Uri Gil (; born April 9, 1943) is a retired brigadier general in the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...

. In 2007, he was listed as the most senior combat pilot in history in the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

Biography

Gil was born in Kibbutz Givat Haim,

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

, the third of four sons. When he was a boy, Gil thought about becoming a composer because he liked to go to clubs to listen to records. He has said that he never wanted to be a pilot, but rather in an "elite paratrooper unit". Gil stated that he "was forced to go to the tests for the pilot course, which are like a game, so I played along and I was accepted against my will". He had no intention of staying on in regular service, but did so because "we were taught to bear the burden". Gil flew fighter jets, and flew missions in the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

, the

War of Attrition The War of Attrition (; ) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from 1967 to 1970. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, no serious diplomatic efforts were made to resolve t ...

and the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

. Gil eventually became a Squadron Commander (253 Squadron), and retired from regular duty in 1985, but still kept flying for another 18 years until he was 60 years old. Gil's last flight was on June 20, 2003. Gil has set the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for being the longest-flying fighter pilot.

Documentary

In 2008, Gil was featured in an Israel

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

titled ''The Best Pilot in the World''. The film was directed by Dr. Amir Har-Gil. In the film, Gil talks about his over 41 years of service in the Israeli Air Force, and the many enemy planes he shot down. Gil stated in the film that he was the only pilot who had downed planes in all the wars.

Painter

PikiWiki Israel 8076 wilfried israel museum

Gil started painting as a pastime when he was in his late twenties while still a career officer in the Israeli Air Force. When he was 42, he left his career in the Air Force to devote his time to painting but continued to fly as a reserve officer until his retirement in June 2003. After leaving the Air Force, Gil moved with his wife to

Ein Hod Ein Hod () is a village in Haifa District in northern Israel. Located at the foot of Mount Carmel and southeast of Haifa, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council and has the status of community settlement (Israel), comm ...

, an artist's village on the coast of the Mediterranean. Gil started doing commissioned portraits, including a portrait from a photograph of

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; , 1905March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system which s ...

. Gil likes to paint still-life paintings and innocently sensual nudes. In 1995 and 1998, Gil had two shows at the Wilfred Israel Museum in Northern Israel. Gil has also exhibited some of his work in Israeli galleries, but the reviews of his work have been lukewarm or nonexistent.

Quotes

"Every sortie that I flew, every dogfight, is a brush-stroke in my portrait in the mirror into which I will peer when my operational life is over. When I reach that day, I want to be satisfied with what I see.""Uri Gil," Avi Shmoul, ''Lifestyles,'' Fall 2003

References

External links