Stanislaw Skarzynski
Stanislaw Skarzynski (Stanisław Skarżyński, May 1 1899 - June 26 1942) was the Polish aviator.
He fought in the Polish-Soviet war and was wounded in legs on August 16, 1920. Unable to further service in infantry, he joined the military aviation.
In 1931 he flew around Africa in the Polish aircraft PZL L-2 (SP-AFA), on a distance of 25 050 km.
On May 7/8 1933, Skarzynski flew in a small single-seater tourist airplane RWD-5bis (SP-AJU) across the southern Atlantic, from Saint-Louis, Senegal to Maceio in Brazil. The flight took 20 hours 30 minutes (17 hours above the ocean). He crossed 3582 km, establishing a distance record in a tourist plane FAI class. RWD-5bis was the smallest plane that have ever flown across the Atlantic - its empty weight was below 450 kg (990 lbs) (only high-tech Rutan Voyager of 1986 was a bit lighter).
In the World War II, Lt. Col. Skarzynski was a pilot in 305 Polish Bomber Squadron in Britain. On June 26, 1942, returning from a great bombing mission on Bremen, his Wellington fell into North Sea due to damage. Skarzynski was the only crew member, who sunk - the rest were later rescued.
