Lublin R-VIII

infobox Aircraft
name =Lublin R-VIII
type =Bomber and reconnaissance aircraft
manufacturer =Plage i Laśkiewicz



caption =
designer =
first flight = March, 1928
introduced = 1930
retired = 1939
status =
primary user = Polish Air Force and Polish Navy
more users =
produced = 1928-1930
number built = 6
unit cost =
developed from =
variants with their own articles = The Lublin R-VIII was a Polish bomber, reconnaissance aircraft and seaplane designed in the late-1920s by the Plage i Laśkiewicz factory in Lublin. It was the first in-house design of Plage i Laśkiewicz, and the first with the name Lublin.

Development

The aircraft was designed in answer to a request of the Polish Air Force for a heavy single-engine reconnaissance and bomber airplane. Work started in 1926. The main designer was Jerzy Rudlicki (the letter "R" in the designation for his name). The prototype R-VIII was flown in March, 1928. It was fitted with a convert|550|hp|abbr=on Farman 12We W-engine, but in tests proved to be underpowered. In July 1928 the second prototype was completed with a more powerful convert|740|hp|abbr=on Lorraine-Dietrich 18Kd engine. In August 1928 it flew in the Aviation Contest of the Little Entente and Poland. It achieved the best result in trials of carrying a payload (1024 kg to an altitude of 5000 m).

In 1929, the Polish Aviation Department of War Ministry ordered four aircraft with the designation R-VIIIa. They were built in early 1930. One was fitted with a Lorraine-Dietrich engine, the rest with the convert|760|hp|abbr=on Hispano-Suiza 12Lb. More were not ordered, as the aircraft had good performance when carrying only a limited payload and fuel reserve (which limited its range), when it carried more bombs, or maximum fuel load, its performance was poor.

The prototypes and serial production aircraft were used by the Polish Air Force only for a short time. In August-September 1930, three R-VIIIa flew in the Aviation Contest of the Little Entente and Poland, taking a mediocre 7th and 9th places. In service, both Lorraine-Dietrich-powered aircraft crashed - in 1930 and 1931.

In 1932, the existing R-VIIIs were converted to floatplanes for the Polish Navy. The first prototype was fitted with Lorraine-Dietrich engine and was designated R-VIII bis (Aircraft number 801). Two planes with Hispano-Suiza engines were designated R-VIII ter (numbers 802 and 803). The fourth aircraft was broken into spare parts. The maximum speed of the floatplane variant was lowered to 200 km/h. They were also called R-VIII/hydro.

A six-seat passenger plane, the R-IX, was developed in 1929, based on the R-VIII, but it remained a prototype.

Operational service

The R-VIII floatplanes were used by the Polish Naval Aviation Squadron ("MDLot") in Puck from 1933, in a long reconnaissance escadre. From 1938, they were assigned to training, and were scheduled for withdrawal from service. They survived until the Invasion of Poland in 1939, but the R-VIII bis had its engine removed by then. After the first German air raid on naval aviation base in Puck on September 1, all floatplanes were evacuated from Puck to the Hel Peninsula (the bulk were Lublin R-XIIIs). Since R-VIIIs were quite obsolete by then, they were not used in combat. They were anchored on Puck Bay by Chalupy on Hel Peninsula, near the base of the peninsula, where they were bombed by Stukas on September 8.

Description

Wooden construction biplane, conventional in layout. A fuselage was rectangular in cross-section, plywood covered. Wings canvas and plywood covered, upper wing of greater span. Crew of two, sitting in tandem in an open cockpit, with twin controls (three crewmen could be carried as well, with radio operator). Conventional fixed landing gear, with a rear skid, or two Short floats.

The pilot had one fixed 7.7 mm Vickers machine gun with an interrupter gear, the observer had twin 7.7 mm Lewis machine guns on a ring mounting. Bomb load: in bomber variant up to 1000 kg, in seaplane variant - 300 kg. The plane was fitted with a camera.

Engine:
*18-cylinder inline W engine Lorraine-Dietrich 18Kd convert|650|hp|abbr=on power, convert|740|hp|abbr=on take-off power, water cooled (second prototype, one serial R-VIIIa, R-VIII bis)
*12-cylinder inline V-12 engine Hispano-Suiza 12Lb convert|650|hp|abbr=on power, convert|760|hp|abbr=on take-off power, water cooled (three serial R-VIIIa, R-VIII ter)

Two-blade propeller, 4.4 m diameter. Fuel tank 1200 l in the fuselage, which could be dumped in case of fire. There could be mounted an additional fuel tank, increasing the range to 1720 km, though this reduced the bomb load.

Operators

;POL
* Polish Air Force
* Polish Navy

pecifications (R-VIIIa, Lorraine-Dietrich)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

crew=2, pilot and observer
capacity=
length main= 11.12 m
length alt=36 ft 6 in
span main=17 m
span alt=55 ft 9 in
height main=4.5 m
height alt= 14 ft 9 in
area main=76.4 m²
area alt= 822 ft²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 2457 kg
empty weight alt= 5,405 lb
loaded weight main= 3500 kg
loaded weight alt=7,700 lb
useful load main= 1043-1843 kg
useful load alt= 2,294-4,054 lb
max takeoff weight main= 4300 kg
max takeoff weight alt=9,460 lb

engine (prop)=Lorraine-Dietrich 18Kd
type of prop= water-cooled 18-cylinder inline W engine
number of props=1
power main= 740 hp / 650 hp nominal power
power alt= 552 / 484 kW

max speed main=225 km/h
max speed alt= 138 mph
cruise speed main= 200 km/h
cruise speed alt= 123 mph
stall speed main= 85 km/h
stall speed alt= 52 mph
range main=600-1720 km
range alt= 370-1061 mi
ceiling main=5770 m
ceiling alt=18,925 ft
climb rate main= 5.25 m/s
climb rate alt= 1,033 ft/min
loading main= 45.8 kg/m²
loading alt= 9.36 lb/ft²
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
armament=
* 1 × fixed front-firing 7.7 mm Vickers E machine gun
* 2 × movable 7.7 mm Lewis machine guns
* 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bombs (300 kg (660 lb) in floatplane variant)

References

*Andrzej Glass: "Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893-1939" ("Polish aviation constructions 1893-1939"), WKiŁ, Warsaw 1977 (pl icon, no ISBN)

External links

* [http://www.airwar.ru/enc/bww1/lublinr8.html Photos and drawings at Ugolok Neba]

ee also

aircontent
related=
*Lublin R-IX

similar aircraft=
*Amiot 122
*Levasseur PL 7
*Avro Aldershot
*Heinkel He 60

sequence=R-VIII -
R-IX -
R-X -
R-XI -
R-XII -
R-XIII
R-XIV

lists=

see also=