Rombik at Radom

The team was formed on 16 February 1969 at Radom, home of the 60th Training Wing, under the name Rombik, after the diamond formation it flew with four TS-11 Iskra jet trainers. Its first public display, according to European Airshows, was at the Polish Air Force Day show on 17 August 1971. The Iskra was the first Polish-designed jet to enter series production, built at Mielec from 1963 to 1987, so the team flew a national product as well as a national colour scheme. Rombik was disbanded in 1981, during the political crisis in Poland.

Rebirth as the Sparks

The team was revived in 1989, at first unofficially as Iskry (Sparks), with seven TS-11s. It went abroad for the first time in 1991, displaying in Hungary on 8 August and Belgium on 7 September, and flew at the Royal International Air Tattoo in 1995. European Airshows records nine aircraft plus solo pilots in 1993 and eight with two solos after a 1998 reorganisation. On 11 November 1998 a fatal crash, during a weather check before a flypast over the Warsaw parade, halted the team for two years.

Dęblin and seven Iskras

On 17 June 2000 the team moved to Dęblin and the 1st Aviation Training Centre (English-language Wikipedia places the move between 1993 and 1998), and from 2000 flew as Biało-Czerwone Iskry, the White-and-Red Sparks, with seven aircraft including one solo. The red and white jets became familiar at Polish and European shows for two decades while grey Iskras trained cadets on the same airfield.

The last Iskras

The Polish Air Force ended Iskra cadet training on 9 December 2020, leaving the team’s jets as the last TS-11s flying in Poland. The final air-show display was on 22 August 2021, and the farewell flight at the 41st Air Training Base in Dęblin on 27 July 2022 closed more than 58 years of Iskra service; the M-346 Bielik took over advanced training. On 12 September 2025 the seven team aircraft were handed to the Biało-Czerwone Skrzydła foundation in Mielec, which said it hoped to fly them at shows.