Lou Lenart

Louis "Lou" Lenart has been the IDF coordinator for several motion pictures, including the first two Iron Eagle films; the first of which he was also the associate producer. But Lou Lenart is perhaps best known as the Check Yeager of the Israeli Air Force. After serving as a Corsair pilot in the Pacific during WWII, Major Lenart left the Marine Corps. and, in 1948, became one of the founders of the IAF, one of the world's most respected and successful air forces. Lenart, and other pilots, went to Czechoslovakia to learn to fly the Avia S-199 Mezec (Mule), a Czech-built version of the WWII Messerschmitt ME-109. On 14 May 1948, Israel declared independence and was immediately besieged by neighboring nations. The Mules were quickly taken apart, airlifted to Israel, and then reassembled. On 29 May, Lenart, and three other pilots, each with less than two hours in the fighter, launched at dusk to attack an Egyptian force of 10,000 troops supported by tanks and artillery at Ashdod, only 16 miles south of Tel Aviv. The Israeli's untested aircraft, armed only with 20-millimeter cannons and 70 kilogram bombs, made history when the Egyptians, confused by the "secret air force," halted their offensive, dug in, and later retreated. One Mezec was lost in the attack and another was damaged beyond repair. Although Lenart flew other missions, he used his WWII experience and served on the southern front as an "air controller." After the war, he participated in an operation to rescue Iraqi Jews and bring them to Israel. A man of many talents, he flew for EL AL, Israel's national airline, conducted aerial mapping missions over the jungles of Central America, and was a producer the major motion picture, Iron Eagle. Lenart was General Manager of the San Diego Clippers of the National Basketball Association in the early 1980s. He later returned to live in Israel. At the time this mini-biography was written he is active as a lecturer.