“With the Wind and Against the Wind — Civil Aviation” is the largest exhibition dedicated to civil aviation in Poland and one of the largest expositions of its kind in Europe. It covers an impressive area of over 3,000 m² and presents a comprehensive overview of the history of Polish civil aviation — from its pioneering beginnings to modern achievements in air sports, aircraft design and service operations. It was opened to the public on 24 August 2025 during the Polish Aviation Day celebrations.
The exposition is housed in a modern hangar built on the site of the historic hangar of the 2nd Aviation Regiment in Kraków. As a result, in addition to its educational value, it also serves as a symbolic complement to a space with a rich aviation heritage. The exhibition was designed with the widest possible audience in mind — for aviation enthusiasts as well as families with children, seniors, school groups and people with disabilities. Adapted spaces, rest areas and a modern audio guide system facilitate comfortable viewing and enable full immersion in the world of aviation.
This is not just an exhibition to look at — it is a space for experiencing. Visitors can use interactive flight simulators that allow them to feel the thrill of take-off, flight and landing, without leaving the ground.
The exhibition is divided into seven thematically interconnected spaces. Each reveals a different aspect of the history of civil aviation — from amateur designs to passenger aircraft, from air sports to the national airline.
In the first part of the exhibition — “The beginnings of aviation in the Polish lands” — visitors will meet the pioneers who dreamed of flying at a time when simply rising above the ground was a challenge. Replicas of the first hang gliders, gliders and a sculpture of the legendary “peasant Icarus” Jan Wnęk recall the enthusiasm and courage of those times. Noteworthy exhibits include a replica of Czesław Tański’s hang glider — one of the first flying machines designed by a Pole — and the Akar glider, the winner of the first Polish gliding competition in 1923.
The next space is devoted to the interwar period and the activities of the League for Air and Anti-Gas Defence (LOPP), which popularised aviation among the public. It was during this time that Poles won international trophies — the International Tourist Aircraft Challenge Cup and the Gordon Bennett international balloon racing cup — and RWD aircraft, the Wrona and Żaba gliders, and the achievements of Polish engineers and designers built the reputation of the young aviation industry. In this space, visitors will also see a replica of the RWD-8 — a faithful reproduction by the Polish Aviation Museum of the most widely produced training aircraft in Poland before World War II. No original example has survived to the present day. The replica features an original PZInż. Junior 5800cc engine.
A separate section is devoted to the history of women in Polish aviation. The exhibition recalls such figures as Wanda Modlibowska and Stefania Wojtulanis-Karpińska — pilots, instructors and record-holders. Thanks to their commitment and skills, women permanently inscribed themselves in the history of Polish aviation.
Further in the exposition, visitors will find impressive documentation of air sports during the communist era, as well as extraordinary examples of engineering passion — such as the Gil helicopter, the first fully Polish rotorcraft developed at the Institute of Aviation.
The communist era was a time of intensive development of air sports and the aviation industry in Poland. Exhibits from this period present both official institutional designs — such as the IS-1 Sęp bis and IS-4 Jastrząb gliders — and extraordinary amateur initiatives. Here you will find the famous Kukułka (Cuckoo) — a light aircraft built in a block of flats in Leszno, in which its designer Eugeniusz Pieniążek escaped from communist Poland to Sweden, and the Prząśniczka (Spinning Wheel), which was built in a flat in Łódź. Among the gliders, there are legendary examples on which Poles won world championship titles: the Zefir flown by Edward Makula, the SZD-43 Orion flown by Jan Wróblewski, and a prototype of the Swift S-1 glider — a model still used in glider aerobatics around the world today.
The next space is devoted to aerobatics and relaxation. Viewers can learn about the successes of Polish champions in this field — including Krzysztof and Wacław Wieczorek. Among the exhibits is the Zlin Z 50LA aerobatic aircraft and the famous Zefir glider, on which Edward Makula won the world championship.
There is also a section dedicated to service aviation — passenger, medical and agricultural. Here visitors can see the Albatros B.II — the first Polish aircraft used for advertising purposes, the CSS-13 ambulance aircraft and the PZL-106 Kruk agricultural aircraft, which was used for crop spraying in Sudan, among other places.
The final part of the exhibition features a section on recreational aviation, air sports and the history of LOT Polish Airlines. Display cases present world-class gliders, a paragliding simulator and unique exhibits related to LOT — uniforms, memorabilia and aircraft models.
Particularly noteworthy is the restored PZL-104 Wilga aircraft — one of the most versatile aviation designs of the communist era — which still impresses with its functionality and aesthetics.
“With the Wind and Against the Wind” is not just an exhibition — it is a multi-dimensional story of passion, courage, technology and dreams. For over a hundred years, Poles have been carving out their place in the skies — despite changing political, economic and social conditions. The Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków pays tribute to them, showing how great and rich our aviation tradition is.
The exhibition is the result of many years of collection building, curatorial work and intergenerational cooperation. Thanks to this, visitors have the opportunity to see many exhibits that are being shown to the public for the first time. It is also a place of dialogue — between past and present, between technology and emotion, between generations of aviation enthusiasts.
You can read more about the exposition and the exhibits on display on the exhibition page.
PATRONS
Platinum patron of the exhibition:
Polska Grupa Lotnicza
LOT Polish Airlines
Gold patron of the exhibition:
Kraków Airport
Krakodlew S.A.
Pratt & Whitney Tubes
Silver patron of the exhibition:
ZPUE Koronea Group
PZL Mielec
Sponsors:
New Era Materials
Fibometry
Exhibition ambassadors:
Adela Dankowska
Jolanta Przybylak
Stanisław Błasiak
Jacek Bogdański
Jerzy Makula
Marian Wieczorek
