LI flyover backs Israel

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A Long Island flight club will fly Israel’s colors this Sunday.

At 10 am, 13 planes associated with the Israeli New York Flight Club, plan to take off from Republic Airport in Farmingdale and fly along Long Island’s South Shore, over Brooklyn beaches, along Manhattan’s West Side, and on to New Jersey.

A laminated American and Israeli flag will be affixed to each of the single engine four-seaters with blue and white flags taped to the underside of both wings, enabling people on the ground to see the flags as the planes fly overhead. Some planes will have the words “We love Israel” and a Star of David taped to the underside of the planes as well. About 50 people, pilots and passengers, will participate in the flyover.

“It bothers me so much to see the negative media about Israel,” said Robert Keleti, club founder and a Federal Aviation Administration gold seal flight instructor. “I want to show to the world that many pilots in the United States know the truth and are supporters [of] Israel to fight against terrorism.”

Keleti said the planes will pass over Long Beach and Coney Island from 11:30 am to noon, returning around 2 pm to fly over the Rockaways and Long Beach.

Natan Hoffmann, a flight student at the club and its event coordinator, noted that in part the flyover is a response to a recent flight of a plane sporting a sign with a swastika.

“What the gentiles do the Jewish people do better,” he said laughing, noting that it was a “slap in the face.” That had been one plane — this will be 13 planes in a row.

Sunday’s “immense and impressive flyover [will] show the world the need to support Israel and what it stands for,” said Hoffman.

The club has about 50 members who are student pilots from Israel studying to obtain U.S. licensing, American pilots, and aviation enthusiasts. They meet once every two months to discuss aviation safety and to hear lectures from El Al pilots.

Hoffmann said that he was interested in flying “since I was born. My parents recall me watching planes” as a very young child and always reading books about airplanes. Now 23, Hoffmann recalled his first flight with his fifth grade rebbe at Yeshiva Darchei Torah, Rabbi Yaakov Krantz who had a pilot’s license.

“I was thrilled with euphoria,” he said. “It was unbelievable. Once I tasted the sky I always wanted to go back.” He attended Mesivta Ateres Yaakov for high school, davens at Anshei Chesed and learns in Sh’or Yoshuv. He lives in Woodmere. Hoffmann began flying lessons in June 2010 and has logged 250 flight hours so far. His goal is to complete 1,500 flight hours and pass the written, oral and practical tests necessary to earn an airline transport pilots license (ATP). He hopes to get a job as a flight instructor to be able to complete the hours needed over the course of four years. He noted that Keleti has been a teacher for 35 years and El Al pilots come to train with the flight club to fly Cessnas in the U.S.

Keleti, who was born in Hungary and moved with his family to Israel when he was two, founded the club in 1999 when he moved to New York. He served in the Israeli Air Force, earned a degree in Special Education and taught in Israel, France and Denmark but continued working as a flight instructor as well. He said that he has many former students who are employed as captains in airlines worldwide. Over the last two years he said that he received an award from AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) and was recognized by them as the top flight instructor in the U.S.

They began planning this event two weeks ago, Keleti said. He noted that he has extensive experience flying in formation; they fly in formation over New York City every year on Israel Independence Day, “and land in a nice airport next to a big lake and make a barbecue.”