Future President of Israel Ezer Weizman was among the pilots ... But in the U.S., an ingenious former TWA flight engineer named Al Schwimmer was quietly rounding up a gaggle of war surplus ...

Equally fascinating is Al Schwimmer, a TWA employee who bought a surplus C-46 for $5,000. He eventually smuggled that and about 30 other aircraft to Israel when the nation was under an embargo ...