Summary of the lecture given by Edward Margański

for students of the Mechanical Technical School from classes educating aircraft mechanics.

1. Introduction.

Since the topic of the lecture, "Edward Margański's Aircraft Structures", is consistent with the content of the recently published autobiographical book "Aviator from the Nile", the illustrations for this lecture are about 50 photographs taken from this book.

2. The author's high school years.

The author's interests (pilot or designer) are presented, as well as his involvement in aviation modeling, including organizing an aviation modeling workshop in his hometown.

3. Studies at the Faculty of MEil of the Warsaw University of Technology.

Activities in student organizations, including the first attempts to organize design activities among students as part of developing their interests and determining their predispositions to pursue the profession of an aircraft designer in the future.

- design and effects of workshop activities on the "Moto-Foka" motor glider;

- cooperation with the Aeroclub of the Polish People's Republic, development of the concept of a future aircraft for training and coaching pilots, and preparation and implementation of the "Duduś Kudłacz" aircraft project.

4. The Mielec period.

The time when a freshly baked university graduate became a full-fledged aircraft designer.

- a program for the construction of an avant-garde agricultural aircraft in Poland as part of our country's specialization in the CMEA and the circumstances of the departure of a team of young designers from the MEiL to Mielec;

- agreement between the Warsaw University of Technology and PZL Mielec on the implementation of a metal aircraft designed by students;

- the conditions in which this aircraft was made in Mielec;

- the circumstances of the creation of the M-16 combat training aircraft project;

- the work of the team led by E. Margański in creating this project and the effects of this work.

- work in Mielec and later at the Institute of Aviation on a new concept of an agricultural aircraft, which was a continuation of the M-15 project.

5. Working at SZD as technical director.

Managerial practice in the organization of the new product development process, including cooperation with aviation supervision authorities.

6. Beyond aviation.

Work in the automotive industry and in a Polish company.

- amateur construction of an airplane named "Kasia";

- design and construction of a prototype beach car for Mr. Zasada's company.

7. Organization and work on the repairs of aviation equipment as the first private company in Poland in the new economic reality.

- organization of the company in terms of meeting strict criteria applicable to a company operating in the aviation field;

- first timid attempts at building their own structures – the "Moto-Mucha" motor glider.

8. First attempts to implement own constructions.

Cooperation with Aviata and later with Swift.

- development of the concept and production of a model of the "Gniady" towing aircraft and cooperation in the implementation of its two prototypes, the first of which flew for approx. 800 h;

- development of the concept and production of prototypes of two "Swift" aerobatic gliders in which our competitors took the first 4 places in the World Championships in 1989;

- performing the necessary tests, obtaining certificates and producing a series of 27 units of this glider for many customers from all over the world.

9. Continued development of high-performance aerobatic gliders.

Founding and cooperation with the MDM company.

- development of the concept, design and prototype of the two-seater high-performance aerobatic glider "Fox", in which Jerzy Makula won the championship at the next World Championships;]

- carrying out appropriate tests, obtaining the necessary certificates for basic and development versions and manufacturing 60 copies of this glider;

- development of a prototype of a single-seat version of this glider on which J. Makula achieved further successes;

- using the existing "Fox" equipment, a motor glider version called "Małgosia" was developed, which flew for about 250 hours within the company;

- today the "Swift" and "Fox" gliders are practically a monotype in competitions at the level of European or World Championships.

10. Jet aircraft for training and coaching combat aircraft pilots.

Continuation of cooperation with the Armed Forces in the field of
construction of a modern aircraft for pilot training.

- the circumstances in which such a topic arose – the emerging fiasco of the “Iryda” topic and the possibilities of using the intellectual and material potential gathered to implement this programme;

- development of the concept of a “flying simulator” for pilot training and coaching;

- development of a concept for a flying platform to be installed
electronic part of the simulator;

- analysis of the capabilities of a small company to cope with such a challenge, including the implementation of digital engineering design methods into current practice;

- design and production of 2 prototypes (for static and flight tests) made mainly of carbon fibres;

- performing the necessary (very extensive) strength tests necessary to approve the aircraft for flight;

- first flight of the aircraft and beginning of flight tests, ending with the opinion that the aircraft is suitable for further flight tests;

- after a dozen or so years, as a result of the analysis of technical progress in this field (mainly in electronics), a new concept of a "flying simulator" was developed, this time in a single-seat version.

11. Twin-engine business aircraft – a “flying limousine”.

The implementation of the concept for such an aircraft that was in force at the end of the last century and which promised the Polish aviation industry
maintaining an appropriate level e.

- development of a concept for such an aircraft with one turboprop engine with an output of 400-600 hp;

- after analysing the company’s capabilities and engine availability, we decided on a twin-engine system and the implementation of a prototype using Rotax engines, treating it as the first stage of the implementation of the target project;

- the prototype that was made fully met our expectations and has so far flown in the course of flight tests and then in the course of current operation
almost 500 hours and is known as "Orka".

- using the good test results of our "demonstration prototype", we developed a serial target version with certified
Lycoming engines with 160 HP each and basically the same geometry as the first prototype;

- we made 4 more prototypes of our "Orcas", one of which, after all the changes and improvements, was a model for serial production, while one was converted to be powered by turboprop engines as part of the European "Espoza" program implemented jointly with the Institute of Aviation;

- as a result, we obtained a type certificate for our aircraft and a certificate for its production issued by the European agency EASA;

such a large number of prototypes and the long time to obtain these certificates resulted from the need to meet strict aviation supervision requirements related to the use of the aircraft for commercial purposes, and these requirements are constantly growing;

12. Experimental aircraft "Małgosia II".

Theoretical and experimental work on a new aerodynamic system – a “duck without flaws”.

- idea of ​​the idea;

- experimental work in wind tunnels;

- flight tests of several types of flying models;

- creation of a flying "technology demonstrator";

- flight tests and introduction of necessary changes;

- Final conclusions from the tests carried out.

13. Drones and electric propulsion.

Amateur activity in this area.

14. Participating in discussions on what our aviation industry – and the broader aviation community – could do.

- delivery aircraft concept;

- fire-fighting plane;

- a flying device for everyone.