IAI

TEN

YEARS'

| 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
develop an aircraft maintenance organization for foreign and
domestic airline carriers operating from Lod International Airport.
The man chosen to organize and lead this undertaking was selected
by ex-Premier David Ben-Gurion during a trip through the United
States. He was Mr A. W. Schwimmer, now the general manager
of the company, who had developed a similar maintenance organization in the USA before moving to Israel in 1951.
Initially, the company was called BedekHebrew for "inspection." It began modestly with 70 people, and an investment of
some 160,000. Strong parliamentary objections were raised about
the advisability of establishing a national company of this
kind in a time of severe economic constraint. It was pointed out
that there was an acute shortage of skilled labour in Israelwhere
would Bedek find the requisite manpower ? Finally, however, under
the aegis of the Ministry of Defence, Bedek passed from a paper
project to reality. What has happened in the intervening decade
is a commentary on the technological zeal of the small state of
Israel. IAI has become one of the most important industrial complexes in the country. Its work force has expanded to over 3,500
more personnel working under a single roof than anywhere else in
the nation. It has become one of Israel's principal industries, and
has a net worth of some 14m.
Today, IAI's Aircraft Directorate is a model of technological
expansion and growth. Air France, Alitalia, BEA, BOAC,
Swissair and TWA are among the modern transatlantic carriers whose
airliners are serviced by 1AI at Lod. The company is fully certificated as a repair station by the US Federal Aviation Agency, the
Air Registration Board of Great Britain and the Israel Department
of Civil Aviation. The Israel Air Force and several foreign air
forces have contracted to have aircraft serviced and modified by
IAI; current contracts include USAF transports, and Dakotas of
the French Air Force flown regularly from Paris. Last year some
250 aircraft were put through major repair or overhaul.
In order to keep abreast of the Aircraft Directorate's activities.

HARD

WORK

IN

ISRAEL

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
responsible for complete engine overhaul, for maintenance, and
finally for rigid testing of the engines to the specifications laid down
by the manufacturer. IAI has engine agreements with HispanoSuiza, Snecma, Turbomeca, Bristol Siddeley, Rolls-Royce, Pratt &
Whitney Aircraft and Wright Aeronautical.
IAI's most ambitious undertaking occurred in 1958 when the
company signed a manufacturing licensing agreement with Potez
Air-Fouga of France for the Israeli fabrication of the Magister
twin-jet trainer. In the summer of 1960 the first aircraft ever produced in Israel began rolling off the IAI assembly line. This one
programme gave birth not only to IAI's Manufacturing Directorate
but laid the groundwork for the company's evolution from a
company to a complete industry.
Since 1960 the IAI-produced Fouga has been the training backbone of the Israel Air Force. But IAI was not content merely to
duplicate the French design. Israel had precise requirements of its
own, and the company went to work modifying and improving the
Magister. A new four-channel transistorized radio compass was
developed; plastics were used to replace metal in the intakes,
canopy fairing, ventral strake and tail section; instrumentation in
both cockpits was made identical, the ailerons have been enlarged,
the air-conditioning output and armament increased, and the seats
improved. IAI continues manufacturing the aircraft, and plans to
implement a wide marketing programme in various parts of the
world.
In addition to the major task of producing the Magister itself,
the Manufacturing Directorate builds all the necessary jigs and
tools. It has also developed a wide array of engine and aircraft
ground-handling equipment, and produced tooling and modification kits. France and the USA are major customers for such
products as servicing platforms, stairways and other ramp equipment. Exports to the USA last year amounted to some $2.2m
In order to correlate the practical with the theoretical, manufacturing 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