View source for Józef Lewoniewski

{{Infobox aviator
| name             = Józef Lewoniewski
| image            = Jozef Lewoniewski.jpg
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| alt              = Józef Lewoniewski before [[PWS-52]] aircraft
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| birth_date       = 20 March 1899<!-- {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
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| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1933|9|11|1899|3|20}}
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'''Józef Lewoniewski''' (20 March 1899 – 11 September 1933) was a Polish military and sports aviator. He was a brother of the Soviet aviator [[Sigizmund Levanevsky]].

He was born in Russia to a Polish family. In May 1919 he returned to independent Poland and served in the [[Polish Army]], in a cavalry, during [[Polish-Soviet war]]. In 1923 he volunteered for the air force and completed an aviation school in [[Bydgoszcz]], then in France. He served as a fighter pilot, in a rank of Flying Captain (''kapitan pilot'').

Lewoniewski was also active in sports flying. In 1930 he participated in [[Challenge 1930]] International Tourist Aircraft Contest, flying [[PWS-51]], but he had to withdraw due to oil pipe damage.<ref>Glass, A. (1977), p.187</ref> On 15 August 1931 he flew a [[PWS-52]] plane around Poland non-stop in 12 hours 35 minutes, covering 1755&nbsp;km. On 1 September 1931 he flew the same plane from Warszaw to [[Saloniki]] and back (2700&nbsp;km). Next he came with an idea of flying around the world in [[PWS-52]] aircraft, but it was abandoned due to lack of funding.<ref>Glass, A. (1977), p.189-190</ref> From March 1933 he worked in Aviation Technical Research Institute in Warsaw as a test pilot.

On 11 September 1933 Józef Lewoniewski with Colonel Czesław Filipowicz, attempted at breaking world's record of flight distance in tourist planes category, on Warsaw - [[Krasnoyarsk]] route, flying modified [[PZL.19]] plane. After 8 and a half hours, the plane went into a [[spin (flight)|spin]] due to an air turbulence, it was brought under control, but it was too low and it hit the ground near [[Kazan]]. Lewoniewski was killed, while Filipowicz was slightly injured.<ref>Glass, A. (1977), p.243-244</ref>

==References==
{{Commons category}}
{{reflist}}
*{{cite book |last= Glass|first=Andrzej |title=Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893-1939 [Polish aviation designs 1893-1939]|year= 1977|publisher= WKiŁ|location= Warsaw |language=pl}}
*Romeyko, Marian (ed.) (1937) (in Polish). ''Polska lotnicza'', Warsaw.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewoniewski}}
[[Category:1899 births]]
[[Category:1933 deaths]]
[[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War]]
[[Category:Polish aviators]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1933]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent]]


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