Polish Aviation Museum Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Polish Aviation Museum
The entrance to the museum with three TS-11 Iskra airplanes.
Established	1964; 61 years ago (1964)
Location	Kraków, Poland
Type	Aviation museum

The Polish Aviation Museum (in Polish: Muzeum Lotnictwa Polskiego) is a large museum in Kraków, Poland, filled with historic aircraft and airplane engines. It's built on the grounds of an old airport called Kraków-Rakowice-Czyżyny, which is one of the oldest airfields in the world. The airport was first built in 1912 by the country of Austria-Hungary.

The airport closed in 1963, and the museum opened just one year later in 1964. It has become so famous that CNN once named it one of the best aviation museums in the world. For many years, the museum's planes were kept in old hangars that were often cold in the winter. But in 2010, a brand-new main building was opened to better protect and display these amazing flying machines.

The Museum's Amazing Collection
- A Special Collection from Germany
- Polish Airplanes Through History
What Kinds of Aircraft Can You See?
More Images from the Museum
See also

The Museum's Amazing Collection

The Albatros B.II was a German plane used during World War I.

The museum has a huge collection of over 200 aircraft. It also has around 100 aircraft engines and many sailplanes, which are planes that fly without an engine. Some of the planes in the museum are the only ones of their kind left in the entire world.

Besides the aircraft, the museum has a large library with books about aviation and a huge collection of photographs.

A Special Collection from Germany

The PWS-26 was a Polish training plane from before World War II.

The museum has 22 very rare airplanes that used to be in a German museum in Berlin before 1941. During World War II, these planes were moved to Poland to keep them safe from bombing raids. The original German museum was later destroyed in the war.

Today, the German Museum of Technology in Berlin says these planes belong to them and would like them back. However, because of the great damage Germany caused in Poland during the war, it is likely the collection will stay at the Polish Aviation Museum.

Polish Airplanes Through History

The PZL P.11 was a Polish fighter plane from the 1930s. This is the only one left in the world.

It's very hard to find Polish planes built between 1918 and 1939. This is because most of them were destroyed during World War II.

The museum has only two military planes from that time: a PZL P.11 and a PWS-26. They survived because German soldiers captured them and put them on display as war trophies. After the war, they became part of the museum's collection.

On the other hand, the museum has a nearly complete collection of every type of airplane that was built or used in Poland after 1945.

What Kinds of Aircraft Can You See?

The museum is home to many different types of flying machines from all over the world. You can see everything from old biplanes from World War I to modern jet fighters.

Airplanes

A Supermarine Spitfire, a famous British fighter plane from World War II.

The museum has a huge variety of airplanes. Some famous examples include:

Sopwith F.1 Camel: A famous British fighter plane from World War I.
PZL P.11c: The only surviving Polish fighter plane of its kind from the 1930s.
Supermarine Spitfire: A legendary British fighter from World War II.
North American T-6G Texan: A plane used to train pilots during and after World War II.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21: A supersonic jet fighter used by many countries during the Cold War.
Sukhoi Su-22: A jet fighter-bomber that was used by the Polish Air Force.
WSK-Mielec M-15 Belphegor: A very strange-looking jet-powered biplane designed for farm work.

Helicopters

The BŻ-1 GIL was the first helicopter designed in Poland.

The museum also has a collection of helicopters. These include:

BŻ-1 GIL: The very first helicopter designed and built in Poland.
WSK SM-1: The first helicopter produced in large numbers in Poland, based on the Soviet Mil Mi-1.
Mil Mi-24: A large attack helicopter, often called a "flying tank."
Aérospatiale Alouette III: A light utility helicopter from France used for many different jobs.

Gliders

Gliders are aircraft that fly without an engine, using currents of air to stay aloft. The museum has a large collection of Polish gliders, showing the country's long history of success in the sport. Some of them are:

SZD-9 Bocian: A popular two-seat training glider.
SZD-19 Zefir: A high-performance glider that set world records in the 1960s.
Wrona-bis: A simple training glider from the 1930s.