IAF flight academy

IAF Aviation Academy ; Chazerim Air Base
Characteristics
Coordinates	31 ° 14 ′ 0 ″ N , 34 ° 39 ′ 45 ″ E Coordinates: 31 ° 14 ′ 0 ″ N , 34 ° 39 ′ 45 ″ E
Height above MSL	220 m (722 ft )
Basic data
opening	1949 (on Chazor AFB) ; 1966 (on Chazerim)
operator	Israeli Air Force

The IAF-flight Academy (English IAF Flight Academy ) is the flight school of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) . The training is considered to be one of the most demanding of its kind and only around 10 percent of applicants complete it successfully. It lasts three years and is carried out at the Chazerim military airfield in the southern district of Israel. During these three years, the cadets go through five stages, four of which last half a year and one a whole. The IAF Flight Academy trains prospective pilots in five aviation professions : general pilot , navigator , cargo pilot, helicopter pilot and fighter pilot . At the end of flight school, graduates must commit to serving the IAF for seven years.

The five stages

(from: How IAF pilots take off , see individual certificates)

1. The preparatory stage

The main objective of this level is to make the cadets soldiers and pilots of the IDF and IAF. The trainee pilots learn military discipline, following orders and punctuality, starting with an eight-week basic training course. During this basic training, the cadets go through soldier training, take part in target practice and learn how to act under stress. Later they also have to fly for the first time, for a month in a German Grob G 120A . You want to see whether and how the students are able to fly in order to be able to assign them to the appropriate aircraft type during training. In the preparatory stage, the cadets also visit the so-called flight study brigade for six weeks, where they are instructed in mathematics, physics and aerodynamics. This course is an integral part of every level.

2. The basic level

At this level, it is important that the cadets learn how to become officers and leaders and that everyone is first and foremost an officer. The soldier training continues, first with a rescue and then with a parachutist course, at the end of which the cadets earn their parachutist badge. These courses are held in small groups, led by an experienced instructor. In the six-week course, the cadets are taught everything that is important to them about flying and airplanes. At the end of the stage, your flight skills are checked again and you are assigned to a certain type of aircraft. There they have to prove their skills in modern and complex aircraft. Possible fighter pilots are placed in an Italian M-346 jet trainer Lavi , helicopter pilots in a Bell 206 Sayfan , navigators in a B200 King Air Tsufit , transport aircraft in a Boeing 707 or Lockheed C-130 Hercules. If they have passed the tests, they will receive their IAF badges in a ceremony at the Masada fortress .

IAF flight academy training aircraft
German Grob G 120A Snunit over Israel
An Italian M-346 Lavi jet trainer
A Bell 206 Sayfan for helicopter training
An IAF Beechcraft B200 King Air Tsufit
Boeing 707 Reem and C-130 Hercules Karnaf

3. Practice of flying skills

The third level focuses on the basic skills in flying. In contrast to the previous phases on the ground, this phase mainly consists of training flights. Flight mechanics, computer applications, an introduction to statistics, management and algebra are taught in flight studies, in coordination with the respective vocation.

4. The academic year

At the end of the last stage, the cadets officially begin their academic studies at the flight academy and prepare for the bachelor's degree. They are taught by university professors from all over Israel. This level is now completely dedicated to the course, the academic year of which is divided into three semesters. At the end there are final exams just like at normal universities. Depending on their performance and skills, the cadets are assigned to the following departments: mathematics and computer science, IT and management, economics and management, politics, government and management. They also take courses in physics, aerodynamics, meteorology, weapon systems and navigation and on the history of the IDF and IAF.

5. The advanced level

During the last stage of their training, the cadets fly in their later mission machines and thus acquire advanced flight skills. At the same time, they are completing their studies and studying weapons systems, which is the final point of their flight studies. At the end of the level, the cadets become officers, receive their wings, and are official pilots.

history

Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion honors IAF flight school graduates, August 10, 1950

The first IAF flight school course was completed in March 1949 at the Chazor military airfield . The first four graduates had previously received their training in Czechoslovakia . In May 1949 there were 12 more graduates who had also learned to fly in Czechoslovakia. The first flight school course, which was held entirely in Israel, was held at Camp Sirkin near Petach Tikwa and began on February 14, 1950. Most flight instructors came from abroad and the official language of the course was English. The course ended on August 10, 1950 with 13 pilots and 4 navigators. In order to train them as fighter pilots, a special training squadron was set up in December 1950 to fly the Supermarine Spitfire .

The flight school courses took place at the Sirkin military airfield until 1955, when the move to the Tel Nof airfield took place. In April 1966 the company moved again to its current location at the Chazerim military airfield . Since more and more helicopter pilots were needed in the following years, the flight school was expanded to include this training. By then, all Israeli helicopter pilots had been trained in Europe and the USA. In 2002 the structure of the courses changed, extending them from two to three years to include academic education. Also from 2002 onwards, graduates will receive the rank of officer and no longer that of a sergeant.

Since a Jewish immigrant successfully sued the Israeli highest court in 1994 for her right to work as a pilot in the IAF, the flight academy has also accepted women. She then passed the entrance test, but failed the medical examination and was not accepted. The first female fighter pilot received her wing badge in 2001, the first woman as a navigator three years earlier.

Although Israeli Arabs are allowed to join the IDF, it is not clear whether they can join the flight academy. When an Israeli Arab applied in 2006, he was not accepted. In 2009 an Israeli Druze successfully completed training and received his wing badge. In early 2018 it was announced that a Bedouin had been accepted at the flight academy.