The Right Stuff
They fly an extensive range of aircraft types, test each and every new software package and weapon system, and experience a host of extremely dangerous flight situations. Meet the pilots and aircrew of the IAF's Flight Testing Center
Dan Arkin
| 16/03/2018
"There is no platform that we do not fly, and there is no platform that does not go through MANAT" (Photo: IDF)
By 2020, a very special F-35 (IAF designation Adir) fighter will arrive in Israel – the only one of its type the IAF will possess – an F-35 fighter intended specifically for flight testing. Externally, it will not appear to be different from any other Adir fighter already serving with the Golden Eagle Squadron at Nevatim airbase, but the flight testing aircraft will be fitted with specialized instruments and equipment. It has already passed the characterization phase. They are currently working on it at the Lockheed Martin plant in Texas, and it is expected to be delivered in about three years' time. After that, it will serve alternately at the Nevatim airbase and with the IAF Flight Testing Center (MANAT) at the Tel-Nof airbase.
When this state-of-the-art flight testing fighter has landed at the Tel-Nof airbase, it will be able to see, at the entrance to the Squadron, its veteran brother – the first flight testing aircraft of the IAF. Opposite the entrance to the Squadron stands a single-seat F-16 aircraft that had served at MANAT between 1982 and 2012, until it was retired. This was the first aircraft modified and equipped specifically for flight testing.
The squadron building reflects its function: the roof looks like a giant aircraft wing and a sign at the entrance presents the understated statement made by Chuck Yeager, the legendary American test pilot: "Flight testing is potentially dangerous," or in other words: this occupation, flight testing, involves some risks.
The squadron commander and commander of the IAF Flight Testing Center, Lt. Col. S., made this calming statement: "Admittedly, our occupation involves some risks, but we are constantly engaged in an on-going risk management process. We hold countless safety consultations. The risk is not reduced to zero, but we minimize it and rely on longstanding and highly experienced teams. That is the identity of our squadron, and our motto is 'First in Terra Incognita' for a good reason."
Lt. Col. S. welcomed Israel Defense to the IAF's Flight Testing Center for a farewell visit, two days before he will conclude his term and move on to a more senior position at IAF HQ. His replacement at MANAT is already working with him at the Squadron. A conversation with Lt. Col. S. is typical of dialogs with fighter pilots – his fluent speech is constantly accompanied by hand gestures, and he uses a scale model of an F-15 fighter to illustrate his explanations. Lt. Col. S. was among the first IAF pilots who flew the F-15I (IAF designation Ra'am) and F-16I (IAF designation Sufa) fighters.
Lt. Col. S. tells us that one of the current tasks of the Flight Testing Center involves active participation in the testing of the newly-delivered F-35 Adir fighters in preparation for the announcement of their fully operational status, expected by the end of this year. "We are close to completing the testing process. We have representatives – a pilot and engineers from MANAT – at the Adir Squadron – the IAF's 140th Squadron at Nevatim airbase, and our representative team over there will increase in size as additional F-35 fighters are delivered to the IAF. Pilots from MANAT have been accompanying the F-35 Adir fighters from the very beginning of the program, through the development and manufacturing stages at Lockheed Martin in the USA to the delivery and actual flights at the F-35 squadron's base."
Everything under One Roof
Air forces and aircraft industries the world over employ test pilots, but qualified test pilots are a small bunch. It is definitely an exclusive occupation. In Israel, many people are familiar with the amazing exploits of our own legendary test pilot, Dani Shapira. Menachem Schmull was the first pilot who took to the air on board the ill-fated Lavi fighter. Both gentlemen were among the most senior test pilots of IAI. This writer was present at, and remembers very well, the maiden flight of the first prototype of the Lavi fighter on December 31, 1986. Menachem Schmull climbed into the cockpit of the Lavi aircraft early that morning, and successfully executed the core process of the test pilot's occupation – he started up, released the brakes and took off in an aircraft that had never taken to the air prior to that.
In the IAF, test flights were conducted since the days the service had been established, but the early test flights were not really regulated and were often ineffective. In 1974, after the Yom-Kippur War, the IAF's Flight Testing Center was established officially, pursuant to the IAF's decision to include in a single squadron all of the professional elements – aircrews and engineers, and all of the occupational specialties – flying, engineering, instruments, electricity, mechanics/engines, armament, communication – everything under one roof, in a single squadron. To this day, the Squadron is based on cooperation between aerial operations and engineering, between pilots and engineers. The minimum testing team consists of a pilot and an engineer, who participates in the actual flight on board the test aircraft, with additional engineering elements monitoring the test flight from a control room on the ground. It should be noted that most of the pilots at MANAT have engineering degrees.
Lt. Col. S., the commander of MANAT, tells us: "Our function is to conduct tests on all of the airborne systems and aircraft used by the IAF. There is no platform that we do not fly, and there is no platform that does not go through MANAT. The Center is obliged to provide a solution to every operational need involving a manned aircraft or a remotely-manned platform while adapting the tools and systems to the changing environment and the evolving military-operational needs of the theater. Our job is to advise, test and inspect and provide accurate answers to any problem that arises in connection with the operation of aircraft. Our activities do not include only flight tests, but also tests and trials of software programs, aircraft computers, avionics, communication and ordnance systems. We test everything, and we also function as a sort of connecting professional echelon between the aircraft manufacturer, either in Israel or overseas, and the user – IAF. As we conduct many trials and tests, we must prioritize – decide what is more or less urgent, what may be deferred and what should be performed immediately. All of the trials and tests are conducted in coordination with the IAF HQ/Staff elements."
The Best of the Best
How do you join this elite IAF unit? Selection is carried out using a pair of tweezers.
The officers of the Squadron engage in headhunting: they scout the fighter, helicopter, and transport aircraft squadrons, looking for the very best. They look for pilots who love to fly, who had flown several platform types, who had served in both F-15 and F-16 squadrons, in assault and attack helicopter and transport aircraft squadrons. Pilots who were marked as leaders in their own squadrons. At MANAT they prefer more mature officers, at the average age of 30, family men who, above everything else, possess the characteristics required of a test pilot. "We are not interested in wild horses," says the squadron commander. They prefer level-headed, experienced and more mature individuals who are pedantic and methodical, with the willingness and desire to learn, investigate, ask questions and deliberate doubts. They should possess command skills as the operations of MANAT are carried out by teams. They look for individuals with an inquisitive approach, who ask questions and look for answers. Naturally, they look for pilots with thousands of flight hours in their personal logbooks. Candidates answering all of these requirements may only be picked up using tweezers. The mode of operation in the actual flight tests is based on teamwork. There are no soloists. A trial may take several hours or even months and years. Patience is required, as well as many hours of preparation prior to the trial and exhaustive debriefing sessions after the trial, as well as long flights.
Serving at MANAT is not the same as serving in the other squadrons and airbases of the IAF: it is a long service term, without the usual rotation every two to three years – an extended service term of years. Turnover at the Squadron is minimal. Some technicians and engineers join MANAT at an early age, in the context of the IDF Academic Reserve or after having graduated from vocational schools and trained as organizational level (O-level) technicians, and go on to serve with the Squadron for many years. Some remain with the Squadron until their retirement at the age of 55. In the squadron commander's opinion, that is the way to produce a unique human capital cadre possessing the highest level of professionalism.
Another unique aspect: the pilots of the Flight Testing Center have a "dual nationality" – they continue to fly, at least once a week, with their original squadrons, thereby maintaining their competence and keeping in touch with the developments at the operational squadrons. The people at the Squadron point out that flying with the original squadrons and maintaining one's competence are important, as this provides a connection between the operational need and the flight testing world. Women are well represented at MANAT: a deputy squadron commander is an outstanding female fighter navigator, and there are female engineers as well as many female technicians serving with the technical section.
The process of orientation, instruction, and training of new pilots at MANAT is neither short nor simple. The first stage consists of a three-week theoretical training course on the doctrines of the flight testing world. The second stage lasts six months and takes place mostly in the air, in the form of actual sorties, during which the pilots are taught how to execute a test flight. They fly a lot and practice their close cooperation with the airborne engineer, who learned to fly in light aircraft, fighter aircraft, and helicopters and occupies the rear seat in the cockpit. During this stage, the pilots familiarize themselves with the specialized instrumentation and equipment of the Squadron's test aircraft and the communication and telemetry channels between the test aircraft and the engineers who monitor the flight from the ground.
The next stage in the training program is a test pilot training course in the USA – a treat, but a grueling one. Trainees spend a whole year at one of three test pilot schools: the one of the US Air Force, the one of the US Navy or a civilian test pilot school. The commander of MANAT, Lt. Col. S., took the course at Edwards AFB in California, and during the one-year course, he flew 32 different aircraft types, from a glider to a WWII aircraft.
Most test flights are fairly routine and not particularly dramatic: new software for aircraft, a new type of ordnance, an aircraft that was repaired after an accident, new communication or avionics systems – they should all be flown and tested in the air before they are delivered to the operational squadrons. Some tests take place at the Squadron's base while for other tests, a pilot and engineer team go to the base of the user squadron and perform the test over there. For example, various tests and trials on the C-130 Hercules (IAF designation Karnaf) and C-130J Super Hercules (IAF designation Shimshon) are conducted in the south. Other tests are conducted at other fighter, helicopter, and transport aircraft squadrons throughout the IAF.
Preparing for Every Scenario
At the Squadron's base in Tel-Nof, five aircraft belonging to the Flight Testing Center are housed in an underground pen, including an F-15I Ra'am, an F-15D Baz, an F-16I Sufa, two F-16C/D Barak types and one helicopter. These aircraft carry specialized instrumentation, having been delivered by the manufacturers as test aircraft and fitted with additional specialized systems manufactured by the Israeli industries. These additional systems include sensors, cameras, various buffers and other equipment items. A dedicated test F-16, for example, costs almost twice as a standard F-16 aircraft, owing to the specialized testing equipment fitted to it.
Some flight tests are definitely dramatic, like the loss-of-control test flights conducted at MANAT since the summer of 2016 on the F-16 aircraft after a preparatory process that had lasted three years. In these flights, the pilots practice regaining control over the aircraft and stabilizing it after a deep stall and loss of control. The background of these dangerous tests flights, of which very few are conducted in the world of military aviation, is operational: a pilot and its aircraft might lose control during an aerial combat encounter or while executing a particularly sharp maneuver. MANAT provides an answer to the question of how to emerge from such a situation, how to stabilize the aircraft once again, regain control over it, return to base and land safely. In his office, the commander of MANAT demonstrates by presenting two videos, in which the pilot's calm and quiet voice may be heard after he had initiated a loss of control over an F-16C/D Barak fighter, in which a specialized spinning parachute had been installed in preparation for the test. The aircraft drifts laterally and loses altitude. The altimeter on the pilot's head-up display indicates a fast descent. Using methods developed at MANAT, the pilot regains control over the aircraft, straightens up and returns to base. "This is not a theoretical experiment. We developed the competence required in order to regain control in a loss-of-control situation, and this has an operational value that is being translated into combat procedures," says Lt. Col. S.
MANAT conducts tests and trials not just on fighter aircraft but on assault and attack helicopters as well: on the Sikorsky CH-53 (Yas'ur), Apache-D Longbow (Saraf), Blackhawk (Yanshuf), Apache-A (Peten); on the Boeing-707 (Re'em) and C-130J (Shimshon) transport aircraft, on the Beechcraft Super King Air B200 (Tzufit) as well as on Unmanned Airborne Systems, which have no pilots but still require flight tests. The tests and trials conducted at MANAT are intended, among other things, to compare the specifications in the aircraft documentation provided by the manufacturer with the real-life performance characteristics of the aircraft. They do rely on the manufacturers, but still have an obligation to check what they manufacture and systematically verify whether everything conforms to the operational and logistic requirements of the IAF. In some cases, the engineers at MANAT had spotted errors made by the manufacturer, which they addressed and improved.
The requirements presented by the IAF are sometimes more stringent than the manufacturer's instructions. It is no secret that IAF pilots, through the generations, performed flights that brought the aircraft very close to the performance envelope prescribed by the manufacturer – sometimes even exceeding the limits of such envelopes. Another good reason why the specialists of MANAT – pilots and engineers – should verify that everything is in order before the platform or the system is delivered to an operational airbase.
As stated previously, the underground pen at MANAT houses five fighter aircraft and one helicopter. Lt. Sagi, the maintenance officer, is responsible for the line of the F-16I Sufa, F-15I Ra'am, F-15D Baz, two F-16C/D types and the Bell-206 Sayfan helicopter. "All of these aircraft are fitted with specialized testing instrumentation. They carry cameras, sensors, various missiles undergoing trial, recording and telemetry equipment. This is the only IAF squadron where a single underground pen accommodates such an extensive range of aircraft types.
"Our uniqueness as mechanics-technicians-associate engineers is that every innovation to be adopted by the IAF comes to us first. We are responsible for producing the test flight, and we get to see a lot of non-standard items over here. In some cases, when the results of the trial are negative, we send the system or the device back to the manufacturer so that it may be improved and adapted to the requirements of the IAF. That is why serving here at the technical section of MANAT is interesting and fascinating, and people often serve here for many years. We never get bored."
They fly an extensive range of aircraft types, test each and every new software package and weapon system, and experience a host of extremely dangerous flight situations. Meet the pilots and aircrew of the IAF's Flight Testing Center
"There is no platform that we do not fly, and there is no platform that does not go through MANAT" (Photo: IDF)
By 2020, a very special F-35 (IAF designation Adir) fighter will arrive in Israel – the only one of its type the IAF will possess – an F-35 fighter intended specifically for flight testing. Externally, it will not appear to be different from any other Adir fighter already serving with the Golden Eagle Squadron at Nevatim airbase, but the flight testing aircraft will be fitted with specialized instruments and equipment. It has already passed the characterization phase. They are currently working on it at the Lockheed Martin plant in Texas, and it is expected to be delivered in about three years' time. After that, it will serve alternately at the Nevatim airbase and with the IAF Flight Testing Center (MANAT) at the Tel-Nof airbase.
When this state-of-the-art flight testing fighter has landed at the Tel-Nof airbase, it will be able to see, at the entrance to the Squadron, its veteran brother – the first flight testing aircraft of the IAF. Opposite the entrance to the Squadron stands a single-seat F-16 aircraft that had served at MANAT between 1982 and 2012, until it was retired. This was the first aircraft modified and equipped specifically for flight testing.
The squadron building reflects its function: the roof looks like a giant aircraft wing and a sign at the entrance presents the understated statement made by Chuck Yeager, the legendary American test pilot: "Flight testing is potentially dangerous," or in other words: this occupation, flight testing, involves some risks.
The squadron commander and commander of the IAF Flight Testing Center, Lt. Col. S., made this calming statement: "Admittedly, our occupation involves some risks, but we are constantly engaged in an on-going risk management process. We hold countless safety consultations. The risk is not reduced to zero, but we minimize it and rely on longstanding and highly experienced teams. That is the identity of our squadron, and our motto is 'First in Terra Incognita' for a good reason."
Lt. Col. S. welcomed Israel Defense to the IAF's Flight Testing Center for a farewell visit, two days before he will conclude his term and move on to a more senior position at IAF HQ. His replacement at MANAT is already working with him at the Squadron. A conversation with Lt. Col. S. is typical of dialogs with fighter pilots – his fluent speech is constantly accompanied by hand gestures, and he uses a scale model of an F-15 fighter to illustrate his explanations. Lt. Col. S. was among the first IAF pilots who flew the F-15I (IAF designation Ra'am) and F-16I (IAF designation Sufa) fighters.
Lt. Col. S. tells us that one of the current tasks of the Flight Testing Center involves active participation in the testing of the newly-delivered F-35 Adir fighters in preparation for the announcement of their fully operational status, expected by the end of this year. "We are close to completing the testing process. We have representatives – a pilot and engineers from MANAT – at the Adir Squadron – the IAF's 140th Squadron at Nevatim airbase, and our representative team over there will increase in size as additional F-35 fighters are delivered to the IAF. Pilots from MANAT have been accompanying the F-35 Adir fighters from the very beginning of the program, through the development and manufacturing stages at Lockheed Martin in the USA to the delivery and actual flights at the F-35 squadron's base."
Everything under One Roof
Air forces and aircraft industries the world over employ test pilots, but qualified test pilots are a small bunch. It is definitely an exclusive occupation. In Israel, many people are familiar with the amazing exploits of our own legendary test pilot, Dani Shapira. Menachem Schmull was the first pilot who took to the air on board the ill-fated Lavi fighter. Both gentlemen were among the most senior test pilots of IAI. This writer was present at, and remembers very well, the maiden flight of the first prototype of the Lavi fighter on December 31, 1986. Menachem Schmull climbed into the cockpit of the Lavi aircraft early that morning, and successfully executed the core process of the test pilot's occupation – he started up, released the brakes and took off in an aircraft that had never taken to the air prior to that.
In the IAF, test flights were conducted since the days the service had been established, but the early test flights were not really regulated and were often ineffective. In 1974, after the Yom-Kippur War, the IAF's Flight Testing Center was established officially, pursuant to the IAF's decision to include in a single squadron all of the professional elements – aircrews and engineers, and all of the occupational specialties – flying, engineering, instruments, electricity, mechanics/engines, armament, communication – everything under one roof, in a single squadron. To this day, the Squadron is based on cooperation between aerial operations and engineering, between pilots and engineers. The minimum testing team consists of a pilot and an engineer, who participates in the actual flight on board the test aircraft, with additional engineering elements monitoring the test flight from a control room on the ground. It should be noted that most of the pilots at MANAT have engineering degrees.
Lt. Col. S., the commander of MANAT, tells us: "Our function is to conduct tests on all of the airborne systems and aircraft used by the IAF. There is no platform that we do not fly, and there is no platform that does not go through MANAT. The Center is obliged to provide a solution to every operational need involving a manned aircraft or a remotely-manned platform while adapting the tools and systems to the changing environment and the evolving military-operational needs of the theater. Our job is to advise, test and inspect and provide accurate answers to any problem that arises in connection with the operation of aircraft. Our activities do not include only flight tests, but also tests and trials of software programs, aircraft computers, avionics, communication and ordnance systems. We test everything, and we also function as a sort of connecting professional echelon between the aircraft manufacturer, either in Israel or overseas, and the user – IAF. As we conduct many trials and tests, we must prioritize – decide what is more or less urgent, what may be deferred and what should be performed immediately. All of the trials and tests are conducted in coordination with the IAF HQ/Staff elements."
The Best of the Best
How do you join this elite IAF unit? Selection is carried out using a pair of tweezers.
The officers of the Squadron engage in headhunting: they scout the fighter, helicopter, and transport aircraft squadrons, looking for the very best. They look for pilots who love to fly, who had flown several platform types, who had served in both F-15 and F-16 squadrons, in assault and attack helicopter and transport aircraft squadrons. Pilots who were marked as leaders in their own squadrons. At MANAT they prefer more mature officers, at the average age of 30, family men who, above everything else, possess the characteristics required of a test pilot. "We are not interested in wild horses," says the squadron commander. They prefer level-headed, experienced and more mature individuals who are pedantic and methodical, with the willingness and desire to learn, investigate, ask questions and deliberate doubts. They should possess command skills as the operations of MANAT are carried out by teams. They look for individuals with an inquisitive approach, who ask questions and look for answers. Naturally, they look for pilots with thousands of flight hours in their personal logbooks. Candidates answering all of these requirements may only be picked up using tweezers. The mode of operation in the actual flight tests is based on teamwork. There are no soloists. A trial may take several hours or even months and years. Patience is required, as well as many hours of preparation prior to the trial and exhaustive debriefing sessions after the trial, as well as long flights.
Serving at MANAT is not the same as serving in the other squadrons and airbases of the IAF: it is a long service term, without the usual rotation every two to three years – an extended service term of years. Turnover at the Squadron is minimal. Some technicians and engineers join MANAT at an early age, in the context of the IDF Academic Reserve or after having graduated from vocational schools and trained as organizational level (O-level) technicians, and go on to serve with the Squadron for many years. Some remain with the Squadron until their retirement at the age of 55. In the squadron commander's opinion, that is the way to produce a unique human capital cadre possessing the highest level of professionalism.
Another unique aspect: the pilots of the Flight Testing Center have a "dual nationality" – they continue to fly, at least once a week, with their original squadrons, thereby maintaining their competence and keeping in touch with the developments at the operational squadrons. The people at the Squadron point out that flying with the original squadrons and maintaining one's competence are important, as this provides a connection between the operational need and the flight testing world. Women are well represented at MANAT: a deputy squadron commander is an outstanding female fighter navigator, and there are female engineers as well as many female technicians serving with the technical section.
The process of orientation, instruction, and training of new pilots at MANAT is neither short nor simple. The first stage consists of a three-week theoretical training course on the doctrines of the flight testing world. The second stage lasts six months and takes place mostly in the air, in the form of actual sorties, during which the pilots are taught how to execute a test flight. They fly a lot and practice their close cooperation with the airborne engineer, who learned to fly in light aircraft, fighter aircraft, and helicopters and occupies the rear seat in the cockpit. During this stage, the pilots familiarize themselves with the specialized instrumentation and equipment of the Squadron's test aircraft and the communication and telemetry channels between the test aircraft and the engineers who monitor the flight from the ground.
The next stage in the training program is a test pilot training course in the USA – a treat, but a grueling one. Trainees spend a whole year at one of three test pilot schools: the one of the US Air Force, the one of the US Navy or a civilian test pilot school. The commander of MANAT, Lt. Col. S., took the course at Edwards AFB in California, and during the one-year course, he flew 32 different aircraft types, from a glider to a WWII aircraft.
Most test flights are fairly routine and not particularly dramatic: new software for aircraft, a new type of ordnance, an aircraft that was repaired after an accident, new communication or avionics systems – they should all be flown and tested in the air before they are delivered to the operational squadrons. Some tests take place at the Squadron's base while for other tests, a pilot and engineer team go to the base of the user squadron and perform the test over there. For example, various tests and trials on the C-130 Hercules (IAF designation Karnaf) and C-130J Super Hercules (IAF designation Shimshon) are conducted in the south. Other tests are conducted at other fighter, helicopter, and transport aircraft squadrons throughout the IAF.
Preparing for Every Scenario
At the Squadron's base in Tel-Nof, five aircraft belonging to the Flight Testing Center are housed in an underground pen, including an F-15I Ra'am, an F-15D Baz, an F-16I Sufa, two F-16C/D Barak types and one helicopter. These aircraft carry specialized instrumentation, having been delivered by the manufacturers as test aircraft and fitted with additional specialized systems manufactured by the Israeli industries. These additional systems include sensors, cameras, various buffers and other equipment items. A dedicated test F-16, for example, costs almost twice as a standard F-16 aircraft, owing to the specialized testing equipment fitted to it.
Some flight tests are definitely dramatic, like the loss-of-control test flights conducted at MANAT since the summer of 2016 on the F-16 aircraft after a preparatory process that had lasted three years. In these flights, the pilots practice regaining control over the aircraft and stabilizing it after a deep stall and loss of control. The background of these dangerous tests flights, of which very few are conducted in the world of military aviation, is operational: a pilot and its aircraft might lose control during an aerial combat encounter or while executing a particularly sharp maneuver. MANAT provides an answer to the question of how to emerge from such a situation, how to stabilize the aircraft once again, regain control over it, return to base and land safely. In his office, the commander of MANAT demonstrates by presenting two videos, in which the pilot's calm and quiet voice may be heard after he had initiated a loss of control over an F-16C/D Barak fighter, in which a specialized spinning parachute had been installed in preparation for the test. The aircraft drifts laterally and loses altitude. The altimeter on the pilot's head-up display indicates a fast descent. Using methods developed at MANAT, the pilot regains control over the aircraft, straightens up and returns to base. "This is not a theoretical experiment. We developed the competence required in order to regain control in a loss-of-control situation, and this has an operational value that is being translated into combat procedures," says Lt. Col. S.
MANAT conducts tests and trials not just on fighter aircraft but on assault and attack helicopters as well: on the Sikorsky CH-53 (Yas'ur), Apache-D Longbow (Saraf), Blackhawk (Yanshuf), Apache-A (Peten); on the Boeing-707 (Re'em) and C-130J (Shimshon) transport aircraft, on the Beechcraft Super King Air B200 (Tzufit) as well as on Unmanned Airborne Systems, which have no pilots but still require flight tests. The tests and trials conducted at MANAT are intended, among other things, to compare the specifications in the aircraft documentation provided by the manufacturer with the real-life performance characteristics of the aircraft. They do rely on the manufacturers, but still have an obligation to check what they manufacture and systematically verify whether everything conforms to the operational and logistic requirements of the IAF. In some cases, the engineers at MANAT had spotted errors made by the manufacturer, which they addressed and improved.
The requirements presented by the IAF are sometimes more stringent than the manufacturer's instructions. It is no secret that IAF pilots, through the generations, performed flights that brought the aircraft very close to the performance envelope prescribed by the manufacturer – sometimes even exceeding the limits of such envelopes. Another good reason why the specialists of MANAT – pilots and engineers – should verify that everything is in order before the platform or the system is delivered to an operational airbase.
As stated previously, the underground pen at MANAT houses five fighter aircraft and one helicopter. Lt. Sagi, the maintenance officer, is responsible for the line of the F-16I Sufa, F-15I Ra'am, F-15D Baz, two F-16C/D types and the Bell-206 Sayfan helicopter. "All of these aircraft are fitted with specialized testing instrumentation. They carry cameras, sensors, various missiles undergoing trial, recording and telemetry equipment. This is the only IAF squadron where a single underground pen accommodates such an extensive range of aircraft types.
"Our uniqueness as mechanics-technicians-associate engineers is that every innovation to be adopted by the IAF comes to us first. We are responsible for producing the test flight, and we get to see a lot of non-standard items over here. In some cases, when the results of the trial are negative, we send the system or the device back to the manufacturer so that it may be improved and adapted to the requirements of the IAF. That is why serving here at the technical section of MANAT is interesting and fascinating, and people often serve here for many years. We never get bored."
