It was developed as a modification of the 4-seat, multi-purpose Soviet Yak-12M aircraft, produced at WSK-Okecie, in response to the demand for agricultural and forestry services. The modifications to the design involved installing a 550-litre chemical tank in place of the rear seats, introducing a 4-degree wing sweep, adding endplates, moving the main landing gear rearward, enlarging the horizontal stabiliser and changing its angle of incidence.
The prototype was first flown on 14 April 1958 and serial production began in 1960. By 1970, when production ended, 326 units had been built, including 215 agricultural, 79 utility and 32 ambulance versions. Of this number, 134 units were exported, mainly in the agricultural version.
The aircraft proved itself in service and provided the equipment base for the development of agricultural aviation in Poland and the expansion of aerial application services abroad. From 1967, PZL-101 agricultural aircraft operating in Poland were progressively redeployed to Egypt and Sudan, and from 1976 they were replaced by the safer and more efficient specialised PZL-106 Kruk. The operation of Gawrons there ended in 1983. To this day, PZL-101 aircraft are still used domestically in the aeroclub version.
The “Gawron” is a single-engine, strut-braced high-wing monoplane of metal construction covered with fabric. The fuselage is welded from steel tubes. The fixed undercarriage has a tailwheel and is cushioned with rubber bungee cords. The two-spar duralumin wing has a fixed slot along its leading edge. Fuel tanks of 80 litres each are housed in the wings. For ferry flights, additional 90-litre tanks can be fitted under the wings. The powerplant is a 260 HP (191 kW) AI-14R radial engine manufactured at WSK-Kalisz, with a W-530D adjustable wooden propeller made at WSK-Okecie.
During the landing roll, near a ditch, it kicked with the right leg, braced with the left aileron, “flipped” 180 degrees backwards and at nearly the same speed as during the roll, taxied across the airstrip towards the take-off position. When I later discussed this with aerodynamicists, they wouldn’t believe me, yet I was not the only one who saw it with my own eyes. — Jozef Wojtowicz*
The agricultural equipment was mounted to the tank throat. The dry-material version featured an open tunnel and an agitator inside the tank, driven by a windmill mounted above the tank. Chemicals were loaded through a hatch on top of the tank. The spraying version had a pumping unit with a centrifugal pump driven by a windmill, control valves and spray bars with nozzles mounted on the struts and wing. The liquid equipment had an emergency dump valve for the tank. The agricultural devices were operated by a pneumatic system.
An agricultural-version PZL-101 Gawron is now a rarity; most aircraft ended up in Africa where, after being replaced by the PZL-106 Kruk, they were scrapped. In the agricultural aviation exhibition this type is represented by a PZL-101A in the transport version (differing, among other things, by additional windows at the rear of the cabin), acquired from Piotr Lenartowicz. Its overhaul, painting and delivery to Krakow at his own expense was undertaken by Zbigniew Wodnicki, owner of the Aeroplan s. c. repair company. Ready for exhibition, the aircraft was delivered and assembled on 31 August 2011. It bears the livery typical of agricultural aircraft, and on the wing endplate one can admire the distinctive silhouette of the bird after which the aircraft is named.
| year of production | 1963 |
| wingspan | 12.68 m |
| length | 9.0 m |
| height | 3.12 m |
| wing area | 23.86 m2 |
| empty weight | 1000 kg |
| take-off weight | 1660 kg |
| cruise speed | 155 km/h |
| working speed | 110 km/h |
| max speed | 170 km/h |
| service ceiling | 2400 m |
| range | 450/1100 km |
| take-off/landing run | 110/75 m |
| spraying working width | 35 m |
| fertilising working width | 15 m |
| powerplant | 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine PZL AI-14R rated at 260 HP (191 kW) with an adjustable 2-blade wooden propeller W-530D. |
