{"id":32260965,"date":"2026-11-11T11:29:46","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T10:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/pzl-37-los-bomber-poland-september-1939\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T11:32:23","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T10:32:23","slug":"pzl-37-los-bomber-poland-september-1939","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/fr\/pzl-37-los-bomber-poland-september-1939\/","title":{"rendered":"PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b: Poland&#8217;s Modern Bomber of September 1939"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid #0F1720;background:#fff;color:#0F1720;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-weight:700;line-height:1;letter-spacing:0;text-transform:none;cursor:pointer;box-shadow:none;transition:background .15s,color 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The machines they dispersed were <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/pzl-37-los\/\">PZL.37 &#321;o&#347;<\/a> bombers: slim, twin-engined, all-metal and, by most measures, the most modern aircraft Poland had ever built. Within days, their crews would be flying them against German tanks.<\/p>\n<p>There were never enough of them. Roughly 90 had reached the air force by the outbreak of war, yet only 36 stood ready in front-line squadrons on 1 September. Many of the young men who flew them had had months, not years, to master a demanding new aeroplane. What they did with it over the next two weeks, and where the survivors ended up, is one of the quieter and more poignant stories of the September campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:26px 0 30px;font-size:15px;line-height:1.7\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:600;color:#0d1117;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Type:<\/strong> Twin-engined medium bomber with a crew of four<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Designer:<\/strong> Jerzy D&#261;browski and his team at PZL, Warsaw<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>First flight:<\/strong> 1936; Polish accounts give 13 December 1936, some British references mid-1936<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Production:<\/strong> About 90 delivered before the war, with more still on the line; totals vary by source<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>1 September 1939:<\/strong> 36 combat-ready in four Bomber Brigade escadrilles<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>September campaign:<\/strong> Roughly 45 to 47 flew in combat; between 26 and about 30 were lost, depending on the count<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Romania:<\/strong> Around two dozen escaped there; 22 or 23 later served with the Romanian air force, including against the USSR from June 1941<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Survivors:<\/strong> No complete original is known to survive; a full-scale replica was unveiled in Mielec in 2012<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Jerzy D&#261;browski&rsquo;s Elk<\/h2>\n\n<p>The story begins in 1934, when the aviation department of Poland&rsquo;s Ministry of Military Affairs went looking for a modern bomber to replace its ageing Fokker F.VII machines. At the state aircraft works, PZL, a design team led by Jerzy D&#261;browski answered with a preliminary design submitted in July 1934. His deputy was Piotr Kubicki, and Franciszek Misztal worked on the wing structure.<\/p>\n\n<p>What they drew was startlingly clean for its day: an all-metal, stressed-skin, low-wing monoplane with a retractable undercarriage, powered by two Bristol Pegasus radials that PZL built under licence as the Pegaz. The fuselage was remarkably slim. Bombs went into a bay in the fuselage and into bays built into the wing centre section, so the aircraft could carry a heavy load without fattening its profile.<\/p>\n\n<p>Kubicki reworked the undercarriage into an unusual twin-wheel main gear, two wheels side by side on each leg, meant to cope with soft and rough fields. The second prototype introduced the twin-fin tail that became the type&rsquo;s signature. The first prototype&rsquo;s maiden flight is dated differently depending on whom you read: Polish sources, including the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), give 13 December 1936 with test pilot Jerzy Widawski at the controls, while some British references place it in mid-1936.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/pzl-37-los-crews-twin-wheel-undercarriage-1939.jpg\" alt=\"Line of PZL.37 Los bombers with crews and mechanics in front, twin-wheel main undercarriage visible\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Crews and ground staff with a line of PZL.37 &#321;o&#347; bombers in 1939. The twin wheels on each main undercarriage leg are clearly visible on the nearest aircraft. Photo: Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe (Polish National Digital Archives), public domain, via <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:PZL.37_zalogi.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A Bomber Ahead of Its Time<\/h2>\n\n<p>On paper, the &#321;o&#347; (Polish for elk) was a match for anything in its class. The most commonly quoted top speed for the main production PZL.37B is 412 km\/h at 2,800 metres, with some sources giving higher figures. That was faster than the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/pzl-p11-polish-gull-wing-fighter-september-1939-pulawski\/\">PZL P.11 fighters<\/a> then defending Polish skies. Its maximum bomb load was more than 2.5 tonnes, and the British historian J. Rickard notes that it could carry twice the payload of the contemporary <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/do-17\/\">Dornier Do 17Z<\/a> at higher speeds.