Daniel Shapira

Daniel Shapira was born in 1925 in Jerusalem

Shapira was born in Jerusalem in 1925 and grew up in Haifa, one of three sons of Esther and Nahum. He joined the Haganah and the Aviation Club of Israel in 1940. He studied at a vocational high school near the Technion, trained as a metal turner, and earned a private pilot license in 1944.

In 1947 he joined the Air Service and flew supplies to besieged settlements. In 1948 he trained in Czechoslovakia and helped fly Spitfires to Israel. He was one of 4 graduates of the first Air Force flight course and among the first to receive Israeli pilot wings.

He flew fighters, helped found squadrons 109 and 113, and commanded Squadron 115 in 1956. He fought in the Sinai War and the Six-Day War. In 1966 he flew and studied the Iraqi MiG-21 that defected to Israel, becoming the first Western pilot to fly it.

After leaving regular service in 1971 he became head of air operations and chief test pilot at Israel Aerospace Industries, retiring in 1988. He kept flying in the reserves until 1992 and was promoted to colonel in 1989. His autobiography appeared in 1994, and he lit a torch on Independence Day in 2013. He died in 2022.