South African Air Force Museum Explained
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.
Exhibits
AFB Swartkop
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
AFB Ysterplaat
AFB Ysterplaat is home to the last airworthy Avro Shackleton. The Shackleton has been grounded for several years already though, as there is no qualified aircrew and the remaining airframe hours are insufficient to train new crew, apart from the obvious concern of preservation of this historic aircraft.[11]
The Douglas C-47 Dakota here, is the aircraft used in 1952 by the SAAF to help Professor J. L. B. Smith acquire a coelacanth fish specimen from the Comoros Islands.[12]
File:Avro Shackleton Mk.3 SAAF.jpg| Shackleton 1722 at YsterplaatFile:Inside hangar at Ysterplaat AFB.jpg| Mirage F1 at YsterplaatFile:Display at SAAF Museum, Ysterplaat.jpg|Display at Ysterplaat
Aircraft on display
Port Elizabeth
There are few exhibits at the Port Elizabeth Airport branch of the museum because of the limited hangar space available.
Static exhibits are housed in the original 42-Air School Air Gunnery Training Centre used during the Joint Air Training Scheme in World War II.[18]
Aircraft on display
Active restoration is being performed on a number of North American Harvards and there is a project to restore an Airspeed Oxford.One of the more unusual exhibits is a Jorg IV Skimmerfoil ground-effect craft.
See also
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: The history of the SAAF Museum . https://web.archive.org/web/20030212173433/http://www.saafmuseum.co.za/history.htm . dead . 2003-02-12 . 2008-08-03 . South African Air Force Museum .
- https://web.archive.org/web/20131212102623/http://www.saaffriends.co.za/gallery/aeroplanes/museum_planes/list_of_museum_planes.htm AIRCRAFT OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN AIR FORCE MUSEUM
- https://web.archive.org/web/20131224162615/http://www.saafmuseum.org/helicopters Helicopters
- http://www.saafmuseum.org/fighters Fighters
- http://www.saafmuseum.org/exhib/aircraft-on-display/maritime-patrol Maritime Patrol
- http://www.saafmuseum.org/transport Transport
- http://www.saafmuseum.org/recon-a-observation Recon & Observation
- http://www.saafmuseum.org/bombers Bombers
- http://www.saafmuseum.org/trainers Trainers
- http://www.saafmuseum.org/helicopters Helicopters
- Web site: Explorer . Museum . 2023-02-22 . South African Air Force Museum (Ysterplaat) . 2024-05-13 . Museum Explorer SA . en-US.
- Cotter, Jarrod Flying Fishcart article Fly Past magazine February 2006 pp78-9
- Web site: 2016-11-26 . South African Air Force Museum Cape Town . 2024-05-13 . AviationMuseum . en-US.
- Web site: Buccaneer 416 restoration project South African Aviation Foundation Museum . 2024-05-13 . saafmuseum.org.za.
- https://archive.today/20131008141728/http://www.saafmuseum.org.za/images/sabre/sabre-377-restoration/ Sabre 377 Restoration
- Web site: The Aircraft – Project 6832 . 2024-05-13 . en-ZA.
- Web site: Sikorsky S55 Whirlwind (HAS 22) South African Aviation Foundation Museum . 2024-05-13 . saafmuseum.org.za.
- Web site: SAAF Museum - Port Elizabeth. SA-Transport. 2008-11-23.
- http://www.saafmuseum.org/helicopters Helicopters