what is it?
The LWS-3 Mewa ("Seagull") was a Polish observation and close reconnaissance aircraft, designed in the late-1930s by the LWS factory.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 13.5 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 88 years ago, in 1938.
- Top speed is 2.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 13.5 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1938-08
- retired
- 1939
- status
- retired
- number built
- —
- role
- reconnaissance
- makers
- LWS
- engines
- 1× Gnome-Rhône 14M-05
- crew
- 2
- length
- 9.5 m
- wingspan
- 13.5 m
- height
- 2.7 m
- max take-off weight
- 2,420 kg
- top speed
- 360 km/h
- cruise speed
- 310 km/h
- range
- 700 km
- ceiling
- 8,500 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q641647, Wikipedia: LWS-3 Mewa (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.