Lt-Col Mike O’Connor (Image by David Nomtshongwana - New Age Online)

The new man in charge of South Africa’s military aviation history knows full well how difficult his task is, especially with “austerity” the current buzzword, rather than force preparedness.

The SA Air Force Museum, headquartered at AFB Swartkop in Centurion, with branches at AFB Ysterplaat in Cape Town and at AFB Port Elizabeth, has long been fighting the budgetary battle and “we will no doubt continue to do so”, said Lt-Col Mike O’Connor. He has just taken over as officer commanding from Lt-Col Willie Nel, who was moved to SAAF headquarters and now looks after air servicing units.

“Partnerships have long been an integral part of museum operations, whether they are with the business or commercial sector, and the three Friends of the Air Force Museum associations. I will be building on the strength of existing partnerships and looking for new ones to improve the proud record of our military aviation history,” he said.

The 25-year SAAF veteran will build on the start made to marketing the Swartkop museum as a venue for events, ranging from product launches and team building exercises to weddings and children’s birthday parties.

“While each on its own might not be a major money spinner, added together the total is not to be sneezed at.”

He says the base, where there is only one SAAF squadron still operational, has at times hosted up to four children’s birthday functions on a single day.

“Give them an aircraft to use as shade and a home base for a few hours and you have no idea how much the youngsters enjoy it. Bicycles whizzing up and down the flight line, kids marvelling at aircraft like vintage Mirage fighters, Buccaneer fighter bombers, Canberra bombers, Super Frelon and Puma helicopters as well as C-160 transport aircraft, among others, all make for a day with a difference,” O’Connor said.

He is confident the museum will shortly add at least another three airworthy vintage aircraft to its inventory. These are a Tiger Moth, a Chipmunk and a Patchen Explorer. Also on his short-term to-do list is the acquisition of a C-47 twin-engined transport from nearby Snake Valley and a clean-up and paint job of the venerable Shackleton.

As always, the museum’s major event of the year is its annual airshow. Scheduled for May 12, O’Connor is confident it will draw even more visitors than last year’s estimated 75000.

“I’m sure the 2012 Museum airshow will be a hit and ensure sufficient income for us to keep on caring for the vintage aircraft that are part and parcel of our history.”

(Article reprinted with kind permission – Kim Helfrich, New Age Online)

SAAF No 19 Sqn Beaufighter over the German occupied town of Zuzemberk

QUESTION:

Dear Sir or Madam,
I research to find any information about the following crashed-ditched.
0n 12 September 1944 a Beaufighter KV-930 of 19 (SAAF)Squadron,crashed near to the shore of Ithaki Island (Greece).Both crew members survived the crash.
My interest is in discovering further information.Any details that you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Yours Sincerely
Pavlos Lykoudis

ANSWER:

I am seeking information on a vampire that forced landed after a flame out. Unfortunately I do not have exact detail except that this event took place approximately July 1959 whilst operating from AFS Langebaanweg.

It would be greatly appreciated if you could help in any way.

ANSWER
The incident you’re referring to took place on 3 August 1959 when 2nd Lt R.H. Flower-Day (the newspaper’s spelling) forced-landed Vampire FB.6 serial 220 in a cornfield on the farm ‘Schoongezicht’ some 14km from Morreesburg.

The pilot walked away but the aircraft was written-off following the Board of Inquiry.

I have two news clippings of the event, I’ve attached for your reading.

Regards

Steve McLean
Research Assistant to SAAF Museum

AFB Ysterplaat, Cape Town

Dear Friends

February 1944. Course 26 AB 41 Air School

Frederick George Coates was born in Enfield, Middlesex, England on 14th March 1920.
His brother Albert joined the Royal and Merchant Navies and was on HMS Southampton when it was bombed.
He had a little sister Olive who died when she was about 2 or 3 years old.
He became an electrical engineer after the War and spent many years in Kenya and Southern Africa where he won many trophies for boxing and golf. He married in 1966 and a daughter Lynda was born in 1969.

