Sam Lewis (pilot)

Sam Lewis (February 5, 1912 - February 18, 1992) was an American Israeli pilot and the first Chief Pilot of El Al. Lewis was known for his ability to fly any aeroplane under any condition.
== Early Life ==
Sam Lewis was born Samuel Rifkin on February 5, 1912, in Manhattan in New York City, New York. He was the second child of Louis Rifkin, a furrier, and Anna Rifkin, an amateur Yiddish actress and poet, who immigrated to the US from Mogilev, Russia (now Belarus) in 1910.Lewis, Samuel, 1992-2009. Machal/Aliya Bet collection (I-501). Box 13, flooder 13. Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St. NY. NY 10011
In 1925, when Lewis was 13, he accompanied his uncle, Rabbi Gershon Epstein, on a trip to Los Angeles, California, to consider joining the Rabbi’s old congregation members who moved there from Russia where he had been their rabbi. Since the uncle only spoke Yiddish, Lewis joined him as his English translator. Lewis was supposed to return to New York by train after leaving his uncle in Los Angeles, but after seeing the wide green open spaces there, he refused to return to the cemented streets of New York. When his parents came to get him, they, too, fell in love with the place and decided to stay. The family settled in the Boyle Heights, Los Angeles neighborhood in Los Angeles.
Though Sam grew up helping his father in his fur shop, he had other interests. He was athletic and an amateur boxer, and he loved anything to do with airplanes from an early age. While in high school, Lewis used to go to Clover Field, now Santa Monica Airport, finding different jobs in exchange for an air ride. 
In 1935, when Lewis was 22, he had his first solo flight after only four flying lessons. Right after that, he joined the Jewish Flying Club (later the California Flying Club) in Los Angeles, where the members rented airplanes over the weekends and enjoyed flying.
File:Sam Lewis at Mines Field, CA.jpg|thumb|Lewis in his early flying years in California
== Early Aviation Career ==
After accumulating 200 hours of flying, Lewis became a certified flying instructor. In 1937, he left his father’s fur shop to work as a flying instructor. He worked for Morton Air Services and then Pacific Air College, both at Mines Field (now Los Angeles International Airport|LAX) in Los Angeles.Lewis, Samuel, 1992-2009. Machal/Aliya Bet collection (I-501). Box 13, flooder 13. Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St. NY. NY 10011
In 1939, as the war was brewing in Europe, Cal-Aero Academy|Cal Aero, which had a military contract, hired Lewis. This job there was to train flight instructors to teach cadets how to fly aerobatics for combat maneuvers, first at Glendale Airport and then (the future) Ontario International Airport|Ontario Airport in California. He was a Flight Commander and later became a Chief Flight Instructor.Lewis, Samuel, 1992-2009. Machal/Aliya Bet collection (I-501). Box 13, flooder 13. Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St. NY. NY 10011
In December 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Lewis left his job, wanting to join the war effort as a pilot of a multi-engine aircraft rather than being an instructor. Lewis, together with five other flight commanders from Cal Aero, went to Montreal and joined the Royal Air Force Ferry Command. In Early 1942, Lewis started ferrying big airplanes such as Lockheed Loadstar, Hudson Bombers, and Flying boat|Flying Boats from Montreal, Canada to the UK RAF airbase in Prestwick, Scotland.Lewis, Samuel, 1992-2009. Machal/Aliya Bet collection (I-501). Box 13, flooder 13. Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St. NY. NY 10011
File:Sam TWA plane for ATC 1943.jpg|thumb|Lewis during WW2 flying for the Air Transport Command (ATC) while working for TWA.
Following a few months of flying for the RAF Ferry Command, Lewis joined Western Airlines, flying between Los Angeles, CA and Salt Lake City, Utah|UT. When the promise to become a captain of Douglas DC-3|DC-3s after three months from hiring never materialized, Lewis confronted the president of Western and learned that the latter had an objection to the idea of having a Jewish captain flying his airplanes.Lewis, Samuel, 1992-2009. Machal/Aliya Bet collection (I-501). Box 13, flooder 13. Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St. NY. NY 10011
Immediately after this talk Lewis left Western Airlines and joined TWA in Washington, D.C.|Washington DC as a captain. During the war, TWA had a contract with the Air Force - Contract Carrier Twelve, and Lewis joined the Air Transport Command (ATC) - flying cargo for the military, first in B-24 and then advanced to Boeing 347 - the Stratoliner. He estimated that he did more than 100 ocean crossings for the Air Force through TWA to Europe, South Africa, South America, and Asia.Lewis, Samuel, 1992-2009. Machal/Aliya Bet collection (I-501). Box 13, flooder 13. Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St. NY. NY 10011
Over the years, Lewis, who was then called Rifkin, encountered countless Antisemitism|antisemitic comments, the one made by the president of Western Airline was only one of them. While flying for TWA wearing a uniform during the war, Lewis stopped in Santa Maria Island|Santa Maria in the Azores, where the station manager called him “a Jew Bastard.” Lewis, who was an amateur boxer, punched him in reply. After this incident, a chief pilot friend warned him that another such incident would end his career. He suggested that Lewis change his Jewish last name to attract less antisemitic comments. In 1944, Lewis chose to use the name of his recently deceased father - Louis - with a different spelling as his new surname.Lewis, Samuel, 1992-2009. Machal/Aliya Bet collection (I-501). Box 13, flooder 13. Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St. NY. NY 10011
== Israeli Aviation Career ==
In 1947, Al Schwimmer, a former TWA flight engineer, recruited Lewis and other pilots to Machal for Operation Zebra. The team smuggled weapons through Czechoslovakia to help Israel during its Israel War of Independence|War of Independence and participated in aerial attacks against the fighting Arabs. Their actions violated the American arms embargo on Palestine (region)|Palestine and the Middle East, and in 1949, Lewis and his friends returned to the US to face their trial.Lewis, Samuel, 1992-2009. Machal/Aliya Bet collection (I-501). Box 13, flooder 13. Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St. NY. NY 10011Their exploits during Operation Zebra were documented in the 2015 film A Wing and a Prayer (film)|A Wing and a Prayer. 
