Zygmunt Puławski

Lore & Background

Zygmunt Puławski was born in Lublin. He graduated from business school in 1920 and volunteered for a Boy Scout battalion during the Soviet offensive in the Polish–Soviet War. He later studied at the Warsaw University of Technology, where he constructed gliders as a member of the Aviation Section of the Students' Mechanical Club. After graduating with an engineer title in 1925, he practiced at the Breguet Aviation works in France, then completed military aviation school in Bydgoszcz and became a pilot. From 1927, he served as chief general designer of the Central Aviation Workshops in Warsaw, which soon became the PZL (State Aviation Works).

Reader's Guide

Puławski's significance lies in his invention of the gull-wing design, which gave pilots an excellent view from the cockpit and was later copied in other aircraft. His first modern all-metal high-wing fighter, the PZL P.1, flown in 1929, introduced this wing but was not produced. His subsequent radial-engine designs, the PZL P.6 and PZL P.7, were more successful: the P.6 won the National Air Races in the United States and was named the best fighter in the world by at least one military press, while the P.7 was produced in 150 units for the Polish Air Force. Puławski also designed the PZL P.8 with an inline engine and began work on the PZL P.11, which was completed after his death by Wsiewołod Jakimiuk and became the main Polish fighter during the 1939 invasion of Poland. His death in a crash of his amphibious flying boat, the PZL.12, in 1931, contributed to his fighters not being replaced with modern successors before 1939, when they were already obsolete.

Did You Know?

• Puławski invented the gull-wing design, also known as the 'Puławski wing' or 'Polish wing.'
• His PZL P.6, flown in 1930, won the National Air Races in the United States with pilot Bolesław Orliński.
• He died at age 29 in a crash of his newest amphibious flying boat, the PZL.12, in Warsaw.