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Tomasz J, Kopaniste PZU.23 ‘yomase J, colourpillustrationsibysarcurpuszczaky DA hee) AIS & Published in Poland in 2004 by STRATUS Artur Juszczak, Po. Box 123, 27-600 Sandomierz 1, Poland e-mail: arturj@mmpbooks.biz, for Mushroom Model Publications, 36 Ver Road, Redbourn, AL3 7PE, UK. e-mail: rogerw @waitrose.com © 2004 Mushroom Model Publications. http://www.mmpbooks.biz All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transm form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechat optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission. All enquiries should be addressed to the publisher. ISBN 83-89450-03-8 Editor in chief Roger Wallsgrove Editors Bartlomiej Belcarz Robert Peczkowski Artur Juszezak Edited by Bartlomiej Belearz Page design by Artur Juszczak Robert Peczkowski Cover Layout Artur Juszezak DIP Joanna Wojtowiez Translation Wojtek Matusiak Proof-reading Roger Wallsgrove Colour illustrations Artur Juszezak Seale plans Mariusz Kubryn Author would like to thank: B. Belearz, J. Pawlak, J.B. Cynk, A. Glass, Z. Charytoniuk, M. Jaroszyriski-Wolfram, M. Kubryn, A. Juszezak, J. Molski, P. Mrozowski, K. Mukowoz, W. Matusiak, W. Wojcik, A. Popiel, M. Wawrzyriski, Z. Chwaliszewski, M. Zimny. Printed by: Drukarnia Diecezjaina, ul. Zeromskiego 4, 27-600 Sandomierz tel. (15) 832 31 92; fax (15) 832 77 87 www.wdspl marketing@wds.pl PRINTED IN POLAND Development. EXpOTS sm Use in the Polish Air Force prior to WWIL.. German invasion of Poland in 1939 Jum Evaluation of the aeroplane sn Foreign service esnsenevn Detail photos & scale plans . Colour profiles... PZL.23 Karas 3 Ue Tat PZL.23M, the first proto- type Karas photographed in winter of 1934/35, Cynk via Kopariski constituted the principal equipment of the Polish ‘Eskadry Lin- jowe’, the name meaning roughly ‘Battle Flights’. These were light bomber and reconnaissance units intended for operations in direct support of ground forces, Work on anew aeroplane commenced in late 1931 under Stanistaw. Prauss, the project being designated PZL.23. At the beginning of the following year a mock-up of the fuselage was constructed, According to the designer's concept, this housed two crew members: the pilot and the gunner. Space between them was occupied by the bomb bay with vertically attached bombs. The wing, designed by Franciszek Misztal, had a modern box-spar which reduced the wing weight by 20% compared to conventional designs. Inthe spring of 1932 the Aviation Department approved the design of the airframe and ordered three prototypes. The first of these, powered by a 420-442 kW (563-593 hp) Bristol Pe; |, licence- builtin Poland, was completed in the spring chine fea- tured spatted fixed undercarriage and the characteristic under-fuselage pod for the gunner/bomb-aimer. The latter had two machine guns: one each dorsal and ventral. He normally sat at the dorsal machine gun, which was mounted on an automatic, pneumatically-operated support developed by Ludwik Bialkowski. When required, he could move into the ventral position in the bomb-aimer’s gondola. The pilot's seat was offset to port, and he would also have a machine gun at his disposal, although this was probably not fitted to the prototype. I: the early 1930s the French Breguet XIX and Potez XXV types 40 PZL.23 Karas The new aeroplane was fitted with flaps to reduce the landing PZL.23/1I, the third proto- speed and facilitate operations from unprepared airfields. The exhaust type Karas. pipes extending aft of the cockpit, over the wing, were a characteristic caw feature. This protected pilots from glare at night, and also concealed the exhaust flames from the ground, so as not to betray the position of the aeroplane. The first prototype, designated PZL.23/1, was first flown on 1 April 1934 by Jerzy Widawski at Warsaw-Mokot6w aerodrome. Flying trials failed to confirm the expected performance and displayed a number of shortcomings of the new