Aviation is Happily Not Immune From “One Thing Leads to Another” Syndrome. Jerry Parker Started with a Love for Flying Jet Aircraft – and Then He Had to Learn the Polish Language
By Brandon V. Webb,
Texas Transportation Institute
Or, Jerry Parker had to learn enough Polish to restore and maintain his Iskra TS-11 Jet Warbird Trainer based at Hutchinson County Airport in Borger, Texas. Iskra means spark in Polish, and Parker-a fulltime aviation enthusiast-is the bird’s pilot. He’s frequently in Borger to keep the aircraft in the kind of sparkling condition that has earned the admiration of his associate members in the Classic Jet Aircraft Association (CJAA), for which he serves as vice president.
“Flying has been a hobby of mine since 1960,” Parker says. “Restoration sort of just came about.”
Parker’s Iskra TS-11, N6215Q is one of approximately 28 flying in the U.S. It was designed and manufactured in Poland as a trainer for transition into the Russian MiG series of aircraft and is often referred to as the J3 of jet warbirds. The Iskra was designed to train pilots from their first flight through cross-country and instrument flight as well as combat maneuvers, gunnery and bombing. Federal requirements prohibit surplus military aircraft from carrying functional weaponry.
A big fan of Borger
When Wingtips asked Parker why he selected Borger as the base for his vintage jet fleet (he owns more than one), he had plenty of kind things to say about the BGD airport and its leadership.
”The airport management team supports the small aviation enthusiast as well as transient corporate jet aircraft travelers,” Parker says. ”They support transient corporate jets with the lowest fuel prices in the area as well as short turn-around times, and they support local aircraft owners with lower fuel prices and affordable hangar space. The airport is maintained to the highest standards and they continually strive to enhance safety and service. In addition, BGD is within a reasonable driving distance from home. The 6,200- foot runway and virtually wide-open airspace is very convenient to maintain flight proficiency in my Iskra TS-11.”
Parker takes his TS- 11 to air shows nationwide where dozens of other classic jet trainers and fighters appear. Other Iskra TS-11 s, L-39s, L-29s, MiGs and an impressive assortment of lovingly restored aircraft come from around the nation to attend CJAA sponsored “Jet Blast” air shows from coast-to-coast.
Back home in Borger, one can only wonder what the farmers, ranchers and maybe even the cattle below think when Parker fires those jet engines and screams his very own Spark warbird trainer across the Panhandle sky. Who knows? Maybe they say something in Polish?
