Interwar years.....

[Lucky13]

Couldn't find a suitable place for this one, so post it here.....
I'm sure that we most know about the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy and their interwar years avaition industry, but I'd like to know more about Poland's, Czechoslovakia's, Hungary's, Jugoslavia's, Romania's etc. etc....
What did they have to compare to the "west", any wellknown designers, were these countries up there with western europe or were they slightly behind.....

[B-17engineer]

Ok I found this on WIki I don't know if it is reliable but



>Golden Age
During the interwar period, the RoAF, second only to Poland among the future Warsaw Pact countries, had a powerful national aircraft industry which designed and produced all types of military and most civil aircraft. In particular the IAR 80 series were stressed-skin fighters, worthy to rank with the other single-seat fighters of WWII, and used in significant numbers on the Eastern Front.

The RoAF was reorganized during an 18-year period. Over 2,000 military and civil aircraft were built in Romania, based on native or licensed designs. The military aviation used IAR 80 fighters, which became famous on the Eastern Front, and bombers manufactured by IAR Braşov. Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Heinkel He 112 fighters, Heinkel He 111 and Junkers Ju 88 bombers, Junkers Ju 87 dive bomber, Junkers Ju 52 transport and Heinkel He 114 seaplanes were purchased from Germany in the interwar period.

Romanian Air Force - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[B-17engineer]

I will see what else I can find

>For a modern nation surrounded by potentially hostile neighbors, without access to the ocean, the Czechoslovak leadership needed to build a capable air force. So was born the motto "Our sea is in the air."


Aero Vodochody L.159A Advanced Light Combat Aircraft of the Czech Air Force
Saab JAS 39C Gripen of the Czech Air Force
An-26 of the Czech Air ForceThe Czechoslovak government between the wars balanced a home-grown aviation industry with licensing engine and aircraft designs from allied nations.

Several major aircraft companies, and a few engine companies, thrived in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. One well-known engine manufacturer was A. S. Walter located in Prague.

The Aero Company (Aero továrna letadel), was located in the Vysočany quarter of Prague. Its mixed construction (wood, metal and fabric covering) and all-metal aircraft were competitive in the early 1930s; however, by 1938, only its MB.200 (a licensed Bloch design) was not totally obsolete.

The Avia Company (Avia akciová společnost pro průmysl letecký Škoda), a branch of the enormous Škoda Works (Škodovy závody) for heavy machinery and defence industrial organization, was different. Founded in 1919 in an old sugar factory in the eastern Prague suburbs of Letňany and Čakovice, Avia made entire airplanes, including motors, which were usually licensed Hispano-Suiza designs. The standard Czechoslovak pursuit plane of the late 1930s, the B-534 reached a total production of 514 units. It was one of the last biplane fighters in operational use, and also one of the best ever produced.

The state-controlled Letov (Vojenská továrna na letadla Letov) was also situated in Letňany. It employed about 1,200 workers in the late 1930s, and it manufactured the S-328 biplane, of which over 450 were produced. The entire airframe was welded together, not bolted or riveted. The Letov factory was the only Czechoslovak plant that manufactured metal propellers.

Czech Air Force - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[kool kitty89]

You left Russia and Japan out, would they fall in with the "Mainstream" US/UK/Germany, or do you want more info on them too?


A lot of those other countries had some pretty competitive intarwar a/c, like the Polish PZL P.11 (and later the P.24) but advancements in the industry were coming so fast that these developments were soon left behind.


Rumania had the more than decent IAR 80, but it didn't enter production until well after the start of the war. IAR 80 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And there's the Czech Avia B-534 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
and Yugoslavia's Rogozarski IK-3 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


There's Finland's VL Myrsky - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia but that's not an interwar a/c.

[Marcel]

Glad the Dutch are mainstream, too

[Wurger]

OK Jan let's start.