machine. Among the most important were the buffeting of the rear fuselage, limited visibility and cramped cockpit, and unsatisfactory results of bombing trials, It was found that the bombs, dropped from their vertical position in the bomb bay, would tumble into a horizontal position before eventually turning to the vertical again. This reduced accuracy and could result in the bombs failing to explode when dropped from low altitude. The first prototype Karas was only tested until spring 1935, when the second prototype PZL.23/I was first flown. After that it was used as an instructional airframe at the Polish Air Force Engineering college in Warsaw, where it remained until September 1939. In autumn 1934 construction of the second prototype commenced at PZL. This differed significantly from the PZL.23/1. The most impor- tant changes were introduced in the central fuselage. Stanislaw Prauss decided to remove the bomb bay and reposition the bomb carriers under the wings. The space in the fuselage would now be occupied by a heavily glazed observer's compartment. To improve the visibility from the cockpit the engine was lowered by 100 mm and fitted with a new cowling, narrower at the aft end and thus creating less drag. The pilot's seat was now aligned with the axis of the fuselage. Wings of the PZL.23 Karas 5 Development new prototype were fitted with automatic slats some | mong, between the fuselage and the undercarriage. The wings were also fitted with Lachmann slotted ailerons and modified flaps, deflected by up to 45 degrees. Other external modifications included landing lights on the undercarriage spats, Holt signal discharger at the port wing tip, and altered glazing of the under-fuselage gondola. The PZL.23/II prototype was first flown in spring 1935 from Warsaw-Okecie. Most of the alterations introduced in it proved acceptable. However, visibility from the cockpit was still not satis- factory. The test flying programme of the second prototype was not completed, because on 27 July 1935 the aeroplane was destroyed in a crash, when it stalled in a turn at Wilanéw near Warsaw. The crew, Lt Aleksander Kremieniecki (a pilot from the Air Force Technical Institute), Lt Tadeusz Odrowaz-Pieniazek, and S/Lt Stefan Klusek, were all killed. There were reasons to believe that the accident was due to the pilot’s nervousness or even his planned suicide. 6 PZL.23 Karas PZL23/1 Development The third prototype, PZL.23/1IL, was completed in the summer of PZL.23A (SP-BFM) 1935, probably after the crash of the previous one. The buffeting was displayed at the Paris Air eliminated by fitting a massive fillet between the wing root and the Show. fuselage. The cockpit canopy was enlarged and the pilot’s seat was Kopariski raised, providing much better visibility from the cockpit than in the first and second prototypes. Other notable changes included repositioning of the Holt signal discharger to the tip of the starboard wing, and fitting of anew mount for the dorsal rear machine gun, this time hydraulically- operated. This even allowed it to fire forward, above the cockpit! After some alterations the aeroplane was approved for series pro- duction. It was designated PZL.23 A Karas and given the military type code number “# In December 1935 the Polish Air Force ordered 200 Karases, Production of the first batch of 40 machines was launched at the new PZL factory at Warsaw-Okecie at the end of 1935. These aircraft were probably given military serials 44.1 to 44.40, They were priced at 230,000 zloty each, breaking down as follows: 120,000 zt airframe; 30,000 zi engine; 15,000 zt three machine guns; 10,000 zt radio, and 5.000 zi other equipment. The Pegasus variant for the Karas, built under licence by the Polish Skoda Factory as the Pegaz IT M2, was not manufactured at all by the parent Bristol company in England, so it still suffered from many teething troubles. Problems with these engines resulted in their production being halted after a few