LY772 From Israel, joined Aug 2001, 1340 posts, RR: 3 Posted (10 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 2183 times:
On Wednesday (Israel's 54th Birthday) my father and I went to visit Ramat David Air Force Base in Northern Israel and this is my little "report" about it.
Here are some things you need to know. I do not have pictures because I would be put in jail if I tried to take pictures. Just bare with me. As I was walking around, I wrote on a paper this report:
Here I am entering the base at a little checkpoint near the end of Runway 33. They are checking us and we are going through medal detectors.
We are now on Runway 33 and man is it a long runway. I see atleast 15 planes on each side of the runway and what looks like to be a Hercules about a kilometer away. Wow, this runway is long.
3 F-16s just flew over us at about 200 meters and they are doing a circle now. They are about a kilometer apart and they are landing at what's left of Runway 33. Wow this is amazing.
We are now walking towards the airplanes, that are staged 200 meters into the runway. I hear a loud sound and I turn around and see 2 Apache Helicopters doing really sharp turns. Nice.
There are lots of Police officers here and now we are approaching the airplanes. The first aircraft as we are starting on the right side is a F-16 two seater (that I think is used for training).
As we went on, there were different things that have to do with the F-16 (engine, wing, missiles) laid around.
Now we come to a larger aircraft and wow, the F-15I is incredible. As I look at it, I see many nice things. The obvious thing is the size difference between the F-16.
Here are the rest of the list of the airplanes I see:
Kfir
F4E - Phantom
Hercules (went inside, very cool)
We also saw these really cool things like Missiles and Pilot Equipment.
I really enjoyed myself. FYI: This is the only day of the year that this is possible to do this tour.
Blackbird1 From Germany, joined Mar 2002, 217 posts, RR: 7 Reply 2, posted (10 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 2052 times:
Thank you very much for the interesting report in these difficult times for your country and nation. Thanks again and looking forward to reading another post from you! Shalom Blackbird1
LY744 From Canada, joined Feb 2001, 5536 posts, RR: 13 Reply 4, posted (10 years 1 month 1 week 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 2030 times:
If it looked like this (with IAF markings, this one is on a delivery flight) It was an (I)F-16D, which there are plenty of at Ramat David (two dozen in a single squadron). Those are fully operational fighters used mostly for ground attack using guided weapons, as well as SAM suppression.
If it looked like this it was an F-16B, which are mostly used for training nowadays in the IAF. In general, IAF F-16A/B's are used for AA combat and non-guided ground attack (some people believed that F-16B's were used as SAM suppressors by the IAF before they recieved their (I)F-16D). Those are based in two airfields in southern Israel.
In any case, do you remember what kind of tail markings the a/c you saw had?
LY744 From Canada, joined Feb 2001, 5536 posts, RR: 13 Reply 6, posted (10 years 1 month 1 week 10 hours ago) and read 2017 times:
By tail markings I mean squadron insignia. The Valley Squadron, who are based in Ramat David and operate F-16D's have a big eagle painted on the tails of their a/c, the Scorpions (Hatzor, F-16C/D Block 40) have a scorpion, the 1st Fighter Squadron (Hatzor, F-16C/D Block 40) have 45 degree red and white stripes on the rudders of their fighters. The Arava Defenders (Hatzor, F-16A/B Block 10) have a big red and yellow bird-looking thing.
I'll try to post pics when I get back from work.
LY744 From Canada, joined Feb 2001, 5536 posts, RR: 13 Reply 8, posted (10 years 1 month 6 days 6 hours ago) and read 2031 times:
Sounds good to me!
Anyways, here are the pics I promissed:
First Fighter Squadron, (I)F-16C Block 40.
A model of a Valley Squadron (I)F-16D Block 30. Don't let the kill marks fool you, IAF F-16C/D's have never scored a kill.
The Arava Defenders squadron, F-16A Block 10. One of 50 surplus USAF F-16A/B's delivered to Israel in 1994, all operated by the Arava Defenders, they kept the original USAF colors, until a couple years ago when they were repainted in the same desert camouflage colors as all other IAF F-16's.
(I)F-16C Block 30, the First Jet Squadron (Ramat David), note the silver lightning on the tail, identifying the squadron's a/c.