IAI Ten Years PDF

IAI TEN YEARS' HARD WORK IN ISRAEL
I | N October 1953 Israel Aircraft Industries began fulfilling two

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

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IAI TEN YEARS' HARD WORK IN ISRAEL

I | N October 1953 Israel Aircraft Industries began fulfilling two

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