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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0809.PDF
M/ has perfected o technique of free-flight aerodynamic testing using models mounted above an ex-Pan Am Stratocruiser. This method was used to test the B./O/ engine/body junction (/eft). Above is a view of the IAI maintenance hangar and engineering offices I Al . . . lAI's Engineering Directorate was evolved. This group handles R&D for ail contemporary projects and future aeronautical developments. The company has yet to build an aircraft of its own design; but it came extremely close to doing so last year. For several years previously design work had been in hand on the B-101 twin-jet executive aircraft. The prototype was well advanced in 1962, but the programme was terminated last year in view of the scant possibility of it ever showing an overall profit. But IAI continues to investigate the possibility of eventually producing a wholly Israeli aircraft, especially one suited to underdeveloped countries. Through the Light Industries Directorate, IAI has also laid the foundation for a thriving electronics industry. This branch of the company already has succeeded in developing nuclear test equip- ment, a transistorized radio compass, test equipment for airborne radar and ground-communications equipment. The Medical Electronics Department has designed and produced life-saving medical equipment which will soon be internally marketed. Its a.c./d.c. defibrillator will give surgeons invaluable redundant medical safety features. This progressive diversification is being accompanied by a fundamental change in the character of IAI itself. Whereas it was originally a purely aircraft organization owned and administered by the Ministry of Defence, it has now developed into a varied enterprise embracing the four separate directorates already named, and on April 1 the Light Industries Directorate became semi- autonomous under its own management. It is even envisaged that IAI may ultimately become a public company. In order to accomplish its manifold tasks 1AI has imported technicians from every corner of the world. A typical IAI engineer- ing department consists of experts from a half-dozen countries. But IAI has also taught many young Israelis. When the Magister programme began IAI hired 400 car. mechanics and gave them intensive aviation training. As part of the same programme, IAI also pioneered the use of women in the nimble areas of elec- This sumptuous interior was one of the tasks completed by IAI in 1961. The work was undertaken during a major overhaul and refurbishing of a Convair 240 owned by an American business house tronic assembly. Technical training is regarded as being of crucial importance to Israel, and IAI has helped inaugurate a new centre where young men will be put through four-year courses. In ten short years, Israel Aircraft Industries has moved a long way from its modest beginning at the foot of Lod International. It has been charged with heavy and increasing responsibilities, and has met these obligations squarely. That there is today a viable aircraft industry in the State of Israel is a vindication and proof of that effort. In conclusion we cannot do better than let IAI describe their flight-test capability in their own words:— "The Flight Test Centre of Israel Aircraft Industries is not the largest in the world—despite the fact that it has engaged in 7,500 flights (not including ferrying missions)on24 different types of aircraft and helicopters since 1959; nor is it by any means the oldest, although ten years of concentrated activity is no mean feat in a world of rapidly changing technologies. There is nothing unique about the fact that all its pilots are certificated international captains; nor are we even particularly interested in flaunting our equipment. Indeed, we have the latest flight recorders, aircraft calibration equipment, photo cameras and test benches, but we are not all that certain that other facilities haven't some of this equipment also. It is true that we have performed original aerodynamic experiments, like mounting airfoils on top of a Stratocruiser and designing the monitoring equipment for checking the effects of the air stream on our shapes, and in doing so have saved large quantities of dollars, pounds, and Israeli Lira, but perhaps any ingenious group of test engineers could have done the same. "The really unique quality of the IAI Flight Test Centre is rooted in simple geography. We have weather—not the ubiquitous drizzles of London, nor the packages of cumulus over France. We have blue, dry, clear weather. We have 300 days of perfect blue skies where the incursion of a single cloud would cause such consternation that we would probably insist that our Air Force shoot it down. We have hot, dry weather also; perfectly suited, you must admit, to the requirements of hot-weather testing. The climate is our partner. It owns no shares in our establishment, but we are kindly disposed to it nonetheless. If you want to test a plane under ideal weather conditions, you should come to the land of date palms, grizzled camels, and blue skies. " We are also a very inexpensive sort of company. It is not that we don't like money but we have a rigidly enforced salary structure, and so the chances are we can perform test work for a good deal less than our bad-weather competitors. Don't feel too badly for our pilots though—they've been inured to diets of chick peas and dates through long service in the Israel Air Force. Pop a 'felafel' ball into their mouths and off they go. "'Since we have a peripatetic group of fliers working for us, we really don't mind picking up your plane anywhere in the world and returning it anywhere else. We have a very fine ferry service and once again, we do it cheaply. And, of course, we don't merely test your plane or your devices or your ideas; we also assess them. We furnish full reports in which pilots, engineers and scientists have their moments of glory and truth. "Really, what more could you ask ? We work alone, or we will work in conjunction with your own crews. We furnish everything—-even ball-point pens to make your calculations. So if you are interested in aerodynamic testing, and if you wish to rid yourself of the weather complex, and if you are interested in a professional attitude to expensive equipment, please contact: Flight Test Centre, Israel Aircraft Industries, Lod International Airport, Israel."
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