SZD-30 Pirat
SZD-30 Pirat at EPSU, August 2007
Role	Club-class, formerly Standard-class sailplane Type of aircraft
National origin	Poland
Manufacturer	PZL Bielsko
Designer	Jerzy Smielkiewicz
First flight	19 May 1966
Introduction	1967
Number built	776 (1967-1980)

The SZD-30 Pirat is a single-seat multipurpose glider aircraft from the Polish firm PZL Bielsko which first flew in 1966, and started production in 1967.

Development

The SZD-30 is mostly constructed out of wood. The high-mounted wing incorporates air brakes on both the upper and lower surfaces. The inner section of the wing is constant-chord and the outer section is tapered.

The forward section of the otherwise all-wood fuselage is made of fiberglass. The single-wheel main landing gear is fixed, the formed one-piece canopy is side-mounted, the fuselage can be equipped with radios and an oxygen system. There are also two baggage compartments.

Variants

• SZD-30 – Initial production version
• SZD-30B – A single prototype
• SZD-30C – Later production version, with smaller partially balanced ailerons made of fiberglass, and a larger cockpit. The first -30C flew on 10 January 1978.

Operational limitations

In 2011, following a number of cases of glue failure in the wooden joints, leading to structural failure, the type certificate holder issued a bulletin which reduced a number of the limiting speeds of the aircraft. Specifically, the maximum speed (V_NE) was reduced to 195 km/h (121 mph, 105 knots) and aerobatic flight was prohibited.

Specifications

Data from Australian Gliding Museum ^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 6.86 m (22 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 15.00 m (49 ft 3 in)
• Height: 0.96 m (3 ft 2 in)
• Wing area: 13.8 m² (148.5 sq ft)
• Aspect ratio: 16.3
• Airfoil: FX-61-168/60-1261
• Empty weight: 260 kg (573 lb)
• Gross weight: 370 kg (816 lb)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 250 km/h (155 mph, 135 kn)
• Stall speed: 60.2 km/h (37.4 mph, 32.5 kn)
• Maximum glide ratio: 33
• Rate of sink: 0.70 m/s (138 ft/min)