Tag Archives: SAAF Museum Flying Day
SAAF Museum Training Day 2019-08-03
This past weekend the SAAF Museum once again held their monthly flying day. Being busy with other aviation events this past couple of months, we really enjoyed being back for a great museum event. This flying day was very busy in particular with three Allouette helicopters, five Harvards, a bosbok, Cessna 185, Patchen Explorer and Puma all flying. The Friends Of The SAAF Museum sold very tasty boerewors rolls and the Windsock café also had a wide selection of toasted sandwiches and drinks to satisfy all tastes on the day.
The visitors had plenty of flying to enjoy, starting out with the Aerospatiale SA 330 Puma starting up right in front of the crowd line. The Puma pilots ensured that everyone nearby left with a funky hairstyle. As the Puma taxied past, it was able to blow over my tripod with my secondary camera doing video recording. Luckily the only thing that was damaged was my ego with my fellow photographer friends getting a good laugh out of the tumbling Canon.
With this being the final flying day before the big airshow in September, some of the Harvard pilots lead by Glen Warden flew a nice formation flight at the end of the day. The three Harvards participating in the flyby were Siyandiza, 7231 and 7480. The trio flew a tight formation coming from the rear over the main tower, making a wingover to the left, passing over Bay’s Hill and then passed in front of the crowd again.
This year’s airshow was delayed due to the elections taking place in May. The official date has now been set as 7 September 2019. The show organisers are hard at work with the planning and the theme for this year’s show is “Collective Heritage”. The Gautrain will once again be aiding with transport and Computicket will be the ticket sellers. The prices are as follow: R80 for over the age of 16, R30 for 12-16 and under 12 is free. NB: Ticket sales are not open at the time of writing. Keep an eye on the event Facebook page for more info regarding the show.
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SAAF Museum Flying Day 2019-07-06
The first Saturday of July 2019 saw the annual SAAF Museum flying training day take place at Airforce Base Swartkop in Pretoria. Known as the second oldest operational air force base in the world saw a number of museum assets take to the skies above Pretoria.
The day started with a pilots briefing, where Lieutenant Colonel Melvin Bruintjies Officer commanding the SAAF Museum Lieutenant Colonel ,Trish Schoeman Officer Commanding AFB Swartkop and Major Iwan Robbertse (Oryx Helicopter Commander) briefed the pilots on movements and safety for the days flying programme.
A walk through the hangers and some of the aircraft shelters on the bases premises bring back memories of the past aircraft that roamed the skies in South Africa and been able to see the flying exhibits such as the Museums Harvard’s and Harvard Clubs possessions, one of two Cessna C185s,Bosbok,Patchen Explorer, Alouette II, Alouette III and Aerospatiale Puma, which was also the SAAF Golden Eagles Parachute Display Team jump ship for the mornings processing’s.
Skydiving photos credit Wimpie Gerber
The Windsock Café fed hungry pilots and visitors with the friendly and helpful Johnathan Taylor behind the counter, The Spitfire Restoration Team also were present with the shadow of ‘Spotty’ the Cheetah hangered in one of the exhibit shelters. The Friends of the Museum also doing their part of giving back to the SAAF Museum.
With the now confirmed date for the SAAF Museum Airshow on the 7th September, the anticipation for a great airshow is around the corner, keep your eyes on our website and Facebook page for the upcoming airshow for more information. Until then keep them up where they’re belong!
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Visit to the SAAF Museum 03 November 2018
Visit to the SAAF museum 03 November 2018
Since 1973 the SA Air Force Museum has been the custodian of South Africa’s military aviation heritage. Our legacy, dating back to 1920, is one worth preserving and we aim to showcase this legacy to the public through our world-class displays.
The South African Air Force Museum aims to collect, preserve, restore and exhibit aircraft and articles relevant to the air force and South African military aviation. All our exhibits are designed in a way which is inclusive, factually accurate and conveys context in a way which does not express judgment. A dedicated team of permanent force, citizen force and civilian members works tirelessly to achieve these objectives and to oversee the day-to-day running of the museum as well as its continuous improvement.
The SAAF Museum is free for all members of the public but donations are appreciated, with all donations going towards the running of the museum.
The AFB Swartkop branch of the SAAF Museum is the largest branch of the museum and serves as the SAAF Museum’s headquarters. It is also the only branch of the SAAF Museum to boast a fleet of airworthy aircraft. A flying day is held on the first Saturday of each month, with members of the public welcome to attend.
Aircraft on display
- Aerospatiale Alouette III
- Aerospatiale Puma
- Aerospatiale Super Frelon
- Atlas Cheetah E
- Atlas Cheetah C
- Atlas Impala Mk.I
- Atlas Impala Mk.II
- Atlas XH-1 Alpha
- Avro Shackleton
- Blackburn Buccaneer
- Boeing 707
- Canadair CL-13
- Douglas DC-4
- Dassault Mirage III BZ
- Dassault Mirage III CZ
- Dassault Mirage III RZ
- English Electric Canberra T Mk.4
- Fieseler Storch
- Lockheed Ventura
- Mikoyan MiG-21 (South Africa returned jet to Angola in 2017)
- Mirage F1 AZ
- North American Harvard
- North American Mustang
- Patchen Explorer
- Paterson Biplane
- Pilatus PC-7 Mk.II
- Westland Wasp
To Reead more about the MIG 21’s return to Angola click here https://goo.gl/dEz5JM
**Click to enlarge photos below**
Hi Res photos, slow to load
Sources:
http://www.saafmuseum.com/swartkop-branch.html#swartkop
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Air_Force_Museum
SAAF Museum Flying Day 2018-09
The South African Air Force Museum houses exhibits and restores material related to the history of the South African Air Force.
