Rina Levinson

Rina Levinson was born in 1927 in Tel Aviv

Rina Levinson was born in Tel Aviv on 27 April 1927. From the age of 14 she flew gliders at the Tel Aviv airport club. After high school she volunteered for a year at the club and won a city sports prize that included a flying scholarship.

She received her pilot's license in 1946. She then studied aerospace engineering in the United States, where she qualified on twin-engine aircraft and took a skydiving course. She later earned a law degree.

In 1951 she returned to Israel and joined the Air Force pilot course with 2 other women. During the 1956 Sinai campaign she flew a Dakota in the paratrooper drop at the Mitla Pass and served as liaison pilot for the French air force commander. After 4 years of service she continued in the reserves for 25 years.

She worked as a journalist for the Jerusalem Post, Lamerhav and the Itim agency, and worked at Arkia. In 1961 she founded Monavir, an air taxi company. With her father she imported Cessna 206 aircraft for the Air Force from 1968 to 1971.

In 1989 she co-founded an association of women pilots and chaired it. She worked as a civilian flight instructor until 1998. She died on 11 April 2021.