In 1972 the family moved to Botswana for 2 years then Swaziland for 3 years before moving to Northamptonshire, England.

George Frederick Coates died 23rd November 1998.

George Bonfield BM, Jock Livingstone AG, Taffy Watkin BA, Mack McCormick BA Italy 1944

Celone, Foggia Italy 1944

Foggia, December 1944

" Our Liberator cockpit, Celone, Foggia, Italy 1944"

"Our Liberator, Celone, Italy, 1944"

Grotto del Piccione, Rome. January 25th, 1945

All images from the F Coates Collection

This online exhibition features images and experiences of various members of the SAAF and RAF and RAAF.

Joe Joubert flew as a navigator in the Berlin Airlift.

On the 9th July 1949 he and the radio operator were ordered to jettison 63 sacks of coal as the aircraft could not gain height in a severe thunderstorm.

This was achieved in a remarkable six and a half minutes and he received a commendation for this remarkable act. In his spare time he practiced weight lifting. He flew 175 sorties in Korea and he is seen receiving an award for his gallantry and courage in that conflict.

Image by Irene McCullagh

PROVISIONAL AIR SHOW PROGRAM AFB YSTERPLAAT WINGS & WHEELS SHOW 09 & 10 DECEMBER 2011

Air Show Helpline Number: 021 508 6414

1. JET PROVOST                                                         FLYING DISPLAY
2. L39                                                                             FLYING DISPLAY
3. L39                                                                             FLYING DISPLAY
4. 2 X MX2                                                                    FLYING DISPLAY
5. 4 X HARVARD                                                        FLYING DISPLAY
6. P51 MUSTANG                                                        FLYING DISPLAY
7. SEA FURY                                                                 FLYING DISPLAY
8. YAK 55                                                                       FLYING DISPLAY
9. PITTS SPECIAL                                                       FLYING DISPLAY
10. CRISTEN EAGLE                                                    FLYING DISPLAY
11. BELL 47                                                                     FLYING DISPLAY
12. GAZELLE                                                                  FLYING DISPLAY
13. BOSBOK                                                                   FLYING DISPLAY
14.  2 X RV73 (FORMATION)                                    FLYING DISPLAY
15. 2 X RV8                                                                    FLYING DISPLAY
16. PREMIER JET                                                        FLYPAST & STATIC
17. C172                                                                           FLYPAST & STATIC
18. AC500                                                                       FLYPAST & STATIC
19. PREMIER JET                                                        FLYPAST & STATIC
20. PC12                                                                          FLYPAST & STATIC
21. BARON                                                                     FLYPAST & STATIC
22. NAVY HARVARD                                                   POSSIBLE FLYING
23. BOSBOK                                                                   STATIC
24. CHIPMUNK                                                             STATIC
25. TIGER MOTH                                                          STATIC
26. PIPER CUB                                                               STATIC
27. SAVANAH                                                                 STATIC
28. HUGHES 269                                                           STATIC
29. HUEY                                                                         STATIC
30. GRASS HOPPER                                                     STATIC
31. MAGNI GYRO                                                         STATIC
32. SANKA HELICOPTER                                          STATIC
33. WILGA                                                                      STATIC
34. STEARMAN                                                             STATIC
35. TITAN TORNADO                                                 STATIC
36. VANSIN                                                                    STATIC
37. RAVEN                                                                     STATIC
38. JODEL                                                                      STATIC
39. CX4                                                                           STATIC

MILITARY DISPLAY FLYING

1. GRIPEN
2. HAWK
3. C47TP
4. SILVER FALCONS
5. PILATUS PC7
6. ORYX
7. LYNX
8. AUGUSTA A 109
9. ROOIVALK
10. C130

MILITARY STATIC PARK (SAAF MUSEUM)

MIRAGE IIIR2Z

PIAGGIO P166S

C47 (DC3)

HARVARD

SUPER FRELON

SIKORSKY S55

ALOUETTE III

SHACKLETON MKIII

40MM BOFORS ANTI AIRCRAFT GUN

VEHICLE DISPLAYS

CAPE TOWN CAR CLUB:                                    BEST 300 CLASSIC & VINTAGE CARS

FRANSCHOEK MUSEUM:                       30 VEHICLES (www.fmmm.co.za)

SUPER CARS

SPECIAL STAGE RALLY CARS

GYMKHANA

4X4 TRACK

1941 – 1945

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

Brooklyn Air Station established on 24 October.

