Colonel Danny Shapira, a graduate of the first pilot course, passed away last night (Friday) at the age of 97. Shapira was one of the first pilots of the Israeli Air Force, a test pilot in the Air Force and then a test pilot in the aerospace industry.
Shapira was born fifth grade in the Land of Israel, in Jerusalem and grew up in Haifa. In 1944 he received a private aviation license, and three years later he was drafted into the air service and performed reconnaissance flights, transporting and dropping food and weapons into besieged communities. In May 1948 he was sent to a pilot course at the Academy of the Czechoslovak Air Force.
Shapira took part, along with Mordechai Hod and pilots from the military, in bringing the Spitfire planes to Israel, all this when they were young pilots with less than 130 flight hours, and only seven hours of flight experience on the Spitfire. As part of the operation, called “Velota 2”, They flew the planes in December from Czechoslovakia through Yugoslavia to Israel.The radios were removed from the planes to make room for more fuel.
Shapira was among four graduates of the Air Force’s first pilot course, held as part of a flight school (known as the minus two course), and they were the first to receive Israeli pilot wings.
In the middle of 1956, he was appointed commander of a squadron of photo planes, and in “Operation Kadesh” he was deputy commander of the Meister squadron, the first fighter squadron in Hazor. After the operation, Shapira was appointed a senior test pilot in the Air Force and managed the transfer flights of the planes purchased in France to Israel.
In 1958 he was sent with his family to France to undergo a test pilot course at the French Air Force’s experimental center. There he tested the prototype of the Mirage aircraft, and was the first Israeli pilot to fly up and exceed the speed of sound in a direct, horizontal flight. After flying the Mirage, Shapira recommended the Air Force Commander at the time, Ezer Weizman, to purchase the plane.
In 1966, when the Iraqi MiG-21 defected to Israel, Danny Shapira was tasked with flying and learning it. His experience in knowing the aircraft greatly helped the Air Force in the battles conducted against the MiG-21 aircraft in the Egyptian and Syrian sectors. After his release, Shapira was appointed in 1971 as the head of the Air Operations Division and chief test pilot of the Aerospace Industry. Later he established a department within the company’s marketing department and served as a display pilot. Retired in 1988.