PZL P.24

PZL P.24
The second prototype of the PZL P.24
General information
Type	Fighter
Manufacturer	Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze Industria Aeronautică Română
Designer	Zygmunt Puławski
Primary user	Royal Romanian Air Force Bulgarian Air Force Royal Hellenic Air Force
Number built	212
History
Manufactured	1936-1939
Introduction date	1937
First flight	May 1933
Retired	1960 Turkish Air Force[1]
Developed from	PZL P.11
Developed into	IAR 80

The PZL P.24 is a Polish fighter aircraft, built in the late 1930s by Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze. It was a much more advanced development of the PZL P.11, a Polish wing all-metal fighter designed by Zygmunt Puławski.

While the PZL P.11 had been powered with a license-built Bristol Mercury radial engine, the terms of this license did not permit PZL to export the engine as well as placing restrictions upon any aircraft that were powered by it. The French engine manufacturer Gnome-Rhône proposed the adoption of their 14K engine to PZL and offered to partially finance the development of a fighter using the engine, which would have no such export restrictions. Accordingly, during early 1932, PZL commenced work on a new derivative of the P.11, which became known as the PZL P.24. The prototypes soon demonstrated favourable performance during testing; notably, the second P.24/II prototype, often referred to as the "Super P.24", established a new world speed record for a radial engine-powered fighter of 414 km/h. The initial production aircraft closely resembled the P.24/II configuration, albeit with some changes such as the adoption of an enclosed cockpit.

In 1936, PZL received orders for the new fighter from several countries. PZL P.24 entered service with the Turkish Air Force at the beginning of 1937, and with the Bulgarian Air Force in the summer of that year.. It was produced under licence by Romanian state manufacturer Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR), who had also licence-produced the earlier PZL P.11 as well. Many elements of the PZL P.24, such as the fuselage, engine cowling, cockpit and tail section, were incorporated into a Romanian-designed low-wing fighter, the IAR 80. In Greece, the Royal Hellenic Air Force was the only air service in Second World War to operate the PZL P.24 as its primary fighter. However, wartime experience soon showed that, as a result of the rapid advances in aircraft design made during the late 1930s, the P.24 had become outdated in comparison to newer fighters as early as 1940. Despite a relatively powerful engine and satisfactory armament, it could not stand up against the latest Axis fighters, such as the Macchi MC.200 and the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Just like the Greek fighters, by 1942, it had become clear that Romania's P.24s were unable to effectively challenge the latest fighters of the Soviet VVS, and were relegated to training tasks.