Lavi
Lavi B-2 prototype
Type	Multirole fighter
Manufacturer	Israeli Aircraft Industries
Maiden flight	1986-12-31
Status	Cancelled 1987-08-30
Number built	5 prototypes

The IAI Lavi (Hebrew: לביא, "Young Lion") was a combat aircraft developed in Israel in the 1980s. It was a multi-billion dollar fighter aircraft project that was disbanded when the U.S. Government put pressure on the Israeli government to cancel a fighter that would compete with American exports. Only two of the Lavi prototypes remain — one is on display at the Israeli Air Force (IAF) museum and the other (the Lavi TD, technology demonstrator) can still be found at the IAI facilities at the Ben Gurion airport. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1227x616, 108 KB) Summary Description: IAI Lavi B-2 prototype at Muzeyon Heyl ha-Avir, Hatzerim, Israel. ... An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft. ... Israel Aircraft Industries or IAI is Israels prime aerospace and aviation manufacturer, producing aerial systems for both military and civilian usage. ... The Maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... August 30 is the 242nd day of the year (243rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Israel Aircraft Industries or IAI is Israels prime aerospace and aviation manufacturer, producing aerial systems for both military and civilian usage. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... An A-10 Thunderbolt II, F-86 Sabre, P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang fly in formation during an air show at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with prototyping. ... Ben Gurion International Airport or Ben Gurion Airport (‎, Namal TeÅ«fa Ben GÅ«ryōn, Arabic: , maṭār Ben Ghuryon ad-dawlÄ«) (IATA: TLV, ICAO: LLBG), historically known as Lydda Airport and sometimes referred to today by its Hebrew acronym Natbag (‎), is the largest international airport in Israel. ...

History

The Lavi project began in February 1980, when the Israeli government authorized the IAF to present it with a list of technical specifications for the development of the IAF's future fighter. The development stage began in October 1982, with the choice of a Pratt & Whitney engine already having been made. This is a list of aviation-related events from 1980: Events January January 8 - a Mooney 231 lands in San Francisco, after flying coast to coast non-stop, setting a record by completing the flight in 8 hours and 4 minutes. ... The Israeli Air Force (IAF) (Hebrew: חיל האוויר Heyl haAvir) is the Air branch of the Israel Defense Force. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1982: Events January January 8 - the Airbus A300 is certified, becoming the first wide body airliner with cockpit accommodations for only two to be certified. ... Pratt & Whitney is an American aircraft engine manufacturer whose products are widely used in both civil and military aircraft. ...

One of the Lavi's most distinct advantages is its functional features, especially its cockpit, custom-built entirely using input from active IAF fighter pilots. Drawing on their operational experience, the design was geared to let the pilot handle the tactical aspects of the battle, without having to worry about monitoring and controlling the various subsystems. The avionics of the Lavi were considered to be innovative and groundbreaking, and included self-analysis equipment to make maintenance easier. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The aircraft features a delta wing with large, steerable canards situated in the front of the aircraft. While this configuration affords excellent maneuverability it also exhibits natural instability in flight. To compensate, the Lavi was outfitted with a sophisticated digital fly-by-wire system which allows the plane to take advantage of this particular wing design while eliminating its shortcoming. The Lavi was one of the first aircraft to feature this type of configuration, which has since become almost ubiquitous in many other fighter aircraft which have been developed around the world since the Lavi. The delta-wing is a wing planform in the form of a triangle. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A flight control system consists of the flight control surfaces, the respective cockpit controls, connecting linkage, and necessary operating mechanisms to control aircraft in flight. ...

On December 31, 1986, the first prototype of the Lavi took off on its maiden flight. The test pilot, Menachem Shmul, head of IAI's Air Operations section, took off at 13:21 and stayed in the air for 26 minutes, during which he checked the engine and controls. is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ...

About three months later, a second Lavi prototype took to the air. In its maiden flight, the engine systems, flight control, electrical system, hydraulics and air conditioning were evaluated. The second prototype had some improvements over the first, with a belly-mounted fuel tank, a special midair refuelling probe and several avionic systems that were not employed in the first prototype. Aerial refueling, also called in-flight refueling (IFR) or air-to-air refueling (AAR), is the practice of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight. ...

