Jerzy Dąbrowski
Jerzy Dąbrowski (born 8 September 1899, died 17 September 1967). Jerzy Dąbrowski was born to a clerical family. In 1921, he enrolled as a student at Warsaw Polytechnic, and although he dropped out in 1926, he had already made a name for himself as an outstanding designer. He constructed the first Polish sports plane – a biplane ultralight D.1 – in 1924. He also completed a flight course in the 1st Airborne Regiment when he was still a student.
In 1926, he started to work at a design office in Lublin and moved to Warsaw two years later, where he was employed by the State Aviation Works. In the same year, he became the co-designer of a liaison aircraft, PZL Ł-2. Four years later, together with engineer Franciszek Misztal, Jerzy Dąbrowski developed a prototype of the PZL.19 sports plane (an entirely metal construction). But his greatest pre-war achievement was the twin-engine medium bomber PZL.37 Łoś (Dąbrowski was the chief engineer, assisted by engineer Piotr Kubicki). Serial production of this aircraft began in 1938 – by the outbreak of World War II, the Polish Air Force received 102 of the aircraft.
After 1 September 1939, all personnel of the State Aviation Works were evacuated to England. Dąbrowski served as an officer of the Polish Air Force, at the same time working with the local military aviation industry. In 1948-1955, his construction solutions were implemented in civil aviation plants (his greatest achievement at that time was a laminar flow profile wing). In 1955, Dąbrowski moved to the US. He first worked for the Cessna Aircraft Company and then for Boeing, where he was engaged in the construction of the Gemini spacecraft cabin.