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Polish Aviation Museum
Jak-17UTI.JPG
Yak-17UTI in front of the Polish Aviation Museum
Established 1964
Location Kraków, Poland
Type Aviation museum
AlbatrosBII
Albatros B.II
Tu-134 PLL LOT w Krakowie Tu-134 LOT Polish Airlines stored in Cracow
Tupolev Tu-134
Lim6bis MLP
Lim-6bis in Museum (behind it - the "MiG alley")
LWD SZPAK
LWD Szpak-4T
PWS-26
PWS-26
RWD 13
RWD-13
WSK-Mielec M-15 1
WSK-Mielec M-15 (Belphegor)
TS-11 Iskra
TS-11 Iskra
LWD-Junak-3 PICT0033
WSK TS-9 Junak 3
Gil
BŻ-1 GIL (SP-GIL)
EM-10 Bielik
EM-10 Bielik

The Polish Aviation Museum (Polish: Muzeum Lotnictwa Polskiego w Krakowie) is a huge museum in Kraków, Poland. It's filled with amazing old aircraft and their powerful engines. The museum is built on the old Kraków-Rakowice-Czyżyny Airport, which isn't used for flights anymore. This airfield was started by Austria-Hungary in 1912, making it one of the oldest in the world! The museum first opened its doors in 1964, just a year after the airport closed. CNN even ranked it as the eighth best aviation museum in the world!

For its first 50 years, the museum used four old airport hangars to show off its collection. These buildings weren't perfect for a museum. For example, they got very cold in winter. Things got much better when a brand new main building opened on September 18, 2010.

Explore the Amazing Collection

The museum has a huge collection of over 200 aircraft from 2005. Many of these planes are super rare and can't be found anywhere else in the world. This includes special sailplanes and about 100 different aircraft engines. The museum also has a large aviation library and lots of old photos in its archives.

Rare Planes from Germany

The museum has 22 incredibly rare airplanes that were once part of a German aviation museum in Berlin. These planes were moved to German-occupied Poland during World War II. This was done to keep them safe from Allied bombing, as the German museum itself was destroyed.

The German Museum of Technology in Berlin still believes these planes belong to them. They especially want back the planes that are very important to German aviation history. However, it doesn't look like these planes will be returned anytime soon. This is partly because of the huge damage Germany caused in Poland during the war.

Polish Aircraft History

The museum has very few Polish planes from the years 1918 to 1939. This is because almost all of them were destroyed during the Nazi German occupation of Poland. This includes planes that were in Polish museums before the war.

Only two examples of Polish military aircraft from before the war survived. These are a PZL P.11 (the only one left in the world!) and a PWS-26. They survived because the Germans kept them as war trophies. After the war, they became part of the collection now at the museum. A few Polish civilian planes from before the war were also returned by Romania and eventually ended up here.

On the other hand, the museum has almost every type of airplane that Poland developed or used after 1945.

Books and Publications

The museum also publishes many books! They create dozens of books, photo albums, and brochures about aviation history. This includes information on how Poland designed and built aircraft before the invasion of Poland in 1939. They also cover the period from 1945 to the 1960s. Some of their most popular books tell the stories of the 16 Polish squadrons that fought with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Battle of Britain. They also cover Poland's fight for independence during the First World War.

Aircraft on Display

Here's a list of some of the amazing aircraft you can see at the museum:

The Museum also has some other incomplete aircraft and some stored away.

Gliders and Motor Gliders

The museum also has a collection of gliders, which are aircraft that fly without an engine.

  • IS-1 Sępbis
  • IS-3 ABC
  • IS-4 Jastrząb
  • IS-A Salamandra
  • IS-B Komar 49
  • IS-C Żuraw
  • S-1 Swift
  • SZD-6x Nietoperz
  • SZD-8bis Jaskółka
  • SZD-9 bis Bocian 1A
  • SZD-10bis Czapla
  • SZD-12 Mucha 100
  • SZD-15 Sroka
  • SZD-17x Jaskółka L
  • SZD-18 Czajka
  • SZD-19 Zefir
  • SZD-21 Kobuz 3
  • SZD-22 Mucha Standard
  • SZD-25A Lis
  • SZD-43 Orion
  • Warsztaty Szybowcowe Wrona-bis
  • W.W.S.2_Żaba

They also have some motor gliders, which are gliders with a small engine.

