On the centenary of one of the most important events in the history of Polish gliding, the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow organised an exhibition dedicated to the 2nd All-Poland Gliding Competition, which took place from 17 May to 14 June 1925 at Kepa Oksywska near Gdynia. These were the second national gliding championships, organised just two years after the pioneering 1st Glider Competition at Czarna Gora in 1923.
The competition at Oksywie was organised by the Association of Polish Aviators with support from the League of Air Defence, and honorary patronage was assumed by President of the Republic of Poland Stanislaw Wojciechowski. The competition aimed to stimulate interest in gliding, create foundations for domestic design thinking, and popularise piloting skills in this new and extremely demanding aviation discipline.
15 gliders participated in the competition, most of them built by teams of enthusiasts and young engineers representing both academic and military communities. 11 pilots competed, and the rivalry took place against the backdrop of wild terrain unsuited for flying — with an extensive cliff line and variable wind conditions.
The winner of the competition was Stanislaw Wrembel, who in the “Mis” glider, designed by engineer Michal Bohatyrew, achieved the best flight time of 65 seconds. Although the results of the competition may seem symbolic from today’s perspective, the event was groundbreaking: it taught through experiments, exposed design flaws, and directed aerodynamic development in Poland.
The exhibition presented original photographs, documents, and design sketches that evoked the atmosphere of those pioneering years. Visitors could also see press reports and learn about the profiles of the pilots and engineers who dared to take to the skies on the wings of their dreams — at a time when very little was yet known about flying in Poland.
The exhibition allowed visitors to view the 2nd All-Poland Gliding Competition not merely as a sporting event, but as a moment marking the birth of national gliding, which would soon become one of the hallmarks of Polish aviation. It also showed how the technical culture of the Second Polish Republic, despite limited resources, was able to build lasting foundations for future successes — both in pilot training and in the design of flying machines.
The exhibition was officially opened on 12 June 2025, and its inauguration was accompanied by a scholarly conference during which distinguished aviation history researchers presented the broader context of the Oksywie competition — from technical, social, and institutional perspectives.
The exhibition could be admired on the mezzanine of the Main Hangar of the Polish Aviation Museum until 30 September 2025.
Project team: Jaroslaw Dobrzynski, Dariusz Rutkowski, Mateusz Tulodziecki
Graphic design: Marcin Kralka
