Aircraft That Still Fly

At the Hatzerim base, west of Beersheba, there is a museum in which you can walk among real aircraft.

Its cornerstone was laid on 16 July 1985, mainly thanks to the work of Brigadier General (res.) Yaakov Terner — the same man who was later mayor of Beersheba. And the museum opened to the public on 20 June 1991.

It has hundreds of models of aircraft that served in the Air Force. And beside them real aircraft, ones that went out of service or that were captured.

And a few of them are worth a stop. There is a Spitfire there, 'the Black Spit' of Ezer Weizman. There is a MiG-21 that came here from Iraq. There is the Lavi aircraft, which Israel Aerospace Industries developed. And there are fighter aircraft that carry kill marks: a Mirage with thirteen, an F-15 with four, and an F-16 with six and a half.

And the expression 'were captured' says something particular: an aircraft of another army, that was taken whole and passed into other hands. The MiG in the museum is the famous case — it was smuggled from Iraq in an operation called Operation Diamond, that is, it was not shot down and it was not bought, but arrived here in flight.

And some of the aircraft do not just stand there. They are kept airworthy, and they fly in displays.

Beside the aircraft there is a display of aircraft parts with an explanation of what each part serves for — that is, you can see from the inside what a wing does and what an engine does. There is a display of anti-aircraft weapons, a photography exhibition, and an exhibition on rescue unit 669.

And on the intermediate days of Passover and on Independence Day active aircraft are also displayed at the place, and flypasts and activities for children are held.

And there is also criticism of the place, and it is worth knowing about it. Many aviation enthusiasts resent the museum's policy, which according to them prefers drawing a crowd over historical accuracy — aircraft are painted in color schemes they never carried. There is also criticism of the neglect of the exhibits: in February 2015 a silver Boeing-Stearman aircraft burned down completely as a result of faulty maintenance. It was airworthy, it flew in displays, and for years Yaakov Terner himself flew it — the same man thanks to whom the museum came into being.