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The Lublin R-XIV was a training aircraft that was developed from the earlier R-X observation and liaison aircraft.
The Lublin R-X was a parasol wing monoplane with elliptical wings carried above the fuselage. It was designed in response to a requirement for an observation and liaison aircraft issued in 1927, and the first prototype made its maiden flight on 8 February 1929. However by this point the aircraft’s designer Jerzy Rudlicki had already begun work on an improved version, with a better wing. Lublin proposed building two similar versions of the new design, the R-XIV trainer and R-XV armed liaison version.
The Polish Department of Aeronautics preferred to use the same basic fuselage for both types, and placed an order for fifteen R-XIVs, the last of which would be completed as the prototype for the armed version.
No prototype was ordered, and the first production example of the R-XIV made its maiden flight in July 1930. The type passed its certification and Service acceptance trials, and the first production aircraft were accepted by the air force on 9 August 1930. The remaining aircraft went to the 2nd Air Regiment at the Krakow Advancing Flying School then to the C.W.L. training establishment at Deblin, with the last being delivered on 30 April 1931.
The last of the fifteen was produced as the prototype of the armed observation version, and was finished on 1 July 1931. It was later ordered into production as the R-XIII, and was still the main Polish liaison and observation aircraft when the Germans invaded in 1939.
Engine: Wright/ Skoda radial engine
Power: 200hp
Crew: 2
Span: 43ft 6in
Length: 26ft 3.25in
Height: 9ft 0.5in
Empty Weight: 1,819lb
Loaded Weight: 2,460lb
Maximum Speed: 121.1mph at sea level, 110.6mph at 6,561ft
Cruising Speed:
Climb rate: 3,280ft in 4min 15sec
Ceiling: 18,454ft