aircraft were assembled, and not resumed until August 1936 when the most serious shortcomings had been cured. It was then that engines were fitted in the complete airframes that had awaited them since May 1936. ‘Therefore the first production machines were delivered to the Air Force as late as September. According to PZL production plan seventeen PZL.23 Karas 7 8 PZL.23 Karas PZL.23/I1 PZL.23 A aircraft were completed by the end of the month, twenty in October 20, and the last three in early November. Introduced into service with front line units, the PZL.23 A Karas aircraft failed to satisfy the expectations of the users. The under- powered engine with poor altitude characteristics limited the useful load and performance of the machine. The operational ceiling of the aeroplane was officially limited to 3,000 m, effectively making it use- less as a combat machine. Other shortcomings were also discovered. ‘The automatic slats on hinges, rather than on rails like those in the prototypes, were faulty. The slats sometimes opened by themselves in flight, causing loss of stability of the machine. This was cured by fixing them and by altering the tailplane incidence, but this in turn reduced the top speed of the aeroplane. After these and other problems came to light, the designer decided that the Pegaz II M2 engine had to be replaced by another, more pow- erful one, The 500 kW (670 hp) Bristol Pegasus VIII was selected, as its production has just started at PZL Engine Factory No. | (ex-Polish Skoda) as the Pegaz 8. The new engine was fitted in the third prototype Karas, the PZL.23/111. Flying trials proved that the aeroplane had much better performance than the Pegaz II M2-powered machines (speed Karas displayed at an air rose slightly, while the operational ceiling was increased from 3,000 m show in Stockholm in late to 7,300 m!) and it became the pattern for the new version, PZL.23 B, May 1936. later also called the Karas II, as opposed to the Karas I, or PZL.23 A. NTM Prague via B” version production aircraft differed from the PZL.23 A in more Belcarz- Peczkowski than just the engine. They had no slats, and the elevator planform was altered with additional balance areas. The cockpit of the Karas “B” featured a crash pylon aft of the pilot’s scat, and on the port side of the under-fuselage observer's gondola a special streamlined tube was fitted, used to extend the radio aerial in flight. Another external feature that allowed easy identification was that the Karas “B” had the pilot's machine gun ports immediately aft of the engine cowling on both sides of the forward fuselage, while the Karas “A” had just one such opening, on the starboard side. Therefore in the upper engine cowling the Karas “B” had two symmetrical cut-outs for the pilot's machine gun fire, while the Karas “A” had just one in the starboard side. However, due to insufficient production of Mark 33 guns “B” aircraft were still armed with just one machine gun, on the starboard side of the cockpit. After the 40 PZL.23 A aircraft were built, it was decided in the summer of 1936 that the remaining 160 machines of the original 1935 order for 200 would be completed as the Karas “B” variant. As this PZL.23 Karas 9 Development Bristol Pegasus VIll-pow- ered PZL.23/IN (SP-BCP), batch would be much bigger that the “A” series, so the unit price of an airframe was reduced to 100,000 zt. By the end of 1936 a total of 42 aircraft of the new version had been built. Inthe spring of 1937 produc- tion reached its maximum rate, and from February 20-22 aeroplanes monthly were delivered. This way the entire order was completed by mid-September. Production did not terminate there. Using 1937/1938 budget reserves the air force ordered 50 more machines, arriving at a total of 250 production aircraft: 40 PZL.23 A and 210 PZL.23 B Karas “B” aeroplanes were given military serials of 44.41 to 44,250, PZL factory completed production in February 1938, After the aircraft were delivered