A single-seat training glider of wooden construction, in a strut-braced high-wing configuration.
Designed by engineer Waclaw Czerwinski. The prototype was built at the Military Glider Workshops and was first flown in spring 1937 at the Rakowice airfield in Krakow. It proved to be a very successful and safe design – it entered production at the Military Glider Workshops in Krakow under the name Zaba (Frog). Based on experience gained during operation, the designer introduced minor improvements in the glider, which under the name Zaba bis was built at the Lviv Aviation Workshops in Lviv.
Zabas were used in glider schools throughout Poland. Before the outbreak of war in 1939, approximately 140 examples of both variants were produced in Krakow and Lviv. Of particular note is the fact that ergonomic research was conducted during the design of the Zaba. This led to a specially shaped pilot seat designed to protect the pilot’s spine during hard landings. An oil-pneumatic shock absorber was also introduced between the skid and the lattice fuselage.
One example, with the registration SP-1265, was preserved throughout the war in Krosno and after overhaul was registered with the markings SP-167. Subsequently, between 1947 and 1950, it was operated at the Gliding Institute in Bielsko-Biala. It was handed over to the Museum’s collection after the Aviation Exhibition marking the 20th Anniversary of the People’s Republic of Poland in 1964.
| Wingspan | 9.3 m |
| Length | 5.45 m |
| Takeoff weight | 164 kg |
| Empty weight | 85 kg |
| Maximum speed | 150 km/h |
| Wing area | 13.8 m2 |
| Glide ratio | 11 at optimum speed of 54 km/h |
| Minimum sink rate | 1.23 m/s at economic speed of 45 km/h |
| Minimum speed | – |
| Maximum diving speed | – |