The museum is divided into three locations, AFB Swartkop outside Pretoria, AFB Ysterplaat in Cape Town and at the Port Elizabeth airport.
AFB Swartkop is home to the headquarters and largest of the three museum locations, occupying at least five hangars.
It contains a number of Dassault Mirage IIIs, Dassault Mirage F1s, Atlas Cheetahs and various other historical aircraft as well as aviation-related items on display such as ejection seats, uniforms, aircraft engines, aircraft weaponry and a Cheetah C flight simulator.
Aircraft on display
Aerospatiale Alouette III
Aerospatiale Puma
Aerospatiale Super Frelon
Atlas Cheetah E
Atlas Cheetah C
Atlas Impala Mk.I
Atlas Impala Mk.II
Atlas XH-1 Alpha
Avro Shackleton
Blackburn Buccaneer
Boeing 707
Canadair CL-13
Douglas DC-4
Dassault Mirage III BZ
Dassault Mirage III CZ
Dassault Mirage III RZ
English Electric Canberra T Mk.4
Fieseler Storch
Lockheed Ventura
Mirage F1 AZ
North American Harvard
North American Mustang
Patchen Explorer
Paterson Biplane
Pilatus PC-7 Mk.II
Westland Wasp
Above Sourced from Wikipedia
The Museum Flying day was also attend by two very imported Gentleman on the South African Airshow circuit, one being the Head of Airshow South Africa and the other, Airboss for Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD2018). We used the Opportunities to catch-up on AAD2018 and the 2019 Airshow Season. We can’t spill the beans yet, but one of SA cities complaining about not getting an Airshow, it’s coming in 2019!
According to the Head, Airshow South Africa, The Big Aviation Event for 2019 will be AERO SOUTH AFRICA that is to be hosted at Wonderboom Airport in July 2019 and in 2019 we will see more airshows across south Africa. Full 2019 Airshow calendar will be released in November.
Aircraft normally based at AFB Waterkloof temporary moved at AFB Swartkop due to Waterkloof being cleared out to make space for AAD2018
The SAAF museum Open Flying day, started off with the “Spirit of Flight”10km Run/Walk Race and a Fun Run at 6:30. 100’s attended and completed “Spirit of Flight”. Good so see the Museum hosting other activities on the Base
The flying day it self was well attended, however we hoped for more. The flying comments at about 09:20 after inspection was done on the runways and taxiways to check for any of the Fun Runners left something behind that could be hazardous to the Aircraft. The Flying start of activities started of with the normal parachute jump.
The dry Hi-veld winter left the base grounds extremely dry and dusty, creating some spectacular affects, but also a bit of a problem if you were nearby.
The All’o with the unique sound also graced the skies over Swartkop Air Force base
Although the Crowd was less than hoped for, they enjoyed the day with the Friend SAAF pilots always willing to chat and answer questions. Many photos and videos was taken by the crowd and shared all over social media
The old SAAF chopper workhorse doing its thing, the trustworthy Puma
The fixed wing aircraft provided grace over the sky. However the Vampire was missed by old and young
The next SAAF museum Swartkop open Flying day will be 06 October, for more information click here.
Click to enlarge photos below
SAAF Museum Flying Day 2018-09
SAAF Museum Flying Day 2018-08-04
SAAF Museum Flying Day 2018-08-04
The August winds brought the first flying day of the month of August,we were delighted to be invited to go fly in the SAAF Museum SA330 Puma helicopter, the sole surviving airworthy Museum Puma.We got airborne at 9.45am routing towards the east of Hartbeespoort Dam and the we headed back towards the Pretoria CBD, before landing back at AFB Swartkop.
SAAF Museum Puma Helicopter
Passenger View in the Puma Helicopter
Overhead Pretoria
The Flying day kicked off with some of the Pretoria Military Skydiving Club jumping out the Atlas C4M Kudu,as the skydivers made their way safely back towards the earths surface.Museum and Harvard club Harvard’s buzzed the skies above Swartkop with their usual distinct sound.Both the Alouette II and III flew towards the other side of the base,known as Snake Valley, practicing both auto rotation and hovering skills.
Museum Harvard
Alouette II
Alouette III
Puma Helicopter
The Bosbok, Kudu and the Museums two Cessna 185s,continued until the end of the flying days proceedings with circuits. This is all in the interest of giving current SAAF pilots the feel of the old compare with the newer aircraft pilots get to fly these days.
Atlas Kudu
Cessna 185
Cessna 185
The Spitfire Restoration was present with giving the opportunity for the public to help restore the Museums Spitfire. South African National Parks were also present and showing their support of our National parks and how they trying to combat the terrible rhino poaching occurring in the Kruger National Park.
The Windsock Café filled the tummies of many happy visitors of the Museum, where there is no charge to get into the Museum, only a donation that’s goes to keeping the South African Airforce Historic flight in the skies.
AFB Swartkop Tower
Well done to the Museum on a safe flying day, and to the Museums OC and Base OC for allowing us to fly on the Museums Puma Helicopter. We look forward to the next flying day in September as we get closer to AAD2018 at AFB Waterkloof from the 19-23 September. Until then
“Keep them up where they’re belong”