ɪts fˈɜːst kˈɑːmbæt kˈeɪm kwˈɪkli; dʒˈʌst bᵻfˌoːɹ kɹˈɪsməs, ˌɔn dᵻsˈɛmbɚ sˈɛvəntˌiːn, nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd fˈoːɹɾi sˈɛvən, pˈaɪlət pˈɪntʃəz bˈɛnpˈoːɹæt bˈoːɹdᵻd hɪz sˈɪŋɡəlˈɛndʒɪn ˌɑːɹdˌʌbəljˌuːdˈiː θˈɜːtiːn tə fˈɛɹi ɐ mˈɛdɪkəl dˈɑːktɚ tə ðə smˈɔːl tˈaʊn ʌv bˈeɪt ˈɛʃəl.
Its first combat came quickly; just before Christmas, on December 17, 1947, pilot Pinchas Ben-Porat boarded his single-engine RWD-13 to ferry a medical doctor to the small town of Beit Eshel.