Hobby Master Archive

The 116 known as “The Flying Wing” Squadron first flew in 1956 using P-51Ds and Mystere IVA. In October 1956 during the “Suez Crisis” the Squadron received the unofficial nickname “The Wire-cutters” because they would fly their aircraft through Egyptian telegraph wires to disrupt communications. The 116 Squadron flew the A-4Es until upgrading to the N version in 1975. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War the A-4 suffered heavy losses making it necessary for the US to send 28 replacements. There were 499 A-4Es built and Israel acquired 94 of them.