J.Zynk Polish Aircraft 1893-1939 (Putnam)

Glowinski's Monoplane

   In May 1911, the Lwow press informed its readers about a successful flying demonstration of Glowinski's monoplane. The machine, designed by Bronislaw Glowinski in 1910 and constructed and flown by him in Tarnopol, should therefore be regarded as the first Polish aeroplane to achieve a controlled and sustained flight in Poland.
   Modelled to a certain extent on the lines of Bleriot Type No. XI, but embodying several original and imaginative features, the machine made a number of short flights over an improvised airfield near Tarnopol in the late spring and summer of 1911. Unfortunately, the designer was unable to obtain the required materials and was forced to use heavier substitutes. This increased the weight of the airframe beyond the anticipated figure, and a weary Anzani engine, overhauled and modified by Glowinski, did not provide the desired power and reliability. As a result the monoplane was rather underpowered and this, combined with frequent breakdowns on the part of the capricious powerplant, severely limited its capabilities and performance and prevented Glowinski from attempting any flights beyond the area of the improvised landing field. His ambition to undertake prize flights in Lwow was never realized.
   The condition of the engine deteriorated quickly and some of the parts soon became worn beyond repair. The designer could not afford another engine, and, as the expected help from ZASPL never materialized, he dismantled his machine towards the end of 1911 and had to abandon flying altogether. Later, for a time, he attended the Lwow Technical University, and the forward section of his aircraft was displayed at the Second Aviation Exhibition in Lwow, which opened on 16 February, 1913. Unable to overcome financial difficulties and disenchanted with the unfulfilled promises of support from aviation organizations, he eventually left Poland before the 1914-18 War to work on the construction of railway lines in Asia, but came back after the end of hostilities. Parts of his monoplane, stored in various places, survived until the 1939-45 War.

Construction: Giowiriski's aircraft was a single-seat braced monoplane of composite construction. The wing, a two-spar wooden structure of double-surfaced type covered with fabric, was built in two sections. Each wing panel, carried immediately above the main fuselage frame on an inverted twin-V cabane, was attached to the base of the cabane and braced to its top by wires, and to a low cabane under the second fuselage frame and the landing-gear framework. To maintain lateral stability wing warping was employed. The fuselage, an open brass-welded metal-tube structure trussed by wires, was of rectangular section forward and triangular section aft, terminating in a vertical knife-edge at the tail. The landing-gear frame and all supporting cabanes were built of metal tubes integral with the fuselage. The pilot's seat was situated at the rear of the rectangular fuselage section. The control system consisted of a conventional control stick and rudder bar, the controls being by cable, except for the elevator system which was by push-rod to the back of the rectangular fuselage section and thence by cable. The tail unit, a wooden structure covered with fabric, consisted of a rudder, a tailplane and Bleriot-type full-chord elevators, the tailplane being wire-braced to the fuselage top longerons and supported by a cabane under the rear end of the fuselage. The landing gear, of neat design, comprised two outwardly-splayed side Ns, supported by a pair of struts and coupled by two transverse tubes. A pair of long wooden skids was attached to this framework. A cross-axle, carrying two wheels, was attached by rubber shock-absorber cords to the skids. The tailwheel fork was provided with a spring shock-absorber. Power was supplied by the 25 hp Anzani three-cylinder air-cooled semi-radial engine directly driving a two-blade tractor airscrew. The fuel tank was attached to the wing-carrying cabane. The monoplane had a span of 10.2 m (33 ft 6 in). No other data are available.