Posted on 08/15/2016 6:43:37 AM PDT by C19fan
When Israel declared independence from British colonial rule in May 1948, it immediately went to war with the neighboring Arab states. One of the first weapons Israel acquired was a fighter plane designed by a country that had sought the extinction of the Jewish people. The German Messerschmitt Bf.109 — later re-designated Me.109 — was the most advanced fighter plane of its time when it first saw combat in 1937 in the Spanish Civil War. Flown by German pilots in support of General Franco’s Nationalists, Bf. 109s secured air superiority over Spain and allowed Fascist bombers to terror bomb cities nearly unopposed.
(Excerpt) Read more at warisboring.com ...
??? - more like:
When Israel declared independence from British colonial rule in May 1948, the neighboring Arab states immediately went to war with it.
Nothing like a bit of rewritten history....
They are technically still at war with Israel...losers.
It must have been the eeeeevil Joooooooooos what started it. </Richter scale sarchasm> (sarchasm - the gap between sarcasm and the intended recipient)
Wild asses of men, their hands are against everyone, and everyone’s hand is against him, and they live in hostility toward all their brothers
Actually Israel signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan.
The problem with the Czech-made Me 109’s was the use of the heavy and underpowered Junker Jumo 211 engine. No wonder why the Israeli AF retired them at the first opportunity.
The BF109 was technically superior when it came out, but by the end of the war things were much different. We should have just given Isreal the splendid F8 Hellcats we never got use.
meant F8F “Bearcats”
Netflix has a documentary on this. An amazing and inspirational story.
The Israeli’s were bold, smart, and courageous - they had to be because they were pretty much on their own. How they overcame the obstacles is not only a testament to their fortitude, but in my opinion, a testament to God keeping His promise to restore Israel as a nation (which also ironic since many Israelis don’t even believe in God).
That documentary on Netflix is entitled, “Above and Beyond.” Well worth the viewing.
Those P-47’s were a much better deal.
Yes, thank you. That stuck out for me, as well. Israel has never wanted to do anything other than to live in peace with its neighbors, and has offered numerous times (including during the run-up to declaring independence) to trade a LOT of territory for a real peace.
The Arabs have NEVER accepted Israel, or its right to exist. This was exemplified just a few days ago during the Olympics, when the scumbag Egyptian judo athlete REFUSED to adhere to the norms of that sport when his opponent was an Israeli.
ABOVE AND BEYOND - BIRTH OF THE IAF
Another Awesome Video
Polish Pilots - Battle of Britain
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ptijNcDanVw
I didn’t see it specifically mentioned, but the source of the bad handling and frequent crashed was because the Jumo engines put the center-of-gravity outside of the design limits. The engine was heavy and underpowered (which was mentioned in the article) and this caused a nose heavy condition, leading to frequent groundloops (because of limited tail control forces) and frequent noseovers. They should have taken the P-47’s.
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