Janusz Żurakowski (12 September 1914 – 9 February 2004) was a Polish fighter and test pilot. At various times in his life he lived and worked in Poland, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

Early life

Żurakowski was born in 1914 to Polish parents in Ryżawka near Uman, which had been a village in the Russian Empire since 1793, when it was removed from Poland in the Second Partition. In 1921, following the Polish–Soviet War, the Treaty of Riga established the frontier between Soviet Russia and the Second Polish Republic. The new border placed Ryżawka in Soviet territory, so the Żurakowski family left their home and escaped into the newly established Polish Republic.

Żurakowski was educated at a high school in Lublin, where he learned to fly gliders. In 1934, he joined the Polish Air Force and entered the Polish Air Force Officers' School. After learning to fly powered aircraft, he graduated in 1935 as a sub-lieutenant. He went on to serve as a fighter pilot posted to 161 Fighter Squadron in Lwów, and in 1939 he served as a flying instructor at Dęblin.

After retiring from the RAF as a squadron leader in 1947, Żurakowski was employed as chief experimental test pilot for Gloster Aircraft Company reporting to Chief Test Pilot Bill Waterton. When Waterton was in Canada on assignment, Żurakowski assumed the role of acting chief test pilot, flying the Gloster E.1/44 and experimental versions of the Gloster Meteor and Javelin fighters. He set an international speed record: London–Copenhagen–London, 4–5 April 1950.

At the 1951 at Farnborough Airshow, Żurakowski demonstrated a new aerobatics manoeuvre, the "Zurabatic cartwheel", in which he suspended the Gloster Meteor G-7-1 prototype he was flying in a vertical cartwheel. "This jet manoeuvre was the first new aerobatic in 20 years." The cartwheel used the dangerously asymmetric behaviour the Meteor had with one engine throttled back. It started with a vertical climb to , by which point the aircraft had slowed to only . Cutting the power of one engine caused the Meteor to pivot. When the nose was pointing downwards, the second engine was throttled back. The aircraft continued to rotate through a further 360 degrees on momentum alone, having lost nearly all vertical velocity. Carrying out the cartwheel and recovering from it without entering an inverted spin (which the Meteor could not be brought out of) required great skill.

In April 1952, Żurakowski and his family left for Canada, where he became a test pilot for A.V. Roe Canada,

His adopted hometown built Żurakowski Park in 2003, recognizing his contributions to the community and to the world. Two imposing statues of Janusz Żurakowski and his beloved Avro Arrow dominate the arrow-shaped Żurakowski Park (an elongated triangle evocative of the Avro Arrow's profile). It is located at the crossroads of two main streets in Barry's Bay, Ontario. A future museum and visitor's commemorative centre consisting of a gazebo and display area will be located at Żurakowski Park.

The former Gloster Aircraft company airfield site at Brockworth has become a residential area in Gloucester, UK and has a Zura Avenue.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

  • Hamilton-Paterson, James. Empire of the Clouds: When Britain's Aircraft Ruled the World. London: Faber & Faber, 2010. .
  • Kusiba, Marek. Janusz Żurakowski: From Avro Arrow to Arrow Drive. Toronto: Address Press, 2003. .
  • Rossiter, Sean. The Chosen Ones: Canada's Test Pilots in Action. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2002. .
  • Sutherland, Alice Gibson. Canada's Aviation Pioneers: 50 Years of McKee Trophy Winners. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., 1978. .
  • Waterton, Bill. The Quick and the Dead. London: Frederick Mueller, 1958.
  • Wujastyk, Stanisław. Czasy i Przyjaźnie. Lublin: Zaklad Literatury Wspólczesnej, 2010. .
  • Ziółkowska-Boehm, Aleksandra. Amerykanie z wyboru. Warszawa: 1998. .
  • Ziółkowska-Boehm, Aleksandra. The Roots Are Polish. Toronto: Canadian Polish Research Institute, 2004. .
  • Zuk, Bill. The Avro Arrow Story: The Impossible Dream. Calgary: Altitude Publishing, 2006. .
  • Zuk, Bill. The Avro Arrow Story: The Revolutionary Airplane and its Courageous Test Pilots. Calgary: Altitude Publishing, 2005. .
  • Zuk, Bill. Janusz Zurakowski: Legends in the Sky. St. Catharine's, Ontario: Vanwell, 2004. .
  • Peter Wieslaw Grajda: Web site dedicated to Janusz Zurakowski & the Canadian aircraft Avro Arrow CF105
  • Zurakowski Park, Barry's Bay official website
  • "Zurabatics" a 1951 Flight advertisement for the Meteor