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Part of the crowd at the 2019 SAAF Museum air show.

SAAF Museum air show returns in May

The SA Air Force (SAAF) Museum air show will be back this year after a three-year hiatus

The event is set down for 6 May, the first Saturday in the fifth month of the year in line with previous air shows at Air Force Base (AFB) Swartkop in Centurion. Acting Museum Officer Commanding Major Ntokozo Ntshangase told defenceWeb the theme for the 2023 show is “Taking off to new frontiers”.

As far as can be ascertained, the show at the oldest SAAF base in the country is the first in Gauteng and nationally for the year. A special air events calendar issued by Air Show South Africa (ASSA) lists it as the first of the year to be followed by the Lowveld Airshow in Mbombela/Nelspruit on 15 May with the Botswana International Air Show the final regional event of the month.

The Museum air show is a major and essential fundraiser for the three-museum alliance responsible for South Africa’s military aviation history. This includes keeping vintage aircraft – where possible – in airworthy or display condition at museum headquarters (AFB Swartkop) and its Eastern Cape (AFB Gqeberha) and Cape Town (AFB Ysterplaat) branches.

The museums are not considered operational units and receive only limited financial support from the SAAF defence budget allocation, making the air show and the funding it provides integral to their continued existence. All three museums are manned by a limited number of full-time SAAF personnel, supported by Air Force Reserves and active friends’ communities.

The Museum air show’s temporary removal from the national aviation calendar was in line with government regulations to prevent COVID-19 transmission. 

Republshed wth permssion of defenceWeb.