‘The Times’ of London, today 26 April, dedicates 1.2 complete pages to an obituary to Ezer Weizman, the President of Israel who died on 18 April.
A Sergeant Pilot in the RAF flying Spitfires in WWII, he went on to become C in C of the Israeli Air Force, having a special Spitfire, painted black, as his personal machine.
‘Black 57’ was preserved and is still maintained in flying order. It is of course well known to current enthusiasts.
Never an easy aircraft to photograph in black, here is a shot in the setting sun at Hatzerim on 11 December 1989. I was particularly pleased with this shoot as a heavily cropped image of this particular shot made the cover of September 1990 ‘Flypaper’, and it is rare to get a ground shot on the cover.
Mark
By: Mark V - 27th April 2005 at 11:47
A quick look in to ‘Spitfire Survivors’ shows this Spitfire was delivered in May 1945 so is now exactly 60 years old. Is this the only Spitfire to have remained in airworthy condition since manufacture and has never been through a major re-build?
By: Mark12 - 27th April 2005 at 10:14
TE554/Black 57
HauntedSea
A very nice shot.
It also graces the front cover of Bill Norton’s book ‘On the edge – A history of the Israel Air Force and its Aircraft since 1947’. Expensive but in depth.
Mark
Photo credit: Israeli Air Force official
By: HauntedSea - 27th April 2005 at 09:41
take a look in the middle
http://www.iaf.org.il/Templates/Gallery/Gallery.aspx?lang=EN&folderID=68&subfolderID=648&position=26
By: Corsair166b - 26th April 2005 at 16:24
Great looking plane…nice to see he had the foresight to keep it restored and in flying order for the future…
Mark
By: DazDaMan - 26th April 2005 at 13:05
That’s the one (only without the text – it was posted on here by I do not know whom).
Thanks
By: Erez - 26th April 2005 at 13:03
Here you go.
The Black Spit and an F-15 on the cover of the Israeli air force bulletin in 1994.
http://www.iaf.co.il/sip_storage/files/3/19963.jpg
By: DazDaMan - 26th April 2005 at 12:11
I tried, in vain, to hunt down the photo of ’57’ in flight with an F-15 to post up here.
By: Erez - 26th April 2005 at 12:07
The Black Spit in flight over the IAF museum, yesterday, dedicated to the man who ordered keeping it in Israel and in flying condition. Ezer Weizman also flew the Spit until 1973.
Sorry for the size.
By: DazDaMan - 26th April 2005 at 10:37
RIP 🙁
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April 26, 2005 at 10:32 am