Binyamin Kahane Binyamin Kahane ( ) , 5 March 1911 – 30 October 1956 , was an Israeli air force officer and pilot who was killed during a reconnaissance sortie . He was awarded the Medal of Courage by the Israeli Defense Forces posthumously . The aerial tactics he used are taught at military air academies worldwide . Biography . Binyamin Kahane was born in Jaffa in then - Palestine to a family with roots in the First Aliyah ( immigration ) from Belarus . Kahane was the youngest of three brothers and a sister . He attended a trade school in Tel Aviv , an agricultural high school ( Mikve Israel ) , the Polytechnic School , and the Montefiore Technical School in Tel Aviv . Both of Kahane ’ s parents were involved with Zionist movements : His mother , Miriam Kahane , was part of the Bilu movement , a small pioneer group brought to Israel and led by her cousin , Israel Belkind . Another cousin was Fannie Belkind , Avshalom Feinberg ' s mother . Kahane ’ s Father , Ephraim , assisted the Nili underground in its activities to support the British forces during World War I . Because of his familiarity with the Sinai Peninsula and the routes in Palestine ( and also as a carriage driver and owner ) , he was selected by Avshalom Feinberg to accompany him on his first trip to the British lines in Egypt through the northern Sinai in December 1915 . Kahane engaged in boxing , fencing and Jujitsu , but his main activity was in the motorcycle riding . He took part in many riding competitions , and according to press reports from 1934 , he was " one of the best motorcycle riders in the country . " He won first place in the first motorcycle race held in the dunes of Rishon Letzion . In 1934 Kahane co - organized and co - led a motorcycle tour to Jewish communities in Europe to encourage immigration to Palestine . Political activism . He joined the Betar movement in 1927 , and like many members of Betar , proceeded to join the Irgun upon its establishment . He attended training , and participated in operations intended to help secure Jewish settlement s . He applied his skills as a motorcyclist as part of reprisals conducted by the Irgun during the Great Arab Revolt . After the establishment of the Notrim Corp , Kahane joined it , and attended its command training course in 1937 . Aviation . Kahane was an avid aviator since his early twenties . His first aerial activity was sky gliding , as a member of The Aero Club of Israel . Devoting himself in aviation , Kahane developed extraordinary skills and achieved notoriety , also turning to training others along the Mediterranean coast . On his website " Air Space " that specializes in aviation history , Avinoam Misnikov cites that in April 1938 , at the gliding camp of Children Village , Kahane reached an altitude of 1 , 250 feet above the point of origin while flying a Chaika glider . In 1936 Kahane participated in the first gliding training course sponsored by the Palestine Aviation Club and held at Givat Brenner . The Irgun opened a flying school at Lod airport headed by Moshe Haim Katz . Kahane ’ s pilot license carried the serial number 6 . Kahane was the only graduate who maintained his pilot license current , leading to his becoming a pilot in the Israeli Air Force later on . Betar estimated that there were two thousand Jewish pilots around the world who could form the basis of a network of clubs and pilots who could be recruited for action when needed . To that effect , the Pilots Club Tel Aviv was established , and an RWD - 15 single engine plane was purchased in Poland using contributions by the Jewish community . On August 20 , 1939 three pilots ( Abraham Schechterman , Binyamin Kahane , and Yitzhak Barash ) were sent to Poland to bring the plane to Israel . World War II , which broke out only eleven days later , prevented their arrival in Poland , and the plane was never delivered . In an attempt to contribute to the war effort against the Nazis , Kahane applied as a volunteer pilot to the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) , but was turned down . Continued efforts by the Irgun to secure a plane finally succeeded . In 1941 a two - seater Czechoslovak Zlin XII airplane was purchased in Egypt with funds from a prominent local Jew . Kahane was sent to Egypt to fly the plane from Cairo to Lod . Chronic lack of resources made it impossible to keep the plane operational , so it was placed in makeshift storage in a Tel - Aviv basement . Abraham Schechterman was recruited to manage the potassium factories in Sodom in 1943 . His condition for accepting the position was that an air link to the factory was to be established : an airstrip was to be built , the plane was to be taken out of storage , and based at the factory with a pilot . Management finally relented , and Kahane was appointed the company pilot . Schechterman writes in his memoirs : " The airport was beneficial in light of the many floods that take place in the area regularly . Most importantly , the air link saved the plant from surrendering during the Israeli War of Independence directly causing the factory to remain inside the Israeli border . Thanks to the airport Sodom could receive supplies and equipment that kept it going . The only connection to the outside world was via air , that allowed not only to hold Sodom , but also to expand beyond it to Ein Gedi to its north and Eilat to its south . " Israeli Air Force . As a former member of the Irgun it was not easy for Kahane to be accepted to the newly formed Israeli Air Force as a pilot . However after repeated efforts , he was allowed on April 5 , 1948 , and attached to squadron A . His requests for assignment to fighter planes were turned down ( perhaps due to his age , 37 ) , but in 1949 he was allowed to train flying dual engine airplanes . Since the second half of 1948 Kahane was attached to squadron 35 based at Ekron where he flew the UC - 64A Norseman , with sorties also to the besieged Sodom , thus completing a personal circle . In January 1949 Kahane was assigned to a light aircraft squadron flying Pipers ; in June 1950 he completed instructor training , and was appointed a Piper flight instructor . He was at odds with the rest of the squadron both because of his background with the Irgun , and his age . Kahane was excluded from some activities , for example , Operation Shnunit in June 1954 ( rescue of the crew and commandos off a stranded Israeli Navy near the Saudi coast ) . Perhaps as a result , he was never promoted beyond the rank of Seren ( Captain ) . This was reflected in letters he wrote to his friend Zvi ( " Gammy " ) Rin , also a former Irgun member , who in 1950 left Israel to study in the United States . In March 1956 the Kahane family moved to Eilat , and Kahane became the liaison pilot of the regional headquarters . During the second day of the Suez Campaign , on October 30 , 1956 , several attacks on the IDF ' s ground forces by pairs of Egyptian MiG - 15 were reported . The first two targeted forces at Temed and the Mitla Pass , and at 10 : 00 a third pair attempted attacking an Israeli column advancing toward Kuntila . What happened next is described in the citation of the Medal of Courage Kahane received posthumously for his heroism :