The SZD-43 Orion is a Standard Class competition glider of mixed construction, developed at the SZD factory in Bielsko-Biala in 1970-1971 to fill the gap between the SZD-15 Cobra glider and the SZD-42 Jantar Standard then undergoing flight testing, using design solutions from both. Its designers were engineers Jerzy Smielkiewicz, Tadeusz Labuc and Jan Knapik.
The forward fuselage is of wooden construction with laminate covering, while the rear section is a duralumin sheet tube. The vertical stabiliser is made of duralumin, while the rudder and horizontal tail are made of laminate. The wings, taken from the Cobra glider, are of wooden construction with plywood covering. They contain laminate water ballast tanks with a capacity of 70 litres. Two prototypes were built with registrations SP-2364 and SP-2365.
The first was flown for the first time in Bielsko-Biala by Adam Zientek on 30 December 1971, the second four months later. Jan Wroblewski and Franciszek Kepka finished first and third respectively at the World Gliding Championships in Vrsac, Yugoslavia, in 1972. The Orion did not enter serial production — instead, the significantly more modern Jantar Standard glider of laminate construction was produced.
The exhibited glider, serial number X-13, registration SP-2365, was purchased for the Museum’s collection from the Gliding Training Centre in Leszno in July 1986.
| Wingspan | 15.0 m |
| Length | 7.3 m |
| Wing area | 11.6 m2 |
| Empty weight | 262 kg |
| Takeoff weight | 442 kg with water ballast |
| Glide ratio | 40 at optimum speed of 92 km/h |
| Sink rate | min. 0.62 m/s at economy speed of 86 km/h |
| Minimum speed | 69 km/h |
| Max. dive speed | 250 km/h |