File:Sam Lewis in c-46 during Operation Zebra 1948.jpg|thumb|Lewis in Zatec, Czechoslovakia in 1948. The C-46 loaded with bombs that will be thrown over Cairo during the flight to Israel.
In 1949, Lewis became the first Chief Pilot of EL AL, the Israeli airline. He worked there until his mandatory retirement at the age of 60, in 1972.Lewis, Samuel, 1992-2009. Machal/Aliya Bet collection (I-501). Box 13, flooder 13. Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St. NY. NY 10011
File:Sam Lewis in early EL AL publicity shot 1950.jpg|thumb|Lewis as EL AL Chief Pilot 1950
In late 1948 the Israeli government with the help of the JDC Welfare Organization|JDC, an American Jewish relief organization, hired Alaska Airlines to airlift Jewish Refugee|refugees from Yemen to Israel. In early 1949, Lewis took a leave of absence from his job in EL AL to join Alaska Airlines to take part in this airlift, which was later recognized as Operation Magic Carpet (Yemen)|Operation Magic Carpet or On the Wings of Eagles. The airlift from Yemen came to completion in September 1950, after airlifting to Israel 49,000 Yemeni Jews. 
After his mandatory retirement as a pilot at the age of 60, Lewis, who was not ready yet to give up flying, joined his friend Al Schwimmer at the Israeli Aircraft Industries|Israeli Aircraft Industry (IAI). He worked there as a pilot and consultant and helped to set up several airlines in Europe, Asia, and South America. He remained with IAI until 1980.Lewis, Samuel, 1992-2009. Machal/Aliya Bet collection (I-501). Box 13, flooder 13. Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St. NY. NY 10011
== Trial ==
In late 1948, Lewis and his nine American friends in Operation Zebra learned that there were charges against them in the US for violating the US Neutrality Act by helping Israel during its War of Independence. Lewis and his friends returned to the US in late 1949 to face their trial, which took place in Los Angeles, having the Jewish Agency for Israel|Jewish Agency provide them with legal services. The trial ended in early 1950. Lewis was the only defendant found not guilty, due to one juror insisting Lewis was just a hired pilot, not a conspirator. The rest received $10,000 fines, which the Jewish Agency paid, and only one – Charlie Winters, who was not Jewish – whose trial took place in New York, was sentenced to eighteen-month in prison. All the convicts in the Operation Zebra trial were eventually Pardon|pardoned by various US presidents.
File:Sam Lewish and Al Schwimmer in Tel Aviv 1949.jpg|thumb|Lewis and Al Schwimmer in Tel Aviv in 1949 when they decided to returned to the US to face their trial.
== Personal life ==
On May 5, 1931, when he was 19, Lewis married his high school sweetheart and next-door neighbor Jenny (Jean) Kopf. In 1933, the couple welcomed their first-born daughter Sandra (Brown), and later, in 1941, they had their second daughter Elaine (Aronoff). They lived in Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC, during WWII. When Sam was able to join El Al after the trial, they began their life in Israel in 1950 and lived a few years in London. Upon Lewis’ retirement from IAI, the couple moved back to Los AngelesLewis, Samuel, 1992-2009. Machal/Aliya Bet collection (I-501). Box 13, flooder 13. Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St. NY. NY 10011 in 1982 and remained there until their death On February 18, 1992, Lewis died in Los Angeles, California, of an accidental gunshot wound. 
File:Sam Lewis and his wife Jean 1942.jpg|thumb|Lewis and his wife Jean 1942
== In Popular Culture ==
Lewis acted as an informal consultant to the movie Cast a Giant Shadow (1966), depicting the events of Israel’s War of Independence in 1948.
File:Sam on Cast a Giant Shadow set.jpg|thumb|Sam Lewis (left) with the director of "Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)" Melville Shavelson (middle), and Kirk Douglans (right).
The exploits of Lewis and his Machal friends during Israel's War of Independence were documented the movies:
* They Were All We Had (1988) by Jonathan Paz 
* A Wing and a Prayer (2015) by Boaz Dvir, 
And the books 
* The Secret Battle for Israel (1966) by Benjamin Kagan
* The Pledge ((1970) by Leonard Slater
* The Secret Army (1984) by David J. Bercuson
* El Al Star in the Sky (1990) by Marvin G. Goldman
* Angles in the Sky (2017) by Robert Gandt
* Saving Israel (2020) by Boaz Dvir
Category:1912 births
Category:1992 deaths
Category:Israeli aviators
Category:People from New York City