The IAI had produced two prototypes out of the originally planned five when the Israeli government decided to cancel the project because of budget problems and bickering among various economic and political pressure groups. The total cost for the development and production of the Lavi was US$6.4 billion in 1983, of which around 60% was funded by the United States and 40% by the Israeli government. The project was canceled in part because the U.S. was not prepared to finance an aircraft that would compete in the export market with the F-16C/D and the F/A-18C/D, and also because a dispute arose as to the final cost. The Israeli government was unable to finance the project alone and canceled it on August 30, 1987.^[1] The decision to cancel was approved with a majority of only one vote. Two years after the project's cancellation, the IAI has completed the building of the third Lavi prototype, which served as a Technology Demonstrator (TD) and a flying testbed to some of the IAI's projects. The TD flew until the mid nineties, and was later used as a ground testbed. The F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American multirole jet fighter aircraft developed by General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin for the United States Air Force. ... The Boeing (formerly McDonnell Douglas) F/A-18 Hornet is a modern all-weather carrier-capable strike fighter jet, designed to attack both ground and aerial targets. ... August 30 is the 242nd day of the year (243rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ...

Throughout the project's lifetime, Likud minister Moshe Arens, himself an IAF veteran, was the Lavi's main advocate. Some community welfare organizations in Israel blasted the spending associated with the Lavi as a bottomless pit, and contrasted it with dwindling expenditure on health and education. Likud (Hebrew: ליכוד, literally means consolidation) is a centre-right political party in Israel. ... Moshe Arens Moshe Arens (born December 27, 1925 in Kaunas, Lithuania) is an Israeli politician. ...

However, while the Lavi project was canceled, many of the aircraft's sub-systems and components continued to be developed by the Israeli aerospace industry and are nowadays available in the defense marketplace as separate systems.

Fate of prototype aircraft

When the IAI Lavi was cancelled on August 30, 1987, a total of five airframes had been built. Prototypes #1 and #2 were completed prototypes, while #3, #4, and #5 were incomplete. Parts from unit #1 and #2 were pulled to complete unit #3 as the private-venture technology demonstrator (TD) aircraft. The gutted unit #2 was put in the Israeli Air Force museum at Beersheba for static display, and the rest (#1, #4, & #5) were melted down for scrap. [1]. August 30 is the 242nd day of the year (243rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ...

Specifications (Lavi)

General characteristics

• Crew: One
• Length: 14.57 m (47 ft 10 in)
• Wingspan: 8.78 m (28 ft 10 in)
• Height: 4.78 m (15 ft 8 in)
• Wing area: 33.0 m² (355 ft²)
• Empty weight: 7,031 kg (15,500 lb)
• Loaded weight: 9,991 kg (22,025 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 19,277 kg (42,500 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney PW1120 afterburning turbofan, 91.5 kN (20,600 lbf)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 1,965 km/h (1,220 mph)
• Range: 3,700 km (2,300 mi)
• Service ceiling: 15,240 m (50,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 254 m/s (50,000 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 303.2 kg/m² (62.0 lb/ft²)
• Thrust/weight: 0.94

Armament

• 1 × 30 mm DEFA cannon
• 7,260 kg (16,000 lb) of stores

The distance AB is the wing span of this Aer Lingus Airbus A320. ... In aviation, the Maximum Take-Off Weight (or MTOW) is the maximum weight with which an aircraft is allowed to try to achieve flight. ... The Pratt & Whitney PW1120 turbofan, rated at 6,137 kg dry and 9,337 kg with reheat and was a derivate of the F100 turbofan. ... Schematic diagram of high-bypass turbofan engine CFM56-3 turbofan, lower half, side view. ... VNO of an aircraft is the V speed which refers to the velocity of normal operation. ... The maximal total range is the distance an aircraft can fly between takeoff and landing as limited by its fuel capacity. ... In aeronautics, the service ceiling is the maximum density altitude where the best rate of climb airspeed will produce a 100 feet per minute climb(twin engine) and 50 feet(single engine) at maximum weight while in a clean configuration with maximum continuous power. ... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ... In aerodynamics, wing loading is the loaded weight of the aircraft divided by the area of the wing. ... Thrust-to-weight ratio (where weight means weight at the Earths surface) is a dimensionless parameter characteristic of rocket and jet engines, and of vehicles propelled by such engines (typically space launch vehicles and jet aircraft). ... 30 mm rounds The 30 mm caliber is a standard size of heavy machine gun (specifically autocannon) ammunition used by NATO forces. ... The GIAT DEFA 550 is a series of very widely used French aircraft guns. ...

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

IAI Lavi

1. ^ Lavi, The Jewish Virtual Library.

• "The United States and the LAVI" by Lt Col James P. DeLoughry, USAF, Federation of American Scientists
• "Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) Lavi" by Ruud Deurenberg, Jewish Virtual Library

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ...

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