Warka, Poland - Preserved Lim-2

Preserved near the town square in the street Ulica Dluga near the centre of Warka is this former Polish Air Force Lim-2. This aircraft was presented to the town of Warka by 1 PLM ( based at Minsk Mazowiecki ) back in August 1969 - now 40 years later it is still "on guard" and looks to be in reasonable condition having spent so long outside in all weathers.

The serial 026 can just about be discerned on the port nose although I do not know the construction number for this aircraft - if you know more about this particular aircraft please let me know, thanks.

The Lim-2 was a licensed built version of the Mig-15 bis built by PZL Mielec. Some sources suggests that as many as 18,000 Mig-15 aircraft were built in the USSR and in licenced overseas production. If you look at the nose of this aircraft you can see the large Nudelman N-37 37 mm cannon and a pair of NR-23 23 mm cannons. This aircraft was probably built in the late 1950s.

The town of Warka is on road 731 approx 25 miles South of Warsaw - the photo was taken in August 2009.

The link below will show you this same aircraft on a picture postcard of the town of Warka probably taken in the 1970s

EXTERNAL LINK TO POSTCARD of "026"

Spitfire Mk Vb - AB910

AB910 Spitfire Mk Vb at Berlin, Schonefeld, Germany - May 2008

The Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight operate several Spitfires including Spitfire Mk Vb AB910.

This year AB910 is wearing the colour scheme of the legendary Spitfire Mk Vb EN951 flown by Polish ace Sqn Ldr Jan Zumbach, Officer Commanding No 303 (Kosciuszko) Sqn in 1942.



Jan Zumbach decorated his personal aircraft with a Donald Duck character. The round badge is the 303 ( Polish ) Sqn Kosciuszko emblem. The blue and red flag alongside shows this aircraft to belong to a Squadron Leader. 303 Sqn used the code letters "RF - " with aircraft "D" being Zumbach's own Spitfire.

Zumbach finished the War with 13 1/3 confirmed aerial kills - in latter life he flew as a mercenary pilot in the Biafra War in Nigeria in the late 1960s.

AB910 was built in 1941 by Vickers at their Castle Bromwich factory in the Midlands. This aircraft flew with many different squardrons during WW2 and took part in operations against the German navy battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and also flew at the Dieppe and D-Day landings.

In 1945 this aircraft AB910 actually took off and flew a circuit with a female ground crew member sitting on the rear fuselage holding onto the tail ! Post war she flew as an air-racer until damaged in 1953.

The aircraft was donated to the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight in 1965 and has since performed at hundreds of airshows throughout the UK and Europe.


Take a look at the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight website

Take a look at the details about Spitfire AB910 on the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight website

Take a look at the biography of Sqn Ldr Jan Zumbach, Officer Commanding No 303 (Kosciuszko) Sqn on the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight website