27/06/2025
Ian Allan Aviation Tours recently completed a 10-day tour of Germany and Poland with customers from the US, Norway, and the UK, focusing on aviation history, military museums, and Cold War heritage sites. The first seven days were spent travelling across Germany, visiting a carefully selected range of museums and historically significant locations.
The itinerary began with the Traditionsgemeinschaft Lufttransport Museum at Wunstorf airbase, followed by the Luftfahrtmuseum Laatzen-Hannover, which provided an excellent overview of both military and civilian aviation history.
The German leg of the trip continued with a comprehensive tour of Berlin Tempelhof Airport, where the preserved terminal and airfield structures told the story of the Berlin Airlift and Cold War Berlin. Heading South next and a particular highlight was the guided tour of the Maybach I & II & Zepplin surface and underground bunker complexes, offering a fascinating insight into Germany’s wartime command infrastructure and its later Cold War use.
Further north, we visited the Aviation Technical Museum Rechlin & the Rechlin Airfield. One of the standout experiences was at Peenemünde, where the Historisch-Technisches Museum and surrounding area gave a sobering account of the V-weapons programme.
The final three days were spent in Poland, starting with a visit to the Armaments Museum in Poznań, which offered an excellent collection of military vehicles, artillery, and aviation equipment. From there, we travelled to the Lubuskie Military Museum in Drzonów, noted for its open-air displays of aircraft, armoured vehicles, and Cold War-era equipment, a real gem of a museum. The trip culminated with a full day at the Antidotum Airshow in Leszno — one of Poland’s premier aviation events. The show featured a wide array of civilian and military flying displays, including aerobatic teams, classic warbirds, and fast jet demonstrations. Some highlights included displays by the Polish Mi-2 HeliForce, The Flying Bulls, The Hawks of Romanian, and an impressive evening of pyrotechnic aerobatic performances including one by the Polish Air Force C130 Herky Demo Team. This provided a fitting and memorable end to a highly rewarding tour.
