Skarżysko Kamienna 2021-09-15
Suchoj Su-7 BKL nb 809. 2021.
Su-7 B in the Polish Army. 1964.
The decision to purchase the Su-7 B planes for armament was made at the turn of 1962-1963, and Bydgoszcz and the 3rd Aviation Regiment were selected as their stationed sites. The original contract was for 36 single-seat machines and 6 school, two-seat machines, which constituted the staff of one regiment with three squadrons.
The Polish air force received its first 6 Su-7 BM aircraft (53 series) a few months after Czechoslovakia, in June 1964. They were the only Su-7 BM version of the aircraft used in Poland. We received the next 12 Su-7 BKŁ aircraft in 1966. All these planes were located in Bydgoszcz.
Subsequent deliveries include; 1968 – 2 Su-7 BKŁ, 1969 – 3 Su-7 U, 1971 – 4 Su-7 BKŁ, 1 Su-7 U, 1972 – 12 Su-7 BKŁ, 1973 – 1 Su-7 U .
In the years 1974-1977 – 4 Su-7 U (delivered together with the Su-20 to Powidz). In 1986, these planes were transferred to the 3rd Aviation Regiment in Bydgoszcz.
Operation of Suchoj Su-7 B aircraft in Poland.
As for the station of the Su-7 aircraft, there is no doubt that it was an airport in Bydgoszcz. The base was powerful with plenty of facilities. In the first half of the 1970s, at least 30 shelter-hangars were built there for airplanes, which still exist (2021). Renovation workshops for such unique aircraft were also organized there.
For the 3rd PLM-B, the change took place in September 1988, when the regiment was renamed the 3rd Pomeranian Air Training and Combat Regiment due to the ending of Su-7 aircraft resources. Su-7 planes, starting with the Su-7 BM version, were gradually withdrawn from service, and in their place, PZL TS-11 Iskra planes were introduced.
In Poland, Su-7 planes were used until June 1990. As a result of the Helsinki Accords on the reduction of combat assets capable of carrying nuclear weapons, the operation of the Su-7 in the Polish Army was definitely over. Some of the planes were scrapped, but a significant number of them went to museums, mainly in 1994.
On March 6, 1992, the official dismantling of the military unit in Bydgoszcz took place, at which the regiment’s banner was said goodbye. On April 30, 1992, the 3rd Pomeranian Military Aviation Regiment was disbanded.
As a result of various events, 1 Su-7 BM (1970), 5 Su-7 BKŁ (1969, 1982, 2 x 1984, 1987) and 1 Su-7 U (from the 7th BB-R in Powidz) were lost. ).
It is worth noting that one Su-7 BKŁ nb 023 was handed over to the Czechoslovak aviation in exchange for a plane accidentally shot down by the Polish MiG-21 PFM in 1971.
At the beginning of 1988, the CCCP military handed over to Poland one Su-7 BKŁ in exchange for a plane destroyed in 1987 by a Soviet pilot during a flight to a repair plant.
Suchoj Su-7 BKL nb 809.
The Su-7 BKL nb 809 No. 7809 aircraft was delivered to Poland in 1972 as the thirty-second aircraft of this type for the Polish Army. The plane was still in service in Bydgoszcz. The plane made its last flights in 1992. The plane was on the slope in Mierzęcice for several years. At the end of the nineties, it was transferred to the Museum of the White Eagle in Skarżysko Kamienna. The plane is in good condition and looks good.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman