Israel's Testing of Alaska Airlines 737-700BDSF

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Aharon
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Israel's Testing of Alaska Airlines 737-700BDSF

Post by Aharon »

Shalom and greetings all my pals,

Presenting Israel Aircraft Industries' testing flight of Alaska Airlines 737-700BDSF from LLBG Ben Gurion International Airport 12 miles of southeast of Tel Aviv to LLET Eilat Airport located in the central area of the city of Eilat next to Route 90 (The Arava Road) before delivering the plane to the airline

Starting engines

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Taxiing to short of runway 30

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Still taxiing!!!

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Holding on runway 30 awaiting for take off clearance

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Airborne on climb to FL200

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Making left 180 degree turn toward LLBG on way to intercept TOMAL at northern tip of Dead Sea

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Passing LLBG

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Still climbing

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Approaching northern tip of Dead Sea to intercept TOMAL which signal time for right turn toward south to cross Dead Sea to Negev desert and Eilat

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Making right turn over TOMAL

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Cruising at FL200 across Dead Sea

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Cruising across Negev Desert

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If you look at right, you can see Mediterranean sea

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More crossing across Negev desert. Sorry that FSX does not have Masada fortress.

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Descending from FL200 to 5,000 ft while intercepting ZFR

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If your cockpit panel's gauges, FMC, and GPS fail, do not worry. You will not get lost on way to Eilat. Just follow Israeli highway 90 straight to Eilat!!

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You can tell that Eilat is getting closer when you can see ahead waters of Gulf of Aqaba

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At 5,000 passing on left OJAQ King Hussein International Airport located in the vicinity of Industrial City in northern suburb of Aqaba in Jordan.

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Passing the airport of destination

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Time to make left 180 degree turn above waters of the Gulf of Aqaba toward LLET's runway 03

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Making adjustments to position to approach the runway

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On final runway approach

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Seconds before touchdown

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TOUCHDOWN

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After backtracking now taxiing on the runway to gate 5

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Slowing down to get ready to enter into gate 5

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Entering into gate 5

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Parked at gate 5 testing new cargo door and unloading/loading capabilities. The left sign says "STOP!!! Airport Tower approval needed to continue ride" The right sign says "Caution!!! You are entering the aerial zone. Please drive safely"

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Thank you for viewing. Stay tuned for next exciting fight!!

Regards,

Aharon

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FlyTexas
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Re: Israel's Testing of Alaska Airlines 737-700BDSF

Post by FlyTexas »

That old Eskimo is a long way from home. :lol: Thanks for sharing this adventure, Aharon. :hello:

Brian

Aharon
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Re: Israel's Testing of Alaska Airlines 737-700BDSF

Post by Aharon »

FlyTexas wrote:That old Eskimo is a long way from home. :lol:
Well this month marks SECOND time that the old Eskimo has visited Israel.

First time was in 1948 to 1950. Alaska Airlines between 1948 and 1950 got special charter service from country of Israel to evacuate thousands thousands thousands of Jewish people from Yemen to Israel. Alaska Airlines used C-46s and DC-4s to fly from round trips from Israel to Yemen while learning how to duck and avoid gunfire from neighboring Arab countries. Alaska Airlines had to install extra fuel tanks on the planes because the airline learned that if their planes landed on Arab countries for refueling, their pilots as well as Jewish passengers would be shot. The engines of C-46s and DC-4s had no problem handling freezing Alaskan winters but Alaska Airlines pilots were having hard time handling engines that were badly affected by desert sand. They used route through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba to avoid being shot down. DC-4s which had operating permit to carry 70 passengers carried average load of 150 Jewish passengers per flight. C-46s which were allowed by American federal aviation agency to carry 46 passengers flew average load of 70 Jewish passengers. Alaska Airlines planes usually arrived in Israel with few bullet holes on the wings or bodies of planes. One Alaskan airline plane made emergency landing in Egypt after the pilots miscalculated fuel consumption rate and ran out of fuel due to unexpected strong winds. Since pilots were scared that they along with passengers would get shot in Egypt, pilots devised a fake story saying their passengers were suffering from chicken pox and they were on emergency medical flight to Italy. The Egyptian airport authorities got scared, rushed to pump fuel into the plane while avoiding inspecting inside the plane to avoid contacting disease, and told the pilots to get lost and fly out of Egypt which the pilots were glad to do so making their way to Israel.

Why did Alaska Airlines get the job flying thousands of Jewish people from Yemen to Israel which was far far far away from Alaska? That is because Alaska Airlines in 1945 to 1950 was one of world's largest cargo airlines (only USAF and Aeroflot had bigger cargo fleets) which was why it was ALSO chosen to participate in famous Berlin Airlift hauling lots of cargo loads to Berlin.

Regards,

Aharon

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Re: Israel's Testing of Alaska Airlines 737-700BDSF

Post by dodger »

Thanks Aharon for that bit of History,

Roger.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

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FlyTexas
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Re: Israel's Testing of Alaska Airlines 737-700BDSF

Post by FlyTexas »

Thanks Aharon. I never knew about the Israel/Alaska Airlines connection. Very interesting. :)

Brian

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