PZL TS-11 Iskra

Common card · No. 444338

The PZL TS-11 Iskra (English: Spark) is a Polish jet trainer, developed and manufactured by aircraft company PZL-Mielec. It was used by the air forces of Poland and India. It is notable as being the first domestically developed jet aircraft to be produced by Poland, and its service for over 50 years as the principal training aircraft of the Polish Air Force. At the time of its retirement in 2021, it was the oldest jet-propelled aircraft still in service in Poland. As a part of efforts to preserve Poland's ability to independently develop aircraft in an era of political and economic subservience to the neighbouring Soviet Union, during the 1950s, Polish engineers at the Poland's Aviation Institute (IL) commenced early work upon the design of what would become the first jet aircraft to be developed in Poland. Following the death of Joseph Stalin, work on the initiative could be performed more openly and government officials became supportive of such a venture. The fledgling design was heavily...

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