R.W.D. 15
Designed in R.W.D's Warsaw
plant between 1935 and 1936, the R.W.D 15 was a 5 seat
touring airplane.
In 1939, One R.W.D 15 was
contributed to the Jewish population of Palestine by Polish
Jewry and was operated by “Aviron,”
one of the first airlines in Palestine. The
R.W.D 15 was the largest single engined aircraft
operated by “Aviron” and carried the registration
VQ-PAE. “Aviron” employed the aircraft on
both its local and international routes,
local routes included daily flights between
Lod and Haifa while international routes
included flights to Egypt.
In 1941 it was even suggested that the type
would fly to the Iraqi city
of Basra, but this was rejected by British authorities.
The beginning of the Israeli
War of Independence in late 1947 brought
about Arab attacks against the Jewish workforce
of Lod Airport, home to the “Aviron” fleet.
On December 13th 1947, the entire “Aviron” fleet
left Lod for Tel-Aviv airport,
later renamed Sde-Dov.
The R.W.D 15 however, was scheduled to be
recertified in February 1948 and was undergoing
repairs in an airport hangar. On April
13 1948 local Arabs infiltrated the airport
and set the R.W.D 15 on fire.
Specification: R.W.D 15
Type: 5 seat light transport and
touring monoplane.
Powerplant: one de Havilland Walter
Gipsy 6.
Performance: max speed - 240km/h,
min speed - 75km/h, rate of climb 4.8m/s, range - 1000km.
Weights: empty - 875kg, max takeoff
- 1360kg.
Dimensions: span - 12.40m, length
- 9.00m, height - 2.50m.
Armament: none.
Sources: IAF Inventory |