TS-8 Bies

Historical information

The PZL TS-8 Bies is a Polish trainer aircraft, used from 1957 to the 1970s by the Polish Air Force and civilian aviation.

The TS-8 was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane, with metal-covered semi-monocoque fuselage, oval in cross-section. The three-part single-spar wing, of semi-monocoque design, creating a transverse inverted gull wing "W" shape. It had a Tricycle retractable landing gear, and a 7 cylinder WN-3 radial engine in front, delivering 330 hp take-off power and 283 hp normal power to a 2.2 m diameter two-blade variable pitch wooden propeller.

The crew of two, sat in a tandem enclosed cockpit, with twin controls, the student in front with the instructor in the rear. Canopy sections above the crewmen slid rearwards.

The plane had no armament, except for the experimental series TS-8 BI, which had one 12.7mm machine gun and two small bomb pylons.