Dakota 75 Anniversary The maiden flight of the Douglas DC-3 took place on 17th December 1935. In 2010 her 75th anniversary was celebrated all over the globe and locally a special function was hosted by Capt. Flippie Vermeulen at Rand Airport. Flippie Vermeulen, veteran SAA pilot for 41 years with over 23,500 hours under his…
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Battle of Britain – Adler Tag The Exhibition was held to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain and was based on the personal experiences of Survivors of The Battle. In particular, two survivors were on hand to give first hand accounts of what the experience was like. They explained what is was…
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A descendant of the Lancaster, the Shackleton is an experience to see and hear. Often described in terms far from complimentary, the Shackleton is a marvelous aircraft, and to be involved in assisting in the protection and upkeep of this important piece of aviation history, this “Katherine Hepburn” of the skies, is a remarkable privilege.…
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GENERAL SIR HESPERUS ANDRIAS (PIERRE) VAN RYNEVELD, KBE CB, DSO AND MC Van Ryneveld was born on 2 May 1891 at Senekal in the Orange Free State. After matriculating at Grey College School in Bloemfontein he trained as engineer in London. In July 1915 he joined the Royal Flying Corps (forerunner of the RAF), and…
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Dean Wingrin conducted a series of interviews for the Anniversary: A veteran of the Berlin Airlift, Joe flew the P-51D Mustang during the Korean War. Joe was the only SAAF pilot to reach 175 combat missions, achieved during two combat tours. He was also the only recipient to receive the Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu…
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Comments: I have a request for information relating to 21 Squadron SAAF that operated in East Africa during WW2 (1941-43?) On a visit to Kenya earlier in the year I visited the CWG Cemetery at Gilgil and noticed one of the graves bore the Jewish Star of David and was placed on the resting place…
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On the morning of July 13th 1994, the headline news read “SAAF Plane Down in Desert”. Avro Shackleton, number 1716 was one of eight four-engined maritime patrol aircraft commissioned by the South African Air Force in 1957. 1993 saw an ambitious plan to restore one of these decommissioned aircraft and turn it into a flying…
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