Wrocław Wednesday, September 5, 2018.
Reflections after the 8th Meeting of Aviation Generations of Mielec.
Mr. Teofil Lenartowicz
My reflections after the 8th Meeting of Aviation Generations in Mielec.
A week after the meeting mentioned in the title, it is worth sharing your own reflection and observations made in the last days. These are strange reflections, since it is so hard to break through the historical truth. It is not for me to assess why the people responsible for spreading the aviation history of Mielec pretend that they do not know this history. And if they know it, they accuse the descendants of the people who made this history.
Many inhabitants of Mielec and people from wide aviation circles in the country will guess that it is about the Działowski Brothers, who were being forgotten in Mielec. Since my ears are focused on Mielec, I guessed that the activity of the Działowski Brothers was deleted from the list of aviation generations by announcing only 80 years of Mielec aviation, i.e. from the date of launching Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze No. 2 (PZL-2).
Unable to agree with this decision, I came to Mielec earlier and almost forced a few minutes of talks with Mr. Kazimierz Szaniawski and Józef Roguz, who created the aviation history of Mielec. With the president of TMZM, Janusz Chojecki, because he was busy, I presented my arguments by phone. My intention was not to make the unforgivable mistake of removing 20 years from the aviation history of Mielec. I asked 100 years of aviation Mielec to be announced, and not 80 years as announced. The rest can be added on the anniversary of Poland’s independence. I consider it a huge harm to the entire Mielec Society if we do not announce the 100th anniversary of Mielec aviation. History must not be stolen from society.
As the conversation with the organizers showed that they would ask Noworita, the 97-year-old oldest Mielczan inhabitant, about Działowski, so when I saw him at the meeting, I popped a question in his ear.
Do you remember how at the 1st Meeting of Aviation Generations you went around the halls looking for the Działowski descendants, and having not found them, you called out indignantly "They did not invite the Działowski?" Noworyta heard the question and replied "I remember".
It is not my goal to look for the answer to why we are silent about the air history of the Działowski family. Why is it not talked about in schools, aviation ceremonies and meetings, who they were and how much we owe them that Mielec has become an aviation power. After all, these captivating, beautiful stories full of aviation passion are nothing bad. Conversely, I would say that they educate young people. Why are there no aviation exhibitions with the participation of DKD aviation aircraft structures, of which they were constructors, builders, pilots and winners of many awards? These photos are in Mielec and testify to the Działowski family. The exhibition of several aircraft models and photos on display at SCK is very poor and begs for a wider promotion of the aviation history of Mielec.
What I heard at the 8th SLP did not have much to do with the Mielec aviation. It was a story with prizes and advertising to please the sponsors. The only interesting thing was Włodzimierz Adamski’s lecture on additive manufacturing, and the future of aviation with it.
Aviation is not history seen through the prism of director’s stools. Aviation is a flying object, its crew, ground service, and in Mielec there is also a constructor, all ground and in-flight tests of all serially produced airplanes and prototypes. It is the work of all airport services.
Aviation on the VIII SLP I associated only with a small group of pilots and mechanics, none of whom I saw on stage. They were a small group in the audience, and I only met for coffee with them. It is their work and aviation experiences in many parts of the world that created the aviation history of Mielec. Regret is squeezed when the great aviation stories of Mielec pilots and mechanics leave the world unnoticed with them.
Finally, a small correction. The local newspaper "Korso" wrote that I was a constructor. However, my highest position was senior master. However, what I pride myself on is that I was an aircraft mechanic.
Teofil Lenartowicz
Mielec, on September 5, 2018.