Bialystok University of Technology has renovated the LIM-5 fighter jet for the Army Museum in Białystok

The original LIM-5 fighter jet manufactured in 1957 in Mielec, mounted on a pylon, catches the eye of visitors to the Military Park of the Army Museum in Białystok.

The Army Museum in Białystok had been waiting for several decades for an eye-catching display of a monument of Polish military technology. When, on 15 February 2022, it concluded a cooperation agreement with Bialystok University of Technology, an interdisciplinary team of employees from the University and the Army Museum drew up a schedule of works. To begin with, the machine, which literally grew into the ground on the premises of the Podlaski Border Guard Regional Unit, had to be moved to Bialystok University of Technology.

– Within the activities undertaken by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology, we first disassembled the machine – explains Assoc. Prof. Jarosław Szusta, DSc, PhD, Eng, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs of Bialystok University of Technology. – It was transported to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, where we subjected it to a thorough renovation of its paint coating. We reinforced the aircraft’s coatings from the inside, while at the same time we dismantled the engine, which is displayed on a separate stand in the hall of the hall of the Military Park of the Army Museum in Białystok.

Another team was in charge of preparing a spectacular display of this example of military technology.

– The staff of the Faculty of Architecture, together with researchers from the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, developed a concept and then a detailed design, including the foundation of this structure, so that visitors to the Military Park at Węglowa Street would have the impression that the plane was taking off – explains Professor Szusta. – It was quite an engineering and technical challenge not to damage such a valuable museum object.

The eye-catching pylon was designed by Janusz Grycel, PhD, Eng, Arch. of the Faculty of Architecture of Bialystok University of Technology, while the structural calculations were handled by Marcin Gryniewicz, PhD, Eng of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences of Bialystok University of Technology. Support in the design work was provided by Bartosz Śliwecki, MSc, Eng, Arch., and constructor Rafał Wasilczyk, MSc, Eng.

When LIM-5 was brought to the machine hall of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, it was in a deplorable state after more than three decades in the open air. First, the plating was patched up. Experts from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology, Daniel Laskowski, MSc, Eng and Bartosz Ostrowski, MSc, Eng, with the help of Assoc. Prof. Łukasz Derpeński, DSc, PhD, Eng, Vice Dean for Development and Cooperation of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology, and Assoc. Prof. Jarosław Szusta, DSc, PhD, Eng, took care of the mechanical part and the skin, and together with students modelled 3D prints of the missing elements. This is how, among other things, the periscope located at the top of the perfectly refreshed original cockpit fairing was completed. Thanks to the knowledge of experts from Bialystok University of Technology, missing elements of side lights, marker lights or the radar installed in the machine were also created.

– We used the machine hall of Bialystok University of Technology to restore this museum object to the full splendour of the original – recalls Professor Szusta. – The jet was in a deplorable condition, with many elements missing. Using modern technologies, i.e. 3D printing, laser cutting and plasma cutting, we reconstructed the missing elements.

Renovated by Bialystok University of Technology, the jet served for a year in Słupsk, from 1958 it was stationed in Malbork, and from 1973 it belonged to the 58th Airborne Training and Combat Regiment in Dęblin. From 1980 LIM-5 flew in the 38th Airborne Training and Combat Regiment in Modlin. It completed its service in 1989 in Biała Podlaska, after which it ended up in the collection of the Army Museum in Białystok.

The aircraft is armed with a 37 mm Nudelman N 37 cannon and two 23 mm Nudelman-Richter cannons.

This is not the first example of cooperation between Bialystok University of Technology and the Army Museum in Bialystok. Thanks to the collaboration, specifically with the Faculty of Architecture, the Museum won the Sybil, which is like Oscar for museums, in 2013 for its socio-cultural project ‘A breach in memory’, dedicated to deportations to Siberia. This was the Most Interesting Museum Event of 2013 in the category ‘Martyrdom-themed undertaking’. Its elements included a mural that was created on the wall of warehouse No. 5 on Węglowa Street, on the site of the Sybir Memorial Museum, large-format stickers depicting Siberians on Węglowa Street and in the city space, an impressive mapping prepared by the Filmovi Scientific Circle from the Faculty of Architecture of Bialystok University of Technology, which premiered on the building of the Centre for Modern Education of Bialystok University of Technology.

– We are limited only by our imagination and sometimes by our budget – says Robert Sadowski, Director of the Army Museum in Białystok. – For the museum, Bialystok University of Technology is a very important partner, and a local one, and nothing pleases us more than cooperation between institutions that are here and work for this city.

The #odnawiamyodrzutowiec campaign was summarised by Assoc. Prof. Marta Kosior-Kazberuk, DSc, PhD, Eng, Rector of Bialystok University of Technology:

I would like to thank all the staff of Bialystok University of Technology for their commitment. It took a great deal of technical knowledge and skill and passion to do another extraordinary project. I would also like to thank the students who got involved in the restoration of the jet. I think this interesting experience will pay off in the future.

The LIM-5 jet is proudly presented on a pylon at the central point of the Military Park of the Army Museum in Bialystok at 3 Węglowa Street.

The Polish LIM – 5 (short for licence fighter) jet with the number 1C-0504 is a copy of the Soviet MIG-17F aircraft produced under licence in 1957 in the Wytwórnia Sprzętu Komunikacyjnego Mielec. According to the number, it is the fourth aircraft of the fifth production series. In May 1957 it was taken over by the 28th Fighter Aviation Regiment OPL (Jw 2848) stationed in Słupsk. In August 1958, it was owned by the 26th Fighter Aviation Regiment OPL (Jw 5069) in Malbork. From 30.01.1973 to 10.09.1973 it underwent the second major overhaul in the Aircraft Repair Works No. 3. From 15.10.1973 to 05.03.1980 it was used by the 58th Air Training and Combat Regiment (Jw 5256) in Dęblin. From 28.04.1976 to 03.05.1977 it underwent emergency overhaul in the 53rd Field Aircraft Workshop (Jw 4470). From 05.03.1980 it was used by the 38th Air Training and Combat Regiment (Jw 5401) in Modlin. From 09.11.83 to 18.06.1984 it underwent the 3rd major overhaul in the Military Aviation Works No. 2. From 28.08.1984 it again belonged to the 38th Air Training and Combat Regiment (Jw 5401) in Modlin. Since 22.04.1989 it was in the service of the 61st Air Training and Combat Regiment (Jw 5058) in Biała Podlaska.