The grant of 423,000 crowns comes from a program for the protection of movable cultural heritage and is intended to protect the exhibits from adverse environmental influences. Thanks to it, the museum will provide the aircraft with a new coat, which should help preserve it for future generations, while also restoring its appearance to how it last flew approximately six decades ago.
“It features a striking acrobatic coloring, which we dare say is very attractive. It combines factory greenish camouflage with red stripes and accents. So visitors definitely have something to look forward to,” says the secretary of the museum's historical committee, Lukáš Skláda.
The museum staff began repairs on the exhibit last year as part of the first phase of the project. The ministry also contributed to that, with an amount of 260,000 crowns. Experts, in collaboration with Aircraft Industries, have already removed the old layers of paint and prepared it for further conservation interventions. Those are up next.
“During the spring, we conducted minor interventions on the aircraft that were not financially demanding. Now that we have secured everything necessary, we can fully engage in the project again, including the new paint. We are very grateful for the help from the ministry and other partners; without them, this project would be difficult to implement,” adds Hrabec.
The C-11 aircraft with production number 171721 is among the oldest exhibits of the Aviation Museum in Kunovice, both in terms of its year of manufacture and its inclusion among the collection items. It was produced in the Kunovice aircraft factory in 1956 and subsequently served in the Czechoslovak army, where it was part of a three-member army acrobatic group, among other roles.
However, with the arrival of the 1960s, the army decided to retire the C-11 aircraft, and retirement also came for this particular specimen, which ended up being parked for several years at the Aviation Repair Shop in Trenčín. It was discovered there in 1975 by museum staff from Kunovice and taken back to the city where it was made.
“This aircraft is very important for Kunovice. It is the first type of aircraft that was truly mass-produced here. Therefore, we are pleased that after 50 years since this specimen arrived at our museum, we can provide it with such care,” concludes Hrabec, adding that the museum staff intends to exhibit the aircraft next year.
