Pilots of Ultralight Aircraft Honour Memory of M.R. Stefanik

Bratislava, 24 June (TASR) - Aviation veterans and pilots associated in the Slovak Aviation Federation took a commemorative flight along the last flight route of General Milan Rastislav Stefanik from Italy via Croatia with a low overflight over the runway of Bratislava airport, TASR was told by airport spokeswoman Veronika Demovicova on Tuesday. They then laid a wreath at the statue of General M.R. Stefanik in the departure hall of the airport, honouring Stefanik's legacy on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of his tragic death. A group of pilots, including, for example, former commander of the Sliac air base Vladimir Lisy, flew to Italy on Saturday (21 June). They flew over Udine/Campoformido airport, from where they continued their route via the Croatian airport of Vrsar in Istria. They followed the approximate route taken by Milan Rastislav Stefanik returning home to Czechoslovakia on 4 May 1919. A total of 16 crew members flew to Bratislava on Tuesday. This memorial was first introduced in honour of M.R. Stefanik in 2015. Stefanik, one of co-founders of Czechoslovakia in 1918 and its first and last minister of war, was killed with his entire crew when his Caproni Ca.33 biplane crashed near Ivanka pri Dunaji (Bratislava region) on 4 May 1919. am/mcs