover with individual cowls for cylinders. Two-blade wooden propeller.

The first variant Zuch-1 was powered by the Czechoslovak 160 hp

Walter Minor 6-III inline engine in a long, slant nose. The prototype flew first on September 1, 1948. The design was quite successful and fit to aerobatics, but it did not enter production because of decision not to produce Walter Minor engines in Poland. The prototype served in aero clubs from 1950 until end of 1955

, with markings SP-BAD.

The second prototype Zuch-2 was fitted with a radial engine

Bramo Sh 14. It was flown on April 1, 1949 and carried markings SP-BAG. Because of increased drag, maximum speed was lower - 222 km/h comparing to 244 km/h of Zuch-1. Because there were several Sh 14 engines available, left in the country by retreating Germans, the LWD next built a short series of 5 Zuch-2s in 1950. They carried markings SP-BAL - SP-BAP and served in aero clubs until 1955, except SP-BAM, which served until 1963

.

Operators

Poland

Aeroklub Polski

Survivors

Zuch-1 (SP-BAD): Preserved in the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków (damaged and disassembled).
Zuch-2 (SP-BAM): Preserved in the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków (disassembled).
Zuch-2 (SP-BAO): Preserved in the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków (incomplete and disassembled).

Specifications (Zuch 2)

Data from ^{[citation needed]}

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 7.61 m (25 ft 0 in)
Wingspan: 10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Height: 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in)
Wing area: 17.5 m² (188 sq ft)
Powerplant: 1 ×
Bramo Sh 14
7-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 120 kW (160 hp)
Propellers: 2-bladed propeller

Performance

Maximum speed: 222 km/h (138 mph, 120 kn)
Cruise speed: 181 km/h (112 mph, 98 kn)
Range: 1,160 km (720 mi, 630 nmi)
Service ceiling: 4,750 m (15,580 ft)
Rate of climb: 36 m/s (7,100 ft/min)
Wing loading: 58.3 kg/m² (11.9 lb/sq ft)

References

Kempski, Benedykt, Samolot szkolno-treningowy Junak, Typy Broni i Uzbrojenia #110, Wydawnictwo MON, Warsaw 1986,
ISBN 83-11-07341-4
(in Polish)

External links

Photos at Ugolok Neba site