The Vautour Pages
THE VAUTOUR IN THE IAF SERVICE

FERRY FLIGHTS & ARRIVALS

All the 28 Vautours ordered arrived between August 1st, 1957 to March 1959 : 17 A, 7 N and 4 B.
All the 7 Vautours N arrived between April to July 1958.
Three Vautours B arrived in 1958 , the fourth - in 1959.

Dani Shapira Vautour IIA
1. The IIA variant, its serial production had already started in 1956, {and the FR-AF orders were cut off}, was the first to be delivered.

2. The first aircraft, (French ser.no.13), piloted by Dany Shapira, took off from St. Nazaire, July 31, 1957, under a heavy curtain of secrecy. This flight, as several to follow, included a stop at Bizerta FR-AF base, Tunisia, for flight safety reasons.

3. The flight from France to Tunisia lasted about one and a half hours. The rest of the flight, usually next day, to Israel over the Med. Sea, lasted 3 hours. Unfortunately the standard compass went out of order and navigation was carried out by the emergency compass. The flight ended in landing at Hatzor AFB, August 1st, 1957.

4. A group of VIPs awaited this aircraft with great anticipation. {to keep secrecy as much as possible, P.M. Ben-Gurion and his escorts actually "infiltrated" the base through a back, usually unused, gate}.

5. All the Vautours, which had arrived till April 4th 1958, were stored immediately after their arrival in Hatzor, (as a "V" detachment of PR Sqn. 115) and were transferred to their permanent bases, Ramat David and Tel-Noff, during April 1958.

6. The first cycles of flights had the operational cod-names "Daniela" and "Shula" (after Dani Shapira himself and his wife), and ferry flights took place in a rate of 2-4 aircraft per month, during October 1957 through January of 1958. Later ferries recieved the cod "Ariela".

7. The pilots that studied the Vautour in France were Yoash Tsiddon, Yehezkel Somekh, and Aharon Ezra. The other pilots who ferried Vautours had been converted during May-June 1957, in Sqn. 110. The "N" navigators that had trained in France were Elyashiv ("Shivi") Brosh and Itzchak (Itche) Erez. Three "B" navigators (Kislev, Talmor and Eyal) studied the Vautour in Cognac, France, later in 1958.


Yoash Tsiddon, ferried 7 Vautours


Vautour IIN

1. Seven Vautours IIN arrived in Israel beginning April 1958 (4 aircraft), June (2 more) and July (the last).

2. No special events were recorded regarding these flights.







Vautour IIB

1. The 4 Vautours IIB were the last variant to arrive. The first arrived in July 1958, two in December that year, and the fourth - in March 1959.

2. The sole accident during the Vautours transfers happened July 26, 1958. The B aircraft (French ser. no. 616), made a crash landing just on its arrival, at Tel-Noff AB. The crew, Yoash Tsiddon and Elyashiv ("Shivi") Brosh, experienced a true nightmare.


the crash of 616
right: The B 616, just after its harsh landibg [ sent by Todd Merrill ]

3. The accident's cause was a leak in the hydraulic systems operating the newly installed "Monoblock" ( "All-Flying ) tail. The mechanical power went out of action, and the backup system could supply only half power for a temporary steering. Tsiddon, "miraculously", by hand steering ! (..impossible for a "normal" person), brought the aircraft to landing, the navigator found himself almost dragged on the runway. Yoash Tsiddon suffered severe injuries in this landing. The accident was witnessed by Agassi, still going around. After this event a suitable procedure for the pilot's, in case of locking the Monoblok tail, was elaborated and implemented, at least once, saving another B from crashing.

4. This event alarmed the Israeli crew, since 3 similar French IIB were planned to fly in France the near Sunday. Attempts to inform the French authorities about the fault had failed (it was a weekend, and nobody was available), and so it ended tragically: two of the French aircraft (the 3rd didn't take off), No.s 617 & 618, crashed in landing and all four crewmen killed.

5. The B 616 was repaired and entered service about 10 months later (April or May 1959) and numered as 31. Its test pilot after repair was Yoash Tsiddon himself.




THE FERRY FLIGHTS

1. The Vautours were not allowed to pass through European skies, in order not to disclose the Franco-Israeli bargain. Therefore the first flights, landed for a stop at Bizerta, continuing, the same day, or the next, to Israel. Two flights were carried out also via Tebessa, Algeria, as stops at Bizerta became too dangerous when this town was actually besieged.

