On 4 December 2024, a contract was signed with the contractor for the new permanent exhibition, which will be opened to visitors in autumn 2025 in Hangar No. 5 of the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków.
The new Hangar No. 5, handed over to the Museum in October this year, is the largest exhibition space built during the institution’s existence. It has an area of over 3,000 m2 with a mezzanine and will be used to present nearly 40 unique aircraft, including gliders, to visitors.
Ahead of us is the next great task — the creation of a new permanent exhibition entitled “With the Wind and Against the Wind — Civil Aviation” in the reconstructed hangar, telling the story of the role and achievements of Polish sports pilots. This will be the first exhibition of such scale in Poland presenting the successes that began in 1932 with Żwirko and Wigura — said Tomasz Kosecki, Director of the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków, during the hangar handover ceremony.
Last Wednesday, 4 December, a contract was signed between the Museum and the company New Amsterdam, which won the tender for the realisation of the new exhibition in Hangar No. 5. The signatories were Tomasz Kosecki, Director of the Museum, and Wojciech Florczyk, President of the Board of New Amsterdam Sp. z o.o.
The scope of work covered by the contract includes the preparation of detailed designs, the production, delivery and installation of the exhibition elements. The first stage will be the design phase, which will last up to 90 days. This will be followed by deliveries, scenographic construction and the actual launch of the exhibition, planned for autumn 2025.
The subject of the exhibition is civil aviation, with particular emphasis on the sporting achievements of Polish aviators from the 1930s onwards. Approximately 40 large-scale objects — gliders and aircraft — will be presented, including a replica of the legendary pre-war Polish parasol-wing RWD-8, being built specially for the exhibition.
The exhibition will be complemented by interpretive elements in the form of scenographic installations, educational objects and display stands, panels and descriptions — also in interactive form. The project also includes a special multimedia attraction: a glider flight simulator and a hang glider flight simulator.
The layout and manner of displaying the aircraft will reference the exhibition trends of the 1920s. As a result of this approach, visitors’ attention will be focused on the unique, restored gliders.
We continuously acquire new exhibits through donations or deposits from aviators and their families, collectors and aviation enthusiasts. Therefore, we encourage the donation of memorabilia related to sports, passenger, agricultural, rescue or recreational aviation, in particular: sports trophies, photographs, documents, badges, decorations, uniforms and flight suits, as well as written memoirs — encourages Tomasz Kosecki, Director of the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków.
