W.W.S.1 Salamandra

W.W.S.1 Salamandra in Finnish Aviation Museum
Role	Glider
National origin	Poland
Manufacturer	Wojskowe Warsztaty Szybowcowe
Designer	Wacław Czerwiński
First flight	1936[1]
Introduction	1950
Number built	500+ worldwide[2]

The W.W.S. 1 Salamandra (Salamander) was a single-seat training glider designed and built in Poland from Autumn 1935.

Development

As the head of the W.W.S. ( Wojskowe Warsztaty Szybowcowe) Wacław Czerwiński designed the W.W.S. 1 Salamander during the mid 1930s. The excellent handling properties, ideal for the solo training methods then in use, led to mass production in various workshops throughout Poland. Production in Poland resumed after WWII with a re-engineered version from the IS (Instytucie Szybownictwa – gliding institute).

Construction of the Salamandra was entirely of wood with fabric covering on wings and tail unit. The fuselage consisted of a plywood covered nacelle for the single seat cockpit, with a wire-braced open strut rear fuselage supporting the cruciform style tail-unit. The high mounted wire braced wings were supported by struts from the bottom of the fuselage to approx 1/5 span. Later versions introduced windscreens and airbrakes in the wings. Wooden skids under the tail and fuselage nacelle comprised the undercariage.

The most notable feat by a W.W.S. 1 Salamandra, in Poland, was an 11hr 15min flight by Buraka, between Brasław and Wilna, on22 Aug 1938. Another marathon flight of 23 hours took place in Romania with a licence built version pilotted by G. Braescu.

Post war production continued in Poland, China and Yugoslavia, with improvements such as windscreens and airbrakes introduced in later versions. After migrating to Canada as a refugee Czerwiński designed a modified Salamandra as the Czerwiński Sparrow, as well as an improved Sparrow designated Czerwiński Robin.

Variants

• W.W.S. 1 Salamandra – production aircraft from 1936.
• IS-A Salamandra 48 – 1948 version, Post WWII Polish production by several aviation factories throughout Poland to drawings issued by the Instytucie Szybownictwa – (gliding institute).
• IS-A Salamandra 49 – 1949 version, Post WWII Polish production by several aviation factories throughout Poland to drawings issued by the Instytucie Szybownictwa – (gliding institute).
• IS-A Salamandra 53 – 1953 version, Post WWII Polish production by several aviation factories throughout Poland to drawings issued by the Instytucie Szybownictwa – (gliding institute).
• Czerwiński Sparrow – modified Salamandra designed and built in Canada by Wacław Czerwiński as a refugee.
• Czerwiński Robin – modified Salamandra designed and built in Canada in Canada by Wacław Czerwiński as a refugee.

Specifications (W.W.S. 1 Salamandra)

Data from http://www.piotrp.de/SZYBOWCE/pwws1.htm

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 6.48 m (21 ft 3 in)
• Wingspan: 12.48 m (40 ft 11 in)
• Height: 2.3 m (7 ft 6 in)
• Wing area: 16.9 m² (182 ft²)
• Aspect ratio: 9.2:1
• Wing profile: Göttingen-378
• Empty weight: (IS-A – 140kg) 110 kg ((IS-A – 309lb) 243 lb)
• Gross weight: (IS-A – 225kg) 190 kg ((IS-A – 496lb) 418 lb)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 150 km/h (93 mph)
• Stall speed: (IS-A – 43km/h) 38.5 km/h ((IS-A – 27mph) 24 mph)
• Maximum glide ratio: 15.2:1 @ 56 km/h (30 kts / 35 mph)
• Rate of sink: 0.81 m/s (159.5 ft/min)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Lippisch Zögling
• Slingsby T.3 Primary
  

References

1. ^ http://www.piotrp.de/SZYBOWCE/pwws1.htm
2. ^ http://www.piotrp.de/SZYBOWCE/pwws1.htm

• Taylor, J. H. (ed) (1989) Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. Studio Editions: London. p. 29
• Simons, Martin. Sailplanes 1920-1945 2nd revised edition. EQIP Werbung und Verlag G.m.b.H.. Königswinter. 2006. ISBN 3-9806773-4-6
• Cynk, Jerzy B. “Polish Aircraft 1893–1939”. London, Putnam. 1971. ISBN 0 370 00085 4

External links

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/saminkuvat/3602929835/
• http://www.piotrp.de/SZYBOWCE/pwws1.htm
• http://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/modernplanes/modern-uvw/18792/view/wws_1_salamandra/
• http://www.abpic.co.uk/search.php?q=Czerwinski%20WWS-1%20Salamandra&u=type
• http://www.mo-na-ko.net/images9/SalamandraWWS1_02.jpg
• http://www.mo-na-ko.net/images9/SalamandraWWS1_01.jpg