3. The last three ferry flights (Vautours B) were performed from Cognac to Istres, and from there directly to Israel.

4. Most of the ferry flights (apart from four, single aircraft), were carried out in formations of 2, 3 and 4 aircraft each.

5. The pilots applied, after take off, the "Climb Through Cruise" technique, that was implemented by Yoash Tsiddon's initiative. This saved a substantial amount of fuel, which was vitally needed for the long-range ferry flights.

6. During the flights to Israel, the Vautours flew in altitudes of around 40,000 feet, cruising economically in speeds of 0.84 Mach . ( * At some occasions climbs ended at 50,000', but it was very uncommon). [ E. Aharon ] [Z. Tavor ]

[ Yoash Tsiddon claims they broke, unofficially, the world's record for 1,000 km. distance average speed, for several times. ]
[ one of the pilots is quoted, in the IAF journal, as reaching 50,000 feet and 1,050 kmh. { probably air speed } during the ferry ]

7. The Vautours were painted in French markings, because of secrecy reasons. Israeli pilots were dressed in French uniforms and had been given French I.D. and documents. The official orders for the ferry flights were defined as "fuel consumption tests", on the route Tour-Bizerta or Tour-Tebessa.
{When a direct flight from France to Israel was made, the crews ware regular, Israeli uniform and had Israeli documents}.

8. In two occasions the ferried Vautours were intercepted by Greek Sabres:
a) A pair of Vautour B ( piloted by Y. Somech and by Z. Tavor) encountered Sabres, over the Mediterrenea. The Vautours climbed to an altitude of 50,000 feet and left the Sabres far below. {December 1958} [" The sabres had no chance" - Y. Somech ]
b) A similar event happened during the last ferry, March 1959. The B 628, flown by Yoash Tsiddon and Uri Talmor, was intercepted by an "armada" of Greek Sabres. Although with fuel tanks attached, the Vautour climbed above 45,000 feet. The Sabres dropped their auxiliary tanks but in spite of that the Vautours left the Sabres well low and behind. "The Greek were sure we are Russian !" (Y. Tsiddon){ possibly due to the resemblance of the Vautour to the Yak-25 / Yak-27 - z.k.).
c) These encounters proved the "fighter-like" performance of the Vautour, although designed as a strike aircraft and its weight was as twice as the weight of a contemporary "pure" interceptor.

9. The final part of the ferry route passed within the Egyptian radars' range, thus a quartet of Mysteres were held in immediate alert, and a communication airplane (a Nord or a Dakota) was flying half way in between each time a Vautours' formation was on its way. The Israeli Navy supported the operations by keeping armed patrols "beneath" the flight route, ready for search & rescue.

the route of convey


    10. Aerial Distances and Duration of Flights:
  • Saint Nazaire - Tours : ca. 220 [ Ferry from SNCASO plant ]
  • Saint Nazaire - Bizerta : ca. 1,485 km. [ Three ferry flights ]; ca. 1:30 h.
  • Tours - Bizerta : ca. 1,330 km. [ Most ferries ]; ca. 2:00 h.
  • Bizerta - Israel : ca. 2,400 km. [ Most ferries ]; Between 2:30 to 3:00 h.
  • Tours - Bizerta - Israel : ca. 3,730 km. [ Most ferry flights, combined distances ]
  • Tebessa - Bizerta : ca. 250 km. [ An extra stop, one ferry ]; 0:35 h.
  • Tebessa - Israel : ca. 2,500 km. [ Three ferry flights ]; almost 3:00 h.
  • Istres - Israel : ca. 2,900 km. [ The last 3 IIB ferries ]; ca. 3:30 h.
  • Direct flight, Tours - Israel: approx. 3,560 km. [not performed, just for reference]


* [ measurements and route visualization: courtesy of Holger Sens ]



TOP



11. It was quite difficult to reconstruct a full and accurate log of arrivals based on the various sources. Fortunately - most "veterans" kept their logbooks, so that the list is complete, except for one uncertainty. to settle.

12. Dates of deliveries, take offs and interim stops might be slighltly wrong - weather problems (in France, in Africa or in Israel), the need of aerial and naval escort, malfunctions and even political reasons, and so on, may explain "deviations" between dates quoted in varied sources. Sometimes one could realize that even recorded registrations (as "logbooks") could be misleading !

13. In two cases the ferry flight was aborted, the pilots had to return shortly after take off, due to technical malfunctions.

14. The table below is a synopsis. Details for each ferry flight are given in the following paragraph.

15. The full list was edited in collaboration with [ Amos Dor ] and is based on several sources, mainly Vautour crewmen, who participated in the ferry flights, and kept logbooks or recorded notes.



Date Of Arrival Subtype FR. S/N CREW REMARKS
1-8-57 A 13 Dani Shapira (alone)
13-8-57 A 12 Dani Shapira (alone)
26-10-57 A 14 Dani Shapira
26-10-57 A 18 Yehezkel Somekh
16-11-57 A 15 Yehezkel Somekh (alone from Bizerta)
23-11-57 A 17 Dani Shapira (alone from Bizerta)
20-12-57 A 21 Dani Shapira -
20-12-57 A 19 Yehezkel Somekh -
20-12-57 A 20 Yoash Tsiddon (separately, alone)
13-1-58 A 22 Yoash Tsiddon -
13-1-58 A 23 Ezra Aharon -
30-1-58 A 16 Yoash Tsiddon -
30-1-58 A 24 Ezra Aharon -
4-4-58 N 322 Y. Tsiddon & E. Brosh -
4-4-58 N 327 Y. Somekh & I. Erez -
4-4-58 N 325 E. Aharon & (French) -
4-4-58 N 326 (A French crew) -
21-6-58 A 28 Shimon Ash / Y. Somekh (switched a/c, Tebessa)
21-6-58 A 27 Reuven Har-el -
21-6-58 N 328 Y. Tsiddon & E. Brosh -
21-6-58 N 329 Y. Somekh / S. Ash & I. Erez (switched a/c, Tebessa)
26-7-58 A 26 Dani Shapira -
26-7-58 A 25 Reuven Har-el -
26-7-58 B 616 Y. Tsiddon & E. Brosh (crashed in landing)
26-7-58 N 330 Y. Agassi & I. Erez -
23-12-58 B 624 Y. Somekh & S. Kislev -
23-12-58 B 626 Z. Tavor & A. Eyal -
10-3-59 B 628 Y. Tsiddon & U. Talmor -
Total 28 17A,7N,4B 8 Israeli pilots, 5 navigators One French pilot, 2 navigators


LIST OF ARRIVALS - DETAILED

    August 1st, 1957
  • First Vautour A, fr. ser. 13 . Delivered directly from the production plant to Israel.
  • Pilot: Dani Shapira.
  • Operation: "Daniela 1"
  • Performed two test/reception flights, the day of departure.
  • Took off July 31, 1957, Saint Nazaire. A stop at Bizerta.
  • Flight durations: Saint-Nazaire Bizerta - ca 1 h. & 30 min. ; Bizerta-Hatzor - ca. 3 h.
    August 13, 1957
  • Second Vautour A. fr. ser 12. Also delivered directly from SNCASO plant.
  • Pilot: Dani Shapira.
  • Operation: "Daniela 2"
  • Planned to leave in January 11, but the ferry was postponed - a Nord with mechanics and spares for the Vautour, that flew earlier, lost control in approach to landing, Bizerta airfield, and was destroyed, 13 killed.
  • Took off the next day, August 12, 1957, from Saint Nazaire. Flew via Bizerta, and continued, after a stop, to Hatzor.
    October 26, 1957
  • 2 Vautour A.
  • Operation: "Daniela 3"
  • fr.ser - 14, 18.
  • Three test/reception flights were performed between 8/10 - 21/10.
  • Took off October 24, but had to return due to a technical failure.
  • Left October 26, flew via Bizerta, and after a short stop continued the same day to Hatzor.
  • Pilots: [ Dani Shapira ] [ Yehezkel Somech ].
    November 16 and 23, 1957
  • 2 Vautour A
  • Operation: "Shula 1"
  • fr.ser - 15, 17.
  • Pilots:
    [ Dani Shapira ] [ Yehezkel Somech ]
  • Left Tours November 14, but had to return due to a technical failure in one of the aircraft.
  • Both took off the second time on November 15, and flew to Bizerta
  • Y. Somech landed with an unlocked "balancin", and Danny Shapira remained for the repair of the Vautour.
  • Somech flew No. 15 to Israel, the next day, alone.
  • D. Shapira arrived with No. 17 several days later, in November 23. In landing the same "balancin" failed to lock and Shapira exercised a delicate touchdown of the wing, almost without any harm.
    December 20, 1957
  • 3 Vautour A.
  • Operation: "Shula 2"
  • fr.ser - 21, 19, 20.
  • Test flights, in a trio (Shapira, Somekh and Aharon) were performed in December 13 and 16.
  • Originally it should have been a quartet ( with Ezra Aharon), but the 4th aircraft was delayed in SNCASO plant.
  • The three Left France December 19.
  • Pilots: [ Dani Shapira ] [ Yehezkel Somekh ] [ Yoash Tsiddon ]
  • Y. Tsiddon had to return due to a technical malfunction. He took off again December 20, flew alone and arrived the same day.
  • D. Shapira and Y. Somekh continued and stopped at Bizera. The pair arrived together, December 20, to Hatzor.
  • {From this ferry flight onwards Yoash Tsiddon was the leader of his future conveys}.

Nine Vautours A were ferried in 1957, all stored after arrival.







Most ferry flights stopped at Bizerta,
but three formations landed for an interim stop at
Tebessa, Algeria ( April, June & July 1958 )

    January 13, 1958
  • 2 Vautour A.
  • fr.ser - 22 & 23.
  • Pilots: [ Y. Tsiddon ] [ E. Aharon ]
  • The two pilots performed test flights already in December 24 and 31.
  • Left Tours January 9. Delay in Bizerta due to a technical problem (Tsiddon's aircraft, wheels' folding malfunction) and because of bad weather conditions over Israel. They took off January 13 to Israel, landed at Hatzor.
  • Flight durations: Tours-Bizerta - 1 h. & 55 min. ; Bizerta-Israel - 2 h. & 35 min.

    January 30, 1958
  • 2 Vautour A.
  • fr.ser - 16 & 24.
  • Flew from Tours, January 29, to Bizerta. Continued the next day to Israel.
  • Pilots: [ Y. Tsiddon ] [ E. Aharon ]
  • Flight durations: Tours-Bizerta - 1 h. & 45 min. ; Bizerta-Israel - 2 h. & 45 min.

    April 4, 1958
  • First arrival of Vautours N, a formation of four.
  • Left Tours April 3. Stop at Tebessa, Algeria. Next day continued to Hatzor AFB.
  • Aircraft & crews:
    1) [ Y. Tsiddon & E. Brosh ] [ fr. ser. 322 ]
    2) [ Y. Somech & I. Erez ] [ fr.ser. 327 ]
    3) [ E. Aharon & (a French navigator, Capt. Pozo) ] [ fr.ser. 325 ]
    4) [(French crew): Capt. Pintor & S/C Bernat] [ fr. ser. 326 ]
  • Flight durations: Tours-Tebessa - 2 h.; Tebessa-Hatzor - 2 h. & 50 min.


The 17 Vautours which had arrived till April 4th, 1958, landed and were immediately hidden in Hatzor. Starting with the next arrival, the ferried Vautours landed at their home bases.



Vautour N s/n 329 (IAF 67),
landing at Tebessa


[ Y. Somekh & I. Erez in the cockpit, June 20, 1958 ]





