The German WW2 Fighter That Saved Israel - The Avia S.199 | Aircraft History #3
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 พ.ย. 2021
- The story of the Avia S.199 sounds like the plot for a film. An aircraft designed and developed by the Luftwaffe, modified by post-war Czechoslovakia, and then used by the Israeli's in rag-tag squadrons to fend off incursions from multiple fronts. I'd call the S.199 a 'plucky hero' if it didn't have the habit of trying to kill its pilots the moment they get in it.
Despite its many, many, many flaws, the Avia S.199 deserves its place in history as the founding Aicraft of the Israeli Airforce.
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Producing these videos is a hobby of mine. I have a passion for history, and personally own a large collection of books, journals and other texts, and endeavor to do as much research as possible. However if there are any mistakes, please don't hesitate to reach out and correct anything :) - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
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The irony that the two main adversaries of WW2 ended up fighting against each other, Israeli Mezeks and Egyptian Spitfires is quite astounding….
both sides used the DC 3 , the Egyptians adapted ( some of) theirs to bombers !!
don't worry it's just team balancing
where you put them in the opposite team
Not to forger Spitfires! Both sides had them.
On the ground, Israeli Shermans fought Syrian Panzer IV-H tanks. Ironic.
@@spaghetti_rookie The Israelis 'souped' the Shermans up, putting bigger guns om and stuffl
It's so funny to see the Avia S 199 lined up next to a P 51 D and a Supermarine spitfire , all with the same national markings , as is the case in the Israeli Air Force museum in Southern Israel
It’s like something out of Ace Combat
It's the easiest way to verify it has been the Zionists maggots who have been behind all wars and civil conflicts for the past 300 years by the fact when they pulled off the biggest real estate scam in history and established modern day Israel they just happen to have weapons and ordnance used by all sides from the conflict known as World War Two.
The Finnish Air Force could match this. During WWII They flew German, Italian, British, American French, Dutch & Soviet aircraft
Same way it's odd to see ex Syrian panzer IVs in there museum.
they had to fight for survival almost immediatly. they took anything they could get
Years ago, I got to work with one of the guys who flew the Israeli 109s. He'd flown Corsairs in the Pacific in WWII and went on to help found the Israeli Air Force. He had some very interesting stories, to say the least.
Can you summarize some of those stories?
Like stealing Palestinian land and killing babies?
@@ahmedlamouri1352 Like literally trying to wipe out an entire people? Sorry, no sympathy from me when endless attempts at destroying a country is more important to you than your own existence.
@@ahmedlamouri1352 Go back to watching American porn, Mr Troll
Why they dont use the Corsairs from the USA? Maybe the Israels know the German Plan is the Best, they make everythink perfekt. Its fore experience, you know what y meane?
Gideon Lichtman (we knew him then as Mr. Ramon) was a teacher at the high school I went to in southwest Miami, Florida. He was a great "life advice coach" to us youngsters as he'd seen so much in his own life. It was hilarious to hear him say things (or curse) in Yiddish, thinking no one would know what he'd said. I'd had some exposure to that as a little kid and cracked up laughing one day when he cursed out an ornery overhead projector with a few really choice words, totally taking him by surprise. He did talk to me about his aviation background a bit, as my dad had also been a WWII aviation guy, and was still working in that field at Eastern Air Lines. He was the kind of good person you will always remember.
Imagine how effective the first fighter squadrons of the Israeli Airforce could have been if only the Czechs had not lost all those DB605s in the factory fire!
Já myslím že i s S199 byly úspěšní když existuje stát jménem Izrael.
But then I'm not sure Israelis would have gotten them. One of the reason for Czechs selling the 199 to the Israeli air force was that their pilots refused to fly the "mules", having received the months prior to the Israeli war of independence better and more reliable airplanes from the USSR.
@@WillyWeiss-HH Největší důvod prodeje nejen těchto letadel ale i přebytečných zbraní a nábojů bylo získání peněz pro nastupující komunistickou vládu. Dokonce nedávno Češi natočili film Toman kdy český komunista židovského původu jménem Toman v padesátých letech organizoval migrační vlny židů z Polska a Sovětského svazu přes Československo na jih Evropy. Za každou osobu komunisté inkasovali peníze od Americké židovské organizace . Tajně.
That fire was actually a sabotage. And iirc it still is not exactly clear if it was sabotaged by german colaborants or communists guard...
@@WillyWeiss-HH Better and more reliable is more than questionable when it comes to Soviet garbage. Czechoslovakia had bunch of Spitfires (later sold to Israel as well - at least some part) that were solid and solidly built fighters. But from Soviets, they got some Lavochkins, but those ones literally rotted in some 2 years. Those wooden fuselages were deteriorating too quickly, thus albeit more powerful than S.199 they would be forces out of the service sooner.
