PZL M-15 Belphegor

PZL · Poland · first flew 1973 · transport aircraft

The PZL M-15 Belphegor is the world's only jet-powered biplane, a bizarre agricultural aircraft developed in Poland at Soviet request to replace the Antonov An-2 on collective farms. Its unusual configuration mated a single turbojet with biplane wings and twin boom fuselages.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, straight
E — Engines	1 × turbojet, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	Agricultural hopper and spray equipment in twin fuselage booms
T — Tail	Twin fin

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Only jet-powered biplane in history
Single jet engine in nacelle above the upper wing
Agricultural hopper and spray equipment in twin fuselage booms

Unmistakable: the only biplane jet aircraft ever produced. The turbojet nacelle above the upper wing, twin boom fuselage, biplane wings with agricultural hoppers, and bizarrely utilitarian appearance make it impossible to confuse with any other aircraft.

Specifications

The PZL M-15 Belphegor has a length of 12.72 m (42 ft).
It has a wingspan of 22.4 m (73 ft).
Its maximum speed is 200 km/h (124 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Designed in the early 1970s and first flown in 1973, the M-15 was ordered in large numbers by the Soviet Union but proved heavy, noisy, and uneconomical compared to the piston-powered An-2 it was meant to replace. Only about 175 were built before production ended in 1981.

Variants

Produced in a single basic configuration; the designation M-15 was the only production variant.

Where you'll see it

Operated by Soviet collective farm aviation (Aeroflot agriculture division) in the USSR and by Polish agricultural aviation; the type was phased out rapidly due to poor economics.

Related aircraft

AircraftIQ — the aircraft field guide: 5,024 recognition guides, live overhead identification, works offline.