Two Burns Flat organizations are using a Soviet jet to encourage western Oklahoma kids to look to the skies for their future.

Premium Aerospace Center Oklahoma (PAC) and STARBASE-Burns Flat—an academy funded by the Department of Defense that encourages 5th graders to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)—are opening kids’ eyes to the possibilities of aviation careers.

And they’re doing it with a Cold War-era jet.

New PAC trainees are learning aircraft restoration techniques on a Soviet-made MiG-23 that was recently donated by the Stafford Air & Space Museum.

Western Oklahoma 5th graders also get to experience the jet when they tour PAC.

STARBASE-Burns Flat Director Shannan Cloud says that the STEM Academy is eager to tap into PAC’s aerospace maintenance expertise as students experience real-life, practical applications of what they learn in the classroom.

“Our goal with this collaboration is to broaden the vision of western Oklahoma students, inspiring them to consider careers in aviation and become involved in the ever-growing aerospace industry,” Cloud said.

PAC values STARBASE, its mission, and their shared goal.

“We feel that a hands-on learning opportunity for STEM-Academy students may spark more interest in our young people, driving them to be Oklahoma’s future industry leaders,” said PAC Director Jose Gonzalez.

The kids from STARBASE seem to love it.

“By the look of amazement in their eyes, it opens a world of aviation they didn’t know they could be a part of,” Gonzalez said.

The 1978 MiG-23 jet, built in Moscow and capable of carrying nuclear weapons, was deployed to Bulgaria to patrol that communist nation’s skies during the Cold War.

The Bulgarian Air Force continued flying the jet after the Cold War ended in 1991, and it was retired after its final flight on March 15, 2001.