The Israeli Air Force also came close to getting one of the most storied fighter aces of world war 2 at that time. George Beurling, who shot down 27 aircraft over Malta in 1942, was on his way to Israel when his plane crashed in Italy under suspicious circumstances.
George Beurling of the R.C.A.F. was a legend of his time. May his memory be blessed.
He was flying cargo. He crashed while taking off from Rome. There are no records stating he was to join the Israeli Air force. Which he might not have done, as he was against oppressors.
Beurling was buried in Rome originally, but in 1950 his body was exhumed and re-buried (with the permission of his family) in the Kibbutz Yagar cemetery near Haifa in Israel. The Israeli Air Force provided an honor guard for the funeral. His family would not have allowed this unless he wished this.
@@cirrus1964 The Israelis were hardly considered "oppressors" at this time.
Patrick Watson had a series "The Canadians" and one chapter was on Beurling. It is right here on You Tube. It was produced in the early 90's so some of the people who knew him were still alive.
He was offered a lot of money to fly for the Arabs, and asked his father, who told him he thought that if he did he would be fighting for the wrong side.
Don't take my word for it. The video is right here if you search it up.
It is well worth watching in my opinion.
7:44 The torque was not necessarily the problem. The problem was applying full power to soon (sometimes because the pilot is scared of a relatively short runway…) before enough airspeed had built up to make the rudder effective. This was not an exclusive problem of the S-199. One could end up with the same problem in a P-51 too, if not careful enough. It was also frequently present on late marque Spitfires with the Griffon engine.
What surprises me, that Lou Lenard wasn’t sensitive enough to feel this effect while applying power, coming from the USMC, flying Corsairs. The Corsair was well known to be very unforgiving when slow and applying full throttle.
A lot of pilots in the F4U were killed simply trying to perform a go around from a too slow airspeed (which again was not the problem, but the too insensitive application of full power too soon). The aileron force was simply not enough to counteract the torque.
With all due respect, you can't compare the 199s to the Corsairs, it had a much more problematic attitude and was more unstable. This is well documented. And as you say, Lenard would have handled it correctly (or at least better) with his experience, had he expected such a low performance. Actually, his experience was probably what saved his life in that first flight, but his impressions (and swearing) after the flight gave no room to doubts about this aircraft's problems.
@@WillyWeiss-HH Apparently there were people and/or techniques who/which managed to handle the 199, since not every take off or landing with it resulted in a crash. I guess.
The 109s with Daimler Benz engines already showed that behavior. In fact, it was a take off procedure to lock the tail wheel strait to help control it during take off acceleration.
But it was the way things were done at the time. Equipment and life were cheap... It wasn't until the 60's that two-place fighters for training became a universal thing, because they were much more expensive than WW2 era aircraft.
@@magoid To lock the tailwheel „straight“ for takeoff and landing is a common feature on most taildraggers, especially the higher powered ones. I have a 450hp Stearman and it’s procedure there. I once owned a Zlin 526F. Though I wouldn’t call that one particularly „high-powered“ (180hp), it had quite a strong „automatic“ self centering spring mechanism to lock the tailwheel for take off and landing.
So, in order to move it around on ground you had to push the fuselage sideways quite strongly to unlock the tailwheel.
@@MothaLuva Sure, but then there is likelihood of such an event on general level. Now add adverse weather condition i.e. crosswind in direction that increases torque effect. Now add need to get out of the critical condition because you need to do go-around or there is a scramble situation. And stress increases chances to suddenly apply full throttle. Plus there is question of the time you have for training to-be-pilots.
Mig-15 had some sort of similarly dangerous behaviour like pulling the stick too soon after disconnecting with ground or applying full throttle at low speed just about ground
For the record , when I visited the Israeli Air Force museum in Southern Israel , I saw , and photographed a MK 9 Spitfire bought from Czechoslovakia (one of a total of 60 ) which was flown to Israel during operation Velveeta ( not all the planes purchased ,made it to Israel , some were impounded by the Greeks , after crash landing in Cyprus
Huh...I knew the Israelis used 109s, but I always thought they were ACTUAL 109s, not a development from them due to gear shortage. interesting.
Israel would have preferred the 109's of course considering.
Besides the planes Czechoslovakia sold them a ton of other critical arms.
