George Lichter

George Lichter (December 1921 — 2 August 2013) was an American fighter pilot and one of the founders of the Israeli Air Force.[1]

George Lichter
BornDecember 1921
Brooklyn, New York
Died(2013-08-02)2 August 2013
Boulder, Colorado
Service/branchUnited States Army Air Forces
Israeli Air Force
Years of service1941–1951
Unit101 Squadron (Israel)
Battles/warsWorld War II
1948 Arab-Israeli War

Biography

Lichter was born in Brooklyn in 1921 to a Jewish family that had emigrated from Lithuania at the turn of the century.[2] A day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor he enlisted with the US Army Air Forces to become a pilot. Serving with the 361st Fighter Group on the European front, Lichter flew the P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt, and participated in 88 combat missions, including the Normandy landings.[3] He returned to the United States in December 1944 and served as a flight instructor before leaving the military.[4]

With the Israeli Air Force
Avia S-199 at the Israeli Air Force Museum

In early 1948, following the outbreak of the 1947–1949 Palestine war, Lichter volunteered to fight for the nascent Israeli Air Force. When Israel secured the purchase of its first fighter aircraft, 25 Avia S-199s, a Czechoslovak derivative of the German Messerschmitt Bf 109, Lichter traveled to Czechoslovakia. He learned to fly the Avia at the airfield at České Budějovice.[3][5]

Lichter arrived in Israel in August 1948, once the last Avia S-199 conversion course had finished. He joined Israel's 101 "First Fighter" Squadron and took his first flight in Israel on August 13, flying Avia D-119 from Maabarot, where the squadron had moved while the airfield at Herzliya was being renovated. He was soon on his way back to Czechoslovakia, however. Israel had acquired former Czech Supermarine Spitfires and Lichter was sent to train additional pilots on the new type. He took his last flight on the Avia on August 25.[6] In December 1948 Lichter participated in Operation Velvetta II to ferry the Spitfires to Israel.[1]

After the war ended in early 1949, Lichter left Israel but returned shortly later. He was appointed chief test pilot at Tel Nof and later chief instructor at the IAF Advanced Flying School.[3]

Later life

In 1951 Lichter returned to the United States,[7] where he became active in the textile field. In 1995 he retired to Boulder, Colorado.[8] Lichter died on 2 August 2013 after a brief battle with Leukemia. He was survived by three children.[3]

In 2012 author Vic Shayne published a biography of Lichter titled "Ups & Downs With No Regrets".[9]

See also

References

Notes
  1. Cohen, Shir (4 August 2013). "George Lichter, Founder of the Force, Passes Away". Israeli Air Force. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  2. Aderet, Ofer (15 August 2013). "המדריך הראשון של טייסי הקרב". Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  3. Simon, Smoky (15 August 2013). "George Lichter: A pioneer in the pantheon of the IAF". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  4. Cohen 2004, Vol I, p. 378
  5. Cohen 2004, Vol I, p. 178
  6. Yofe and Nyveen 2007, p. 54
  7. Shayne 2012, p. 506
  8. "GEORGE LICHTER Obituary". Legacy.com. 11 August 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  9. Bernheimer, Kathryn (7 August 2013). "George Lichter z"l — The End of a Life Lived with No Regrets". Boulder Jewish News. Retrieved 7 September 2013.

Bibliography
  • Cohen, Avi (2004). The History of the Israeli Air Force in the War for Independence. Volume I: October 1947 – July 1948 (in Hebrew). Israeli Ministry of Defence. ISBN 965-05-1245-4.
  • Shayne, Vic (2012). Ups and Downs with No Regrets. iUniverse. ISBN 9781475946048.
  • Yofe, Alex; Nyveen, Lawrence (2007). Avia S-199 in Israeli Air Force Service. San Jose, CA: White Crow Publications. ISBN 978-0-9774627-1-1.
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