PZL-Warszawa-Okecie responds to Polish Air Force request for greater range from Orlik

Published: 9/10/1999

PZL Warszawa-Okecie has announced that the first flight of the PZL-130 Orlik, with external drop tanks, took place a few days before the recent Polish military exhibition MSPO. The project, requested by the Polish Air Force to extend the range of the aircraft: currently 1150km with maximum fuel. Which it considers to be acceptable for initial training, but too short for some missions and precludes long transfers. Okecie is trying to develop the capability of the Orlik by enabling it to carry extra fuel and ordnance on the three hard points under each wing, already standard on all production aircraft and stressed for 160 kg on the inner two points and 80kg on the outboard. The additional weight has however, been reported to considerably reduce the aircraft's handling in low-level flight during weapons testing.

Article ID: 852