Israeli Air Force
Meteor F.8
Number 117 Squadron
Ramat David, Israel
1955

This is just a quick tweak to Crashin' Jack's great model and skin.  

The package is a "snapshot" and will install a British nationality craft in whatever slot you wish. The snapshot flight model and loadouts are by Alan Dwornick. You can also just use the files as you normally would.


-RedEyes

5/26/04

A little history...

The Middle East entered the jet age in October 1949 when the Egpytian Air Force (EAF) received its first jet fighters, Meteor F.4s. By the end of 1952 the EAF had 49 jets (23 Meteors and 26 de Havilland Vampires) in its inventory, with more expected shortly, at a time when the most advanced fighter operated by the IAF was the North American P-51D Mustang, a World War II veteran. Israel had made several attempts to purchase jets from the USA and other European nations beginning in 1950, but these were rejected every time. In August 1952 the British government declared its willingness to sell 14 Meteors to each Middle Eastern nation, seeking to increase its weapons sales while keeping an impartial position. The IAF had long before come to the conclusion that there was no competing with the Arabs on quantity and that Israel had therefore to rely on quality, a stance contrary to the current offer. No nation besides Britain however, would sell jet fighters to Israel and Israel could not stand by while the balance of power was shifting against its favor. On November 23, 1952, the Israeli government approved the purchase and on February 1st 1953 the IAF and Gloster signed a deal for 11 Meteor F.8s and 4 training T.7s. These were the first aircraft the IAF had ever purchased from the manufacturer instead of second-hand examples.

On June 7th 1953 the 117th "Hasilon Harishona" (First Jet) squadron was formed at Ramat-David AFB, headed by Major Menahem Bar. On June 17th the first two Meteor T.7s arrived at Ramat-David, flown by British pilots. They were received in a large ceremony attended by David Ben-Gurion, Israel's premier, who awarded the two aircraft the nicknames "Sufa" (Storm) and "Sa'ar" (Tempest). The delivery of the F.8s begun on August 21st 1953 and was completed on January 17th 1954. The same year saw the IAF begin negotiations for the procurement of 2 T.7s and 9 Meteor FR.9, an armed tactical reconnaissance variant similar to the F.8. The first pair of FR.9s arrived in January 1955 and by May all 9 aircraft were in Israel. Two of these were later converted to F.8 standard while another 5 were stripped of their reconnaissance apparatus and were employed as mere fighters. The end of 1955 saw the conversion of two T.7s to the photo-reconnaissance role. These were employed by the 115th reconnaissance section which later became the 115th "Hadrakon Hameoffef" (Flying Dragon) squadron. These aircraft flew intelligence gathering missions all over the Middle East, photos provided by them of Iraq's H-3 airbase used in the planning of operation "Moked". The IAF also sought to improve its night fighting abilities and when Britain offered Meteor NF.13s to Syria and Egypt, Israel also applied for the aircraft. 6 aircraft were procured in 1956, the first three delivered on September 5th. These aircraft entered service with the new 119th "Atalef" squadron, formed during August, and would play an important part in the upcoming operation "Kadesh". The remaining trio were only delivered in March 1958, by which the 119th squadron was based at Tel-Nof. Another variant employed by the IAF was the F.7.5, a T.7 with the tail section of an F.8. 4 such aircraft were purchased in Belgium, the first pair arriving on December 4th 1957 and the other on January 25th 1958.

The 117th squadron's first priority was the training of pilots for the IAF's new jet fleet and in September 1953 the first four pilots begun their conversion course at Ramat David. Until 1955 the 117th was the IAF's only jet squadron, through which all future jet pilots passed. Yet with the Meteor as Israel's most advanced fighter type, the 117th was also an operational squadron, at constant standby at a time of increasing tensions in the Middle East. In July 1954 two Meteors were scrambled against Egyptian Air Force Hawker Furies near Israel's southern border but no engagement took place. On August 18th 1955 the 117th deployed eight of its Meteors from Ramat David to Hazor following Egyptian Air Force incursions into Israel. Whereas earlier Egyptian deployments had enabled IAF Meteors to be based in a northern air base, new Egyptian jets and their location in air bases in the Sinai required a rapid Israeli response to the Egyptian threat. On August 20th two Meteors engaged 4 Egyptian de Havilland Vampires over the Negev Desert, one Vampire damaged in the exchange. On the morning of September 1st 1955 four EAF Vampires were spotted crossing the Israeli-Egyptian border at Nitzana and at 06:52 two Meteors, an F.8 and an FR.9, were scrambled to intercept them. After detecting two of the intuders, Captain Aaron Yoali approached the Vampire pair from the rear and downed one from 400m away. Covered by his number two, Captain Yoash Tzidon, Yoali then proceeded to down the second Vampire as well. The first jet kills in the Middle East and the first IAF victories since the War of Independence, the two Vampires earned Aaron Yoali a citation from the IDF Chief-of-Staff.