Infantry weapons
34,500 P-18 rifles
5,515 MG 34 machine guns with 10,000 ammo belts
10,000 vz.24 bayonets
900 vz. 37 heavy machine guns
500 vz. 27 pistols
12 ZK-383 submachine guns
10 ZK 420 semi-automatic rifles
500 vz. 26 light machine guns (shipped, yet delivery not confirmed in Czech sources)
Infantry ammunition
91,500,000 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridges
15,000,000 9mm Parabellum cartridges
375,000 13mm cartridges for MG 131
150,000 20mm cartridges for MG 151
375,000 7.65mm cartridges for vz. 27 pistol
Aircraft
25 Avia S-199 fighters
61 Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IX fighters
Thanks for those numbers!
Buď zdráv, Vlasovče!
When a huge war meets its end, what always remains behind are the millions of firearms, and there are always buyers, it's just a matter of price and quantity.
@@WillyWeiss-HH end user certificate , what's that ?!!!
True..CZ heros.
Tatra was way ahead of German designs and Jawa made awesome bikes.
I am Golem from Prague 🗿
שלום
There has always been a bit of conflict over whether Jewish interests using their own funds and resources were able to purchase all the various equipment that it did from Czechoslovakia and other sources. Supposedly the CIA secretly provided the cash and connections for these deals to go through. The British were heavily invested with the Arabs at this time and did not want to anger them by providing support to the Jews. Both Britain, France and the US had made it clear before the war that they did not want millions of Jewish immigrants entering their countries. Sadly they could have possibly saved a few million Jews if they had accepted the offer made by the Germans to admit most of the three million German Jews back around 1935 and 1936, but there was a strong anti Jewish lobby at that time and so those Jews were left to be their fates. After the war a pro Israel lobby popped up and soon the Czechs were doing business with the Jews. The Czechs were quite anti Jewish but American dollars were enough to convince them to do the deals that provided tanks, artillery small arms ammo and of course the former 109s. Just as bizarre was the fact that some of the first tanks in the Israeli army were former panzer mark IVs and various others vehicles. That story would be worth watching.
I have loved aviation since my early teens. Read a huge amount of aviation history. Eventually had a 37 year career flying everything from the DC-3 to the B777. And this is the first I have read of the Avia S.199! Beautifully produced video. No odd photos thrown in of aircraft not actually S.199s. Great job and thanks a lot!
Dave, I agree with you about the quality of this video but... you got it wrong about "No odd photos thrown in of aircraft not actually S.199s". NOT. Checkout the image at 7:35. A handsome young F4U pilot standing in front of his steed. (Why do they do that?)
Also... do terms like " U-control or .049 Thimble drome or Dooling .29 mean anything to you?
@@demiurgiac Yes, those terms are very familiar. My interests ran more to scale plastic models though. I had a huge collection, mostly WWII.
Don’t know what happened to all of them, but I do have a few on my bookcase I have built recently of A/C I have actually flown. DC3, C46, and F27. Have DC6 and B727 kits I will get around to someday.
@@demiurgiac The guy standing in front of the F4U was one of the first volunteers to fly the S199 for Israel, so the photo is really not that out of place
@@davidkallewaard750 Touché
Post war Francoist Spain had the Buchón, a Bf 109 with the famous Merlin engine from the Spitfire as it was much more common after the war. They were used as attack aircrafts until the 60s and were the Bf 109 E that you can see in the famous British movie ''The Battle of Britain''.
For some unimaginable reason I love this plane. Thanks for such great coverage and your obvious passion for this subject.
Excellent!!! Finally a great video on Avia S199! Many details I didn't know about and interesting footage too.
Gonna watch it again couple of times muhaha ha.
Cheers mate
Glad you liked it! :)
Im really happy I found your channel. It's cool find a small channel and watching it grow.
This channel is beyond merely excellent. It is superb. Thank you so much, Rex!
A rare subject. Thanks for the video. Many people don't know about this variant of the 109.
Thanks for a very informative video! I knew about the Israeli Avias, but the details you provided are enlightening! Subbed!
Excellent work. So glad the algorithm fed me this.
Doing a rewatch of this well told episode… great photos as well Thanks 😊
This is one of my country's engineering products I'm not really proud of...though it is a case of "fashioning a fart into a marble", as we say. I saw the one displayed in Prague-Kbely (if you're in Prague, it's a must see!) and it was impressive to see an aircraft so storied.
Don't worry you Czechs otherwise are pretty great at engineering , so we'll let this one slide .
The Chech Republic has great aerospace industries plus they make the Prusa 3D printers that I'm so fond of. I have two.
Israel owes a great part of its success in its independence war to the Czech. They were the only ones willing to sell arms to Israel, while all the nations that voted for the partition plan refused to do a damn thing to support it, or actively acted against it - yes, I am looking at you USA, Britain and France.
