Pinchas ("Pini") Ben-Porat ( he, פנחס בן פורת; October 10, 1914 - July 27, 1955) was one of Israel's first aviators. He was involved in the

Palavir The Palavir, an acronym for ''Plugat HaAvir'' ( he, פלוגת האוויר, ''Air Companies'') was the air force for the Palmach, based in Tel Aviv.Sherut Avir The Sherut Avir ( he, שרות אויר, ''Air Service'') was the air force of the Haganah and the forerunner of the Israeli Air Force. Founding The Sherut Avir was founded on 10 November 1947, just two weeks prior to the passing of the 1947 UN ...

, the IAF's 101 Squadron, and

EL AL El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (, he, אל על נתיבי אויר לישראל בע״מ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ar, إل-عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural ...

History

Pinchas Ben-Porat was born in Krevoe Ozero, a small ''shtetl'' (Jewish village) in Ukraine. He was born Pinchas Anchipolovsky. ''Pinchas Ben-Porat'' earned his flying license at the

Aviron flying school ''Aviron'' Palestine Aviation Company was established in April, 1936 in Mandatory Palestine (now Israel). The company was intended to train pilots and then operate a mainly internal airline, which would serve the security needs of the Yishuv, the Je ...

, Israel's flying school before the

establishment of the State of Israel The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel ( he, הכרזה על הקמת מדינת ישראל), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 ( 5 Iyar 5708) by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive ...

. After acquiring 150 hours of flying time, he became the commander for

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmach ...

's air platoon, the

Palavir The Palavir, an acronym for ''Plugat HaAvir'' ( he, פלוגת האוויר, ''Air Companies'') was the air force for the Palmach, based in Tel Aviv.Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmach ...

later sent him for further training in England, where he earned a commercial flying license. Ben-Porat returned to Palestine in 1947 and joined the

Sherut Avir The Sherut Avir ( he, שרות אויר, ''Air Service'') was the air force of the Haganah and the forerunner of the Israeli Air Force. Founding The Sherut Avir was founded on 10 November 1947, just two weeks prior to the passing of the 1947 UN ...

. On December 17, 1947, Ben-Porat was assigned a support role to

Nevatim Nevatim ( he, נְבָטִים) is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the northern Negev desert around south-east of Beersheba, it falls under the jurisdiction of Bnei Shimon Regional Council. In it had a population of . The nearest settle ...

, a Jewish settlement in the Negev desert. When Nevatim came under attack by Arab irregulars, Ben-Porat flew an RWD 13 or Auster to Nevatim. Upon arriving, he removed the right door of the plane and set up a Bren gun and gunner with several hand grenades. Ben-Porat and his gunner flew a half-hour of close air support. The tactic was emulated by many Jewish pilots and crew in the

1947–1949 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. It is known in Israel as the War of Independence ( he, מלחמת העצמאות, ''Milkhemet Ha'Atzma'ut'') and ...

. On May 9, 1948, Ben-Porat was one of ten pilots who left Israel to enroll in

Avia S-199 The Avia S-199 is a propeller-driven Messerschmitt Bf 109G-based fighter aircraft built after World War II utilizing the Bf 109G airframe and a Junkers Jumo 211F engine in place of the original and unavailable Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine. It is ...

training in Czechoslovakia. He broke his arm crash-landing an S-199 and flew transports during the first truce of the

. After the war he flew

B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

s with 69 Squadron, which he eventually went on to command. After the war, Ben-Porat was the first Israeli instructor in the

Israeli Air Force flight academy The Israeli Air Force Flight Academy trains aircrew to operate Israeli Air Force aircraft, qualifying fighter, helicopter and transport pilots as well as combat and transport navigators. The IAF flight course is considered one of the most pres ...

. After a further tour flying B-17s, he left the military in 1950 and joined the Israeli state-owned commercial airline,

El Al El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (, he, אל על נתיבי אויר לישראל בע״מ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ar, إل-عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural ...

. On July 27, 1955, while co-pilot on

El Al Flight 402 El Al Flight 402 was an international passenger flight from London to Tel Aviv via Vienna and Istanbul. On 27 July 1955, the flight, operated by a Lockheed Constellation registered as 4X-AKC, strayed into then-Communist Bulgarian airspace and was ...

, he was shot down by the Bulgarian Air Force; all on board were killed.Pinchas Ben-Porat, 101 Squadron Pilots, http://101squadron.com/101real/people.html

References

External links

Pinchas Ben-Porat, 101 Squadron Pilots
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Porat, Pinchas Israeli aviators Palmach members Israeli Air Force personnel 1955 deaths 1914 births Ukrainian Jews 20th-century Israeli Jews Aviators killed by being shot down Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Bulgaria Victims of aircraft shootdowns Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine