Museum of Aviation, Košice
Established in 2002 in the Košice Airport compound, the Museum of Aviation in Košice documents the development of aviation in Slovakia from the earliest days up to 1943.
The idea of creating an aviation museum was raised soon after the foundation of the Technical Museum in 1947. Košice has a long connection with the history of ballooning and Slovakia’s second airport, after Bratislava, was built here in 1924. The General Milan Rastislav Štefánik Military Air Academy and Technical University are situated in the area, and the Academy provided hangars for the museum.
The museum houses an extensive collection of flying machines, engines, instruments and measuring and navigation equipment. Aeroplanes housed here include a MIG-15, a MIG-21, an SU-15 (donated by Ukrainian then president Kuchma), an SU-22, helicopters, a Z-37A ‘Čmeliak (Bumblebee)’ agricultural plane, a VT 116 Orlík glider and a Mitchel B-10 ultralite. The exhibition includes 18 original flying machines, 24 engines dating back to 1915, and about 50 model planes.
