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PZL-104 Wilga

The PZL 104 Wilga (Thrush or Golden Oriole) is a single-engine four-seat seat light STOL utility aircraft produced by the Polish manufacturer WSK-Okecie, later WSK PZL Warszawa-Okecie, today EADS PZL Warszawa-Okecie SA. PZL-104 Wilga is a Polish short-takeoff-and-landing (STOL) utility aircraft designed and built by PZL "Warszawa-Okecie". The PZL-104 was designed mainly for use in sports aviation, especially for glider-towing and parachute training, but is also used among others as a agricultural aircraft, glider tug, trainer, air ambulance aircraft und touring aircraft.

The prototype of the initial Wilga 1 variant was first flown on April 24, 1962. It used a Polish 220 hp flat engine PZL WN-6RB. The Wilga 1 revealed numerous faults, the most serious of which were that it was too heavy and the crew could not see a towed glider. As a result, the airframe was thoroughly redesigned by a team led by Bronislaw Zurakowski and Andrzej Frydrychewicz, retaining only the general composition and part of wings in common with the initial design.

A completely new slimmer, strengthened fuselage was provided, which offers an excellent view for the crew. Side doors open upwards and it is possible to fly with doors open for a better observation or performing parachute jumps. The new variant, PZL-104 Wilga 2, flew first on August 1, 1963. A short production run followed (later converted to the Wilga C and Wilga 3 configurations). In one version or another, the Wilga was in continuous production from 1962 to 2010. In service since 1967, it is Poland's most successful light aircraft development. More than 960 aircraft were built.

Gelatik

The Gelatik is an Indonesian, license-built version of the Polish PZL-104 STOL general utility aircraft. The Gelatik is a high-wing cantilever monoplane powered by a Continental O-470-I or O-470-L six-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine providing a top speed of 203 kmh and a range of 800 km.

In 1961 the Air Force Aircraft Preparatory Industry (Lembaga Persiapan Industri Penerbangan - LAPIP) signed a cooperation agreement with CEKOP, a Polish aircraft industry, to build an aircraft industry in Indonesia. The contract covered the building of an aircraft manufacturing facility, H R training and producing, under license, the PZL-104 Wilga, which was later known as Gelatik (rice bird).

On December 30, 1963 the Wilga C (or Wilga 2C), an export variant for Indonesia, was flown. The PZL Wilga was license-buil in Indonesia as the Gelatik (Rice bird) of which 44 aircraft were built, utilized to support agricultural activities, light transport and aero-club. Formed at Bandang in 1966 from the Institute for Aero Industry Establishment, LIPNUR built a prototype series of light aircraft and from 1963 began production under license of the Polish PZL 104 utility aircraft under the name of Gelatik (Rice Bird). Also manufactures the LT-200, a modified Pazmany PL-2 light aircraft, for military and civil training.

In 1966, in respone to the new program at LAPIP, who built the licensed agricultural aircraft PZL-Wilga 02 "Gelatik", O. Diran introduced a new aircraft design course at the curricullum of the Aviation Engineering. This one semester course which consists of class instruction and special design studio assignment become a mandatory course for every aeronautical student since then. O. Diran and his student actively involved on the Gelatik development at LAPIP, including its flight test development. He and his students Sulaeman Kamil and others carried out reverse-engineering process to calculate the design engineering of Gelatik aircraft in 1967.