Israel got from the Czech also many small arms and other equipment. Sure S-199 was a piece of crap, but a very much needed piece! It did the job and the rest is history.
@@rararnanan7244 Yep, they also smuggled some B-17's through "us" (without the Norden sights). I don't even know if this was before or after the commie coup, and whose idea it was to go forward with it...I should read on it, shouldn't I?
@@vaclav_fejt It was after the coup. Stalin hoped he would get the Israel under the red flag... he could not be more wrong. Vladimír Clementis, at that time the Secretary of the Foreign Affairs was instrumental in the operation. Later executed by his own comrades.
This 109 was still shooting down Egyptian Spitfires in 1948.
Excellent piece! Interesting subject and presented in a relaxed and clear way. Very good 👍!
Thank you for the video. It is very nice and historically accurate.
Thanks for the informative video.
The deep ironary of so many Nazi / German origion weapons and and machines saved Israel, the very people destined to be erased with them in the first place .
From guns to vehicles, ordinance and field equipment, and .... planes, 🛩 the israli use of allied aircraft and equipment is well documented, the irony of axis equipment is relegated to forgotten history
Not only weapons but also SS officers to drill the new army
@@steffenrosmus9177 .....not to mention Otto Skorzeny and the fledgling Mossad!
@@steffenrosmus9177 Any luck
Very interesting the way history twists and turns, but what is taught is so very lineal.....You tube links or other links for more?
@@steffenrosmus9177 do you have a source for that
And even more ironic, from the Profile Publications issue of the Me-109, one in the Israeli Air Force sporting the SS Death's Head
Underrated video, this is amazing content for such a small channel
I learned a lot from this movie. I didn't know these stories. Thank you.
I'm glad I've found this channel
Thank you very much ! That was really well explained
Avia S-199 was an improvised plane from World War II surplus. It was like to put a bus engine into racing car. That may sound silly, but if all you have are car chassis and bus engines, then it makes sense. Considering the rapid progress in aerospace industries after the WWII those parts would have become obsolete anyway. Avia S-199 was a plane with many flaws but it worked nonetheless.
Is a Czech person I feel a sense of pride for providing newly founded state of Israel with weapons (not only these fighters).
Thank you for making this documentary. 👍
We are also kind of Newly founded or better say we were freed
Great vid, thanks for the fascinating history lesson.
TX for a very interesting and unreported tale of desperation and courage
Superb video well done :)
I always found it interesting seeing where weapons end up in the "second hand market." I heard that France used Japanese Zeroes in Vietnam, and of course the Syrian Tigers and Panzers are famous.
The French also used German eighty eights, MG 42 etc. in French Indochina.
Not the Tiger only the Pzkw IV Ausf H and some StuG III.
I believe it was actually the Ki43 Hayabusa that France used in Indochina.
I have seen photos of French Oscar's, but never saw a photo of a French A6M. Not saying it didn't happen, just know that the Ki43 has photographic proof.
You forgot Thailand.
@@carlnapp4412 The French used a complete German SS division in Indochina.
Excellent. You should quickly build a good number of followers. I've just subscribed.
Amazing channel!
Very well composed video :)
It was well known that the ME 109's ground handling characteristics were difficult in its standard form with the DB engine - the landing gear had a narrow stance and a ground loop could happen at any time. Combine that with the heavy torque and broad propeller of the S-199 and I can see why it was a beast on the ground.
phenomenal video. great job
Great Video!
The S-199 wasn't called a knife, this is a translation error of a translation error. The Israelis, or the foreign volunteers at least called it a Messer, short for Messerschmitt, which of course means knife-smith. Some have hence translated Messer to Sakeen (Hebrew for knife), and hence now back to English as Knife. Nope, it wasn't called a Knife, nor a Sakeen, but a Messer.
Messer translates to knife...
when you try be smart but turns out you wrong
@@alinalexandru2466 It does, but it is a false friend.
many actually called it the 'rusted knife'. an apt description, both of the performance and how it was needed in a pinch....
Meser in Yiddish (Messer in German) means a knife
Not only Ezer Weizman would eventually become the commander of the IAF, he also became later-on, the president of Israel.
He was a relative of Haim Weizman, the first president of Israel and a talented scientist (whose inventions helped-out Britain in its war efforts).
Fun fact Haim Weizmann invented acetone.
Another great video!
Great video 😎👍
There is a very nice map of most aviation crashes that happened in Czech rep., the S.199 is one of the most common type overall.
There is little wonder in that, as the chassis married bomber engine and proppeler that were meant to be counteracted by being mounted off center on He-111 and by the torc of it's second engine. On s.199 it just added to whatever negatives there were on Me-109. Also the engine was not as powerful or responsive.
