The Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków once again became a partner of the exceptional event that is Foundry Spring, organised by Krakodlew S.A. This was already the third edition of this inspiring event, which brings together the worlds of industry, technology and science with entertainment and education for the whole family.
On Saturday, 31 May 2025, children, teenagers and adults had the opportunity to take part in an extraordinary day full of workshops, demonstrations and interactive attractions.
An exceptional highlight of this year’s edition was a meeting with Krzysztof Hołowczyc – one of the most recognisable figures in Polish motorsport. Hołowczyc is a multiple European Rally champion who in 2015 took third place in the overall classification of the Dakar Rally – the best result in the history of Polish drivers in this event.
During the event, he talked about his passion, his road to success and the most important moments in his career. Meeting him was an inspiring experience for all fans of motorsport and technology.
At 11:00, participants of Foundry Spring had the chance to meet Łukasz Sojka – the author of the fascinating book “Sink the Third Reich” about the daring aerial Operation Chastise, carried out by the British RAF in May 1943. Its aim was to destroy German dams in the Ruhr Valley, which was to seriously disrupt the industrial production of the Third Reich.
After the meeting, we invited visitors to special screenings in our Museum cinema with real aircraft seats.
Visitors could watch “Attack on the Sorpe Dam” – a moving, half-hour docu-drama film that sheds light on a lesser-known episode of one of the most famous air operations of World War II – the same one described in the previously mentioned book – Operation Chastise.
The film focuses on the attack on the Sorpe Dam, which – unlike the better-known Möhne and Eder dams – was constructed using earth-and-concrete technology and was an extremely difficult target. Its destruction required a different approach and precise manoeuvring of the Avro Lancaster bomber. In the precision attack on German dams in the heart of the Ruhr Valley, specially designed “bouncing bombs” were used. It is a story of courage, engineering genius and great risk. The attack on Sorpe was carried out by, among others, the crew of George “Johnny” Johnson – the last living participant of the mission (until December 2022), to whom the film was dedicated.
The production of the film took 7 years and was carried out almost entirely by a single digital artist, who was solely responsible for modelling, animations, special effects and editing. The project was preceded by 9 years of work on a digital 3D reconstruction of the Lancaster aircraft in the Dambuster version, which ultimately served as the visual basis for the film.
The lecture and film screenings were accompanied by an exhibition of aviation paintings by Mark Postlethwaite – one of the few artists who combine artistic talent with deep historical knowledge with equal mastery. His paintings, set in the realities of aviation history, stand out not only for their perfect technical precision and faithfulness to facts, but also for their exceptional sense of light and atmosphere. In his works, he captures the unique emotions accompanying aerial combat and the wonder of flight. It is no surprise that his works are found in private and museum collections around the world.
Foundry Spring was organised by Krakodlew S.A. – one of the largest and most experienced foundry companies in Poland. It specialises in the production of heavy steel and iron castings for the energy, mining, metallurgical and machinery industries. Thanks to its modern technological facilities, its own design office and highly qualified staff, the company carries out both standard and the most demanding engineering projects.
We invite you to view the photo report from the event:
