Today we’ll be taking a look at a fairly underrepresented fighter aircraft from the
Second World War.
Not one of the sleek, low wing fighters representing the major powers - but rather an old reliable
machine primarily seen in the wars over the smaller European nation’s skies.
We are, of course, talking about the Polish designed, PZL P.24 - which would be the last
of a long, rich lineage of Polish-designed fighter aircraft.
The story of this aircraft goes back to the PZL P.11, a slightly earlier design first
flown in 1931 that had been developed as the main fighter for the Polish Air Force.
Under the direction of Polish aeronautical engineer Zygmunt Pulawksi, the P.11 represented
the culmination of a project to move Poland away from imported wood and fabric aircraft
towards a new generation of domestic all-metal monoplanes.
The P.11 became an immediate success, and one that gained much international attention.
When it first entered service, it was one of the most advanced fighter aircraft in the
world, instantly recognisable by its distinctive gull-wing – something that had become a
hallmark of the so-called P-fighters up to this point.
As the P.11, and its predecessors (the P.7 and P.1), began to steal the show at various
aircraft exhibitions across Europe, it was realised that the design could have real potential
in the ever-growing export market.
After observing the new designs emerging in Britain, France, Germany, and the United States,
many of which were also all-metal monoplanes, PZL felt confident that this was a sound move.
Development of this export model, soon to be designated the PZL.24 began in early 1932,
but two major hurdles prevented the project from proceeding at a rapid place.
The first problem was finance.
Poland was unable to put forward the large amounts of capital required to fund the production
of large-scale export orders; further compounding this problem was the desire of potential export
customers to pay both by instalments, and also to pay in goods rather than exchangeable
currencies.
The second problem, and ultimately the more immediate of the two (as various financial
aids came into play), was that of the powerplant.
The P.11 was powered by a licence-built version of the Bristol Mercury, and a stipulation
of their ten-year contract with Mercury was that Poland could not export any of their
licence-built engines.
A new engine had to be sourced, and after the equivalent of some 1930s window shopping,
a supercharged version of the Gnome Rhone Mistral Major was selected.
This engine, a twin-row 14-cylinder radial, had only begun production in 1929, and had
plenty of room left in its development life.
It was considerably larger than the Bristol Mercury, and this necessitated a redesign
of the P.24s nose, but it did provide a significant upgrade in power.
The P.11s engine produced between 525 to 640 hp depending on the engine model, whereas
the P.24 would start at 720hp.
With the new engine selected, PZL submitted their design for approval in February 1932
and they were quickly authorised to proceed.
That being said, production of the first prototype did not begin proper until the end of the
year as the engine was delivered more than three months late…and without the promised
all-metal three-blade propeller.
Which was something of a necessity if the aircraft wanted to go anywhere.
Not wishing to deal with further delays, it was decided to install a wooden two-blade
propeller as a stop gap so that flight trials could be completed.
The prototype was equipped with the new engine and temporary airscrew in May 1933, and it
completed its first flight that same month.
The flight was almost a complete success, but it ended rather abruptly when the propeller
hub decided to disintegrate, taking the airscrew with it.
Fortunately, test pilot Capt.
Boleslaw Orlinski (and I hope I pronounced that right) was able to bring the prototype
down for an emergency landing; unfortunately, the damage resulting from this meant the entire
front half of the aircraft’s fuselage had to be rebuilt.
Following repair work at the PZL facility in Warsaw, the prototype took the skies again
in October – this time with the originally intended propeller installed.
In late 1933 it completed a series of flight tests, highlighting the need for some 150
modifications, all of which were subsequently introduced on the P.24/II - the second prototype
- which also came to be known as the ‘Super P.24’.
The changes made included the installation of a new NACA Cowling, the redesign of the
weapon mounting structures, reinforcement of the parasol mounts, and various revisions
to the cooling and exhaust systems.
The changes resulted in a net improvement, and this aircraft, assembled in early 1934,
went on to establish a new speed record for its class in June, achieving a top speed of
414 km/h.
The third prototype, also constructed in 1934, was the first to be fully armed - outfitted
with a powerful armament of twin 20mm cannons and two Browning machine guns.
All of these were mounted in the wings.
