First black pilot graduated on Cheetah

"Awesome and amazing" are the only words the South African Air Force's first black jet fighter pilot to go solo in a supersonic Cheetah had to describe the experience, the Pretoria News reported at the weekend.

But Captain Musa Mbhokota, call sign "Midnite", of 2 Squadron, is under no illusions about his chosen career path. "This is only the beginning of a lot of long and hard work," he said at Louis Trichardt Air Force Base on Friday where he met the media after Wednesday's historic solo. The 26-year-old, born in Northern Province, set his sights on flying jet fighters early in life after seeing them burn up the skies above his childhood home. He joined the SAAF in 1994 after completing his studies at Northview High School in Johannesburg. "After basics, the officer's course and a parachute course, it was off to Langebaan where I was fortunate enough to be one of the first group of pupil pilots to qualify on the Pilatus Astra aircraft in 1997." With the first hurdle successfully cleared, it was off to 8 Squadron at Bloemspruit for the Mark I and II Impala conversion.

Next stop was Hoedspruit for operational training, including aerial combat, weapons and tactical, then back to 8 Squadron as a wingman on Impalas. A squadron move again saw him at Hoedspruit where he successfully completed his lead formation course. Nominated and accepted for an air accident investigation course in New Mexico, the rangy jet jock in the making grabbed the opportunity with both hands. "Both I and the other SAAF officer on the course qualified with distinctions." With another qualification under his belt, Mbhokota found himself back at Hoedspruit, where the realisation of a lifelong dream was coming closer. But it meant "starting at the bottom", and this saw him and two close colleagues move to 2 Squadron - "The Flying Cheetahs".

Technical and classroom work were followed by intensive training on a simulator and then a magic moment - at the end of last month his first sortie in the supersonic Cheetah, albeit with an instructor aboard, the paper said. This was followed on Wednesday with what every jet jock remembers well, no matter the hardship to get there - the first solo.

Defence Systems Daily