<\/p>\n\n<p>Foreign air forces noticed. Before the war, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey all placed orders for export versions with French Gnome-Rh&ocirc;ne engines, and other countries were negotiating. None of those aircraft was delivered before Germany invaded. The Institute of National Remembrance has even suggested that Poland might have made the best use of the design by building it for export.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZSp-JtcPtqM\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Archive film of the PZL.37 &#321;o&#347; and the PZL P.11, posted by the archive channel PATHE 1939.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Growing Pains<\/h2>\n\n<p>The first production batch, the PZL.37A, had a single fin. It was followed by the twin-finned A bis and then the definitive PZL.37B with Pegaz XX engines, which squadrons received from the second half of 1938. The early months were hard. Eight aircraft were lost in accidents before the war, with 21 airmen killed according to the IPN, and many of the problems were traced to the tail controls before modifications made the B model dependable.<\/p>\n\n<p>Money and priorities were tight too. The original order for 180 aircraft was cut back more than once, in early 1939 General J&oacute;zef Zaj&#261;c, soon to command Poland&rsquo;s aviation, tried to halt &#321;o&#347; production altogether, according to the historian J. Rickard. His assessment of the whole air force that year was blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;At present, the combat readiness of our aviation is insufficient from the point of view of the quality of its equipment.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Gen. J&oacute;zef Zaj&#261;c<\/strong> &mdash; Inspector of Air Defence, report of early 1939, as quoted by Kuryer Polski<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>By September 1939 the &#321;o&#347; had come through its troubles. The Polish Aviation Museum in Krak&oacute;w, which today describes it as the most modern aircraft designed in Poland before the Second World War, sums up its arc in a single sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;Despite initial serious problems, it became a very successful and modern product of the Polish aviation industry.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Polish Aviation Museum, Krak&oacute;w<\/strong> &mdash; On the PZL.37 &#321;o&#347;<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Thirty-Six Bombers<\/h2>\n\n<p>When war came, the front-line &#321;o&#347; force was tiny. Four escadrilles, numbered 211, 212, 216 and 217, each with nine PZL.37Bs, flew within the Bomber Brigade commanded by Colonel W&#322;adys&#322;aw Heller, alongside squadrons of lighter PZL.23 Kara&#347; bombers. The brigade answered directly to the Polish commander-in-chief as his own air reserve.<\/p>\n\n<p>Most of the remaining aircraft, many of them older A and A bis models, sat with a training squadron, in reserve or in repair. Many were destroyed when the Luftwaffe bombed the reserve base at Ma&#322;aszewicze and the factory airfields in the first days of the war; estimates range from about 18 to roughly 30 aircraft. The crews also faced practical limits. Operating from grass fields, the bombers usually took off with around a tonne of bombs or less, far below what the brochure promised.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Against the Panzers<\/h2>\n\n<p>Pre-war plans to bomb targets inside Germany were abandoned. Instead, from around 4 September, the &#321;o&#347; crews were sent in daylight against German armoured columns pouring into central Poland, near Cz&#281;stochowa, Radomsko, Kamie&#324;sk and Piotrk&oacute;w Trybunalski, and later on other fronts. They flew in small formations of three aircraft or fewer, often low, and with little or no fighter cover.<\/p>\n\n<p>It was brutally dangerous work. Formations were met by <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/messerschmitt-bf-109\/\">Messerschmitt Bf 109<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/bf-110\/\">Bf 110<\/a> fighters and heavy flak, and Polish troops, who had learned to fire at anything overhead, sometimes shot at their own aircraft too. Between 45 and 47 &#321;o&#347; bombers took part in the brigade&rsquo;s operations, including replacements drawn from reserve units. Polish accounts credit them with about 135 sorties, including reconnaissance flights, and roughly 120 tonnes of bombs dropped; their gunners were credited with five or six German fighters.<\/p>\n\n<p>Did it change anything? The IPN is frank that the attacks on German armour achieved little against such a fast-moving enemy. The price was heavy: between 26 and about 30 aircraft were lost, to fighters, anti-aircraft fire, bombing on the ground and accidents, and many airmen were killed, wounded or captured. The last combat sorties were flown around 16 September.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6RlPHtBVQiE\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n<p>An English-language overview of the PZL.37 &#321;o&#347; from The Grand Archive.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Flight to Romania<\/h2>\n\n<p>On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, and the surviving bombers were ordered to Romania. Accounts of how many made it differ. The most commonly cited total is 26 or 27, made up of 17 to 19 Bomber Brigade aircraft plus a group from training units, although one British account suggests it may have been considerably more. Their crews crossed the border into internment.<\/p>\n\n<p>What stayed behind had a grimmer fate. The Germans captured somewhere around 40 to 50 &#321;o&#347; bombers, most of them wrecks or incomplete airframes, and Polish workers broke up many of them before the occupiers grasped what they had. Two were repaired and flown in Germany for evaluation.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/pzl-37-los-captured-dismantled-germans-1939.jpg\" alt=\"Captured PZL.37 Los bombers being dismantled, with Pegaz radial engines in the foreground\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Polish PZL.37 &#321;o&#347; bombers captured by the Germans and being dismantled in 1939. Their PZL-built Pegaz radial engines lie in the foreground. Photo: Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe (Polish National Digital Archives), public domain, via <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:PZL.37_zdob.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A Second Life in Romanian Colours<\/h2>\n\n<p>Romania took the interned bombers into its own air force in 1940. Twenty-two or twenty-three of them, depending on the source, went to the 76th and 77th Bomber Squadrons of the 4th Bomber Group. Romanian crews struggled with the type. Without Polish instructors, flight manuals or experience of its handling and high wing loading, they suffered a string of crashes, and roughly a third of the aircraft were written off in accidents.<\/p>\n\n<p>When Romania joined the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, the 4th Bomber Group went to war with its Polish-built bombers. About 15, by most accounts, flew with the Romanian air arm supporting the advance into Bessarabia and the push towards Odessa. By the autumn of 1941 a shortage of spare parts had pulled them from the front, and the survivors became trainers.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/pzl-37-los-romanian-air-force-1942.jpg\" alt=\"Romanian PZL.37 Los bomber in flight, seen from another aircraft, 1942\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Romanian PZL.37 &#321;o&#347; &ldquo;flying towards the target&rdquo;, as published by the Romanian aviation magazine Revista Aeronauticei in 1942. Photo: Revista Aeronauticei, 1942, public domain, via <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Avion_L._%C3%AEn_zbor_spre_obiectiv.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>They had one more act. In April 1944, the 76th Squadron went back into action with a handful of the old bombers as the Red Army pushed into Romania. Several more were destroyed on the ground in air raids later that year, and none is known to have survived the war.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What Remains<\/h2>\n\n<p>No complete PZL.37 &#321;o&#347; is known to have survived. The Polish Aviation Museum in Krak&oacute;w keeps a licence-built Pegaz XX engine of the kind that powered the B model, along with the rim of a main undercarriage wheel recovered from one of the bombers. Small things, but they are what is left of the aircraft itself.<\/p>\n\n<p>In September 2012, a group of enthusiasts led by employees of the aircraft works at Mielec, where a second &#321;o&#347; production line had been set up in 1939, unveiled a full-scale replica built from scratch over two years. It was rolled out of a pre-war factory hall that had survived the war.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/pzl-37-los-full-scale-replica-mielec.jpg\" alt=\"Full-scale replica of a PZL.37 Los bomber in Polish markings on display outdoors in Mielec\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The full-scale PZL.37 &#321;o&#347; replica on display in Mielec, photographed in 2024. Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Rekonstrukcja_%C5%81o%C5%9B_Mielec.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rekonstrukcja \u0141o\u015b Mielec<\/a> by Helvxx, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>The &#321;o&#347; arrived just in time to fight and far too late to matter. Like Poland&rsquo;s fighter pilots in their P.11s and the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/pzl-50-jastrzab-polish-fighter-1939\/\">PZL.50 Jastrz&#261;b<\/a> that never reached them, its crews went to war with what they had and paid for it. The aircraft was among the best of its generation. The tragedy was that there were only 36 of them on the morning it mattered.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/egm5hA-qCJU\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Polskie Radio&rsquo;s Polish-language programme on the PZL.37 &#321;o&#347;, Poland&rsquo;s most modern aircraft of September 1939.<\/p>\n\n<p><em>Sources: Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) via Dla Pilota, Polish Aviation Museum, Krak&oacute;w, History of War (J. Rickard), Polot.net, worldwar2.ro, Kuryer Polski, Defence24, The National Interest, Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mf-photo-credits\" data-no-translation style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;font-style:italic;margin:6px 0 18px\">Header photo: PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b bombers on an airfield, 1939, Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe (Polish National Digital Archives), cropped, public domain, via <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:PZL.37_lotn.