George Lichter

George Lichter (December 14, 1921 – August 2, 2013) was an American fighter pilot and one of the founders of the Israeli Air Force.

[2] A day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor he enlisted with the US Army Air Forces to become a pilot.

Serving with the 361st Fighter Group on the European front, Lichter flew the P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt, and participated in 88 combat missions, including the Normandy landings.

[4] In early 1948, following the outbreak of the 1947–1949 Palestine war, Lichter volunteered to fight for the nascent Israeli Air Force.

When Israel secured the purchase of its first fighter aircraft, 25 Avia S-199s, a Czechoslovak derivative of the German Messerschmitt Bf 109, Lichter traveled to Czechoslovakia.