Cheetahs fly through SA sky for the last time
Date: 2 April 2008
The following is a rough translation from the Afrikaans article in the Beeld newspaper:
Erika Gibson
The jet engines of the airforces' Cheetah have been silenced for the last time.
After 22 years since they first took to the air, yesterday it was time to bid them farewell.
Faithful to their glorious reputation, their last display left their mark in the history books.
Yesterday's 14-ship formation which took part in the flypast at AFB Makhado outside Louis Trichardt was the most number of delta-winged fighter aircraft in one formation in South African history. It was also the most fighter pilots in a single formation in the countries history.
The pilots, many of them now reserve pilots, have 77 850 flying hours between them with Col. Pete Cooke, a SAA pilot, with the most at 19 500.
Amongst them were six ex-members of the airforces' Silver Falcons aerobatic team, as well as six test pilots. For Maj. Smiley de Villiers, the solo pilot, it was his last flight in a fighter aircraft. He has resigned from the airforce.
The Cheetahs will be replaced by the Swedish Gripen later this year.
Yesterday, more than 800 pilots and former members of 2 squadron looked on with a tear in the eye as the aircraft came to a standstill in front of everyone before switching off their Atar engines as one. The deadly silence that ensued was a sign of an era that was now past.
Lt. Gen. Carlo Gagiano, Chief of the SAAF, who flew in the backseat of a Cheetah in the formation, commented that with every death there was a birth, in this case the brand new Gripen.
"We always have the comfort of wonderful memories of the good times in the Cheetah."
The Cheetah was developed in great secrecy in the 1980's with the cooperation of Israel during the time when the airforce was sometimes burdened under the onslaught of Russian MiG's in the Border War.
Ironically enough, just as in the recent multi-million Rand weapons deal, there was a large protest over the cost of the Cheetah project.
The cost of the 60 aircraft was approximately R3.5 billion.
