Spitfire Ace UK Reality TV Show

Eco you really got me looking into the longevity of the spitfire and I found it was a killer way past it's days. Here it is.... no I am not of any religious relations to any of the below.... Enjoy the story M8's!!!!!!The 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli conflict involved a number of factors.. It was the last major war in which no jet aircraft were employed and the spitfire was the power at hand. More signficantly, a wide variety of aircraft were employed by the combatants. The Israelis employed British, American and Czech aircraft. The Arabs flew British, American and a handful of Italian airplanes. An international arms embargo prevented the newly established Jewish state from gaining weapons from any of the world's major powers, so the Israelis were forced to equip their fledgling air force by clandestine means. The Israelis succeeded in obtaining a wide variety of aircraft types, but could get only a handful of any given design-a logistical nightmare. The first aircraft acquired by the Cheyl Cha'Avir, the Israeli air force, were light observation aircraft of limited military utility such as the Piper Cub and the Taylorcraft Auster. In late April 1948, however, Czechoslovakia, needing hard currency, offered to sell Israel all of its remaining Avia 5.199's (a variant of the Messerschmitt Bf109 built in Prague). Because it had an engine originally designed for bombers, the S.199 performed poorly (the Czechs nicknamed it the Mezek or mule)' but it bore the brunt of the fighting in the early days of the war, primarily as a fighter and ground attack aircraft. The S.199's were delivered to Israel in Curtiss C-46 Commando transports, which had been acquired earlier by the Israelis and were later pressed into service as makeshift bombers. The Israelis also had a number of other cargo aircraft, mostly Douglas Dakotas (ex-RAF C-47 Skytrains), which were also used for bombing missions. Of course, these converted transports lacked bombsights and bomb racks, so their crews simply rolled the bombs out of the cargo doors During the ceasefire of the summer of 1948, the Israelis renewed their efforts to acquire more combat aircraft. The scrap yards of the former RAF airfields in Israel provided enough parts for the Israelis to build several Supermarine Spitfires of various marks. A few more Spitfires were built out of the wreckage of Egyptian machines shot down during the early part of the conflict. In mid-July, the Israelis managed to add three B-17G Flying Fortresses to their inventory. These airplanes had been smuggled out of the United States in haste and were missing important equipment such as gun turrets, bombsights and oxygen tanks. But the single most significant addition to the Cheyl Cha'Avir in the ceasefire period was a couple of squadrons of Spitfire IX's purchased from Czechoslovakia. The first of these were delivered in June. The rest arrived in Israel on an irregular schedule over the next few months. As the war progressed, the Israelis acquired a few more types of combat aircraft, most notably North American P-51D Mustangs, Bristol Beaufighters and North American Harvards (ex-RAF T-6 Texans). The Israelis usually got just three or four of each, so they would assign one to be a source of spare parts and use the rest in combat. Other aircraft operated by the Israelis include the Noorduyn C-64 Norseman, Lockheed Hudson, Douglas C-54 Skymaster and deHavilland Dragon Rapide. They also made arrangements to buy some P-40 Warhawks and A-20 Havocs. These deals fell through, however, and none of the aircraft ever reached Israel. A small force of deHavilland Mosquito bombers arrived too late to see action in the war. The various Arab nations had much less colorful air arms. As former British outposts, most were equipped with castoff RAF aircraft. The Egyptians had the largest air force, flying Spitfire V's and IX's, Westland Lysanders and Douglas Dakotas. Like the Israelis, the Egyptians used their transports as bombers. They also operated the only type of non-RAF aircraft to serve with an Arab state during the conflict-the Macchi M.C. 205.2 The Syrians and Iraqis were less well equipped, fighting with nothing more advanced than a couple of squadrons of Harvards. Yet, they were better off than the Jordanians and Lebanese, who had no modern aircraft at all. Despite the limited number of aircraft involved, the air war was quite intense. The majority of the activity was in support of the ground war. Both sides accorded high priority to missions against enemy troops, supply routes and other tactical targets. However, a number of strategic missions were attempted as well-Tel Aviv, Cairo, Damascus and Amman were all bombed during the conflict, although little material damage was done. Several bombers were shot down on these raids, but for the most part, air-to-air combat was a relatively rare occurrence. Neither the Arabs nor Israelis had very many airplanes, so encounters between aircraft were usually accidental. A number of Israeli pilots did, however, score multiple aerial victories during the conflict. These include Modi Alon, Joseph Doyle (whose four kills made him the highest-scoring airman of the war), Rudolph Augarten and Joseph McElroy. McElroy's victory total is rather unusual in that two of his three kills were British, not Arab, aircraft. Britain's Royal Air Force was involved in the fighting throughout the war. Israel had been controlled by the British until independence was declared on May 15, 1948 and the British maintained a presence in Israel even after the Arab invasion. In 1.The Israelis referred to them as "messers" (knives). "Messerschmitt" is German for knifemaker. 2.The identity of these aircraft is disputed;some sources describe them as Fiat G.55's. Late May, a number of RAF aircraft at Ramat David airfield in central Israel were bombed and strafed by Egyptian aircraft. The British withdrew from Israel soon thereafter. They did, however, continue to look after their interests in the Middle East, relying primarily on their bomber and fighter squadrons based in Egypt. These aircraft saw considerable action. In the latter part of the war, as the Israelis penetrated into Egyptian territory, the British became concerned that the Suez Canal might be threatened. To demonstrate their displeasure, the British made several penetrations into Israeli airspace in January 1949. These intrusions were met with force and a number of British aircraft (including Spitfires, Tempests and Mosquitoes) were shot down by the Israelis.S~TX-FlightRisk Green 3