Bf-109 was a great plane, but has a terrible human rights record considering who used it.
@@taylorc2542 It was powerful, but also had some nasty characteristics according to the pilots. It was not designed to be easier of the pilots and the ground crews like the Fw-190 was.
@@taylorc2542 The Bf109 is a plane, a machine. It has no human rights record.
Great content. My grandmother's cousin wrote a book about this. Her husband was part of a group of aircraft mechanics that refurbished and flew the surplus cargo aircraft used to smuggle these planes and other armaments out of Europe for the Israeli government. The planes would come off the assembly line, be test flown once, then the wings were removed and the fuselage would be loaded into the cargo plane with just enough room for the wings to slide in beside it. Then a very risky flight to the Middle East avoiding the wrong airspace.
I'm glad to see pictures of these 109s with their weird engines. I always wondered. The whole messer means 'knife" thing. Someone is trying to clean up history. I believe they were called "Messerschmitts", but the "schm" was pronounced "sh". Most of the pilots spoke English.
The Messerschmitt was named after the designer Wilhelm Messerschmitt. He designed passenger planes later making the iconic fighters we all know and love.
Nicely informative video.
One of the noteworthy pilots who flew the S.199 in the original Israeli Airforce was Chris Magee, a leading ace during WW2 in the famous Black Sheep Squadron, VMF 214.
Le 109 était incontestablement un avion exceptionnel en son temps !
7:23 My uncle, Phil Marmelstein, perched on the cowling, was one of the ferry pilots who brought the S.199 to Israel. He went on to "Operation Magic Carpet", flying refugees in from Yemen and Iran in Constellations...
cool video! JJ
You learn something new any other day ... I - for one - didn't know that the israeli Army used license-built BF109s. I knew that Spain had some. And Switzerland. But ... well ... they did their jobs. Sort of. Thanks for sharing !
Think Spanish 109,s used home made hisso,s more like Merlin not inverted and were used in battle of Britain movie , exhaust not inverted.
Die Schweizer Flugwaffe hat auch deutsche Flugzeuge abgeschossen mit Bf 109, die auf dem Weg nach Frankreich über Schweizer Gebiet geflogen sind. Hermann Goehring war sehr sauer, es wurde dann untersagt, um die Nazis nicht zu provozieren.
The Swiss Air Force also shot down German planes with Bf 109 flying over Swiss territory en route to France. Hermann Goehring was very angry, it was then forbidden in order not to provoke the Nazis.
@@jochensch8821
Das hatten Sie auch mit einer Fw 190 Dora versucht, der Pilot hatte amerikanische Begleitjägern bekämpft und war über die Schweiz geraten. Von da an hatte die Schweiz 2 Bf109 weniger.
Die Schweiz hatte auch viele amerikanische Flugzeuge zur Landung gezwungen.
@@carlnapp4412 Nun wenn neutral dann richtig. Es gibt da einen Witz den ich einmal gelesen habe.
Amerikaner überfliegen die Schweiz,
die Luftüberwachung funkt an. Sie überfliegen die neutrale Schweiz.
Amerikaner: das wissen wir.
Verlassen sie den Luftraum, sonst müssen wir schiessen.
Amerikaner: das wissen wir.
Es wird geschossen.
Amerikaner: Sie schiessen zu niedrig
Schweizer: das wissen wir.
Ich habe im TV auch einen Bericht gesehen, über US-Bomberbesatzungen die technischen Probleme hatten und in der Schweiz landeten. Sie durften nicht mehr starten und man musste sie auch internieren.
@@jochensch8821
Selbstbewußtsein war noch nie Mangelware unter den Eidgenossen.
Great video. It should be mentioned that Ezer Weizman was later in his life the seventh President of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998.
Great job good documentary
Amazing story!
What an interesting story Rex. While I don't know if the anecdotes, I read about the 109's ground handling problems were true for poorly trained German pilots in WW2, they certainly must have been by the time there was heavier engine with more torque was bolted onto the front.
The centrally hinged front gear makes for a narrow gear profile and unstable stance on the ground.
The centrally hinged front gear makes for a narrow gear profile and unstable stance on the ground.
I took a course from an ex-USAF Colonel who had some direct knowledge of the early Israeli Air Force indicated that the end of these planes with the Israelis was far more ignoble than is usually mentioned.
Very interesting. Could you make a video about the Spanish Buchón?
Excelente contenido técnico, muy informativo .
