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JANUSZ ZURAKOWSKI "ZURA" 1914-2004 Biography of the World Famous Pilot |
Janusz Zurakowski is a quiet unassuming man, and anyone meeting him would never imagine what he has lived through. Yet he is one of the most accomplished pilots in the World, and is Canada's most famous pilot. He was born in Ryzawka, Russia, of Polish parents, on September 12, 1914. In 1921, after the Bolshevik revolution the family immigrated to Poland. He attended high school in Poland and at age 15, while taking part in a competition of flying models he won a prize: a flight in an aeroplane at the Lublin Flying Club. By 1932 he learned to fly gliders, and by 1934 he completed his matriculation and joined the Polish Air Force. He was educated at the Polish Air Force Officers' School in Deblin . He learned to fly in 1935, and was commissioned as an officer in the Polish Air Force in 1937, at which time he became a fighter pilot and was posted to 161 Fighter Squadron in Lwow. He loved to fly and spent all his vacations flying gliders. Once while flying a Delfin at night he crashed when his wing tip hit a tree. In March 1939, Jan became a flight instructor at the Central Flying School in Deblin and flew the PZL P-7 fighter. On September 1, 1939 World War II broke out, and over the next 17 days the might of the German Luftwaffe was unleashed against Poland. On 2 September, Jan, had his baptism of fire, as a flight of 7 Dornier 17's attacked Deblin. |
Polish fighter, PZL P-7 This Polish plane was designed in 1931 as an all-metal monoplane, with the unique Pulawski gull-wing. Most other countries at the time were still flying cloth-covered bi-planes; hence in 1931 the PZL P-7 was well ahead of its time |
A few days later, Janusz and other pilots were given instructions on how they were to go to Rumania to pick-up a shipment of Hurricane fighters that had been delivered from Britain. However, on September 17 the Soviet army attacked Poland from the East and the Polish campaign collapsed. Jan like many other Polish airmen escaped from Poland, with the hope of fighting the Germans from another country. He made his way to France and to England in January 1940. This was six months before the start of the Battle of Britain, and Germany's attempt to invade the United Kingdom. In August '40, just as the Battle of Britain was starting, Janusz was posted as a Pilot Officer to No. 234 Squadron, which was operating at the time from St. Eval in Cornwall. It moved to Middle Wallop in the Portsmouth-Southampton sector to be closer to the action. He was flying a Spitfire Mk. 1. The Battle of Britain started in earnest on 8 August 1940. Janusz was in the thick of the action. On August 15 he shot down a Messershmitt Me-110 twin engined fighter over the Isle of Wight. Nine days later, on August 24, while flying Spitfire N3239, he was shot down by a Me-109E. Fortunately he bailed out and was unhurt. In the late afternoon of September 5, 1940, he shot down a Messershmitt Me-109E. He shot down another Me-109 the next day, September 6, but his Spitfire (N3279) was damaged and he had to crash-land. The aircraft overturned when it landed, but fortunately, he was not hurt. On September 28, towards the end of the Battle of Britain, he engaged and probably destroyed a Messershmitt Me-110 while flying South of Exmouth. This is listed as a "probable". On October 6, 1940, he was posted to 609 Squadron, which was still operating from Middle Wallop, under Squadron Leader Michael Robinson. By this time however the Battle of Britain was coming to an end. It is appropriate to recall Winston Churchill's famous saying about those who fought in the Battle of Britain: "Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few. Janusz is one of those "few" who changed the course of history. His signature can be found, with those of other Battle of Britain pilots, on the blackout board at the White Hart Inn near Biggin Hill. In the spring of 1942 he was posted to 315 (Polish - Deblinski) Squadron which was based at Northolt. This was the first time that Janusz flew directly with his Polish countrymen all other units he had flown in since arriving in Britain were British. No. 315 Squadron was commanded by Major Stefan Janus, and was equipped with Spitfire II's. In April 1942 