Air Force Museum in Beersheva

On the Wednesday of Passover, we went to the Air Force Museum in Beersheva. 

We went by train. It was a slow ride as the train stopped a half dozen times between Tel Aviv and Beersheva (there were 2 Beersheva stops). However, the seats were comfortable and it wasn't particularly crowded and (though I didn't bring my computer to test it), the train does seem to have WIFI. The first image is Beth and Ann at the train station is downtown Beersheva. 

 It was relatively hot (the maximum probably was close to 90F) that day (a few days later it was in the mid 50s F in the middle of the day). We took a taxi to the Air Force Museum.  Admission was free that day (intermediate days of Passover) and it was pretty crowded.

The second image is of Beth and Ann in front of a Stratofortress. The Israel Air force acquired two of these for use as transport and surveillance. The one shown in the image was shot down by the Egyptians in the period between the Sinai campaign (1956) and the 7 day war (1967).  A memorial plaque honors the people who died in that event.
   


The third image is of me in a propeller piper type aircraft.  They used these for training and they still fly propeller aircraft (fancier than this) some during air shows every hour or so while the museum is open.   


The fourth image is of a mosquito propeller aircraft. These were a plane most of whose external structure was made of wood. It was used between the War of Independence (1948) and the Sinai campaign (1956) in actual combat. The wood was, however, difficult or impossible to maintain (none of the original wood was recoverable from the remnants of this plane). 

The fifth image shows Beth in front of an attack jet used in the 1970s. The plane may have been used in the Yom Kippur War (1972).  

I'm not sure who placed the design on the front of the plane but it was imaginative and made a nice picture. 

The sixth image shows the remnant of a scud missile. Iraq, under Saddam Hussain fired a number of these at Israel during the first Gulf War (1991). The missile is named Al-Husayn after the dictator himself. 


The seventh image is of Ann and Beth in front of the Kfir jet attack plane (it was then modified to carry air to surface missiles as well as air to air missiles). 

This is a plane that was designed and built by Israel and the Air Force and Israeli industry was, and still is, proud of this accomplishment. The Kfir was used through the 1980s.