I’ve heard there was a thick streak of anti-semitism in the Roosevelt administration which one might suppose survived into the Truman years. My guess this would have had a major influence on post war foreign policy, not some strict adherence to a neutrality policy viv-a-vis the newly formed state of Israel.
mainly from dulles in the state department who hated Israel and Jews in general.
The Bf109 are unstabil for take of and landing too, but thank new propeller with higher air resistance and gyro-moment, the unstability dramaticly escaled. Standart take off- was finished with 90 gradus curve.
Amazing story....
I flew this plane in war thunder and absolutely hated it. Glad to see there is a backstory to it all though. It makes it kinda cool to know the history of it.
Wow great video. You remind me of a great TH-camr I know called the flying T. rex ;). Any chance of a history of the Israeli airforce vid?
Thanks! I am working on a video series called "Tales of the (insert air force name here)" which will somewhat cover the chronological histories of various air forces. Its a lot of work and research so you may not see these for a little while let :)
@@RexsHangar awesome
I Czech I have few comments.
For this price. We didn't help Israel, we used them.
For DB605 was better unpaved airfields, well Jumo 211 wanted opposite(probably).
Engine was bit bigger and could not use even small silent blocks. 605 had small from few steel pads, 601 had rubber sinetblocks so does Jumo 211 in another applications when Germany had a rubber.
Bonnet was with engine contact on more places than around weapons and air intakes, what caused more vibrations.
Jumo 211 can't use "motorkanone" and shot through a propeler.
Although J211 had lower power output, generated more heat.
Jumo 211 had bigger displacement and needer bit more oil despite its crankshaft up.
Pilot who survived can say Ive got skill and luck.
In Prague, I saw in Jehovov a plaque thanking Israel for its support. Hardly anyone wanted to sell weapons to Israel. A lot of things had to be smuggled, since the state as a customer did not exist yet. The Arab states, however, bought a lot of material which was surplus after the war.
For the price: It was shameful, but it was a business. Israel needed the planes and Czechoslovakia had them. The state of Israel was in its infancy at that time and the risk that it will fail was significant and so was the political risk of selling military equipment to such country. The Americans and Soviets were neutral at its best, Arabs where strong enemies, Brits and French both had their own interests in middle East and were anti-Israel. Czechoslovakia was one of the few countries willing to help and we were also under pressure from north East and West. Soviets banned the latest shipments of arms after they figured out that despite all the kibuces Isreal is not going to go the communist way.
Money mean very little in a war where you fighting for your own existence. Badly equipped and overpriced air force is way better than no air force at all.
Czech did not only sell them aircraft, they too actually sold them tons of rifles to supplement whatever the Israelis could get their hands on from the British that backed off of the Levant region. However, slight problem... It faces issues same as the planes but something more catastrophic.
The Czechs made the Vz.24 rifle which was basically the same as the Kar98K the Wehrmacht was using and since it was basically the same toolings, the Germans soon ensured that the entire Skoda factory and the other arms plant in Czechoslovakia was making the Kar98K. However, the Czechs being Czechs, hated the German occupiers and they sabotaged tons of guns by basically misaligning the unadjustable front sight post of the rifle.
When Israel initially got the rifles, the Czechs left out that fact and when the Hagannah initially fired it, many of the soldiers were miffed on why the gun wasn't shooting at where they were aiming till they realized that the gun's zeroing was totally botched from the get-go by the Czechs themselves but the Israeli still compensated for it as they were just happy to have guns to survive the conflict and stay afloat.
The documentary called above and beyond is amazing. The guys that flew these planes give first hand stories
Indeed it is! And apparently the ex-allied pilots (the Americans at least) had another nickname for the S.199... the Messershit. :)
@@janiilola5810 I saw that.. pretty funny. They didn’t like it because it had a Heinkel bomber engine in it
10:43 The accidents increasing was most probably not due to the runway being unpaved. Actually, for airplanes like this an unpaved runway is more helpful and thus, safer because 1. one can more easily land straight into the wind on a strip of grass or gravel wide enough (where paved runways „produce“ crosswind more often). 2. Unpaved landing fields have usually less friction on the wheels making it more forgiving than concrete. It could produce more wear on the tyres rubber due to the skidding. But since the friction is less, the effect sort of equalizes.
exactly correct on all points. Every experienced pilot who lands on both unimproved and paved landing areas knows that the airframe takes much less stress on the (reasonably) unimproved field, landing as close as possible to wind heading. Land uphill, take off downhill if given the choice
The Bf109 already had an intrinsic problem with it’s narrow landing carriage. This feature probably crashed more Bf109’s than the enemy did.
So so. When 109 was used on grass airfields idealy with wet grass it was better than operated them on asphalt airfield. Some German group used them around Q4/1944 in Austria on asphalt and there had higher losses from a asphalt than from a enemy.
