1/18/2008

Flying Ace of the mighty IAF



Giora Epstein is the world’s leading ace with seventeen kills, 12 of which were achieved in the Yom Kippur war, 9 of which were in 48 hours

I was watching the History channel and came across this man. All I have to say is WOW!!!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I never saw the History Channel presentation but would certainly have liked to. We have a lot of heroes who are bigger than life in Israel. Unfortunately, today many of these people associate themselves with the far left.

Anonymous said...

frank family: did you ever hear of how in '48 several courageous IAF pilots struck down several RAF planes who were caught in Israeli air-space?

Papa Frank said...

eitan -- no I sure haven't. The IAF have always been a force to be reckoned with.

Anonymous said...

than it's a good thang i let ya know;) Have a wonderful week!!!

Batya said...

And the Yom Kippur War only lasted a few weeks, so it was real fast work.

Papa Frank said...

Welcome muse!!! Make yourself at home, you're among friends here.

Anonymous said...

muse: i'm going have to link to ya! Just have to check on your blog first...

Anonymous said...

Epstein is indeed the world's leading jet ace. I think the top piston engined fighter pilot was Eric Hartmann with 352 confirmed victories in World War II.

I saw two episodes of "Dog Fight" on the History Channel that featured Colonel Epstein. It amazed me that he freely admitted having given a false heading to two other Israeli pilots so he wouldn't have to "share" the gaggle of Migs he was engaging. I've heard repeatedly that the primary quality of a fighter pilot is aggressivenes, and coupled with his extraordinary eye sight maybe that's why he achieved the record he did. In his interview segments he was a very modest individual, and seemed like a "normal guy" rather than a record breaker who will probably retain his title permanently.

Al-Ozarka said...

My all-time FAVORITE show on the History Channel is "Dogfights"!

The episode covering the Israelis was absolutely amazing and Epstein is a GOD among fighter-pilots!

My favorites are the naval dogfights in the pacific. Talk about guts and glory!