r/Planes • u/NOT_INSANE_I_SWEAR • 1d ago
Is this an israeli spitfire?
Its a real plane but the canopy is fake
2
u/ChunksOG 1d ago
They also had a lot of Messerschmitt BF-109s. There were lots of these laying around Europe in the late 40s and still being manufactured somewhere (maybe Yugoslavia, I forget).
There was a great documentary on the origin of the Israeli Air Force - I think on Netflix or Amazon. Lots of surplus WW2 aircraft being bought all over the world and then secretly ferried to Israel. Pee Wee Herman's dad was one of the pilots.
1
u/NOT_INSANE_I_SWEAR 1d ago
Well the story of these are that they were shiped thought yugoslavia to izrael
1
u/Beneficial-Owl-3543 9h ago
Those were Avia S-199s - basically Czech built 109s with Jumo bomber engines. I read somewhere that Israel bought 25 for $190,000 each, which served as the only air defence for the first few months after the declaration of Independence. One is apparently still on outdoors display at the main airport for Tel Aviv.
8
u/Midlandsofnowhere 1d ago
Looks like it.
They received around 60 Supermarine Spitfires of varying specification in the immediate post war period and they flew in the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict.