August 22, 2005 at 10:12 am
I found this gem in Bill Norton’s excellent book on the history of the Israeli Air Force “Air War on the Edge” p. 150,
“According to Egyptian and British intelligence, a jet fighter of unknown type exploded in flight inside Israeli airspace during April 1950. The British thought that it might be a de Havilland Vampire of unknown origin, while the Egyptians stated that they had information revealing that the IAF had secretly taken delivery of eight crated Avia S.92 jets. The S.92 was the Messerschmitt Me 262A-1A built in Czechoslovakia following the World War. The Czechs’ Russian masters might have approved such a sale in the first half of 1950, and Israel may have felt an urgent need to answer the threat posed by the new Egyptian Meteors, which arrived in October 1949, to buy this, the only jet available to them. However, the Me 262 was hopelessly antiquated in 1950 and the late Second World War technology was of very limited service life. If the story is true, it is odd that the Israelis would not have admitted to operating the Me 262, no matter how briefly and unsuccessfully, in the time since 1950.”
Can anyone add to this fascinating story?
Regards,
Jan