They were only a little bit narrow at landing gear than a Spitfire was...
Fw190 fan myself
@@chadrowe8452 ….Give the 109 it’s due. When introduced it was the best in the world. It was upgraded thought out it’s production. The FW190 was a better aircraft. However in the middle of a war 109 production wasn’t going to stop. So the 109 has laurels for being the most produced fighter aircraft in history
@@Idahoguy10157 very true sir
This is one of those stories that should be a movie
The irony of Israel using a German design !
I'm sure it helped boost morale slightly to know that they not only won the war, but also took the enemies' best fighter.
wasn't that the FW 190 ?
It wasn't the enemy's best fighter.
@@AviViljoen Germany used the Bf-109 since the start of the war until it ended, you can say it was their best fighter
@@yoamal1187 You can say it, but you'd be wrong. Just because it was in service for six years doesn't make it the best. Which would you say was the best US fighter of the war? Was it the Brewster Buffalo, or the Bell Airacobra? (both were used from the start of the war until it ended, which - by your logic - make them jointly the best US fighters).
Very interesting!
I had never even heard of this aircraft before ! -And man, oh man...those propellers...("spades" would be a better name, really) 🤔
He-111 parts ;)
With those big props, it would have been a deadly fighter at high altitudes. But it seems like most of the battles were fought at low altitudes and ground attack where it was not well suited for at all.
To sum up: The aircraft was basically a piece of junk and a deathtrap with it's contribution being that it was able to bluff the enemy into maybe believing that the Israeli's had a real fighter aircraft.
Sure the 109's accepted the more sort of engine types and countries were they where crafted and still flews...
By the time the former 109s got to Israel they were a bit of a Frankenstein but inside there was the remains of the world's most accomplished fighter plane. From Spain over Europe, Africa and Russia finally to the middle east it racked up more kills than any other fighter between 15 and 20 thousand. No other fighter comes close. It was like a beat up, half blind old boxer given one last shot at a title and I think it came out well on top. Once an icon of oppression it ended it's days as a freedom fighter hero to a new nation, not a bad ending.
Junk? It did the job didn’t it.
@@r.g.o3879 well said.
@@r.g.o3879 Brilliant. Numbers don't lie.
There are a couple of S199s in the excellent Czech air museum on the outskirts of Prague. I recommend a visit!
Kbely air museum
The US convicted or tried to those who were smuggling planes to Israel. In England they pretended to film a movie and when the plane took off, no one noticed it was flying in the wrong direction, toward Israel. It was very difficult for Israel to get heavy weapons and aircraft.
No joke. The supposed movie script had the intrepid airman parting from his girlfriend, then taking off and flying away on his mission. The plane took off and was supposed to land at another field so they could continue filming scenes, but it wasn’t noticed that the plane was not headed to the field, but another direction. By the time the deception was discovered, the plane and “film crew” were long gone. The English authorities were very angry.
The Israeli pilots heard a rumor that the Arabs had hired some ex German Luftwaffe pilots and thought of the irony of Israeli Messerschmitts against Germans flying Spitfires.
You know Paul Reuben of television/ movie " PeeWee Herman" fame? His dad was one of the Israeli pilots of these aircraft!
Yes, Milton Rubenfeld, flew for the RAF as well as being one of the first Israeli fighter pilots.
I read a few accounts of this contraption and the common feature was the word "deathtrap".
Those pictures of surplus airplanes going to the scrap yard at the end of WW2 breaks my heart. The waste of machines when they are no longer needed as soon as they become obsolete makes me question our sanity.
Probably a good idea to open this history channel, Ive seem quite a number of them blow up.
Wow, it must be terrifying to know that you shot off your own propellers in a plane that cant even take off without spinining like its pinned on one side
Also, nice pfp you chose for your 2nd channel ;)
Thanks! Yeah it was a pretty horrible aircraft overall, I bet the pilots were very happy to get out of them as soon as possible.
Ahh, yes. Take a plane known for poor ground handling and torque issues... stick a bomber engine in it. What could possiblie go wrong?
Great video! Really love this new channel. The era just after WW2 is something I know so little about, so this was really interesting.
Thanks! I plan to cover everything from the dawn of flight up to Desert Storm. So it should be fun!
As a lover of the beautiful Bf-109, I could not resist a vid on the Mezak (mule [sp?]) 💜💜💜.
