The Aviation Museum in Kunovice will complete the restoration of the historic C-11 aircraft this year—much earlier than originally planned. “Thanks to a generous grant from the Ministry of Culture and significant support from Aircraft Industries, the restoration, which was initially scheduled for completion in 2027, will be finished within this year,” says museum director Martin Hrabec.
The grant of CZK 423,000 comes from the Program for the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage and is intended to help preserve exhibits from the harmful effects of the environment. With this support, the museum will give the aircraft a new ‘coat’ that should help preserve it for future generations and also restore its appearance to what it looked like roughly sixty years ago when it last flew.
“It will feature a striking aerobatic livery, which we dare say is very attractive. It combines factory green-gray camouflage with red stripes and accents. So visitors definitely have something to look forward to,” says Lukáš Skládal, secretary of the museum’s historical committee.
Restoration work began last year as part of the project's first phase. The Ministry also supported that stage with a CZK 260,000 grant. In cooperation with Aircraft Industries, experts have already stripped the old layers of paint from the plane and prepared it for further conservation work—these steps are now underway.
“During the spring, we carried out minor interventions that weren’t financially demanding. Now that we have everything in place, we can fully proceed with the next stage of the project, including a fresh coat of paint. We are extremely grateful for the help of the Ministry and our other partners—without them, this project would be very difficult to realize,” Hrabec adds.
The C-11 aircraft, serial number 171721, is one of the oldest exhibits in the Kunovice Aviation Museum, both in terms of its production date and its inclusion in the museum’s collection. It was manufactured in the Kunovice aircraft factory in 1956 and later served in the Czechoslovak army, where it was part of a three-member military aerobatic team.
With the arrival of the 1960s, the army decided to retire the C-11s, and this particular aircraft was also decommissioned and stored for several years at the Aircraft Repair Works in Trenčín. There, in 1975, it was discovered by museum staff from Kunovice, who brought it back to the town where it was originally built.
“This aircraft is very important for Kunovice. It was the first aircraft type to be produced here on a truly large scale. That’s why we’re so pleased that, 50 years after this aircraft arrived at our museum, we can now give it the care it deserves,” concludes Hrabec, noting that the museum plans to put the restored aircraft on display next year.