to units, some modifications were found necessary, to remove some operating problems, To prevent engine oil spray from fouling the windscreen, in mid-1938 some air- craft were fitted with a semi-circular metal screen between the engine cowling and the cockpit. This proved insufficient, however, and to cure the problem the gap between the engine cowling and the fuselage had to be covered with a specially shaped metal panel. This solution was introduced during late 1938/early 1939. During the same period Karag started to be fitted with a new aerial system, During exercises it was found that when flying low, aircraft with the aerial extended under the fuselage had problems establishing communication. A solution to this was a fixed aerial attached above the fuselage on two masts: a tall one between the pilot's and observer's seats, and a shorter one on the fin, First aircraft with the modified aerial system were allocated to the 12th Flight of the Ist Air Regiment in early 1939. By the outbreak of war in September 1939 new aerials were fitted to only some aircraft from various regiments, Even before series production of the Karas “B” commenced, in the CAW spring of 1936 PZL started development of another version of the aero- 10 PZL.23 Karas Cockpit Right: Bomb-aimer’s electric automatic device (A), release switch (B). PZL 23B operating manual Below: 1/NI LL receiver; 2/ automatic voltage regulator; 3/ transmitting key; 4/ observer's manipulation box; 5/ observ- er’s table. PZL 23B operating manual Starboard side of the observer's compartment: 1/flow indicator; 2/ oxygen pres- sure indicator; 3 photo socket; 4/ radio socket; 5/ oxygen mask; 6/ observer's fuse panel; 7/ observer's and gunner’s compartment lighting intensity control; 8/ observer's distributor panel;9/ time clock; 10/ altimeter; 11/ distributor clock; 12/observer's compartment heating control handle. PZL 23B operating manual Below: Transmitting key. PZL 23B operating manual 100 PZL.23 Karas NI LL receiver front panel: I/ receiver tuning scale; 2/ scale lighting adjustment knob; 3/ volume aadjusiment switch; 4/ adjusiment ype indicator; 5/ waveband switch; 6/ waveband indicator; 7/ receiver tuning knob; 8 receiver tuning panel;9/ amplifier adjustment knob; 10/tone adjustment knob. PZL 23B operating manual Cockpit NI LL transmitter: I/ lighting; 2/ anodic milliammeter; 3/amplifier adjustment knob; 4/ aerial tuning switch; 5/ amplifier coil switch; 6/ quartz switch; 7/ oscillator coil switch; 8/ instru- ment lighting adjustment knob; 9 latches; 10/ oscillator adjustment seale; H/ quartz socket cover; 12/ oscillator adjustment knob; 13/ aerial ammeter; 14/ transmit- ting/ receiving switch; 15/ inter- comm. signal lamp, 16/ waveband switch; 17/ crew switch; 18/ tuning switch; 19/ transmitting control knob; 20/ amplifier switch; 2I/ transmitter switch; 22/ milliam- meter switch; 23/ headphone socket 24/ microphone socket. PZL 23B operating manual KW F70 camera: 1/ View finder 2/Clamp screws 3/ Interval timer PZL 238 operating manual KW F30 camera: 1/ View finder 2/Clamp screws 3 Interval timer PZL 23B operating manual PZL.23 Karas 101 Tail of the PZL.23A no. 44.30 “11” of the PAF College at Deblin, Kowalski a pie Fin structure. Fin skin, CBW CBW 102 PZL.23 Karas Tail Rudder. Tailplane structure. Bottom view of the tailplane, bomb carriers are visible in the foreground. All photos: CBW PZL.23 Karas. 103 Undercarriage Me CEE Karas undercarriage details shown to advantage. MLP Cracow Karas undercarriage details. Forward section of the wheel spat removed from the starboard leg. The PZL.23B belonged to the 24th Reconnaissance Flight. 