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.

With the Israeli Air Force

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. He learned to fly the Avia at the airfield at České Budějovice.

Lichter arrived in Israel in August 1948, once the last Avia S-199 conversion course had finished. He joined Israel's 101 "First Fighter" Squadron and took his first flight in Israel on August 14, flying Avia D-119 from Maabarot, where the squadron had moved while the airfield at Herzliya was being renovated. He was soon on his way back to Czechoslovakia, however. Israel had acquired former Czech Supermarine Spitfires and Lichter was sent to train additional pilots on the new type. He took his last flight on the Avia on August 25. In December 1948, Lichter participated in Operation Velvetta II to ferry the Spitfires to Israel. where he became active in the textile field. In 1995 he retired to Boulder, Colorado.