FEATURE Airtest No 6 P.Z.L. Mucha Standard “A Pictorial View” By Bruce Stephenson. In last of our series, we re-discover the Mucha Standard through the pen of “Air Pictorial“ magazine. Although these are merely copies, it is felt that since that these reports never appeared in “Sailplane and Gliding“, they will hopefully make interesting reading, as it is assumed that most VGC readers will not have seen them before. The reader is reminded that at the time of writing, these were “new” types to British skies, and whilst “Air Pictorial” did, and still does enjoy a broad aviation spectrum, it is primarily concerned with the development of the aeroplane. It is also worth reminding that, in some cases, many design layouts were being used on small aircraft for the very first time, features that we take for granted today. It has been decided to publish these reports in their entirety, and in sequence of publication by date, as some reports refer to the qualities of past gliders tested by “Air Pictorial”; it also serves to remind us of relative costs and technologies of the day. The P.Z.L. MUCHA STANDARD, Type No. SZD-22, is a Polish designed and built sailplane conforming to the 15-metre standard class regulations, and therefore in the same category as the Schleicher Ka6 and the Breguet Fauvette. [Both of which were tested by Air Pictorial and reproduced in VGC News issues 120 and 121] The Mucha made its first international appearance in the world gliding championships at Leszno in Poland in 1958, where it won its class. Although two were again entered in the 1960 championships in Germany, the Poles had by then introduced two higher performance competition types, the Zefir in the open class, and the Foka in the standard class, whilst the Mucha had gone into largescale production, to become the standard soaring equipment for club use in Poland. The Mucha is now available for export, and in England sales are handled by Norco Engineering Ltd., Burgess Hill, Sussex. It’s price complete with instruments and as described in this report, import duty paid, and landed at Harwich is £1,151. The Mucha is of normal plywood and fabric construction, similar to that of most sailplanes. The mainplane is in two parts; port and starboard, each built up on a massive spar, which carries the ribs. Upper and lower surfaces forward of the spar are ply covered, thus forming a solid D-section to carry torsion loads. This plywood covering also extends about 6in. aft of the spar on the inner half of each wing and over 2ft. of the span next to the inboard end of each aileron it extends right to the trailing edge on both upper and lower surfaces. The remainder of the wing is fabric covered. [“B” model had an all ply wing] Each 10ft. 6in. (3m) span narrowchord aileron is carried on three hinges supported by a false spar and is operated by a combination of rods, levers, and cables, and as a result operation is noticeably free of friction. Together with the differential action, aerodynamic balance and small slot between aileron and wing, this contributes to the excellent aileron control, which is a feature of the Mucha. DFS-type airbrakes are fitted, and open out from the upper and lower surface of each wing. Each wing is attached to the fuselage by two heavy pins, which fix the main spar ends, and the short diagonal drag spar aft of it, to short transverse spars running through the fuselage. When these pins are in position, the wing is to all intents and purposes a single structure from tip to tip. Aileron and airbrake controls are connected up with quick-release pins, and the whole operation of rigging or de-rigging and stowing in a trailer can be done in 5- 6 minutes. Specifications Span 49 ft. 1½ in. (15m) Length 22 ft. 11 ½ in. (6.7m) Height 5 ft. 10 ¾ in. (1.5m) Wing area 137.24 sq. ft. (48.1 sq.m.) Wing Loading 5.12 lb./sq.ft. (2.32kg/sq.m.) Weights Empty (with oxygen apparatus, but without water ballast) 498.2 lb. (226kg) Pilot and parachute 220.5 lb. (100kg) Max. Permissible a-u-w 718.7 lb. (326kg) 40 VGC News No. 123 Spring 2008
FEATURE VGC News No. 123 Spring 2008 41
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