How are Slavoljub Penkala, Croatia Airlines, and August Šenoa Elementary School connected?
Students of the 4C and 4E class of Augusta Šenoa Elementary School in Zagreb spent their Monday in a somewhat different, but certainly educational tone, organized by the national airline Croatia Airlines. As part of the school project Vežite se, polijećemo!, which August Šenoa Elementary School is carrying out in collaboration with Pongracevo District School, in memory of the first Croatian test flight, the students visited Zagreb International Airport and the technical center of Croatia Airlines, thus connecting the past, present and future.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Croatian engineer and inventor Slavoljub Penkala, who left an indelible mark in the history of civil aviation, worked in the area where Pongracevo Regional School is located today. In 1908 in that area, Slavoljub Penkala began constructing an airplane, the control of which was supposed to be so simple that anyone could fly it without special preparation and training. He patented his innovations in 1909, and for his experiments with the invention of the aircraft, he received permission to use the military training ground between Selska cesta and Črnomerec stream in Zagreb, which was declared the first airfield in Croatia at the end of the same year. In 1910, a storage (hangar) was built there for the accommodation of airplanes, thus establishing the first airport in Croatia. In the same year, Penkala completed the airplane, and the first test flight was performed on April 25, 1910 by the mechanic Dragutin Novak, thus becoming the first Croatian pilot.
This historical story was the reason for the implementation of project classes in which the students learned what the future looks like, which started long ago on the premises of their school, while the progress made over the years is more than obvious and leads us to all parts of the world, making them easily accessible.
With the guidance of representatives of Croatia Airlines, the students first visited Zagreb Airport. They had the opportunity to see how planes take off today and what is needed for that, and then the hangar of Croatia Airlines, where all the preparatory work is carried out so that every flight is safe and comfortable thanks to the expertise of top professionals in the Technical Department of Croatia Airlines, as well as high standards recognized by many international companies that regularly send their experts to Croatian hangars for the necessary training.