Lubelska Wytwórnia Samolotów (LWS; translation from Polish: Lublin Aircraft Factory) was a Polish aerospace manufacturer, located in Lublin, created in 1936 from Plage i Laśkiewicz works and produced aircraft between 1936 and 1939.
History
The LWS was created out of the nationalized Plage i Laśkiewicz works, the first Polish aircraft manufacturer. Due to plans of the Polish military aviation authorities, headed by Ludomił Rayski, to gather all aviation industry in state hands, Plage & Laśkiewicz works were forced to go bankrupt in late 1935. Then, they were nationalized under the name LWS in February 1936. While formally it was owned by the PWS state aircraft manufacturer, in fact it was subordinated to the PZL. A director was Maj. Aleksander Sipowicz, a technical director and the main designer was initially Zbysław Ciołkosz; from autumn 1937 the technical director was Ryszard Bartel and the main designer Jerzy Teisseyre.
The first LWS aircraft were Plage & Laśkiewicz developments. 18 almost ready Lublin R-XIIIF army cooperation aircraft were completed in 1936 and bought by the Polish Air Force