Africa Aerospace & Defence 2008
Air Force Base Ysterplaat in Cape Town hosted
Africa Aerospace & Defence for the second time in 2008. The five day event,
which took place from the 17th to 21st of September, consisted of three
trade days followed by two public and airshow days.
Africa Aerospace & Defence
is the premier aviation and defence-related air, sea and
land technology and services exhibition on the African continent. Exhibition space
was sold out weeks before the event and more than 200
exhibitors from about 25 countries were present. The exhibition brought together
exhibitors and senior decision makers from across the globe.
With an increased emphasis on joint ventures and technology transfers, exhibitions like
AAD play a central role in creating and maintaining
aviation and defence-related business relationships.
Commercial aircraft
manufacturers
like Boeing, Airbus and Embraer and military technology companies like BAE
Systems, Airbus Military and Lockheed Martin were present. However, due
to the exorbitant costs of flying demonstration aircraft out to
South Africa, most of the marketing took place via large scale
models. International flying displays were limited to a couple of
USAF C-130s and two Zimbabwean K-8 trainers.
Static displays were numerous and included everything
from light aircraft to business jets. The largest plane on display was a
Boeing 727 and planes like the Dassault Falcon 7X and the Bombardier
Global XRS were seen in the country for the first time.
A special hard
stand area was created for the aircraft of the Cape
Town branch of the SAAF Museum. Many of the planes, which are normally housed
inside the air force base hangars, are not generally accessible to the
public as they are stored in a restricted area which forms part of an operational Air Force
Base.
On the first
trade day, the ceremonial
hand-over of the new Gripen fighter to the South African Air Force took place. After a
formation flypast by all four Gripens Ds
delivered to South Africa so far and a solo display by the SAAF Gripen
test pilot, Lt. Col. Charl Coetzee, a ceremony followed in which the
(then) Minister of Defence, Mosiuoa Lekota, handed over the Gripen fighters to the Chief
of the South African Air Force, Lt. Gen. Carlo Gagiano.
The Silver Falcons launched
their new colour scheme at a
special function at AFB Ysterplaat on Tuesday, the 16th of September. Six aircraft
had been repainted in the new blue and
white colour scheme over the previous couple of months, but the new colours were
kept a closely guarded secret until their official unveiling. The striking new colours
portray a falcon's head and wings. This is the first time since
their Impala days that the official display team of the SAAF had their own
colour scheme.
The flying displays at Africa Aerospace
and Defence are always something special and the spectators who attended
the two airshow days saw some awesome formation displays and brilliant
individual performances that will be remembered for a long time to
come.
The South African Air Force flew just
about every plane in its inventory, spearheaded by its new air superiority
fighter, the SAAB JAS-39 Gripen. All four Gripens delivered so far
were present at AAD and Gripen 04 was used as the display aircraft for
the show. It flew
two superb displays each day in the capable hands of the SAAF Gripen test
pilot Lt. Col. Charl Coetzee. The performance advantage of this 4th
generation fighter over older generation aircraft is immediately visible.
The increased power and far superior turning capabilities of the Gripen make
for a far tighter display and the pilot can perform impressive maneuvers
whilst keeping the plane within easy sight of the
spectators.
Two SAAF
Hawks, painted in
the colours of the South African flag, were also present. The
Hawk was demonstrated twice daily in solo displays flown by Lt. Col. Ivan
Pentz. A Hawk also participated in the "mini-wars" on the
weekend.
The official display team of the South African Air Force, the
Silver Falcons, flew in their new colour scheme for the first time.
Also, the Silver Falcons were expanded from a 4-ship to a 5-ship team again. The
new position of Falcon 5 was entrusted to Maj. Nico Frylinck. The Sunday
morning display marked the last performance of Maj. Alex MacPhail in
the number 3 position, who left the team to join SAA.
His seat was taken over by Lt. Buti Tsebe, who flew his first
public display for the Silver Falcons in the afternoon.
SAAF helicopters
featured
prominently in the displays. The newly acquired
Super Lynx helicopter made its public debut at AAD
2008. Bk117s performed formation displays, as did the Agusta 109
LUHs. The Agusta 109 was also displayed individually and the solo
display ended with the spectacular release of flares. The Rooivalk did
solo displays and also flew a formation display with the Russian-built Mi-24
Super Hind. This "East meets West" attack helicopter formation display was
another airshow first. 16 Squadron, which operates the Rooivalk,
brought a portable hangar to the airshow. This hangar can be dismantled in a
couple of hours, packed into containers and transported by truck to
different parts of operational areas as required.
Around midday on both airshow days, the SAAF and
army demonstrated its
operational capability by staging a Heli-ops mini-war. The crew of a
"downed" Bk117 helicopter in enemy territory had to be rescued quickly. A
Hercules C-130 immediately performed a short landing and deployed troops and light
transports to the area. A CASA 212 dropped supplies by parachute and Oryx
and Super Lynx helicopters brought additional troops to the battlefield. The troops
immediately "dug in" and started to secure the area with mortar fire
and hand-held weapons. To protect the troops, a Rooivalk attack helicopter
provided close air support and a SAAF Hawk dropped bombs and secured
the airspace overhead. Once the area had been cleared of enemy troops, the
helicopter crew "in peril" was hoisted to safety by Super Lynx and Agusta 109
helicopters.
