The Israeli Air Force Museum

The story

The Israeli Air Force Museum is at the Hatzerim base, west of Beersheba. The cornerstone was laid on 16 July 1985, mainly thanks to the work of Brig. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Terner — 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 that went out of service or that were captured: the Spitfire “the Black Spit” of Ezer Weizman, the MiG-21 that was smuggled from Iraq in Operation Diamond, the Lavi aircraft of Israel Aerospace Industries, the Mirage 3 Shahak 159 with thirteen kills, an F-15 Baz with four and an F-16 Netz 107 with six and a half. Some of them are kept airworthy and fly in displays. Beside the aircraft there is a display of aircraft parts with an explanation of what each part serves for, a display of anti-aircraft weapons, a photography exhibition and an exhibition on the rescue unit 669. On the intermediate days of Passover and on Independence Day active aircraft are also displayed in it, and flypasts and activities for children are held. 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 — and they also criticize the neglect of the exhibits. In February 2015 the silver Boeing-Stearman aircraft burned down completely as a result of faulty maintenance; it was airworthy, flew in displays, and for years was flown by Yaakov Terner himself.

• Museums
• War
• People