The irony of the vaunted Messerschmitt being the savior of Israel is something that only a Hollywood movie writer could have come up with but if you believe in a higher being or karma or some such it does feel like the former Nazi fighter was chosen to perform this special task and there can be no doubt it achieved much more than it's mere combat record shows. The former 109 is now forever enshrined in the history of Israel. It is a testament to its design and planning and perhaps fitting that the greatest fighter plane of all time performed it's most important mission at the end of its career helping to usher in a new nation and perhaps redeem it's darker beginnings
Agree! IF the Jumo engine - they should've used 190 D's ;-)
Hi Rex, one of the oldest surviving WW2 Luftwaffe pilpts Hans Ekard-Bobb had commented that due to the Bf.109s narrow-track undercarridge a lot of inexperienced pilots were killed on takeoffs and landings, my latest drawing is that of an Avia S.199
Virgin Israelis: we had to stop using half of the guns on the aircraft you sold us because they kept shooting off the engine propellers
Chad Czechs: skill issue
Seen the drawings of the cannon going through the original 109 engine and out of the middle of the cone of the prop? Crazy! 😁
Interesting switch of success.
very interesting video, I was assembling plastic kit of this plane as a child and I have noticed later this strong similarity with BF109,
as well for me was strange that propeller with a big massive blades looked a bit strange, ugly, oversized, not sympatic :)
other way I liked this plane in silver metalic colour, it was in a similar category like other famous WW2 airplanes
Would love to see more information on the early IAF.
Brave Men !!!
I appreciate the hell out of the irony of a BF109 clone serving the Israelis
The Israelis used surplus K98s, too. They generally just scratched or branded out the swatsikas.
Thanks!
Having obtained Hugo Hooftman’s book on rare airplane photos in the 60’s, I was well aware of the Israeli bf-109.
There were all kinds of German munitions exported from Post war, recreated Czechoslovakia. Anything and Everything that had the benefit of not having to cut corners during the production and not being carpet and firebombed by the Western Allies. The piston engine German aircraft were still of a very high technological level that would only be improved with American High test gasoline and and the adoption of superchargers. Small arms like K98k Mausers were and still are in the USA today in very good condition with winter trigger guards from the Bruenn rifle plant (or Brno in Czech.) Surprisingly, the German assault rifles, the MP44s that were manufactured in very high numbers, around 1 million of them, don't seem to have been sold to Israel in any big numbers. Perhaps they weren't available in the post war Czech areas.
The only reason I'd heard of this aircraft before. 20 years ago I bought a book titles "World's Worst Aircraft". I still have that book.
Yes the Heinkel was better, but Heinkel was not in the NSDAP. Messerschmitt was in Hitlers Party.
These have been great informative videos with the best narration of any I have seen so far but please, that's pronounced U_MO engines and not JU-MO! It's the same with the Junkers aircraft name with so many pronouncing it JUNK-ERS when it to is actyally YUN-KERS.
That said I find these videos to be extremely informative and as I said before the narration is almost perfect, this has become my favorite channel!
Thank you.
They should get a medal just for climbing in the cockpit!
Nah... most nations have to actually do something to qualify for a medal. 😉
@@AviViljoen In the US some branches of the military give a medal for completion of boot camp.
@@edwinsalau150 Yes, that was the kind of thing I was referring to 🤣
@@AviViljoen well Israel did more than enough to get hundreds of medals. Israelis are brave people and fight like hell when their home is threatened.
@@IdoDekel-do7hh I know, and I absolutely agree with you. I have the highest respect for the Israelis. I was referring to some other nations who hand out medals for merely attending courses. I am ex South African Army, and in my day, if you saw one medal on a soldier, you knew it was well-earned. I will not speak badly of the Israeli Defence Force.
The Israeli's had inferior products, but by sheer force of will, they pulled off miracle after miracle. Good for them...they were and are amazing.
The Israeli air force is successful today because it has some of the bravest pilots in the world and some of the most advanced jets in the world. But it started with only brave pilots, really REALLY brave pilots who had to fly into combat in death traps.
I love your content, but there were so many ads (about 1 every 50 seconds) that it was almost unwatchable.
Pee Wee Herman's Dad was one of these pilots in the 1st fighter squadron. His name was Milton Rubenfeld.
Wow, many thanks for this history videos. I knew that we help Israel with planes, but that´s all (during communistic era the information were not for public). This is very interesting part of history. I thought that Avia is French. Because during communistic era Avia produce light trucks based on renault´s license).
Not only planes. You sold to Israel also guns (what we in Israel called them Czech guns that were Mausers 98s), machine guns MG34, and ammo. Those actually opened the road to Jerusalem that was besieged by the Arabs , and helped to kick out the Egyptian army that invaded deep into the newly established Jewish state. These sales were authorized by the Soviet Union which thought that the new Jewish state would become their sattelite. This, of course, didn't happen.