At the end of the display, all helicopters that had participated in the operation took
part in a formation fly-past. The first formation of 10 helicopters
consisted of 4 Agusta 109s, 3 Oryxs, 2 Bk117s and a Rooivalk. The
second formation of 5 helicopters consisted of 2 Super Lynxs and 3
Oryxs.
Another
impressive formation display was
flown by 41 Squadron, which is a light transport squadron. The squadron demonstrated
the 100% serviceability of its planes by putting all its available
aircraft into the air at the same time. The formation consisted of 8 Cessna
208 Caravans, 2 Beechcraft King Air B-200s and a Pilatus PC-12, which was
flown by the Chief of the South African Air Force, Lt. Gen. Gagiano.
The fly-past ended with an impressive formation break.
Large airliners performed various displays.
The largest plane flown was the Boeing 747-400 belonging to the Saudi Prince
Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud. This
is the largest business jet in the world and the Prince will be the
first owner of the VIP version of an Airbus A380 in future.
Highlights
were the formation displays of South African
Airways Airbus A340-600 airliners and the Silver Falcons.
On the Saturday, the Airbus flew in Star Alliance colours and
the Sunday display was performed by an Airbus in SAA colours. The formations
ended with formation breaks by the Silver Falcons and the
A340s were then displayed individually. These amazing displays were sponsored by
Rolls Royce, Airbus and South African Airways.
Another airshow first
and for many the highlight of the show was the formation flown by two SAA
Cargo Boeing 737s. The 737-300 was flown by the father and daughter team of Scully
Levin and Sally Bates and the 737-200 was flown by Pierre Gouws and Colin
Gibson. The two large planes flew their display wingtip to wingtip, performed an
amazing break and did a double touch-an-go to the delight of the crowd.
Thunder City added a special
touch
to the airshow. Ian Pringle, Mike BeachyHead and Dave Stock
flew the Shell Formation consisting of a Hawker Hunter, a Blackburn
Buccaneer and an English Electric Lightning. After the 3 planes completed a
few circuits together, all three planes performed individual displays
in turn.
The second Thunder City formation consisted of a dual English
Electric Lightning display. The two jets flew together and then alternately
flew individual passes along the crowd line. The Saturday display ended with
Lightning XR773 climbing to altitude and breaking the sound barrier above
Ysterplaat. The thunderous double sonic boom was felt as far away as Hout Bay.
Unfortunately, because of complaints from residents in the
area, this feat would not to be repeated on the Sunday.
Thunder City
also displayed
its upgraded Puma helicopter, ZU-PUM. This Puma
was modernised by Thunder City and features a state-of-the-art Chelton glass cockpit
suite. Thunder City, in association with Cobham, is the only AMO
(Aircraft Maintenance Organisation) offering this upgrade. It is
intended to bring the outdated technology of Pumas flying around the
world in line with the systems used in newer helicopters and is a
cost-effective alternative for owners who do not want to invest in a
new fleet of helicopters.
The Extra 300
formation team of Nigel Hopkins and Larry
Beamish flew their usual
high impact aerobatic show. The control of the pilots is amazing and
they make extreme maneuvers look easy. Zoltan Verez, the Hungarian aerobatic pilot, then
performed a world class solo display when he took over
Larry Beamish's Extra 300. Zoltan is one of a select few pilots who
is cleared to perform displays right down to ground level. The safety regulations at
the event prevented him from going below the 300ft limit set for
all pilots, but his display was truly amazing. The display started at high
altitude with stall turn and end-over-end rolls and ended at low
altitude with impressive flypasts that included knife-edge passes.
The Flying
Lions in their Harvards are always a crowd favourite and the team of Scully
Levin, Arnie Meneghelli, Ellis Levin and Stu Lithgow performed brilliantly
again. There is still nothing that beats the sound of the Harvard's Pratt
and Whitney radial engines. Another treat for Harvard fans was the
solo display flown by Harvard #7231, which belongs to the Ysterplaat
branch of the SAAF Museum.
Pierre
Gouws flew individual
displays in the Czech-built L-39 Albatross jet ZU-TEE on each day. On
the Sunday, Pierre flew renowned photographer Frans Dely in the
L-39 for a photo shoot of the Airbus A340/ Silver Falcons formation.
The amazing photos of the formation over scenic Cape Town subsequently
appeared in various magazines.
Towards the end of the airshow on
the Sunday, the L-39 and the two Extra 300s took off in formation
from Ysterplaat and did a joint fly-past lead by the L-39, after which
they departed to their home bases.
Unfortunately, the SAAF Museum's Mirage IIICZ did not take
part in
the flying displays on Saturday and Sunday after being
damaged on the Friday. Glen Warden suffered a bird strike whilst approaching to land
at Cape Town International Airport after completing his validation flight. The
impact with the seagull caused serious damage
to the leading edge of the Mirage's wing and the aircraft had
to be grounded for the rest of the weekend. This was the only incident of an otherwise highly successful event.
