Janusz Żurakowski
Janusz Żurakowski (born September 12, 1914 in Ryzawka, Poland - died on February 9, 2004 in Barry's Bay, Ontario, Canada) was a renowned Polish fighter and experimental aircraft pilot.
Mr Janusz Zurakowski was born in Ryzawka, Poland in 1914. He got his start in the business of aviation learning to fly gliders and in 1934 he joined the Polish Air Force. He was educated at the Polish air force officer's school and learned to fly powered in 1935 subsequently serving as a fighter pilot and flying instructor. In 1939 Mr Zurakowski had his combat debut in an outmoded PZL P7 against a flight of German Dornier 17s over Deblin. Following the defeat of Poland on September 17, 1939, and apparently not having had enough of long odds, he made his way to England to fly in the Battle of Britain. He was posted as a Pilot Officer to No 234 Squadron stationed at St Eval, Cornwall, a town named after the patron saint of flight testing. He flew the Spitfire Mk 1 against the Luftwaffe shooting down a Me 110 over the Isle of Wight in August 1940. The Germans responded by shooting him down nine days later whereupon he returned the favour shooting down two Me 109Es on the 12th and 13th day after that. Near the conclusion of the Battle of Britain, he scored a 'probable' over a Me 110. For his flying achievements he was awarded the Cross of Valour with bar in February 1941. In 1942 he flew again with his countrymen on Spitfire IIs in No 315 squadron rising to the post of Squadron leader of No 316 squadron and Deputy Wing leader of Polish No 1 Fighter wing stationed at Northolt often escorting USAAF bombers on daylight bombing raids. He was awarded the Virtuti Militari, the Polish equivalent of the Victoria Cross.
After the war, Poland's Soviet-imposed communist government exiled all of the noble Polish fighter pilots who had flown with the RAF as part of a ploy to downplay Polish patriotism. As a result, Zurakowski, among many other Polish war heroes, was forced to stay in Britain. In 1944 he was posted to the Empire Test Pilot's School and graduated from fixed wing serial number 2. Embarking upon his career in flight test with "C" squadron of the Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment upon graduation, he began testing naval aircraft for the Air Ministry. Never having landed an aircraft on a carrier before, he practiced landing on a deck painted on a runway. Following a brief secretarial SRB he proceeded to land the Seafire, a navalised Spitfire, on the deck of HMS Ravager without incident. While still at Boscombe Down he also flew, among other types, the Vampire, the deHavilland Hornet and the Gloster Meteor never letting pass "an opportunity to give the staff a display that included single engine aerobatics". In 1947 he was employed as an experimental pilot in Gloster. In the following years, he became one of the world's most famous experimantal and aerobatics pilots (he developed a new aerobatics figure, 'Zurabatic Cartwheel'). In 1952 he left for Canada and became an experimental pilot for A.V.Roe, Avro Canada. He broke the sound barrier flying the CF-100 plane. In 1958 he was the chief test pilot of the Avro Arrow. He retired before the cancellation of the Arrow program and built himself a small tourist lodge near Barry's Bay, Ontario which he and his family have operated for 40 years. After the program was canceled, Zurakowski decided to quit experimental aviation. In 1973 he was inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame.
A dramatic statue commemorating Zurakowski's involvement as chief test pilot of the Avro Arrow now exists at the crossroads of two main streets in his adopted hometown of Barry's Bay, Ontario.