Kunovice, South Moravia, Sept 25 (CTK) – A former Czech government plane Tu-154 arrived yesterday in the Aviation Museum in Kunovice after it covered 383 kilometres on a semitrailer in three days, which has been the biggest transport of aviation equipment in Czech history.
The plane carried former Czech presidents Vaclav Havel (1989-2003) and Vaclav Klaus (2003-13), soldiers to foreign missions and also the Czech gold-winning hockey team of Nagano.
The Tu-154 together with its “twin” plane was part of the government fleet until 2008.
The 45-metre fuselage was loaded on the 50-metre semitrailer at the Prague-Kbely military airport on Friday.
The untraditional load was hailed by crowds in Kunovice.
The transport of the discarded plane was prepared for many months. The museum workers raised 1.2 million crowns for it through crowdfunding, which was three-times more than what was needed.
The wings and other parts of the engine will be sent later and the museum workers will then have to put the plane together.
They would like to make it accessible to visitors in 2018.
(ß1=24.096 crowns)