  • HWL Pegaz

Helicopters on Display

You can also see various helicopters at the museum:

  • Aérospatiale Alouette III
  • Bell CH-136 (Canadian Bell OH-58 Kiowa)
  • BŻ-1 GIL
  • BŻ-4 Żuk
  • JK-1 Trzmiel
  • Mil Mi-4 A
  • Mil Mi-4 ME
  • WSK Mi-2 URP
  • Saunders-Roe Skeeter AOP.12
  • WSK Mi-2Ch
  • WSK SM-1 (licence Mil Mi-1)
  • WSK SM-2

Aircraft Engines Collection

SO-1 MLP Kraków 01
turbojet engine SO-1
Lyulka AL-7F turbojet
turbojet engine Lyulka AL-7F

The museum has a fantastic collection of aircraft engines, showing how they've changed over time.

  • AI-14R
  • AI-24WT
  • Alfa Romeo 126 RC 34
  • Argus As 10c
  • Argus As 410
  • Argus As 5
  • Argus As 7
  • Argus As 8
  • Armstrong Siddeley Genet
  • Austro-Daimler DM 200
  • Avia M-332
  • Avia M-337
  • Benz Bz.IVd
  • BMW 132 Z
  • BMW 801 D2
  • BMW IIIa
  • Bramo 323 Fafnir
  • Breda (lic. SPA 6a)
  • Bristol Cherub I
  • Bristol Pegasus X
  • Clerget Blin 9B
  • Daimler-Benz DB 600 G
  • Farman 12 WE
  • Farman 9 EFR
  • Gnome-Rhône 9KRd Mistral
  • Gnome-Rhône 9Ab Jupiter
  • GTD-350
  • Hirth HM 504A
  • Hirth HM 508
  • Hirth HM 60R
  • Hispano-Suiza 12X
  • Hispano-Suiza 82
  • Isotta Fraschini Bianchi V 4B
  • Junkers Jumo 205
  • Junkers Jumo 211
  • Junkers L 8
  • Klimov M-103
  • Klimov VK-105 PF
  • Le Rhône 9
  • Liberty L-12
  • LIT-3 (lic. Ivchenko AI-26)
  • Lorraine-Dietrich 12 EB
  • Lyulka AL-7F
  • Maybach HSLU
  • Maybach Mb.IV
  • Mercedes Benz F-7502
  • Mercedes D.IIIa
  • Mercedes D.IVa
  • Mercedes D IVb
  • Mercedes E 4F
  • Mikulin AM-34
  • Mikulin AM-35A
  • Mikulin M-42
  • Mikulin AM-38F
  • NAG C.III
  • Praga Doris 208B
  • Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp
  • PZInż. Junior
  • PZInż. Major Typ 4
  • PZL Pegaz II
  • PZL Pegaz VIII
  • PZL WN-3
  • R-11
  • R-13
  • R-27
  • RAF 3A Napier
  • RAF 4A Daimler
  • RD-10A
  • RD-500
  • RD-9B
  • Renault 12FE
  • Renault 6Q11
  • Rolls-Royce Eagle Mk IX
  • Rolls-Royce Kestrel II S
  • Rolls-Royce Merlin Mk XX
  • 9D21
  • R-11 Zemlya (SCUD)
  • Salmson 9 AD
  • Salmson Z-9
  • Siemens-Halske Sh 14
  • Wójcicki's ramjet engine
  • Sunbeam Mohawk
  • Shvetsov ASh-21
  • Shvetsov ASh-62 IR
  • Shvetsov ASh-82 FN
  • Shvetsov M-11 D
  • Shvetsov M-11 FR
  • Walter HWK 109-501
  • Walter HWK 109-507
  • Walter Minor 4-III
  • Walter Mistral K-14
  • Wright R-2600-23 Cyclone 14
  • Wright Whirlwind R-975
  • WSK Lis-2
  • WSK NP-1
  • WSK SO-1

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Museo Polaco de Aviación para niños

  • Culture of Kraków
  • List of aerospace museums
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