70 African Pilot April 2015
IAI, originally the Bedek Aviation Company, was founded in 1953 in order to
maintain the assets of the Israeli Defence Forces. The company is wholly
owned by the government of Israel and originally manufactured aircraft
under licence. The Arava on which design work began in 1965 was the fi rst
major indigenous aircraft project to be manufactured by IAI.
The main objectives in the design brief were for a STOL performance aircraft
for both the civilian and military markets able to operate from rough airstrips.
It was to carry bulky cargo or 24 fully equipped troops or 16 paratroopers in
military confi guration. In the civilian confi guration the specifi cations called for
20 passengers in economy confi guration or 16 in VIP confi guration.
These requirements led to the Arava’s relatively unusual confi guration and
barrel like fuselage. The rear of the fuselage was hinged to swing outwards for
easy loading and for the rapid deployment of paratroopers. This requirement
led to the twin high mounted tail booms that ran from the engine nacelles to
the twin tails. The undercarriage was fi xed to save weight.The fi rst prototype made its maiden fl ight on 27 November 1970. The second
prototype was destroyed when a wing strut experienced fl utter and failed
during fl ight testing on19 November 1970. When the Yom Kippur War broke
out in 1973, three prototypes were impressed into service by the Israeli Air
Force (IAF). These were returned at the cessation of the confl ict. It was to be
another 12 years before the Arava was again to serve in the IAF when in 1983
nine aircraft were bought. These served until 2004 before being retired.When production ended in 1988, 103 aircraft had been produced.
Although the Arava was only built in relatively small numbers 70 of