Logo of the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków

Weekend Welcome to Spring

DATE:05 / 04 / 2024
Plakat Wydarzenia Bocian Nad Tatrami

This coming weekend, 6–7 April, two special events will take place at our Museum!

6 April, Saturday

Screening of the film “Stork over the Tatras — the story of a gliding altitude record”

It was 5 November 1966, and in front of the hangar of the Tatra Aero Club in Nowy Targ stood the Bocian D SP-2029 glider, prepared for flight. The crew, consisting of instructor pilot Stanisław Józefczak and pilot Jan Tarczoń, waited for the right moment to go for the record… for the world record in altitude! That is when the story of an unbeaten record began — a story that continues to this day. During this flight, Stanisław Józefczak set three altitude records in the two-seat glider category: two national (still standing) and one world record. These are: absolute altitude — 12,560 m, altitude gain — 11,680 m, and a world record in altitude gain — 11,680 m.

Last July, the Nowy Targ airfield was visited by the aforementioned Lt. Col. Pilot Jan Tarczoń, together with representatives of the Air Force Museum in Dęblin, which in cooperation with the Nowy Targ Aero Club was producing a documentary film about this incredible feat and commemorating the legendary aviator that Stanisław Józefczak undoubtedly was.

Poster for the Stork over the Tatras event
Poster for the Stork over the Tatras event

The result of this undertaking is the documentary film “Stork over the Tatras — the Story of a Gliding Altitude Record”, which we will be able to watch together during a screening to be held on 6 April (Saturday) at 4:00 p.m. in the conference hall of the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków. Undoubtedly, a great highlight of the screening will be a meeting with the film’s main protagonist, Lt. Col. Pilot Jan Tarczoń, and listening to the original archival interview with Stanisław Józefczak, in which he described his historic flight. In the lobby of the main building, visitors will be able to admire photographs of gliders during wave flights over the Tatras, taken by the well-known aviation photographer and gliding enthusiast from Nowy Targ, instructor pilot Jakub Świst.

Saturday’s event is a unique opportunity for aviation enthusiasts to feel part of the aviation family, and to become more familiar with the airfield in Nowy Targ and its history. On behalf of the Air Force Museum in Dęblin, the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków and the Nowy Targ Aero Club, we warmly invite you — admission is free!

7 April, Sunday

Balloon Welcome to Spring

Poster for the Balloon Welcome to Spring event
Poster for the Balloon Welcome to Spring event

The 38th Hot Air Balloon Model Competition will take place on the Museum’s MiG Avenue. The competition will be held between 9:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., and participants can be persons up to 14 years of age.

We warmly invite you to come and watch and cheer!