Szybowcowy Zakład Doświadczalny
Encyclopedia
Szybowcowy Zakład Doświadczalny (SZD), Glider Experimental Works was a glider
Glider aircraft
Glider aircraft are heavier-than-air craft that are supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against their lifting surfaces, and whose free flight does not depend on an engine. Mostly these types of aircraft are intended for routine operation without engines, though engine failure can...

 design and research centre of the Polish aerospace industry after World War II, located in Bielsko-Biała
Bielsko-Biała
-Economy and Industry:Nowadays Bielsko-Biała is one of the best-developed parts of Poland. It was ranked 2nd best city for business in that country by Forbes. About 5% of people are unemployed . Bielsko-Biała is famous for its textile, machine-building, and especially automotive industry...

. Through its history it underwent many organizational and name changes, among others in 1946-1948 it was Instytut Szybownictwa. After 1969 it existed under other names, but an abbreviation SZD continued to be used on designs. The SZD gliders themselves were produced in the production centre in Bielsko-Biała, organized around the SZD (from 1990s named PZL-Bielsko), and by several other works of the state aerospace industry and didn't bear specific manufacturer's names.

Beginnings

Just after World War II, which destroyed most of Polish pre-war gliders, the Main Scouts' Gliding Centre (Centralny Harcerski Ośrodek Szybowcowy) was created in Bielsko-Biała
Bielsko-Biała
-Economy and Industry:Nowadays Bielsko-Biała is one of the best-developed parts of Poland. It was ranked 2nd best city for business in that country by Forbes. About 5% of people are unemployed . Bielsko-Biała is famous for its textile, machine-building, and especially automotive industry...

 in May 1945, by the Ministry of Communications. In autumn 1945 it was re-organized into the Gliding Organizational Centre (Ośrodek Organizacji Szybownictwa), and in January 1946, into the Gliding Institute (Instytut Szybownictwa, IS). It inherited tasks and traditions of the pre-war Gliding and Motor gliding Institute in Lwów. It consisted of Training Division, Technical Division and Experimental Workshops. As more organizations took on a gliding training, the main task of the Institute became design work and technical research. At that period, several gliders were designed, under IS designation.

As a sign of new tasks, in 1948 the Gliding Institute was renamed to the Glider Experimental Works (Szybowcowy Zakład Doświadczalny), headed first by Władysław Nowakowski. It became the main Polish centre of designing gliders, which were next produced by the SZD workshops or, in conditions of a centrally planned state economy, by other state-owned
Government-owned corporation
A government-owned corporation, state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, or parastatal is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government...

 workshops and factories.

Organizational changes

In early 1950s, the SZD was incorporated into a Sports Aviation Equipment Works Management (Zarząd Zakładów Sprzętu Lotnictwa Sportowego), as a design centre. The management covered also glider production works (ZSLS) in Jeżów
Jezów
Jeżów may refer to the following places:*Jeżów, Jawor County in Lower Silesian Voivodeship *Jeżów, Brzeziny County in Łódź Voivodeship *Jeżów, Piotrków County in Łódź Voivodeship...

, Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz
Wrzeszcz
Wrzeszcz is one of the boroughs of the Northern Polish city of Gdańsk. With a population of more than 65,000 in an area of 9.9 km² , Wrzeszcz is the most populous part of Gdańsk.- History :...

 (until 1954), Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...

, Krosno
Krosno
Krosno is a town and county in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland with 47,455 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009.Notably Krosno is the site of the first oil well in the world....

 and Wrocław (from 1956). In 1957 this management was subordinated to the Central Management of Communications Equipment Industry (later PZL
PZL
PZL was the main Polish aerospace manufacturer of the interwar period, based in Warsaw, functioning in 1928-1939...

 Aerospace Industry Union).