PZL (Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze - State Aviation Works) was the main Polish aerospace manufacturer of the interwar period, based in Warsaw, functioning in 1928-1939. The abbreviation was thereafter - from late 1950s - used as an aircraft brand and as a part of names of several Polish state-owned aerospace manufacturers referring to traditions of the PZL, belonging to the Zjednoczenie Przemysłu Lotniczego i Silnikowego PZL - PZL Aircraft and Engine Industry Union. After the fall of communism in Poland in 1989, these manufacturers became separate plants, still sharing the PZL name. In the case of PZL-Mielec, the abbreviation means Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze - Polish Aviation Works.The PZL - Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze (State Aviation Works) was founded in Warsaw in 1928 as state-owned works, and was based on the earlier CWL (Centralne Warsztaty Lotnicze) - Central Aviation Workshops. The first product was a license-produced French fighter, Wibault 70, but next it switched to own designs exclusively. Soon Zygmunt Puławski designed a series of high-wing, all-metal modern fighters: PZL P.1, P.6, P.7 and P.11. The last two types were used as basic fighters in the Polish Air Force beginning in 1933. The last variant, PZL P.24, developed after Puławski's death in an air crash, was exported to four countries. PZL also mass-produced a light bomber, PZL.23 Karaś, and a modern medium bomber, PZL.37 Łoś. PZL also built small numbers of sport planes (PZL.5, PZL.19, PZL.26), and liaison aircraft (PZL Ł.2) and developed prototypes of passenger aircraft. In the late 1930s the company also developed several prototypes of more modern fighters, bombers and a passenger airliner, the PZL.44 Wicher, that had no chance of entering production due to World War II. PZL was the largest Polish pre-war aircraft manufacturer.

In 1934, the main factory in Warsaw was named PZL WP-1 (Wytwórnia Płatowców 1 - Airframe Works 1) in the Okęcie district of Warsaw. A new division PZL WP-2 was built in Mielec in 1938-1939, but production was only starting there at the outbreak of World War II. An engine factory division, PZL WS-1 in Warsaw-Okęcie (Wytwórnia Silników - Engine Works 1), produced mostly engines on the British Bristol licence, like Bristol Pegasus, Bristol Mercury (the factory WS-1 was former Polskie Zakłady Skody - Polish Skoda Works division, nationalized and renamed in 1936). In 1937-1939 a new engine division PZL WS-2 was built in Rzeszów.

List of aircraft up to 1939:

PZL P.1 1-engine, fighter prototype, high-wing, 1929/-
PZL Ł.2 1-engine, liaison, high-wing, 1929/1930
PZL.4 3-engine, passenger prototype, high-wing, 1932/-
PZL.5 1-engine, sport, biplane, 1930/1931
PZL P.6 1-engine, fighter prototype, high-wing, 1930/-
PZL P.7 1-engine, fighter, high-wing, 1930/1932
PZL P.11 1-engine, fighter, high-wing, 1931/1934
PZL.19 1-engine, sport, low-wing, 1932/-
PZL.23 Karaś 1-engine, light bomber, low-wing, 1934/1936
PZL P.24 1-engine, fighter, high-wing, 1933/1936
PZL.26 1-engine, sport, low-wing, 1934/-
PZL.27 3-engine, passenger prototype, high-wing, 1934/-
PZL.30 Żubr 2-engine, medium bomber, high-wing, 1936/1938
PZL.37 Łoś 2-engine, medium bomber, low-wing, 1936/1938
PZL.38 Wilk 2-engine, heavy fighter prototype, low-wing, 1938/-
PZL.43 1-engine, light bomber, low-wing, developed from PZL.23
PZL.44 Wicher 2-engine, passenger plane prototype, low-wing, 1938/-
PZL.45 Sokół 1-engine, fighter prototype, low-wing, -/-
PZL.46 Sum 1-engine, light bomber prototype, low-wing, 1938/-
PZL.48 Lampart 2-engine, heavy fighter prototype, low-wing, -/-
PZL.49 Miś 2-engine, medium bomber prototype, low-wing, -/-
PZL.50 Jastrząb 1-engine, fighter prototype, low-wing, 1939/-
PZL.54 Ryś 2-engine, heavy fighter prototype, low-wing, -/-
PZL.62 1-engine, fighter project, low-wing, -/-


Source: PZL - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


LWS - Lubelska Wytwórnia Samolotów (Lublin Aircraft Factory) was the Polish aerospace manufacturer, located in Lublin, created in 1936 of Plage i Laśkiewicz works and producing aircraft between 1936 and 1939.The LWS was created of a nationalized Plage i Laśkiewicz works, the first Polish aircraft manufacturer. Due to plans of the Polish aviation authorities, headed by Ludomił Rayski, to gather all aviation industry in state hands, Plage & Laśkiewicz works were forced to go bankrupt in late 1935. Then, they were nationalized under the name LWS in February 1936. Formally, it was owned by the PWS state aircraft manufacturer, in fact it was subordinated to the PZL. A director was Maj. Aleksander Sipowicz, a technical director and main designer was initially Zbysław Ciołkosz; from autumn 1937 the technical director was Ryszard Bartel and the main designer Jerzy Teisseyre.

