Zimbabwean instructors to teach SA flyers

The following is a rough translation from an Afrikaans article that appeared in Rapport:

Student pilots of the SAAF will be trained by flying instructors from Zimbabwe. The training will be conducted at the SAAF Central Flying School at Langebaan in the Western Cape.

The Zimbabweans are expected to arrive in the next few weeks to train the current group of South Africans who are presently undergoing training.

The announcement was made the past week by Lt Gen Carlo Gagiano, the new Chief of the SAAF, at a parade where pilots who had just completed their training recieved their wings.

Gagiano said the help of the Zimbabweans was called for because the air forces of the sub-continent needed to work closer together.

The announcement follows a year during which unwarrented allegations of rascism were made against the current (mainly white) flying instructors at Langebaanweg.

Thousands of rand in damage was caused last year when one of the student pilots had a hard landing in an Astra training aircraft. The student pilot had earlier failed a test, but was still allowed to continue with the course.

After the incident, Mr Mosiuoa Lekota, Minister of Defence, stated that students pilots who failed their tests would be sent to Botswana 'to see if they really failed'.

Gagiano said he is 'absolutely satisfied' with the quality of the Zimbabwean instructors.

The Zimbabwean airforce uses an older version of the BAE Hawk, which will be the new (advanced) training aircraft for the SAAF.