The airframe was now in a configuration that would remain mostly unchanged throughout its
production life.
The aircraft was fairly small, at just 7.5 metres in length - with a wingspan and height
of 10.72 and 2.69 metres respectively.
This allowed it to be relatively lightweight with an empty weight of just 1,300 kilograms,
and a maximum take-off weight of 2,000 kilograms.
The third prototype was flown for the first time in August 1934, after which it was demonstrated
to the Polish Air Force and various foreign delegations who were interested in purchasing
export models.
It then went on to be displayed at the 1934 Paris Air Show where, with its powerful armament
and advertised top speed of 416kmh, it was considered the best armed and fastest fighter
aircraft in the world at the time.
Unsurprisingly this helped PZL’s hopeful export model to become an actual export model.
One of the first customers was Turkey.
The Turkish government negotiated a contract for license production in 1936, and imported
66 P.24s, plus the parts to assemble 20 more.
This order consisted of 40 P.24A aircraft, fitted with cannon and machine guns, plus
a smaller number of P.24Cs, which featured a quad-machine gun armament instead.
Bulgaria ordered 14 examples, to begin delivery from 1938, followed by 50 aircraft of the
C and F versions.
The latter was the most capable of the batch, introducing a 970 horsepower Gnome-Rhone 14N.07,
whilst retaining the mixed cannon and machine gun armament.
This version also introduced some aerodynamic improvements, whilst also adding an armoured
windshield to the cockpit, with two further armoured plates protecting the pilot from
behind as well.
In the winter of 1934/1935 the aircraft would be evaluated in Warsaw by Romanian officials,
who also expressed interest in the type, and ordered six P.24Es, a custom variation designed
to Romanian specifications which was powered by a license-built Gnome-Rhone 14K.
Romanian aircraft company IAR would then pick up production of the P.24E, license-producing
40 of their own - before deciding in 1939 that the P.24 was apparently no longer adequate.
This reportedly led to IAR developing an experimental low-wing modification of the aircraft, which
would eventually bear fruit as the famous IAR 80.
Further modifications to the design were explored by PZL as late as 1939, with a planned K variant
carrying four 20mm cannons, and an L veriant being a fighter-bomber for close air support.
Concurrently, the Polish Air Force had avoided purchasing any P.24s for themselves, opting
to wait for the projected P.50 fighter.
Unfortunately, this turned out to be a mistake.
By the time it became clear that Poland desperately needed a fighter newer than the now ancient
P.11, and the P.50 wasn’t going to be ready in time, it was too late for PZL to produce
P.24s in any large numbers, and Poland fell before squadrons could take delivery.
In total, 184 P.24s would be built, the majority going to Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria.
That being said, the country in which the P.24 would really make its mark would be Greece,
where it served with the Elliniki Vasiliki Aeroporia (Royal Hellenic Air Force).
Delivered through 1937 to 1938, thirty P.24Fs and six P.24Gs would be taken on by the 21st,
22nd and 23rd Fighter Squadrons - stationed at Trikala, Thessaloniki and Larrisa respectively.
Of the two versions flown in Greece, the G variant was identical to the F in all aspects
except the armament, it having a quad machine gun layout instead.
Operated alongside small numbers of Bloch MB.151s, Gloster Gladiators and Avia B-534s,
the P.24 was to be the flagship fighter aircraft for the Greeks, the only country which would
field the Polish fighter in such a role rather than as a reserve aircraft.
With the Italian invasion in October 1940, the P.24 was immediately thrust into frontline
combat against the famed CR.42 Falco, a formidable aircraft in the early days of the war that
was both faster and more manoeuvrable than its Greek counterparts.
It was however outgunned, for the heavy armament of the P.24 was a serious threat to the small,
lightly built biplanes as well as the Italian bombers which began a concerted offensive
almost immediately following the declaration of war.
Hellenic P.24s, though outnumbered significantly in virtually all engagements, would see a
fair level of success for the following six months in which Greece was under attack from
Axis forces.
A number of Greeks would earn their ace title in the P.24, most notably Marinos Mitralexis,
who achieved legendary status in Greece for his acts of bravery during the war.
Mitralexis was stationed with the 22nd fighter group in Thessaloniki on November 2nd, 1940,
when the squadron was scrambled to intercept an incoming Italian bombing raid.
