Stanisław Wigura

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Stanisław Wigura (b. April 9, 1901 - September 11, 1932) was a Polish aircraft designer and aviator, co-founder of the RWD aircraft construction team and lecturer at the Warsaw University of Technology. Along with Franciszek Żwirko, he won the international air contest Challenge 1932.

He was born in Warsaw. In his youth he was interested in technics and aviation, he was also a Boy Scout. In 1920, during the Polish-Soviet War, he volunteered for the 8th Field Artillery Regiment. In 1921 he started studies at Warsaw University of Technology, where he met Stanislaw Rogalski and Jerzy Drzewiecki. He was one of founders of the Aviation Section of Students' Mechanical Club. In December 1925, students of the Section founded their own workshop, where they built aircraft. In 1926 Wigura and Rogalski designed their first light aircraft WR-1, built in 1927.

In 1927, three designers: Rogalski, Wigura and Drzewiecki started working together, creating the RWD team (it was an acronym of their names). Wigura's task first of all was design calculating. In 1928 they built their first sportsplane RWD-1. In 1929 Wigura graduated from the University, receiving the Engineer title. In the same year, he completed a pilot course in the Academic Aeroclub. The RWD team began constructing more successful aircraft - sportsplane RWD-2 of 1929 (4 built) and bigger RWD-4 of 1930 (9 built). They were used in Polish sports aviation, with some success.

Wigura himself became active in sports aviation. It was thanks to his friendship with 8 years older pilot Franciszek Żwirko, assigned by the military as a liaison officer in the Aeroclub. They often flew together, Wigura as a mechanic and second pilot. Between August 9 and September 6, 1929, Zwirko and Wigura flew on the RWD-2 prototype across Europe, on Warsaw-Paris- Barcelona-Milano- Warsaw 5000 km route, and on October 6 they won a Polish air race. In July 1930 Żwirko and Wigura took part in the International Tourist Plane Competition Challenge 1930, flying on the RWD-4, but they had to withdraw on July 25 due to engine failure, after a compulsory landing in Spain. In September and October 1930 they won in two Polish contests, flying on RWD-2 and RWD-4, and in October 1931 they won another one, flying on a prototype RWD-5.

In a meantime, Wigura with others designed further aircraft: liaison plane RWD-3 of 1930 (one built), record sportsplane RWD-7 of 1931 and a sportsplane RWD-5 of 1931, made famous as the lightest plane that made a transatlantic flight (20 built). He also started designing the RWD-8 basic trainer. In 1932, there was created a modern sportsplane RWD-6, intended for the International Tourist Plane Competition Challenge 1932, that took place between August 20-28, 1932. Żwirko, intended as a pilot, chose Wigura as his crewmate. They won a competition, over favourite German and other teams, and became heroes in Poland. The success was brought by Zwirko's pilotage skills and high quality of the plane.

On September 11, 1932, flying to an air meeting to Prague, Żwirko and Wigura fatally crashed in their RWD-6 in the forest in Cierlicko near Cieszyn, when the wing broke in a heavy storm.