Throughout the world there are some superlative aviation museums. To mind, most of us will think of the Smithsonian collection, the Imperial War Museum or the US Navy or USAF museums. But there are a number of truly excellent ones that are situated world wide. One of them is the Polish Aviation Museum in Cracow.

As many of us are not able to travel to these locations, Stratus has begun a series on various muesums around the world and it is quite logical that they start with the one closest to their home. The Cracow museum is sited at one of the first aviation facilities in Poland, starting well before WWI and continuing until just recently when it had to reduce runway length due to construction around the field. In addition to being the home of the museum, it is still being used by light aircraft and helicopters.

One of the things that makes the Cracow museum unique is that this is the city in which the Germans stored those aircraft that were salvagable after the bombing of the German Aviation Museum in Berlin during WWII. In there are a number of WWI German airframes as well as the unique Me-209 world speed record aircraft from 1939, though not exactly complete or in pristine condition.

Add to this the large number of Polish designed and built aircraft including a superb PZL 11c and PWS 26. The museum also houses just about every MiG jet fighter ever exported or build in Poland. In addition, there are western aircraft such as the Spitfire, T-6, F-84F, Jaguar, Viggen and many, many others. The museum also houses what has to be one of the largest sailplane and engine collections in the world.

The author has divided the book into several sections covering up to the 1930s, 1930s to the present and the open air collection. It is outside that one will find most of the jets as there simply is not enough room to house these aircraft indoors. As such, some have shown the effects of being outside for so long.

Images are superbly done and all are in full color with a short history of each exhibit and how it came to be in the museum. It is a book that is serious eye candy and one that I can quite easily recommend to the enthusiast and casual reader alike.

July 2010

Review book courtesy of MMP Books, where you can order your copy of this and many other superb aviation and modeling books. The book is also available through Casemate Publishing in the US and Platypus Publications in Australia.

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