Ardpol 48-019 SZD-32 Foka 5

SZD-32 Foka 5 was a Polish, single-seat, sports glider with a wood-laminate structure in the spine-wing configuration. The glider was developed In Szybowcowe Zakłady Doświadczalnych (SZD) with headquarters in Bielsko-Biała. The prototype flight took place in November 1960. Serial production of Foka 5 was carried out in the years 1966-1973, and as a result about 130 examples of this glider were created. The curb weight was 256 kilograms.

Work on the glider, which was later designated SZD-32, started in the second half of the 1950s, and the work was carried out by a team led by engineers: Piotr Młynarski and Władysław Okarmus. The aim of these works was to create a standard class sailplane, exceeding Western designs and capable of breaking world records. These ambitious assumptions were fully met in the early 1960s, when the SZD-32 Foka glider turned out to be one of the best in its class in the world. Suffice it to say that it was while flying the SZD-32 pilot Jan Wróblewski won the 1965 Gliding World Championships! Despite such excellent results, the design was improved and in 1966 the Foka 5 version with a more spacious cabin and a T-shaped tail was tested.