he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and was posted to 306 (Polish - Torunski) Squadron as a flight commander. The Squadron was based at Church-Stanton. It was commanded at the time by Captain Tadeusz Czerwinski, and was equipped with Spitfire Mk. VB. In June 1942 he was promoted to S/LDR to command 316 (Polish - Warszawski) Fighter Squadron operating from R.A.F. Station Heston and later from Cranswick. In January 1943 he was posted to R.A.F. Station Northolt as Section Gunnery Instructor (S/LDR rank). To keep in practice he took part in some fighter sweeps over France, and on May 17, he damaged a Messerschmitt 109. In July 1943, he was promoted to Deputy Wing Leader of the Polish No. 1 Fighter Wing stationed at Northolt, and led the Wing in 46 combat sorties. These consisted mainly of escorting the U.S. Army Air Force bombers on their daylight raids on Germany, as well as flying fighter sweeps over occupied Europe. He was awarded the Virtuti Militari (the Polish equivalent of the Victoria Cross). In December 1943 he was posted to Fighter Command H.Q. at Stanmore and was in charge of tactics and training. His air victories consisting of 3 destroyed, one probably destroyed and two damaged. In March 1944 Jan was posted to the Empire Test Pilot's School. This marked the end of his operational career as a fighter pilot, and the beginning of his career as a test pilot. His operational flying includes over 150 operational flights with RAF Polish squadrons alone. On completion of the Empire Test Pilot's School in 1945 Janusz was appointed to the A&AEE (Aircraft & Armament Experimental Establishment) at Boscombe Down near Salisbury as a Squadron Leader. Initially Janusz was assigned to "C" Squadron, and became involved in testing both British and American naval aircraft. Later, Janusz was assigned to "A" Squadron, and flew most of the new British fighter aircraft designs that were being tested at the time. One aircraft of note was the de Havilland Vampire, Britain's first jet fighter. In 1947 he left the A&AEE and joined the Gloster Aircraft Company as test pilot. Here he was involved in the test program for the Gloster Meteor and the Javelin jet fighters. The latter had a delta wing platform much like the Avro Arrow, which Jan was to fly later. With the Meteor he established a new London-Copenhagen-London air speed record. |
British fighter Gloster - Meteor (1950) |
It was on the Meteor that Jan perfected the cartwheel maneuver for which he became famous. He had been asked to demonstrate the power of the Meteor by lifting it off the runway and pointing it vertically upwards at some 120 knots. There was the slight risk of what would happen should there be a failure of one engine at this time. To test this particular maneuver Zura's Meteor had sixteen rockets slung under the wings giving him extra rotational inertia. He put the Meteor into a vertical climb with full power on both engines. Then at slow speed he cut one engine. The resulting cartwheel was prolonged to 11/2. This maneuver became known as the"Zurabatic Cartwheel". After perfecting the maneuver, Zura performed it at the Farnborough Air Show in 1951 where he astonished the crowds. The Farnborough Air Show is Britain's largest aviation event and is attended by thousands of people. In 1952, Jan left Gloster's and joined the A. V. Roe (AVRO) Canada Limited Company in Malton, Ontario, Canada, as chief development test pilot. Avro's CF-100 was the first Canadian indigenous jet fighter design, and first flew in 1950 [19]. The CF-100 "Canuck", affectionately nicknamed the "Clunk", was a twin engined straight wing two-seat all-weather fighter that had been ordered by the RCAF. It was a sub-sonic aircraft designed for a top speed of 637 mph, or Mach 0.85. On December 18, 1952, while flying CF-100 Mk.4 RCAF 18112, Jan broke the sound barrier becoming the first person to exceed the speed of sound in a straight wing pure-jet aircraft without rocket power. In 1996 this event was commemorated by the Canadian Mint by issuing a special edition Silver $20 piece which on one side depicts a pair of CF-100's and a gold cameo of Janusz Zurakowski. While flying the CF-100, Jan demonstrated yet another new aerobatic maneuver called the "falling leaf". This involves the aircraft doing a succession of alternating sideslips, with the appearance of a falling leaf -- a light, graceful maneuver. One would never have thought that an aircraft as heavy as the CF-100 could do such a thing but in the hands of Jan Zurakowski, it could. Jan entertained the crowd at the 1955 Farnborough Air Show in England with this maneuver. |
