The Vickman family were Russian Jewish immigrants to the United States who arrived c. 1905.

Bob's dad Morde and his brother Abe moved to Los Angeles, California area.

There are numerous cousins in California, Chicago and various other parts of the U.S. Vickman attended John Marshall High School in Los Angeles and earned a B.S.

In the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, on July 9, 1948, Vickman flew a mission over the Israeli Negev Desert in an Avia S-199.

As Vickman egressed from an attack on a ship in Cairo harbour thought to be unloading troops and supplies, he spotted an REAF Lysander.

Mikaati recalled: ...My gunner - I don't remember his name - was a keen-sighted man and he spotted an Israeli Messerschmitt as it maneuvered into a position to attack.

The Machal pilots, including Bob Vickman, are the subject of the film Above and Beyond - The Untold True Story.