Bulgarian Aviation Museum

Main attraction - the only original Ar 196 in Europe

The Bulgarian Aviation Museum is located in the immediate vicinity of Plovdiv Airport in the village of Kumanowo, about twelve kilometers from Plovdiv . It consists of two halls and an open exhibition area. The museum is the only one of its kind in Bulgaria and has 60 aircraft and more than 2,800 other exhibits.

The museum was founded on September 21, 1991 by Colonel Jorgo Keranov.

Exhibits

First attempts to set up an aviation museum in Bulgaria were made after the end of the First World War, but failed again and again due to the circumstances. Valuable exhibits were also lost in the process. After the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine on November 27, 1919, combat aircraft were not allowed to be stored for museum purposes, but had to be scrapped. Items such as the Bf 109 , Ju 87 , and Ju 52 stored after the Second World War were also lost because the hangars were needed for other purposes. The situation today is not much different when you look at the machines parked in the open air, see gallery.

In the first exhibition hall, documents, uniforms, trophies and photos can be seen, as well as the oldest Bulgarian aircraft with adjustable wings, which Georgi Boschinov applied for a patent in 1912 and which he built under difficult conditions between 1916 and 1926. The second hall houses models of the planes and helicopters that were and are flown by the Bulgarian Air Force , as well as the Soyuz landing capsule with which Georgi Ivanov , the first Bulgarian cosmonaut, went into space in 1979. 70 military, sport, agricultural and transport aircraft and helicopters are on display in the outdoor area, including a German Arado Ar 196 that was used in World War II.