Hangers, buildings, railway siding, fuel installations and

three runways constructed.

The first aircraft that landed on the newly constructed

airfield was an Avro Anson.

First batch of aircraft assembled took off for flight tests

on 19 January.

9 Air Depot, with WAAF members and RAF personnel, moved from Wingfield to Brooklyn on 20 January.

Wireless station with transmitting and receiving buildings constructed.

Camp facilities for Womens Auxiliary Air Force constructed.

The first Baltimore and Kittyhawks arrived from the docks.

6 Squadron relocated to Brooklyn in November.

Cape Fortress wireless transmitter station also relocated.

In March the 15 ferry and test pilots flew 1097 hours, ferrying and testing their quota of the 85 aircraft constructed.

Aircraft assembled: Anson, Oxford, Miles Master, Bristol Beaufort, Fairey Battle, Martin Baltimore, Dominie,

Kittyhawk, Maryland, Harvard, Hurricanes.

Brooklyn Air Station handled up to 94 visiting aircraft, excluding training aircraft, in one month.

3 AD took over from 9 AD on 31 March. 11 AD continued as

an independent sub unit.

The newly acquired Avro York for the use of Prime Minister Field Marshall Jan Smuts arrived at AFS Brooklyn.

The end of WWII with VE Day parade on 8 May.

1946 – 1959

1946

1947

1949

1950

1951

1953

1954

1955

1956

1957

1958

1959

300 Harvards crated at Brooklyn and shipped to the UK.

The first test flight of a Meteor III with pilot, Capt Meaker.

Venturas escorted the HMS Vanguard with the Royal family

on board.

17 Squadron was officially opened with Major Stanford as OC.

RAF Commodore Atcherly and jet specialists arrive to

prepare pilots for the Vampires.

Members selected to relief SAAF Squadron operating on the Berlin airlift.

Eleven pilots from Ysterplaat selected to join UN in Korea.

7 and 27 Active Citizen Force Squadrons was established.

Navigators School established with Major H.J.P. Burger, OC.

22 Squadron reformed at Ysterplaat under Major H.E. Kirby.

The last of 77 Vampires assembled.

First auto-rotation on the Sikorsky helicopter was done by Major Tatham and witnessed by the Media.

Three Sikorsky helicopters assembled.

AFS Ysterplaat was equipped with 15 Ventura, 3 Harvard and 1 Dakota aircraft. The Dakota was used in the air bridge between Cape Town and Cairo.

22 Squadrons’ disbandment coincided with the arrival of 35 Squadron, newly equipped with Avro Shackletons.

Shackletons and Venturas took part in combined exercises with the SA Navy and British Navy.

Ysterplaat hosted an Air Show in November featuring a Comet, Sabre, Shackleton, Devons, Dakotas and helicopters.

1960 – 1967

1961

1962

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

Air Show highlights – rocket installations of the Alouette II on display; a Sabre broke the sound barrier over Cape Town.

27 Squadron reformed as Coastal Reconnaissance Squadron equipped with Dakota aircraft.

2 Aircraft Maintenance Unit was founded.

Shackleton 1718 crashed into Stettynskloof mountains near Rawsonville and thirteen crew members died.

Air Show – the first Mirage III seen by the Cape Town public.

22 Squadron reformed as 22 Flight with 6 Wasp helicopters.

402 Air Field Maintenance Unit received unit status.

Sikorsky helicopters replaced with Alouette III.

