On 31st August 2024, Benediktinský aeroklub Broumov (the Benedictine Aeroclub Broumov) organised yet another edition of its traditional open-door day. As in the previous years, the event enjoyed great interest among the local community, as well as attracted dozens of aviation enthusiasts and curious visitors.
A passion for aviation has many sides and a full array of ways to come true. Although the public attention is usually focused on big, widely advertised commercial or military air shows, which attract tens of thousands of guests, there are also many small aviation events held each year by local flying clubs.
Despite the fact they usually are not marked by highlights like modern military jets or unique historical aircraft, such local meetings are organised with great enthusiasm and offer a lot of aviation fun to its visitors. In addition, the aeroclub shows offer an opportunity to become familiar with a broad choice of gliders, general aviation and ultralight aircraft which usually are not among the frequent participants of mainstream events – although they have a considerable share in everyday aviation operations.
And precisely for the purpose of visiting such a local event we headed to Broumov, a small city located in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic, a few kilometres from the Polish border. The town and its region are a growing tourist destination, known for its former Benedictine Monastery of Saint Wenceslaus (now a museum and cultural centre) and the oldest wooden church in the country, as well as a scenic countryside. The city is also a home of small, but bustling flying club with a long-lasting tradition.
History of the flying club in Broumov dates back before the World War II, when the first airfield and a hangar were built there. And though the first aviation activities in the area were disrupted by the war, the aeroclub was re-established yet in 1945.
In 1947, the aeroclub moved to new airfield, located at the outskirts of the town, in the vicinity of Martínkovice village.
Interesting fact is that the airfield was built in the area of former prisoner-of-war camp, established in Broumov during the Great War. The camp included more than three hundred buildings and could accommodate up to thirty thousand prisoners. Most of the POWs came from Russia and Serbia, and about 2,500 of them died in the camp. Today, a small military cemetery located between the runway and Martínkovice church is the only, and silent, witness of the long-gone history.
On the last weekend of summer holidays of 2024, the aeroclub – for the third year in a row – held an open doors event, named Day of the Open Airfield.
As in the previous years, visitors to the airfield could see the static exhibition of aircraft and gliders, as well as enjoy sightseeing flights over the picturesque region of the Sudeten Mountains. Among the showcased aeroplanes there was an interesting collection of Czech-developed UL aircraft, such as AirLony Skylane, Atec Zephyr 2000, Evektor-Aerotechnik EV-97 Eurostar 2000, TL-Ultralight TL-3000 Sirius and Fantasy Air Allegro SW. Many of the guests were especially interested in S-7 Pirát, a self-built aeroplane based on Rans S-7 design. Last but not least, there was 3Xtrim EOL-2 Racek, an UL aircraft of Polish origin.
No less interesting was the sailplane exhibition which included two well-known Czechoslovak designs from the 1960s, made by Orličan aviation plant in Choceň, VT-16 Orlík and VT-116 Orlík II ZK. They were supported by Rolladen-Schneider LS-1D, Schleicher ASW 15B and Schleicher ASH 26 E self-powered glider, as well as three aircraft developed by Schempp-Hirth company – Janus A, Nimbus 2B and Ventus C (more information about some of the aircraft listed above can be found in the highlighted links).
The flying programme of the Day of the Open Airfield offered the visitors the possibility of sightseeing flights over the scenic landscape of Broumov region. Most of them were performed with Piper PA-28-180 Cherokee C but also to take flight with some of the UL aircraft from the static display.
Another highlight of the event was the possibility of flying with the iconic German glider, Bergfalke IV. The sailplane was developed and produced by well-known aviation engineer and aircraft designer Egon Scheibe, and is the final design of the Bergfalke (English: mountain hawk) glider family he created in the 1950s (more about the glider can be found in our article from Photo of the Week series – Scheibe Bergfalke IV)
During the open day, two examples of the glider were available for short introductory and sightseeing flights. The sailplanes enjoyed a great interest from the public and were winch launched into the skies all along the day.
More images from Broumov open day:
