Hungary was an early foreign customer for the Li-2. The state airline, Maszoviet, took delivery of eleven Li-2s during 1946, a twelfth in 1952. Malev took over Maszoviet operations in 1954 and received a further thirteen Li-2s from the Hungarian Air Force in 1956. Already considered slightly obsolete, the Li-2s were phased-out of service between 1958 and 1964. Three Li-2s were passed to the Hungarian Defence Association, one was converted for aerial mapping, four were returned to the Hungarian Air Force (1) and the surviving balance cut-up or preserved – sometimes both (2).
Perhaps surprisingly, it is the four aircraft transferred to the military which have the best survival record. Four intact Li-2 airframes remain in Hungary today along with the nose section of a fifth. The quartet transferred to the Air Force comprise:
HA-LIP, Li-2P, s/n 184 395 04
HA-LIQ, Li-2T, s/n 234 412 06
HA-LIU, Li-2T, s/n 184 393 06
HA-LIX, Li-2T, s/n 184 332 09
The fifth Li-2 surviving today in Hungary is ex- HA-LIS, Li-2T, s/n 234 413 01.
With the possible exception of HA-LIP, all the surviving Li-2s have played a part in the restoration of HA-LIX to flying condition.
(1) A further Li-2, HA-LIZ, s/n 234 412 09, ‘Zoltan’, was destined for the Air Force in 1964 but was diverted for display at the Mate Zalka Military Institute in Budapest. It was subsequently broken-up.
(2) Aircraft histories from ‘Lisunov Li-2, the Soviet DC-3’ by Yefim Gordon, Sergey and Dmitriy Komissarov, Midland Publishing 2006 and information provided by Air Britain’s Russian Aviation Research Group/ Robert J.Ruffle in ‘Douglas DC-3: 75 years’.
HA-LIQ
HA-LIQ was an early contender for restoration to airworthiness. It had been delivered to the Air Force on March 27th 1952 and remained with them as ‘206’ until March 1957. Following the 1956 uprising in Hungary, thirteen Hungarian Air Force Li-2s were decommissioned to Malev as part of a Soviet restriction on the size of the military. Registered HA-LIQ, the Li-2T flew with Malev until May 20th 1964 when she returned to the Air Force, reverting to serial 206. Further military service continued with the 86th Helicopter Regiment at Kekskemet. The last four Li-2s operated by the military moved to Szentkiralyszabadja Air Base and, in 1971, were assigned to 87th Helicopter Regiment until retired in 1974. HA-LIQ was earmarked for preservation with the Hungarian Museum of Transportation and parked at Budaors in the custody of MEM rZ, the Air service Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Nutrition. The military scheme was swapped, again, for a full set of Malev colours. In 1980, the Li-2 was moved to the Air Instructor training airfield at Farashegy where the old transport was parked in the long grass.
When Goldtimer engineers examined HA-LIQ as a potential candidate for a return to airworthiness, they found that the move to Farashegy (presumably by road, involving dismantling and reassembly) had been executed rather brutally. The subsequent looting of the aircraft by souvenir hunters had also compromised any subsequent restoration. The Li-2 is reported to have returned to Budaors in the early nineties before joining the museum at Budapest Ferenc Liszt in September 1994. Today, HA-LIQ sits proudly amongst a strong collection of Malev aircraft, coaches and ground-handling equipment.
If the Transport Museum Li-2 was not a serious contender for a return to the air, perhaps the example owned by the Szolnok Air Museum would be a better bet? HA-LIX had arrived at Szolnok from the 87th Helicopter Regiment following retirement in January 1974 and, by the time Goldtimer took an interest, it was exhibited in the full ‘209’ military olive drab scheme. The Air Museum was amenable to the aircraft being renovated to flying condition, but wanted to keep an example of an Li-2 on display. Today, they retain an Li-2 although it is probably an amalgam of two airframes.
HA-LIS
HA-LIS had also initially been delivered to the Air Force on March 27th 1952 and moved-on to Malev in Spring 1957. Named ‘Sandor’, the Li-2 served with the national airline until retired on March 20th 1964. It wasn’t one of the aircraft returned to the Air Force and the withdrawn airframe passed to the theme park near Pecs in southern Hungary. With the HA-LIX project kicking-off in the late nineties, HA-LIS was moved to Budaors and has, subsequently, been complemented with parts from HA-LIU to create the new ‘301’ currently on display at Szolnok.
HA-LIU
HA-LIU was delivered to the Hungarian Air Force as ‘306’ on October 10th 1951 and moved to Malev in Spring 1957. It was named ‘Ubul’ and served with Malev until May 1964 when it returned to the Air Force. Upon retirement, the Li-2T was towed to the Szentendre Military Institute (possibly from the airfield at Dunaskeszi?) and stored/ displayed there for several years. It was subsequently transferred to the amusement park at Szeged, also in southern Hungary. Reportedly damaged by fire in 1999, the airframe was sourced as a replacement for HA-LIX at Szolnok and the remnants trucked to Budaors. While some parts may have been amalgamated with HA-LIS to create the Li-2 exhibited as 301 at Szolnok, the nose section of HA-LIU can currently (2024) be seen at Budaors in Malev colours.
HA-LIP
HA-LIP, the last of the four Li-2s returned to the Air Force in May 1964, also had a connection with Szolnok. Delivered to the military as ‘504’ on October 24th 1951, the Li-2P passed to Malev on July 1st 1957. After airline service as ‘Peter’, HA-LIP returned to the Air Force on 20th May 1964. It appears to have retired from military service while at the Szolnok Air Base in 1972 and would have been a likely candidate for the Air Museum in the town. It is possible that HA-LIX’s demobilisation in 1974 led to the choice of that aircraft for preservation and the release of HA-LIP for preservation in the small town of Bocsa. It remains displayed ‘tail-up’ in a natural metal finish alongside a restaurant and service station. The exterior seems to be suffering from the weather and most of the controls and instruments have been stripped from the interior. It is Hungary’s only surviving Li-2P and remains a well-photographed item on Google Earth (below).
Hungary made the effort to preserve several other Li-2s between the late 1960s and the 1990s but they were mostly cut-up as their condition deteriorated.
The above histories draw on information published in the Yefim Gordon/ Sergey & Dmitriy Komissarov book Lisunov Li-2 and details from the Air Britain Russian Aviation Research Group published in Air Britain histories of the DC-3.
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