    June 21, 1958
  • 2 Vautour A and 2 Vautour N.
  • N : fr. ser. 328 & 329.
  • A : fr. ser. 27 & 28 .
  • A long-range test flight, lasting 1 h & 55 min. was performed by Ash and Erez, in June 19, with No. 329.
  • The quartet left Tours June 20, and flew to Tebessa, Algeria.
  • The plan was to fly the next day from Tebessa to Israel.
    * At Tebessa the two IIN could refuel only the internal tanks, because of the airfield's height and due to very high temperature (35 c) which disabled them to take off with maximal load.
    * These two continued the next day to Bizerta, refueled full tanks and continued to Israel.
    * The two IIA flew, June 21, directly from Tebessa to Israel.
  • Aircraft and crews, till Tebessa:
    [ Y. Tsiddon & E. Brosh N 328 ]
    [Y. Somech & I. Erez N 329 ]
    [ R. Har-el - A 27 ]
    [ S. Ash A 28 ]
  • In Tebessa Somech and Ash switched aircraft: Ash flew the 329 with I. Erez and Somech flew the "28".
  • Flight durations (for the two IIN) : Tours-Tebessa - 1 h. & 55 min. ; Tebessa-Bizerta - 35 mim. ; Bizerta -Israel - 2 h. & 40 min.
  • Landed at : Ramat David (the two A) and Tel-Noff (the two N), separately.
    July 26, 1958
  • 4 : Two Vautour A ; One Vautour B ; One Vautour N .
  • Operation "Ariela" (?)
  • Left France July 25, 1958, took off together.
  • A 40 min. test flight was performed by the N 330, the day of departure.
  • Stop at:
    * Bizerta , the pair of [ B , N ]
    * (possibly at }: Tebessa. the pair of A.
    * [ The quartet split on its way to Northern Africa ].
  • Crews:
    1) A [ D. Shapira, leader ], fr. ser. 26.
    2) a [ R. Har-el ], fr. ser. 25
    3) B [ Y. Tsiddon & E. Brosh, leading ], fr. ser. 616 .
    4) N [ Y. Agasi & I. Erez ], fr. ser. 330 .
  • A 25 and 26 landed at Ramat David.
  • The N and B landed at Tel-Noff. The Vautour B, which landed first, crashed, as told before.
  • {Note: Vautours 25, 26 and 27, which had been deliverd already in February, were flown from Tour to Cazaux (No. 26 by E. Aharon), to a series of armament tests. Returned to Tours before their ferry.}
    December 23, 1958
  • 2 Vautour B.
  • Long range test flights were carried out December 18.
  • Aircraft and crews:
    1) [ Y. Somech + S. Kislev ] fr. ser. 624 .
    2) [ Z. Tavor + A. Eyal ] fr. ser. 626.
  • Flew from Cognac through Istres, and after a stop continued the same day to Ramat-David.
  • (As told - encountered NATO sabres)
  • Duration of flight:
    Cognac - Istres: 40 min.
    Istres - Ramat-David : 3 h. + 20 min.
    March 10, 1959
  • One Vautour B. fr. ser. 628 .
  • Crew: [ Y. Tsiddon + U. Talmor ];
  • Left France February 12 or later.
  • Flew from Cognac through Istres. After a very long delay continued to Israel, landed at Ramat-David.
  • (As told - encountered Greek Sabres)
  • With this convey the order for 28 Vautours was completed.


[ TABLE OF FERRIES ]


@ Another three Vautours arrived in later years:
In 1964, N no. 70, ex. fr.ser. 301, arrived by a French pilot.
End of 1967, A no. 30, orig. fr.ser. 7, later renumbered "07", ferried by D. Shapira.
In 1968, A no. 29, orig. fr.ser. 8, later renumbered "08", ferried dismantled.

For these three - see details : [ The Aircraft List ].

CREWS:(for the 28 aircraft, 1957-1959)
  • Pilots:
    * Y. Tsiddon - 7 ; * D. Shapira - 6 ; * Y. Somech - 6 ;
    * E. Aharon - 3 ; * R. Har-el - 2 , * S. Ash - 1 ;
    * Y. Agassi - 1 ; * Z. Tavor - 1, * French pilot - 1

  • Navigators [ For 7 N + 4 B =11 ] :
    * E. Brosh - 3 ; * I. Erez - 3 ;
    * S. Kislev - 1 ; * A. Eyal - 1 ; * U. Talmor - 1 ; * French navigators - 2



    Sources:

    [ Y. Tsiddon, book and private records ] [ D. Shapira, book ] [ A. Dor book ]
    Logbooks: [ D. Shapira ] [Y. Somech ] [ E. Aaharon ] [ I. Erez ] [ R. Har-el ] [ Shmuel Kislev ]
    Additional info: [ S. Aloni "In a class of its own" / part 1] [ Zeev Tavor ]


    TOP OF PAGE





    TRAINING & CONVERSION IAF VAUTOURS CONTENTS PAGE AIRCRAFT LIST


    [ BACK TO MAIN PAGE ]

    This page was last updated: May 13, 2002