104° PZL.23 Karas Cynk Undercarriage spats removed. CBW Karas main undercarriage with the Karas main undercarriage with the spats on. caw Tail skid with the shock-absorber. CBW PZL.23 Karas 105 Undercarriage Tail skid anchoring Kara$ maintenance manual Wheel in fork attachment detail: I/ undercarriage fork 2expanding ring 3/axis wedges SS leather seal 6/ pressure spring 7 wheel roller bearing 9 lower axis bearing 9 expanding ring Karas maintenance manual Changing a tyre in the Karas. Karas maintenance manual 106 PZL.23 Karas PZL.23A, wing slats in the open position. NTM Prague via Belcarz-Peczkowski Rear general view Kopatski Head-on general view. Kopaiski See Starboard wing of a shot down 41st Reconnaissance PZL.23A wing structure details. Plight Karas. Komuda Zimny PZL.23 Karas. 107 Gunner's position (rear view): 1/ ventral machine gun mount arm; 2/ ventral machine ‘gun mount control lever; 3/ ventral machine gun mount; 4/case bag; 5/ mount latch; 6/ upper machine gun mount control lever; 7/ case chute; 8/ upper machine gun mount arm; 9/ machine gun fixing catch; 10/ upper machine ‘gun; 11/ cartridge holder ring handle; 12/ cartridge holder ring; 13/ upper machine gun cartridge holders; 14/parachute harness catch; 15/ gunner’s seat;16/ gun- ner’s belt; 17/ bottom section of the upper machine gun mount;18/ observer's Vickers Mk F ventral machine gun. PZL 23B operating manual Observer's and gunner's machine gun firing angles. Karas maintenance manual 108° PZL.23 Karas = PZL.23 bomb-aimer's gondola, rear view. Machine gun mount is visible at right. MLP Cracow Armament Vickers machine guns in upper and ventral positions. BW Moving mount of the upper observer's machine gun: 1/oil piping; 2/ bottom section of the mount; 3/ gun- ner’s belt eye; 4/ gunner’s seat; 5/ parachute harness catch; 6/ oil distributor; 7/ cylinder ; 8/ oil hand pump; 9/ mount arm lever; 10/ piston spindle; 11/ control lever; 12/case chute; 13/ hand pump crank; 14/ case bag. cAW Upper gunner’ position cBw Ventral machine gun mount. CBW PZL.23 Karas. 109 PZL.23B early series with the gunner's and pilot's camera guns. plane: a dive bomber. The first production PZL.23 A was converted, becoming the new prototype, designated PZL.23/IV. The aeroplane was going to have a crew of two or three and did not have the bomb- aimer’s gondola under the fuselage. It was powered by the Pegaz 8 engine, and its export version would be fitted with a Gnome-Rhone engine. Armament consisted of two forward-firing machine guns plus a twin machine gun in the rear position. According to calculations it would take 300 kg bombs with a useful load of 466 kg and an overall weight of 2,700 kg; and in the export version 800 kg bombs with an overall weight of 3,400 kg. PZL.23/IV commenced trials at the Air Force Technical Institute (ITL) in August 1936. During the first flights dive recovery problems were encountered. This was cured by enlarging the horizontal tail. PZL.42, the Karas with twin Despite this modification the dive bombing trials were not satisfac- fins and rudders. Cynk PZL.23 Karas I Armament Upper position machine gun mount. CBW Machine gun position (for- ward view): I/oxygen mask; 2/ oxygen pressure indicator; 3/oxygen flow indicator; Y portable lamp; 5/ gun- ner’s oxygen cylinder; 6/ observer’s oxygen cylinder; 7/ mirror; 81 time clock; 9/ KR camera; 10/ gunner’s manipulation box: cBw 22nd Bomber Flight ground crew re-arm ammunition belts in front of the 2nd Air Regiment hangar; 24 April 1939, Koniarek 110 PZL.23 Karas Above: Fuel indicator of the main tank located on the wing. cBw Right: Fuel indicator of the header tank located in front of the cockpit. caw Below: PZL.23 external lighting layout caw Main light located in the undercarriage spat: I/upper and lower band screws; 2/ latch; 3/ lighting fitting; 4/ bulb; 5/ reflector Karas maintenance manual PZL.23 Karas U1 New type aerial mast fitted in service Karases in the summer of 1939, Aircraft captured by the Germans at Radom aerodrome. Both photos Taghon via Belcarz W12 PZL.23 Karas Signal reflector Karas maintenance manual Venturi nozzles and a part of the PZL.23A exhaust pipe. Kopaiski Colour profiles “UOUNIBOY AY 9 ISI] Veg $9 JO .1,, SVABY MET "IZA “SE6T “MOM T “3E61 soquiardag ‘

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