It may not have been under its own power, but a vintage jet fighter trainer made its last flight to the Ballarat Aviation Museum this week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Polish PZL TS-11 Iskra (‘Spark’ in English) has been loaned to the museum following the break-up of a collection in the Yarra Valley. The fighter-trainer was designed and commissioned in the early 1960s for the Polish Air Force and is still used by its aerobatic team.
The museum’s Ron Fisher says the Iskra didn’t usually carry cannon or machine guns, although it could; but rather relied on air-to-air missiles.
“There are still two of them, I believe, flying out of Essendon as joy flight craft,” says Ron. And they are popular as aerobatic performers.
“Being a fighter they are maneuverable and fast. So they are suited for that sort of purpose. There are some pictures on on the Internet of them with the smoke-trailing and so on.”
Unloading a fragile and aged metal aircraft is a meticulous process. Members of the club are directed by the semitrailer operator to position straps under lifting points on the fuselage. The last thing anyone wants is for the plane to tip forward or rearwards as it’s lifted high into the air by the trailer crane and placed carefully in the museum grounds. Even at 15 metres, a crash would be disastrous.
In the cold and rain the aircraft is raised up on the jib and swung 90 degrees into the yard, and slowly lowered. It makes a couple of painful bumps against the crane before it’s swinging on its own and being lowered. Museum members move in to swing the tail around, and suddenly the jet plane has made an unorthodox VTOL.
For Ron, it’s a relief. Now the logistical problem of reassembling the plane begins. It’s a giant Airfix model kit, essentially – without the plastic sprue and cement.
“There's a crate with the wings and some other material which we're going to put over by the hangar. And there’s a couple of boxes of loose parts which we will put inside the building here to keep them safe,” he says.
And because it is a giant model – how long will it take to assemble?
“A plan of attack is to clean it and just take an inventory of all the parts we've got. We need to work out a plan of attack. One of our members works at Field Air and he's an airframe guy so he'll be helping us determine the sequence in which we do things - but I would think we're probably looking at two or three months,” says Ron.
“It depends on how many nuts and bolts we need to source as well, because there are a few of those smaller items that are missing from it. And then we will develop that plan to to refurbish it. We're going to get that graffiti off it pretty damn fast.”
The Ballarat Aviation Museum has 35 members with particular skills such as welding, electronics, mechanical skills and woodwork. A number are pilots and former pilots.
The museum is open weekends and public holidays 1pm to 5pm, or by appointment. Call during museum hours 03 5339 5016, or after hours 5335 6571.