108 Air Force Reserve Squadron established in PE under command of Ysterplaat.

110 Air Force Reserve Squadron established to supply air support to ground troops, commando’s and civilian forces.

35 Squadron assisted crew of a Buccaneer that had to abandon their aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean.

The first landing of a Wasp helicopter on Bouvet Island. Two Wasp helicopters accompanied a survey ship with a team of scientists to the island.

17 Squadron crews rescued 76 people from the SA Seafarer.

Wasp 82 crashed in the sea off Milnerton during an exercise and the crew was rescued. The Wasp was re-floated after a few hours and rebuilt.

The Acting State President, Mr. J.F.T. Naudé, presented the Officer’s Commanding of 7, 17, 27 and 35 squadrons with their Squadron’s Colours on 30 October.

1968 – 1972

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

The status of Ysterplaat is upgraded from a Station to

Air Force Base.

25 Squadron was reformed as a Dakota medium Transport Squadron under command of Cmdt A.J. Cooney.

16 Squadron was established and equipped with Alouette III helicopters under command of Cmdt G. Thom.

Helicopter Conversion Unit with Alouette II and III helicopters established under command of Major J.M. Oosthuizen.

The Maritime Operational Training Unit, tasked to train flight crew, was established in under command of Cmdt P.S. Marais.

16 Super Frelon helicopters were assembled.

27 Squadron Dakotas was replaced with Piaggio 166S Albatross. Albatross 881 to 889 was assembled.

7 Squadron, a training unit operating Harvard aircraft, moved from Youngsfield to Ysterplaat.

22 Flight flew humanitarian missions to Tulbach residents in September when the town was struck by an earthquake.

22 Flight on stand by with Maritime Task Force in April as the world waits for Apollo 13 to return to earth at alternative sites.

25 Squadron started operational flying tours at Rundu.

A new Decca Navigation System was officially opened by the Minister of Defence, Mr P.W. Botha.

A new Control Tower was constructed.

A memorial service was held in February commemorating the deaths of the crews of three Mercurius aircraft that crashed on Devil’s Peak in May 1971, and the four 22 Flight helicopter crew members who died in a Wasp helicopter accident near

Luanda in November 1971.

1973 – 1980

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980

Alouette II helicopters were withdrawn from service.

Six Wasp helicopters were assembled. The delivery of the seventh Wasp was cancelled in accordance with a United Nations decision to ban the sale of weapons to South Africa.

22 Flight won the light Aircraft Command’s First Helicopter competition held at AFB Bloemspruit.

Ysterplaat received their first three television sets.

Start of Operation Savannah in SWA (Namibia). In December three Dakotas flew to Windhoek, heralding the moving of 25 Squadron’s bush tours to Grootfontein.

LCpls Martell and Maree of 25 Squadron were the first females to qualify as telecommunications operators and Lt A. Horn is our first female Air Traffic Controller.

22 Flight was restored to full squadron status.

First Dakota sprayed a camouflage colour scheme.

A Super Frelon helicopter set an unofficial record with a non-stop flight from Ysterplaat to Swartkop in November.

The last Harvard took off from Ysterplaat.

SAAF recruited coloured personnel for the first time since World War II.

The Officer’s Club burnt down and the Cambridge Hotel in Milnerton was taken over in 1979 as the Officer’s Mess.

At a parade Cmdt J. Cloete accepted the Colours on behalf of 27 Squadron from the State President, Mr. B.J. Vorster.

35 Squadron awarded the Freedom of the City of Cape Town.

30 Squadron reformed under the command of Cmdt R. Dean and equipped with Pumas and Super Frelon helicopters.

1981 – 1991

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

22 and 30 Squadron was involved in flood relief rescue when Laingsburg was worst hit following heavy unseasonable rains.

SAAF 62^nd birthday flying displays of a Spitfire, Canberras, Buccaneers, Mirage F1 aircraft, Frelon and Puma helicopters.

