The PZL.16 was a Polish passenger aircraft, designed in the early 1930s in the PZL in Warsaw. It remained a prototype.
The plane was designed in 1931 as a small passenger plane for 4 passengers, ordered by the Polish Ministry of Communications. The main designer was Stanisà Âaw Prauss of the PZL works. The new plane utilized parts of PZL à Â.2 liaison plane, including the wing, tail, landing gear and engine (the factory manufactured more PZL à Â.2 parts, than aircraft ordered). The only prototype was flown in the beginning of 1932.
PZL.16 was a high-wing braced monoplane, conventional in layout, of all-metal construction. It had a steel framed, canvas covered fuselage (engine part covered with duralumin). The elliptical wing was two-spar, of duralumin construction, canvas-covered, fitted with slats and flaps. The tail was made of duralumin. It had a conventional fixed landing gear with a rear wheel, main gear had teardrop covers. The closed cabin had a capacity of five: a pilot in front and 4 passengers in two rows, with doors on the left.
It had a 9-cylinder air-cooled Polish Skoda Works Wright Whirlwind J-5A radial engine delivering 240 hp (179 kW) take-off power and 220 hp (164 kW) nominal power, in a Townend ring, driving a two-blade metal propeller. 280-litre fuel tanks were in wings. The cruise fuel consumption was 50-60 L/h.
The plane was to take part in a contest for a successor of Junkers F.13 planes in LOT Polish Airlines, along with PWS-24 and Lublin R-XVI, but it crashed in April 1932 during tests. The reason was error in assembly of ailerons. After crash, further works upon PZL.16 ceased; available publications do not mention reasons. It was lighter, faster and of more modern construction, than counterparts, with a similar payload, but the crew was 1 instead of 2.
Stanisà Âaw Prauss next designed a preliminary design of a fast mail plane PZL.17, a counterpart of PWS-54. It was based on the PZL.16, differing in aerodynamically refined fuselage and cantilever wing, but it remained in sketches.