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\n\n\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Who designed the PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b bomber?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b was designed by a team at the Polish state aircraft works PZL led by engineer Jerzy D\u0105browski, with Piotr Kubicki as his deputy and Franciszek Misztal working on the wing. D\u0105browski submitted the preliminary design in July 1934, and the first prototype flew in 1936.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why was the PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b considered so advanced?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b combined an all-metal, stressed-skin airframe, a slim fuselage, retractable twin-wheel main undercarriage and bomb bays in both fuselage and wing centre section. Its most quoted top speed was 412 km\/h, faster than Poland\u2019s PZL P.11 fighters, and it could lift more than 2.5 tonnes of bombs.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b bombers were operational in September 1939?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Only 36 PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b bombers were combat-ready in front-line units on 1 September 1939, in four Bomber Brigade escadrilles numbered 211, 212, 216 and 217. About 90 had been delivered to the air force by then, but the rest were in training units, reserve or repair.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What did the PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b do in the September 1939 campaign?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">From around 4 September 1939, PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b crews of the Bomber Brigade flew daylight attacks on German armoured columns in central Poland, in small formations with little fighter cover. Polish accounts credit them with about 135 sorties and roughly 120 tonnes of bombs, at a cost of between 26 and about 30 aircraft.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What happened to the PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b bombers that escaped to Romania?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">After the Soviet invasion on 17 September 1939, around two dozen PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b bombers flew to Romania, most often counted at 26 or 27. Romania took them into service in 1940, and 22 or 23 equipped the 76th and 77th Bomber Squadrons, flying against the Soviet Union from June 1941.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Does any PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b survive today?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">No complete original PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b is known to survive. The Polish Aviation Museum in Krak\u00f3w holds a licence-built Pegaz XX engine of the type that powered it and a main wheel rim from one of the bombers, and a full-scale replica was unveiled in Mielec in September 2012.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who designed the PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b bomber?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b was designed by a team at the Polish state aircraft works PZL led by engineer Jerzy D\u0105browski, with Piotr Kubicki as his deputy and Franciszek Misztal working on the wing. 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The Polish Aviation Museum in Krak\u00f3w holds a licence-built Pegaz XX engine of the type that powered it and a main wheel rim from one of the bombers, and a full-scale replica was unveiled in Mielec in September 2012.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/pzl-p11-polish-gull-wing-fighter-september-1939-pulawski\/\">PZL P.11: Poland&rsquo;s Gull-Winged Fighter That Fought in 1939<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/pzl-50-jastrzab-polish-fighter-1939\/\">PZL.50 Jastrz&#261;b: The Modern Fighter Poland Never Got to Use<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/dornier-do-17-flying-pencil-luftwaffe-bomber-goodwin-sands\/\">Dornier Do 17: The Luftwaffe&rsquo;s &ldquo;Flying Pencil&rdquo; Bomber<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/bristol-blenheim-bomber-britain-first-first-raf-sortie\/\">Bristol Blenheim: The Bomber That Outran Its Own Fighters<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<!--mfcred1-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jerzy D\u0105browski&#8217;s PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b was one of the most modern medium bombers of its day, yet only 36 were combat-ready when Germany invaded Poland. This is the story of their fight against the panzers and the survivors&#8217; second life in Romania.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":32260819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32260965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b Bomber: Poland&#039;s September 1939 Elk | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The PZL.37 \u0141o\u015b bomber was among the most advanced of 1939, but only 36 were ready when war came. 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