South African Air Force Museum

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.

South African Air Force Museum
Established26 October 1973[1]
LocationAFB Swartkop, Pretoria
AFB Ysterplaat, Cape Town
Port Elizabeth Airport  South Africa
TypeAviation museum
Websitehttp://www.saafmuseum.co.za/
SAAF Museum locations

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.

  • LEO deployment rocket at Swartkop
    LEO deployment rocket at Swartkop
  • Replica Patterson Number 2 Biplane at Swartkop
    Replica Patterson Number 2 Biplane at Swartkop
  • Avro Shackleton at Swartkop
    Avro Shackleton at Swartkop
  • Cheetah C at Swartkop
    Cheetah C at Swartkop
  • SAAF North American P-51 Mustang at Swartkop
    SAAF North American P-51 Mustang at Swartkop
  • SAAF Blackburn Buccaneer on static display at Swartkop with munition loadout and its Blue Parrot radar system
    SAAF Blackburn Buccaneer on static display at Swartkop with munition loadout and its Blue Parrot radar system
  • SAAF fighter aircraft on static display at Swartkop
    SAAF fighter aircraft on static display at Swartkop

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 are not enough qualified aircrew and the remaining airframe hours are insufficient to train new crew, apart from the obvious concern of preservation of this historic aircraft.

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.[11]

  • Shackleton 1722 at Ysterplaat
    Shackleton 1722 at Ysterplaat
  • Mirage F1 at Ysterplaat
    Mirage F1 at Ysterplaat
  • Display at Ysterplaat
    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.[13]

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

References
  1. "The history of the SAAF Museum". South African Air Force Museum. Archived from the original on 2003-02-12. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
  2. AIRCRAFT OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN AIR FORCE MUSEUM, www.saaffriends.co.za, Retrieved 2013-10-08. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013
  3. Helicopters, www.saafmuseum.org, Retrieved 2013-10-08. Archived from the original by The Wayback Machine on 24 December 2013.
  4. Fighters Archived 2017-07-24 at the Wayback Machine, www.saafmuseum.org, Retrieved 2013-10-08
  5. Maritime Patrol Archived 2017-06-24 at the Wayback Machine, www.saafmuseum.org, Retrieved 2013-10-08
  6. Transport Archived 2017-07-23 at the Wayback Machine, Transport, Retrieved 2013-10-08
  7. Recon & Observation Archived 2017-07-23 at the Wayback Machine, www.saafmuseum.org, Retrieved 2013-10-08
  8. Bombers Archived 2017-07-10 at the Wayback Machine, www.saafmuseum.org, Retrieved 2013-10-08
  9. Trainers Archived 2017-07-23 at the Wayback Machine, www.saafmuseum.org, Retrieved 2013-10-08
  10. Helicopters Archived 2013-12-24 at the Wayback Machine, www.saafmuseum.org, Retrieved 2013-10-08
  11. Cotter, Jarrod Flying Fishcart article Fly Past magazine February 2006 pp78-9
  12. Sabre 377 Restoration, www.saafmuseum.org.za
  13. "SAAF Museum - Port Elizabeth". SA-Transport. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  14. Helicopters Archived 2013-12-24 at the Wayback Machine, www.saafmuseum.org, Retrieved 2013-10-08
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