27, 30 and 35 Squadrons was dispatched in an extensive search-and rescue operation along with naval vessels following the collision of the SAS President Kruger

and SAS Tafelberg.

AFB Ysterplaat received the SAAF Operational Efficiency Award for Support Sections two years in a row.

Dakota 77 flies for the last time in yellow and black livery.

2 ASU become a depot to extend production capacity.

Shackletons perform a farewell formation over Cape Town.

A Russian Naval Task Force rounds the Cape in September and a Dakota and Albatross shadows the vessels.

505 Security Squadron was established in June.

Return of 30 Squadron personnel and Pumas from SANAE Base in Antarctica after a trip of two and a half months.

Visit by Commander-in-Chief of Republic of China Air Force.

First Dakota maritime paint scheme on display for the media.

Commando members of 110 Squadron died when their Cessna crashed in the mountains near Montagu.

Air Crash simulation in Goodwood involving 400 personnel

of SAA, Eskom, SADF, Civil Aviation and City Tramways.

25 and 27 Squadron amalgamated with 35 Squadron.

Ysterplaat Squadrons took part in the rescue operation of

219 passengers from the stricken Oceanos.

1992 – 2002

1992

1993

1994

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

11 Air Depot amalgamated with 2 Air Depot.

Ysterplaat won the Sword of Peace Award for the third consecutive year for exceptional humanitarian service.

A concrete wall was erected around the Base.

Puma helicopters airlifted 40 crew members from Riverplate.

South Africa becomes a fully fledged democracy and AFB Ysterplaat welcomes new members from the former

Non – Statuary Forces.

Museum Shackleton Pelican 1716 crashed in the Western Sahara. All 19 members survive and were rescued.

35 Squadron was re-equipped with C47-TP and the last

operations were flown by the piston engine Dakotas.

The last of 60 Pilatus Astra PC-7 aircraft was assembled.

Helicopters transported containers and supplies for the building of the SANAE IV base in Antarctic.

Oryx helicopters arrive and J-type Pumas phased out.

A Delville Bush Memorial Service was held at

Cape Town Gardens.

22 Squadron helicopters were deployed for fire-fighting in the Boland, Somerset West, Tulbach and Uniondale.

Air Show held in October in conjunction with Thunder City.

The new millennium kicks off with the biggest fires yet and

are followed by floods in Mozambique.

Plans to close down AFB Ysterplaat and move lodger units to Cape Town International Airport abandoned.

Exhibition at Museum commemorating the 60^th Anniversary of North African campaign opened by General E. Schmidt.

2003 – 2011

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

22 Squadron flight crews awarded for the rescue of 89 people off the ice-bound Magdalena Oldendorff in the Antarctic.

Five members of 35 Squadron were selected for the SANDF Rugby team tour to Holland and Germany.

80 Air Navigation School received the Best Training Unit Prestige Award, Gold.

35 Squadron received the Golden award for the best Permanent Flying Unit and the Aviation Safety Award.

The first new generation Gripen fighter made its public debut in September and on the eve of the African Aerospace and Defence Expo hosted at Ysterplaat.

The Museum Shackleton, 1722, performs its last flight on

29^th of March.

The first two Lynx helicopters arrive at Ysterplaat in July.

35 Squadron foils a drug drop by a foreign vessel.

Ysterplaat members involved in UN operations outside our borders in conjunction with SANDF and international forces.

AAD Air Show with 200 exhibitors from 30 countries. Some of the aircraft participating was Gripen, Hawk, Lightning and Hawker Hunter, Rooivalk-, Oryx- and Lynx helicopters.

AFB Ysterplaat was awarded the Freedom of Entry to the

City of Cape Town. The official scroll was handed over to Colonel Cowan on a parade in August 2010.

AFB Ysterplaat was a hive of activity with the FIFA 2010

World Soccer Cup, when the SAAF secured the air space above Cape Town.

The USAF participated in another international AAD Air Show.

Ysterplaat Air Force Base celebrates its 70^th birthday.