Aviation Museum Kunovice, Moravia, Czech Republic

4BeyondPrague 5:00 PM Oct 14, 2016

Good and set to get even better
As a regular visitor of this museum, I can say with confidence that it has improved a great deal in recent years. The ownership of the facility changed a few years ago and much needed money and support is finding it's way into the collection. The 2016 season saw the museum open with a new ticket office and entry building that leaves a much better impression on the visitor than the old one did. It is also large enough to make a decent display of the museum's souvenir items and accomodate a soft drinks vending machine. The museum collection is currently fully outdoors. As such, all the aircraft show one degree or another of weather exposure. Happily, the museum is putting in place the bureaucratic details to build a permanent indoor structure for many of their aircraft. The museum has a particular focus on local aviation history, particularly the Let aircraft company which is also located at the Kunovice airport. Many of the aircraft in the museum's collection are Let products or connected to that company in some way. I paid two visits to the museum during 2016, one in spring and one in autumn, and the autumn visit showed that work had been done to freshen the appearances of at least two of the aircraft in the collection. The museum has some very clear plans for the future and deserves to be supported even if it doesn't look like much at the moment. It went through years of stagnation before new ownership took over so it has some catching up to do and is working towards that. It's very much a work in progress. While the museum has no restaurant of their own, a short walk away on the airport property is a pub/restaurant called OK-BAR. While they are understandably geared to a primarily Czech speaking clientelle, their menu hasa respectable selection of items on it and I have from time to time met English speaking staff there. The nearest washrooms to the museum are located at OK-BAR, but once you pay your admission to the museum, you can come and go as you please from it if you need the washrooms or something to eat. The museum does have some parking available for guests, but there is also a train line running directly past it. The stop is called "Kunovice Zastávka", but it is only a small siding on the rail line so one must be watchful for the museum from the train window or listen carefully to stop announcements.

4Zvirb 5:00 PM Apr 28, 2015

Very interesting collection of 1950s-era aircraft
Kunovice Aircraft Museum (Slovacke Letecke Muzeum) Located around 10 minutes by car from the centre of Uherské Hradište, this open-air display allows you to have a self-guided, hands-on look at a range of post-WW2 military and civil aircraft. The museum’s grassy paddock houses one Mi-4 helicopter and 22 aeroplanes, including some supersonic aircraft with intact bombs, cannons and rocket launchers. Although all of the aircraft are unfortunately in various stages of deterioration as a result of being fully exposed to the elements for an extended period, the museum still provides a very interesting close-up exposure to formerly quite secret military equipment. The collection highlights aircraft produced by “Let Aircraft Industries” at the in the Kunovice Aircraft Factory in the east of Moravia, and which was formerly used by the Czechoslovak Air Force. I found the MiG-15, MiG-19 and MiG-21 to be particularly interesting and was impressed that the 1959-vintage MiG-21 had an amazing ground speed of 2125km/h. The Su-7 fighter bomber/tactical nuclear bomb carrier, with its dramatically-styled swept wing, was also very impressive to walk around. You are able to climb inside the Avia II-14T (Iljusin II-14) transport and parachute plane, but the other exhibits can only be viewed from the outside. Entry was CK 60, plus a further CK 50 for a Photography/Video Permit. I highly recommend this museum if you’re interested in aeroplanes and/or history.