Canadian fighter AVRO Canada, CF-100 (!952) |
In 1953 AVRO Canada started the design studies for a new high performance supersonic interceptor. In turn this resulted in the CF-105 Arrow aircraft. The story of the Arrow has become well known to Canadians, and its cancellation continues to be a hot topic even 40 years later. Janusz was the chief test pilot for the Arrow program and participated throughout the development period. The rollout of the Arrow occurred at Malton on October 4, 1957. On 25 March1958, with Janusz at the controls, Arrow RL 25201 took off from Malton for its first flight . The flight lasted 35 minutes and was problem free. Jan continued in the flight test program. He flew Arrows RL 201, 202 and 203, over a total of 21 flights, 23.75 hours, reaching speeds of Mach 1.89 and an altitude of 50,000 feet. After flying Arrow 203 on September 26, Janusz decided to give up test flying for good. The normal retirement age for high-speed experimental pilots was 40, but Janusz delayed his retirement by over four years because he wanted to be sure that no major problems existed with the Arrow. As has been well documented, the Arrow program ran into political hot water, and the government of John Diefenbaker canceled the program effective February 20, 1959 "Black Friday" to Avroites. The cancellation of the Arrow resulted in a mass exodus of highly trained technical manpower from Canada, for the United States and elsewhere. Jan in the meantime bought property near Barry's Bay Ontario, on the shores of Lake Kamaniskeg, where he and his family settled. Here he built "Kartuzy Lodge", which has become a popular tourist centre for over 40 years. Janusz Zurakowski - ZURA died at "Kartuzy Lodge" on February 9, 2004 following a two-year battle with leukemia. He was surrounded by his wife of 55 years, Anna and two sons George and Mark. He also leaves five grandchildren. A day after his death, ZURA's 20-year old granddaughter Krysia, who is also a pilot said: "I wanted to take him in a glider with me, but I never got the chance to do it before he got sick. Every time I go into the air, I'll think of him". |
Canadian fighter AVRO Canada, Arrow CF-105, over Niagara Falls (1958) |
J. Zurakowski has received valuable distinctions and awards related to his great career as a pilot: Polish Cross Virtuti Militari, Gold Pin of the Polish Club of Test Pilots, Cross of Valour with two Bars, McKee Trophy '58 and many others. In 1973 Janusz Zurakowski was inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame. The citation reads: "The dedication of his aeronautical skills to the successful flight testing of Canada's first supersonic aircraft resulted in outstanding benefit to Canadian aviation". The Royal Canadian Mint issued a $20 dollar coin bearing his cameo (1996). In July 1999, Zurakowski was invited to participate in opening ceremony of a new Canadian Flight Test Centre in Cold Lake (Alberta-Canada). The main building of that Centre was named after Janusz Zurakowski. In Sept. 2000, Zurakowski became a Honorary Fellow of prestigous, international Society of Experimental Test Pilots with headquarters in California-USA. This is the first time that any Canadian or Polish pilot received this honour. His name was placed there along with names of such famous aviators like: Lindbergh ( first flight accross Atlantic), Sikorski (creator of the modern helicopter), Armstrong (first man on the Moon)... In summer 2003 the residents of Barry's Bay built the Zurakowski Park and Museum in his honour. |
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Canadian Flight Test Centre in Cold Lake (Alberta, Canada) - July 1999. In the front of the main building named after Janusz Zurakowski you can see the mock-up of the Arrow, which was used in a television movie "ARROW" (CBC -1998). The above information based on the article by Bil Bialkowski, own research and interview with Janusz Zurakowski and his wife Anna by author of this web site. |
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