The crew of the C-130 that landed at Entebbe poses with their plane after the mission. Joshua Shani is in the center of the front row.
From the IDF blog:
Brig. Gen. (res.) Joshua Shani was the lead pilot in Operation Entebbe, flying the first C-130 Hercules cargo plane with the entire rescue force on board. This week, for the 36th anniversary of the rescue operation on July 4th, he agreed to answer a few questions.
The flight to Entebbe is about 2,500 miles (4,000 km). How’d you do it?
We had to fly very close to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, over the Gulf of Suez. We weren’t afraid of violating anyone’s air space — it’s an international air route. The problem was that they might pick us up on radar. We flew really low — 100 feet above the water, a formation of four planes. The main element was surprise. All it takes is one truck to block a runway, and that’s all. The operation would be over. Therefore, secrecy was critical.
At some places that were particularly dangerous, we flew at an altitude of 35 feet. I recall the altimeter reading. Trust me, this is scary! In this situation, you cannot fly close formation. As flight leader, I didn’t know if I still had planes 2, 3 and 4 behind me because there was total radio silence. You can’t see behind you in a C-130. Luckily, they were smart, so from time to time they would show themselves to me and then go back to their place in the formation, so I still knew I had my formation with me.
Click here for the full interview.
Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT'L, May His Righteous Memory be a Blessing.
5 Comments
I gave the plane maximum power, and it was just taxiing, not accelerating. At the very end of the runway, I was probably two knots over the stall speed, and I had to lift off.
For those who aren’t pilots the stall speed is that speed that the airflow over the wings isn’t fast enough to sustain flight.
This guy was committed and to take a 4 engined C130 100 feet off the ground in sustained flight – much less 35 feet – - took courage of the 1st order. A very deft hand at the controls – 2 kts between flying …and not. And you are at the end of the runway.
I remember the news of that successful rad – the audaciousness of it – and the success.
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So Bill, you’re saying that these plane and engine manufacturers are putting more horsepower than necessary. He had two knots to play with. What a waste. If all the commercial and military jets possessed the very minimum to fly think of how great that would be in fighting global warming climate change summers or whatever it is our carbon output is causing.
And think how exciting life would be if all flights were required to fly between 35 and 100 feet off the ground. Watch the kids climbing light poles trying to take down a jet with brooms and bats while the passengers are frozen in terror. Are there enough ex-IDF pilots available?
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Johnny – a C130 has been a military mainstay since – I think – 1955 – and for good reason. They have a reputation for being able to carry almost anything. And land/takeoff from the crudest strips. If you can roll it up the ramp….
So for that plane to be so slow in its takeoff – at the end of the runway – meant that thing was stuffed to the gills!
i once flew in a C130 from Frankfurt, Germany to Crete in the Med. I remember 2 things – well, 3.
1. It took over 8 hours.
2. The pilot let me talk with them up front and there is so much plexiglass around the cockpit I remember a panorama scene of the Alps.
3. Since Soundproofing takes weight and the military would rather haul stuff than be quiet, my head was ringing for the next 24 hours
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Bill:
About 20 years ago we went to an open house at Scott AFB. The fighter jets were cool but I remember looking at this giant cargo plane (I don’t remember the model) and marvelling at the engineering it took to get such a behemoth off the ground much less capable of travelling great distances. They weren’t planes so much as warehouses that can be loaded and moved around the world.
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Compare Entebbe with Munich, 1972, an operation that should have been much easier to pull off. Hard to believe that 30 years after sweeping across Europe and N. Africa the Germans couldn’t rescue the hostages on their home turf. Does anyone doubt that even on such short notice the Israelis could have produced a better outcome?
Baader-Meinhof were total POS and it’s too bad the IDF couldn’t wipe them all out that night. A slow painful death was more than any of them deserved. They’d probably be around today running a couple of small European countries if the UN or Brussels had been in charge of dealing with them.
How many militaries around the world would consider having a major general running the air force ask a lowly lieutenant colonel about the capabilities of a plane under his command. Success or failure can often hinge on such little things like that.
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[...] that many today have probably never heard of what took place 36 years ago.This, coming our way via Seraphic Secret, is worth your time and worth passing around: How did the crisis at Entebbe begin?On June 27, 1976, [...]
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