I found this bit of aviation history to be very ironik so made a video and a short summery of the events.
Shortly after Israel declared its independence, a column of Egyptian forces invaded Israel from the South and advanced toward Tel Aviv. Israel’s meager ground forces were unable to stop the flow of the Egyptian army and it seemed that Tel Aviv would quickly be overrun. Since Israel didn’t possess any combat aircraft capable of stopping the Egyptians, Israeli agents in Czechoslovakia hastily purchased four small World War II Messerschmitts, took them apart, loaded them into larger aircraft and rushed them to Israel for reassembly.
Israel’s newly acquired planes met and attacked the Egyptians near a bridge a mere 20-minute ride from Tel Aviv. Although two of the four planes were damaged, the Arab advance was halted. In part, this amazing success was due to the psychological effect on the Egyptians, who were astonished to find that the fledgling country had any air force at all.
Back in 1947, when the writing was already on the wall, former World War II pilots and navigators came to Palestine as volunteers and helped found the Jewish Air Service — predecessor to the Israel Air Force. But where were they going to get warplanes?
As the War of Independence continued, it became clear that the fledgling air force needed aircraft better than Austers and superior to the Messerschmitts used after the state was declared. The British withdrawal from Palestine provided the solution, for when they left, they evacuated several air force bases. After scavenging for parts from Spitfires that the British had discarded as unusable, Israeli engineers were able to build two Spitfires. All they were missing were — motors! Providentially, soon afterwards, four Egyptian Spitfires bombarded a Jewish target. The enemy Spitfires were downed and motors inserted into the new planes.
Enjoy:salute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFfW1dyhN9k
flyer01
Shortly after Israel declared its independence, a column of Egyptian forces invaded Israel from the South and advanced toward Tel Aviv. Israel’s meager ground forces were unable to stop the flow of the Egyptian army and it seemed that Tel Aviv would quickly be overrun. Since Israel didn’t possess any combat aircraft capable of stopping the Egyptians, Israeli agents in Czechoslovakia hastily purchased four small World War II Messerschmitts, took them apart, loaded them into larger aircraft and rushed them to Israel for reassembly.
Israel’s newly acquired planes met and attacked the Egyptians near a bridge a mere 20-minute ride from Tel Aviv. Although two of the four planes were damaged, the Arab advance was halted. In part, this amazing success was due to the psychological effect on the Egyptians, who were astonished to find that the fledgling country had any air force at all.
Back in 1947, when the writing was already on the wall, former World War II pilots and navigators came to Palestine as volunteers and helped found the Jewish Air Service — predecessor to the Israel Air Force. But where were they going to get warplanes?
As the War of Independence continued, it became clear that the fledgling air force needed aircraft better than Austers and superior to the Messerschmitts used after the state was declared. The British withdrawal from Palestine provided the solution, for when they left, they evacuated several air force bases. After scavenging for parts from Spitfires that the British had discarded as unusable, Israeli engineers were able to build two Spitfires. All they were missing were — motors! Providentially, soon afterwards, four Egyptian Spitfires bombarded a Jewish target. The enemy Spitfires were downed and motors inserted into the new planes.
Enjoy:salute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFfW1dyhN9k
flyer01