The first LWS aircraft were Plage & Laśkiewicz developments. 18 almost ready Lublin R-XIIIF army cooperation aircraft were completed in 1936 and bought by the Polish Air Force (their quality was the pretext for forcing Plage & Laśkiewicz bankruptcy), and the next series of 32 was built for the Polish Air Force by 1938. The factory also continued works upon a two-engine torpedo bomber seaplane Lublin R-XX prototype, now designated LWS-1, but it was not ordered due to a low performance.

In 1937 a light ambulance aircraft LWS-2 prototype of Ciołkosz design was first flown, but despite it was quite successful, it did not enter production, since the factory was busy with military orders.

In 1936, a further development of the medium bomber PZL-30 of Ciołkosz design, was handed to the LWS, under a designation LWS-6 Żubr. Since it was much inferior to PZL.37 Łoś, a planned serial production was finally reduced to 15 aircraft, built in 1938. However, works upon its modernized variant continued until 1939. The factory also proposed its torpedo-bomber seaplane variant designated LWS-5, but it was not accepted due to a low performance and the prototype was not completed.

From 1938 to 1939 the LWS built a series of 65 licence RWD-14 Czapla army cooperation aircraft for the Polish Air Force (it was sometimes called the LWS Czapla after the manufacturer). In 1937, there was flown a prototype of a modern reconnaissance aircraft LWS-3 Mewa of own design. A series of 200 aircraft was ordered by the Polish Air Force, but only a couple were completed just after the outbreak of the World War II, and about 30 were in not finished state in a factory.

Apart from aircraft production, the LWS modified 47 light bombers Potez XXV (licence produced in Plage & Laśkiewicz and PWS) fitting them with radial engines PZL (Bristol) Jupiter. The LWS also designed the LWS-4 light fighter and LWS-7 Mewa II reconnaissance plane, but they were not built.

A list of LWS aircraft

Name description and prototype / serial / first flight / year / number built

LWS-1 (Lublin R-XX) 2-engine, 5-seater, torpedo bomber seaplane, low-wing, 1935/- 1
LWS-2 1-engine, 1+3-seater, ambulance plane, 1937/- 1
LWS-3 Mewa 1-engine, 2-seater, army cooperation and reconnaissance, high-wing, 1937/1939 3+41
LWS-4 1-engine, 1-seater, fighter, low-wing (project) -/- -
LWS-5 2-engine, 4-seater, torpedo bomber seaplane, high-wing (1936 project) -
LWS-6 Żubr (PZL-30) 2-engine, 4-seater, medium bomber, high-wing, 1936/1938 2+15 2
LWS-7 Mewa II 1-engine, 2-seater, army cooperation and reconnaissance, high-wing (1939 project) -
LWS Czapla (RWD-14 Czapla) 1-engine, 2-seater, army cooperation and reconnaissance, high-wing, 1935/1938 65 3

Source : LWS (aircraft manufacturer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

[Wurger]

PWS - Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów - Podlasie Aircraft Works - was the Polish aerospace manufacturer between 1923 and 1939, located in Biała Podlaska.Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów SA was created in 1923. The first aircraft produced from 1925, were 35 Potez 15 bombers for the Polish Air Force, on the French licence. Then, by 1929 the works produced 155 Potez 27 and 150 Potez 25, also on the French licence, and 50 fighters PWS-A on the Czech licence (Avia BH-33).

From 1925, an own construction bureau was established. Despite a big number of prototypes, only some were produced in series. The first was PWS-10 fighter of 1930 (80 aircraft). Short series of a trainer PWS-14 and a passenger plane PWS-24 were also made (PWS-10 and PWS-24 were the first fighter and the first passenger plane of Polish construction built in series).

In 1932 the PWS works were nationalized because of bad condition. Then it produced 500 trainers RWD-8 (designed by the RWD) and 50 trainers PWS-18 on the British licence (Avro 621 Tutor). Soon the factory designed own successful advanced trainers PWS-16 and PWS-26, the later built in 320 units in 1936-1939.

