"The Aviator"

One of the first aviation-related monuments in Europe, “The Aviator” is an impressive 50-foot monument dedicated to the Polish aviators who died in World War I and the Polish-Soviet War. The bronze-cast statue depicts an early pilot leaning on a propeller, and on the granite base is a relief of the Polish air force “checkerboard” insignia. Designed by renowned Polish sculptor Edward Wittig in 1923, it was first unveiled in 1932 at what was then Warsaw’s airport.

When the city was occupied by the Germans in World War II, the invaders intended to dismantle the monument, but met opposition from German pilots stationed nearby. The monument was finally destroyed with the rest of Warsaw in 1944, but in 1967 it was reconstructed and placed on a prominent intersection on the road to the current Warsaw Chopin International Airport.

Today the monument is a gathering place for many memorial events, including Polish Aviation Day on August 28, which commemorates the victory of pilots Franciszek Żwirko and Stanisław Wigura in the International Touring Aircraft Competition in Berlin in 1932. These annual competitions emphasized pilot skill and awarded points to new aircraft designs for carrying passengers, lowest minimum controllable airspeed, top speed trials, a STOL competition (over a 27-foot obstacle in said passenger airplanes), and a rally around central Europe. Polish pilots and aircraft consistently earned top points in the categories, along with several Italian and German teams. Sadly, Żwirko and Wigura were killed in a crash in bad weather two weeks later in the same aircraft with which they had won the competition.

Aviation Day commemorations at the monument highlight the local heritage and celebrate “civil and military airports, pilots and flight attendants, airlines employees and air traffic controllers in Poland and all over the world.”

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