“Lublin R-VIII” – the Polish bomber - reconnaissance aircraft

The “Lublin R-VIII” was a Polish bomber, reconnaissance aircraft and seaplane designed in the late 1920s by the “Plage i Laśkiewicz” factory in Lublin. It was the first in-house design of “Plage i Laśkiewicz”, and the first with the name “Lublin”. The aircraft was designed in answer to a request of the Polish Air Force for a heavy single-engine reconnaissance and bomber airplane. Work started in 1926. The main designer was Jerzy Rudlicki (the letter "R" in the designation for his name). The prototype R-VIII was flown in March 1928. It was fitted with a 550 h.p. (410 kW) “Farman” 12We W-12 engine, but in tests proved to be underpowered. In July 1928 the second prototype was completed with a more powerful 740 h.p. (550 kW) “Lorraine-Dietrich” 18Kd engine. In August 1928 it flew in the Aviation Contest of the Little Entente and Poland. It achieved the best result in trials of carrying a payload (1,024 kg to an altitude of 5,000 mm). In 1929, the Polish Aviation Department of War Ministry ordered four aircraft with the designation R-VIIIa. They were built in early 1930. One was fitted with a “Lorraine-Dietrich” engine, the rest with the 760 h.p. (570 kW) “Hispano-Suiza” 12Lb. More were not ordered, as the aircraft had good performance, when carrying only a limited payload and fuel reserve (which limited its range), when it carried more bombs, or maximum fuel load, its performance was poor. The prototypes and serial production aircraft were used by the Polish Air Force only for a short time. In August–September 1930, three R-VIIIa flew in the Aviation Contest of the Little Entente and Poland, taking a mediocre 7th and 9th places. In service, both “Lorraine-Dietrich”-powered aircraft crashed - in 1930 and 1931. In 1932, the existing R-VIIIs were converted to floatplanes for the Polish Navy. The first prototype was fitted with “Lorraine-Dietrich” engine and was designated R-VIII bis (Aircraft number 801). Two aircraft with “Hispano-Suiza” engines were designated R-VIII ter (numbers 802 and 803). The fourth aircraft was broken into spare parts. The maximum speed of the floatplane variant was lowered to 200 km/h. They were also called R-VIII/hydro. A six-seat passenger aircraft, the R-IX, was developed in 1929, based on the R-VIII, but it remained a prototype. The R-VIII floatplanes were used by the Polish Naval Aviation Squadron (MDLot) in Puck from 1933, in a long reconnaissance escadre. From 1938, they were assigned to training, and were scheduled for withdrawal from service. They survived until the Invasion of Poland in 1939, but the R-VIII bis had its engine, removed by then. After the first German air raid on naval aviation base in Puck on September 1, all floatplanes were evacuated from Puck to the Hel Peninsula (the bulk were Lublin R-XIIIs). Since R-VIIIs were quite obsolete by then, they were not used in combat. They were anchored on Puck Bay by Chalupy on Hel Peninsula, near the base of the peninsula, where they were bombed by “Stukas” on September 8.

Sophisticated, well-detailed and well-designed model for intermediate and experienced modelers. The model depicts an airplane, which take place in the Aviation Contest of the Little Entente and Poland in the 1930s.