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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0808.PDF
IAI TEN YEARS' HARD WORK IN ISRAEL I| N October 1953 Israel Aircraft Industries began fulfilling twoprimary missions. First, to furnish aircraft and enginemaintenance support for the Israel Air Force. Second, to develop an aircraft maintenance organization for foreign and domestic airline carriers operating from Lod International Airport. The man chosen to organize and lead this undertaking was selected by ex-Premier David Ben-Gurion during a trip through the United States. He was Mr A. W. Schwimmer, now the general manager of the company, who had developed a similar maintenance organi- zation in the USA before moving to Israel in 1951. Initially, the company was called Bedek—Hebrew for "inspec- tion." It began modestly with 70 people, and an investment of some £160,000. Strong parliamentary objections were raised about the advisability of establishing a national company of this kind in a time of severe economic constraint. It was pointed out that there was an acute shortage of skilled labour in Israel—where would Bedek find the requisite manpower ? Finally, however, under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence, Bedek passed from a paper project to reality. What has happened in the intervening decade is a commentary on the technological zeal of the small state of Israel. IAI has become one of the most important industrial com- plexes in the country. Its work force has expanded to over 3,500— more personnel working under a single roof than anywhere else in the nation. It has become one of Israel's principal industries, and has a net worth of some £14m. Today, IAI's Aircraft Directorate is a model of technological expansion and growth. Air France, Alitalia, BEA, BOAC, Swissair and TWA are among the modern transatlantic carriers whose airliners are serviced by 1AI at Lod. The company is fully certifi- cated as a repair station by the US Federal Aviation Agency, the Air Registration Board of Great Britain and the Israel Department of Civil Aviation. The Israel Air Force and several foreign air forces have contracted to have aircraft serviced and modified by IAI; current contracts include USAF transports, and Dakotas of the French Air Force flown regularly from Paris. Last year some 250 aircraft were put through major repair or overhaul. In order to keep abreast of the Aircraft Directorate's activities. the IAI Engine Directorate has been steadily expanded. Overhaul includes work on the simplest piston engines and the most complex turbine powerplants of up to 30,0001b thrust. This directorate is responsible for complete engine overhaul, for maintenance, and finally for rigid testing of the engines to the specifications laid down by the manufacturer. IAI has engine agreements with Hispano- Suiza, Snecma, Turbomeca, Bristol Siddeley, Rolls-Royce, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft and Wright Aeronautical. IAI's most ambitious undertaking occurred in 1958 when the company signed a manufacturing licensing agreement with Potez Air-Fouga of France for the Israeli fabrication of the Magister twin-jet trainer. In the summer of 1960 the first aircraft ever pro- duced in Israel began rolling off the IAI assembly line. This one programme gave birth not only to IAI's Manufacturing Directorate but laid the groundwork for the company's evolution from a company to a complete industry. Since 1960 the IAI-produced Fouga has been the training back- bone of the Israel Air Force. But IAI was not content merely to duplicate the French design. Israel had precise requirements of its own, and the company went to work modifying and improving the Magister. A new four-channel transistorized radio compass was developed; plastics were used to replace metal in the intakes, canopy fairing, ventral strake and tail section; instrumentation in both cockpits was made identical, the ailerons have been enlarged, the air-conditioning output and armament increased, and the seats improved. IAI continues manufacturing the aircraft, and plans to implement a wide marketing programme in various parts of the world. In addition to the major task of producing the Magister itself, the Manufacturing Directorate builds all the necessary jigs and tools. It has also developed a wide array of engine and aircraft ground-handling equipment, and produced tooling and modifi- cation kits. France and the USA are major customers for such products as servicing platforms, stairways and other ramp equip- ment. Exports to the USA last year amounted to some $2.2m In order to correlate the practical with the theoretical, manu- facturing with design, current with future engineering requirements. Largest of the assignments oflAI has been the production, under Potez Air-Fouga licence. oftheCM.I70S Mag,ster twin-jet trainer The Israel company has improved the design in a number of details. The first was completed at Lod in I960 and it was inspected by Dav,d Ben-Gunon (white-haired) then Israel's Prime Minister, and Shimon Peres (extreme right), Assistant Defence Secretary; holding the documents is A.W. Schwimmer, IAI managing director. The Magisters are assembled in rotating jigs, as pictured on the right, and then rolled out into the sunshine as shown in the heading photograph I
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