In 1936 the factory was subordinated to the PZL national concern. It developed a series of projects of military planes, but they were not built due to oubreak of World War II. Twin-engine advanced trainer PWS-33 Wyżeł was ordered to serial production, but it did not start due to war.

A division of the PWS - Lwowskie Warsztaty Lotnicze (LWL, Lwów Aviation Workshops, built gliders, also designated with letters PWS.

After the outbreak of World War II, the PWS factory was bombed by the Germans on September 4, 1939, what put an end to the manufacturer. The remains of equipment were captured by the Soviets after their invasion of Poland.

List of aircraft:

Name/ description / first flight / year

PWS-A 1-engine, 1-seater, fighter biplane, 1929 (licence Avia BH-33)
PWS-1 1-engine, 2-seater, heavy fighter high-wing monoplane, 1927 (prototype)
PWS-3 1-engine, 2-seater, sports high-wing monoplane, 1927 (prototype)
PWS-4 1-engine, 1-seater, sports low-wing monoplane, 1928 (prototype)
PWS-5 1-engine, 2-seater, army cooperation biplane, 1928 (short series)
PWS-6 1-engine, 2-seater, liaison biplane, 1930 (prototype)
PWS-8 1-engine, 2-seater, sports biplane, 1929 (prototype)
PWS-10 1-engine, 1-seater, fighter high-wing monoplane, 1930 (series)
PWS-11 1-engine, 1-seater, trainer fighter high-wing monoplane, 1929 (prototype)
PWS-12 1-engine, 2-seater, trainer biplane, 1929 (prototype)
PWS-14 1-engine, 2-seater, trainer biplane, 1931 (series)
PWS-16 1-engine, 2-seater, trainer biplane, 1933 (series)
PWS-18 1-engine, 2-seater, trainer biplane, 1935 (licence Avro 621)
PWS-19 1-engine, 2-seater, reconnaissance-bomber high-wing monoplane, 1931 (prototype)
PWS-20 1-engine, 2+6-seater, passenger high-wing monoplane, 1929 (prototype)
PWS-21bis 1-engine, 2+4-seater, passenger high-wing monoplane, 1930 (prototype)
PWS-24 1-engine, 2+4-seater, passenger high-wing monoplane, 1931 (short series)
PWS-26 1-engine, 2-seater, trainer biplane, 1935 (series)
PWS-33 Wyżeł 2-engine, 2-seater, trainer low-wing monoplane, 1938 (prototype, series ordered)
PWS-35 1-engine, 2-seater, sports biplane, 1938 (prototype, series ordered)
PWS-40 1-engine, 2-seater, sports low-wing monoplane, 1939 (prototype)
PWS-50 1-engine, 2-seater, sports mid-wing monoplane, 1930 (prototype)
PWS-51 1-engine, 2-seater, sports low-wing monoplane, 1930 (prototype)
PWS-52 1-engine, 2-seater, sports high-wing monoplane, 1930 (prototype)
PWS-54 1-engine, 1+3-seater, passenger high-wing monoplane, 1933 (prototype)
PWS-101 1-seater glider, 1937 (short series)
PWS-102 1-seater glider, 1939 (short series)
PWS-103 1-seater glider, 1940 (prototypes completed by the Soviets)

Source :Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

RWD was a Polish aircraft construction bureau active between 1928 and 1939. It started as a team of three young designers, Stanisław Rogalski, Stanisław Wigura and Jerzy Drzewiecki, whose names formed the RWD acronym.They started work while studying at Warsaw University of Technology. In December 1925, with some other student constructors, they set up workshops at the Aviation Section of Mechanics Students' Club (Sekcja Lotnicza Koła Mechaników Studentów), where they manufactured their first designs. From 1926 they designed several aircraft alone (Drzewiecki JD-2 and WR-1), in 1928 they joined forces as one team, starting with RWD-1 sportsplane. Apart from building planes, J. Drzewiecki was a test pilot of their designs, while S. Wigura flew as a mechanic in competitions. In 1930 the team was moved to new workshops at Okęcie district in Warsaw, near the Okęcie aerodrome, today's Warsaw International Airport, founded by the LOPP paramilitary organization. On 11 September 1932, Stanisław Wigura died in an air crash in the RWD-6 during a storm, but the RWD name continued to be used for new designs (according to a popular story, the letter W now de facto stood for engineer Jerzy Wędrychowski, but he was not a designer). In 1933, Rogalski, Drzewiecki and Wędrychowski founded the company Doświadczalne Warsztaty Lotnicze (DWL, Experimental Aeronautical Works) in Warsaw, which became a manufacturer of further RWD aircraft. Apart from Rogalski and Drzewiecki, in a construction bureau worked designers Tadeusz Chyliński,[1], Bronisław Żurakowski, Leszek Dulęba and Andrzej Anczutin and several engineers, including Henryk Millicer.At first, the RWD team designed and built light sportsplanes. Early designs RWD-2 and RWD-4 were built in small series and used in Polish sports aviation, including their debut at the Challenge 1930 international contest. Their next designs performed particularly well in competitions - the RWD-6 won the Challenge 1932 and RWD-9s won the Challenge 1934 international contest. The sportsplane RWD-5 was the lightest plane to fly across the Atlantic in 1933. Three types saw mass production: the RWD-8, which became the Polish Air Force basic trainer, the RWD-13 touring plane and the RWD-14 Czapla reconnaissance plane (193.

Other important designs were the RWD-10 aerobatic plane (1933), RWD-17 aerobatic-trainer plane (1937) and RWD-21 light sport plane (1939). World War II prevented further development and serial production of later RWD designs, and put an end to the RWD construction bureau and the DWL workshops.

List of aircraft:

Design / First flight / Type / Seats / No. built

RWD-1 1928 sports high-wing, 1 engine 2 1
RWD-2 1929 sports high-wing, 1 engine 2 4
RWD-3 1930 sports high-wing, 1 engine 2 1
RWD-4 1930 sports high-wing, 1 engine 2 9
RWD-5 1931 sports high-wing, 1 engine 2 20
RWD-6 1932 sports high-wing, 1 engine 2 3
RWD-7 1931 sports high-wing, 1 engine 1 2 1
RWD-8 1933 primary trainer high-wing, 1 engine 2 ~ 550
RWD-9 1933 sports high-wing, 1 engine 4 8
RWD-10 1933 aerobatics high-wing, 1 engine 1 23
RWD-11 1936 passenger low-wing, 2 engines 2+6 1
RWD-12 (unfinished) observation plane high wing, 1 engine 2 2 0
RWD-13 1935 sports and touring high-wing, 1 engine 3 ~100
RWD-14 Czapla 1935 reconnaissance aircraft, high-wing, 1 engine 2 65 3
RWD-15 1937 touring high-wing, 1 engine 5 6 (+10 unfinished)
RWD-16 1936 sports low-wing, 1 engine 2 1
RWD-16bis 1938 sports low-wing, 1 engine 2 2
RWD-17 1937 trainer-aerobatics high-wing, 1 engine 2 24
RWD-17W 1938 trainer floatplane, 1 engine 2 6 4
RWD-18 (19395) touring and ambulance high-wing, 2 engines 5 (1 unfinished)
RWD-19 1938 sports low-wing, 1 engine 2 1
RWD-20 1937 experimental touring high-wing, 1 engine 6 2 1
RWD-21 1939 sports and touring low-wing, 1 engine 2 4 (+10 unfinished)
RWD-22 (late 1940) torpedo floatplane project, 2 engines 3 0
RWD-23 1938 trainer low-wing, 1 engine 7 2 1
RWD-24 (late 1940) light bomber project, 2 engines 8 3 0
RWD-25 (1939) low-wing, fixed-wheels fighter project, 1 engine 1 0
RWD-26 (late 1940) trainer low-wing project, 1 engine 2 0


Source : RWD (aircraft manufacturer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

[kool kitty89]

Glad the Dutch are mainstream, too

Yeah. And of course you don't add any to the list.


The most prominent would obviously be the Fokker D.XXI.

A lot more though: Aircraft Directory: Holland



That site is a pretty good resourse for this kind of info: Virtual Aircraft Museum

Lots of info on nearly all of the "minor" countries.

[Lucky13]

Just thought that less was known about these countries aviation industry than Soviet Union, Holland, Japan etc. but feel free to include them as well...

[Lucky13]

Good read Wojtek....!

[Wurger]

[Lucky13]

A few classics.....