Development
The aircraft was designed in response to a Polish Air Force requirement for a modern piston-engined trainer with a retractable tricycle landing gear to replace Junak 3 and Yak-11 aircraft. The main designer was Tadeusz Sołtyk – hence the designation letters TS. The plane was named Bies - a folk name for the devil. Work started in 1953 and the first prototype was flown on July 23, 1955. In 1956 and 1957 it beat three international records in its class. The second prototype was shown at the Paris Air Show in 1957.
In 1957 the first experimental series of 10 aircraft was produced by WSK-Okecie (designated as TS-8 BI). A slightly improved main variant, designated as theTS-8 BII, was produced from 1958 to 1960 by WSK Mielec. The last 10 machines,TS-8 BIII, were built with better avionics, in total 251 TS-8 were produced of which 229 were thw TS-8 BII variant.
The TS-8 had good handling and performance; a noisy engine being one of its few flaws. It was the first really modern aircraft designed in Poland after the war, that also used a Polish engine.
Read more about this topic: PZL TS-8 Bies
Famous quotes containing the word development:
“Other nations have tried to check ... the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.”
—John Louis O’Sullivan (1813–1895)
“The development of civilization and industry in general has always shown itself so active in the destruction of forests that everything that has been done for their conservation and production is completely insignificant in comparison.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“The young women, what can they not learn, what can they not achieve, with Columbia University annex thrown open to them? In this great outlook for women’s broader intellectual development I see the great sunburst of the future.”
—M. E. W. Sherwood (1826–1903)