PZL.11
| Country | Poland |
| Manufacturer | Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze |
| Primary Role | Fighter |
| Maiden Flight | 1 August 1931 |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseThe PZL.11 fighters were of a later generation of fighters that Zygmunt Pulawski began to work on in 1929. After the successful PZL.7 fighters, Pulawski made improvements to the design, thus the PZL.11 was born. Poland's air force had some of the most advanced aircraft the world had yet seen. Romania was one of the countries that contracted Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze for these fighters. By the time the European War began with the German invasion of Poland, however, these fighters were terribly obsolete, and unfortunately PZL.11 remained Poland's main fighter aircraft due to the delays with the new PZL.50 design. Poland's 109 PZL.11c and 20 PZL.11a fighters, along with the 30 PZL.7a fighters, survived the initial bombings due to their deployment in remote airfields. Despite the maneuverability and good visibility that led to a 1:1 kill-to-loss ratio against the more advanced German aircraft, the Polish air force dwindled in numbers very quickly. Most of the PZL.11s were destroyed in 1939.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.
Last Major Revision: Oct 2006
SPECIFICATIONS
P.11c
| Machinery | One Bristol Mercury IV S2 or One Mercury VI radial engine, each rated at 630hp |
| Armament | 2x or 4x7.92mm machine guns, 1x50kg bomb |
| Crew | 1 |
| Span | 10.72 m |
| Length | 7.55 m |
| Height | 2.85 m |
| Wing Area | 17.90 m² |
| Weight, Empty | 1,147 kg |
| Weight, Loaded | 1,650 kg |
| Speed, Maximum | 375 km/h |
| Service Ceiling | 8,000 m |
| Range, Normal | 550 km |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
Alan Chanter says:25 Oct 2007 12:35:24 AM
Polish P.11 pilots managed to claim 126 German aircraft for the loss of 114 of their own. When the German victory was no longer in doubt, many Polish pilots flew their aircraft to neutral countries and made their way to the west, to continue the fight. The skill and tenacity of Polish pilots would be well used in RAF Polish squadrons during the rest of the war. Most of them had learned their skills in the P.11.
Bill says:20 Feb 2009 01:06:08 PM
Info on above photo: PZL P.11c of No. 113 Fighter Squadron, 1st. Fighter Regiment. Aircraft flown by Lt. Hieronim Dudwal during the Sept. Campaign of 1939
BILL says:5 Apr 2009 01:26:06 PM
The only PZL 11c to survive is now on display at the Cracow Aviation Museum, Poland.
3 Mar 2011 04:29:34 AM
The PZL 11c above was flown by my father Waclaw Krol and shot down at least two e/a between 2.9.39 to and 10.9.39. He flew with the French Montpelier squadron, then 302 squadron - eventually as its CO, after which he flew with Skalsi's Circus in North Africa
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
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20 Mar 2007 06:08:00 PM
Polish fighters during three weeks of the September War shot down ca. 100 German and 3 Soviet aircafts.