In 1963, there were created Sports Aviation Equipment Works (Zakłady Sprzętu Lotnictwa Sportowego, ZSLS) in Bielsko-Biała, with the SZD as its main division. Works in Jeżów and Wrocław became its production divisions (works in Poznań and Krosno were excluded from the glider industry as separate Communication Equipment Factories - WSK). About 1969, the SZD was renamed to Glider Development and Construction Experimental Works (Zakład Doświadczalny Rozwoju i Budowy Szybowców), and in 1971 to Gliding Research and Development Centre (Ośrodek Badawczo-Rozwojowy Szybownictwa). Despite these changes, new designs were still marked with SZD letters. Around this time, works in Bielsko-Biała were enhanced.

Designs and production

In 1946-1972 only, the Polish centralized glider industry, focussed around the SZD, produced 2743 gliders, of which 1167 were exported (starting from in 1951), 367 of which to Western countries.
In 1973 there started series production of laminate gliders.
  • SZD-C Żuraw Crane
  • SZD-6x Nietoperz (Bat)
  • SZD-7 Osa (Wasp)
  • SZD-8 Jaskółka (Swallow)
  • SZD-9 Bocian (Stork)
  • SZD-10 Czapla (Heron)
  • SZD-11 Albatros (Albatross)
  • SZD-12 Mucha 100 (Fly 100)
  • SZD-13 Wampir (Vampire)
  • SZD-14x Jaskółka M (Swallow M)
  • SZD-15 Sroka (Magpie)
  • SZD-16 Gil (Bullfinch)
  • SZD-17x Jaskółka L (Swallow L)
  • SZD-18 Czajka (Lapwing)
  • SZD-19 Zefir (Zephyr)
  • SZD-20x Wampir 2 (Vampire)
  • SZD-21 Kobuz (Lerche Falcon)
  • SZD-22 Mucha Standard (Fly Standard)
  • SZD-23 Bocian 2 (Stork 2)
  • SZD-24 Foka (Seal)
  • SZD-25 Lis (Fox)
  • SZD-26 Wilk (Wolf)
  • SZD-27 Kormoran (Cormorant)
  • SZD-28 Latające laboratorium / Kondor (Flying Laboratory / Condor)
  • SZD-29 Zefir 3 (Zephyr 3)
  • SZD-30 Pirat (Pirate)
  • SZD-31 Zefir 4 (Zephyr 4)
  • SZD-32A Foka 5 (Seal 5)
  • SZD-33 Bocian 3 (Stork)
  • SZD-34 Bocian 3 (Ver. 2) (Stork 3 ver.2)
  • SZD-35 Bekas (Snipe)
  • SZD-36 Cobra 15 (Cobra)
  • SZD-37x Jantar (Amber)
  • SZD-38 Jantar 1 (Amber)
  • SZD-39 Cobra 17 (Cobra 17)
  • SZD-40x Halny (Föhn)
  • SZD-41 Jantar Standard (Amber Standard)
  • SZD-42 Jantar 2/2b (Amber 2/2b)
  • SZD-43 Orion
  • SZD-45 Ogar (Bloodhound)
  • SZD-48 Jantar Standard 2 (Amber Standard 2 and 3)
  • SZD-49 Jantar K (Amber K)
  • SZD-50 Puchacz (Eagle owl)

Aftermath

After the end of communism in Poland, the glider production and design centre in Bielsko-Biała was renamed in the 1990s to a state-owned enterprise PZL-Bielsko (full name: Przedsiębiorstwo Doświadczalno-Produkcyjne Szybownictwa PZL-Bielsko), liquidated in 2008. In early 2000s part of its property was bought by a company Allstar PZL Glider Sp.z o.o.
Limited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...

 (registered in 2002), which still produces several designs under the SZD brand.

Between 2005 and January 2007 there existed also different manufacturer with this name, PZL-Bielsko 1 Sp. z o.o. in Górki Wielkie
Górki Wielkie
Górki Wielkie is a village in Gmina Brenna, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of 3554 . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia and was first mentioned in a written document in 1305....

, producing PW-5 gliders.
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