The Italians, fielding 15 CANT Z.1007 bombers were protected with a number of CR.42 fighter
escorts in close support of the formation.
In the ensuing interception, three of the Italian bombers were shot down, but the remaining
12 having reached the target, begun the journey back to their airfield in Albania.
Mitralexis, having already shot down one of the bombers in the dogfight, found himself
completely out of ammunition, but decided against turning back with the rest of his
squadron.
Instead, he pulled up close behind the tail of one of the Italian Bombers, and proceeded
to push the throttle as wide open as possible.
The P.24 smashed into the rear of the bomber, totally destroying the tail assembly and forcing
the crew to make an emergency landing about 20 km north of Thessaloniki.
Mitralexis himself, having destroyed his engine in the ramming attack, followed the Italian
bomber down and landed in the field adjacent.
He then climbed out of his wrecked plane, ran over to the four surviving Italian crewmen
and arrested them at gunpoint with his service pistol.
For this act, Mitralexis was promoted and awarded Greece’s highest award for bravery,
the Gold Cross of Valour, the only pilot to achieve such a distinction during the war.
As the war progressed, attrition rates caught up with the limited number of P.24s in service,
and by the time of the German invasion five months later, virtually all the Hellenic P.24s
had been lost - about 24 of these being from combat.
In total the type achieved 64 confirmed victories, with 24 probables.
In April 1941, as the Germans began marching across the Northern Mountains of Greece, The
Hellenic Air Force had been forced to merge the five remaining P.24s into one rag-tag
squadron, supported by five Gladiators and the two surviving MB.151s.
The aircraft had long lost their 20mm cannons in favour of two machine guns, as the Air
Force desperately short of cannon ammunition.
In the following three weeks of April, the P.24s achieved four more aerial victories,
against two Hs-126s, one Stuka and one Do-17 - before the final P.24s were destroyed on
the ground by Luftwaffe strafing runs.
To the North-East, Romania’s fleet of P.24s had also seen active service - being tasked
to defend the city of Bucharest and valuable oilfields from waves of oncoming Soviet bombers
at the beginning of Operation Barbarrosa - The Axis invasion of the Soviet Union.
During this time Romanian pilots claimed 37 Soviet bombers destroyed, which usually travelled
unescorted and thus were easy prey for the heavily armed fighters.
They also saw limited use as a ground attack aircraft during the early days of the invasion,
though it was clear that the design was obsolete by the end of 1941 - and was subsequently
relegated to training duties.
This would not be the end of the P.24s career though.
Remarkably, it would last almost another 20 years in service with another operator: the
Turkish Air Force.
Having seen no combat, the P.24s remained serviceable in Turkey as frontline fighters,
then trainers for a considerable time -until 1960 - when the last of them were finally
retired.
During their service life some of these aircraft were re-engined with Pratt and Whitney Twin
Wasp, which perhaps would have given them the distinction of being the fastest P.24
version; one of the aircraft was fortunately preserved at the Turkish Aviation Museum in
Istanbul, where you can still see it today.
As mentioned earlier, the P.24 was the penultimate model of a lineage of Polish fighters that
were developed in the interwar period.
Though often neglected in the history books, these aircraft were remarkably advanced for
their time and were at the cutting edge of fighter development in many ways.
Many of them also saw service long after becoming obsolete, and yet many still managed to put
up a decent fight against superior opponents.
Because of this I am working on a longer video that goes into the detail of PZL fighter development
a bit more, but I don’t yet have a timeframe for when that will be ready.
Its not a question of translating source materials, its more of a question of finding decent quality
photographs…which feels like an endless challenge for me.
But that is a problem for another day.
As always thank you all so much for watching, and a big thank you of course to the Patrons.
I hope you’re all enjoying the new 3D models I’m trying to add to these videos.
As I get more confident with using them they will feature a bit more prominently as and
when they are needed.
A big thank you of course to our wing commander tier patrons, our highest tier members, and
hopefully I’ve not missed anyone this week as the patron list has not been updating for
whatever reason.
Hopefully that’s fixed by next weekend.
But thank you all for your continued support, and I’ll catch you all next time.
Goodbye.