NEWS & EVENTS - GENERAL
2 December 2005
Brazil considering investing in South African missile development
General
Brazilian Air Force Commander Air-Lieu-tenant-Brigadier (equivalent to South African Air Force General) Luis Carlos da Silva Bueno has revealed that Brazil and South Africa are currently undertaking a study on cooperating in the development of the A-...
24 November 2005
Latest on HeliBase Super Frelons
General
Further to the news item of 12 October 2005, ex-SAAF Super Frelons 302 and 312 are now confirmed as the examples at HeliBase in Cape Town, awaiting restoration.In addition to the two ex-SAAF Super Felons, HeliBase has also acquired civil SA321 JA Sup...
24 November 2005
Zim airforce trainers on loan to SA
General
Harare - At least four instructors from Zimbabwe's airforce have been on attachment training South African chopper pilots since January. The Zimbabweans have been rented out to the South African Airforce to train a corps of helicopter instructors...
23 November 2005
Denel tendering for more Airbus deals
General
Johannesburg - Denel, the State owned arms company, was tendering for further "build-to-print" work packages for Airbus Military's A400M transport aircraft, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said on Tuesday.Replying in Parliament t...
21 November 2005
DA pans Zim pilot instructors
General
Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance party has urged the government not to use Zimbabwean flying instructors to train South African Air Force (SAAF) pilots. The DA's Rafeek Shah said: "The proposal is severely flawed on a number of accounts.&...
18 November 2005
Life extension programme for Oryx dynamic compnents
General
Armscor has revealed that a contract had been awarded to Denel (Pty) Ltd, t/a Aerospace Group Aviation, for a life extension programme of the Oryx dynamic components. ...
18 November 2005
Mugabe's fighter pilots to combat racism in S. Africa
General
At home dire shortage is causing ox wagons and steam engines to be brought into service again, but Zimbabwe's air force pilots have a mission in their much more powerful neighbour - to rid the South African air force of racism.A new agreement bet...
17 November 2005
Zim to train SA pilots
General
Cape Town - Zimbabwean Air Force instructors are to be dispatched to South Africa to train local air force pilots under a memorandum of understanding signed between the two governments on Thursday. Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils said: "Thi...
11 November 2005
South African Gripen makes maiden flight
General
The first South African dual seat Gripen took to the skies on its maiden flight in Sweden on Friday 11 November 2005.Painted in South African Air Force grey livery, the aircraft took off at 13.40 from Saab's Flight Test Centre in Linkoping, Swede...
10 November 2005
Extension to upgrade of the two Falcon 50 VIP aircraft
General
Further to the news item of 15 September 2005, Armscor has revealed that it had awarded an extension of the previous contract with Duncan Aviation Inc of the USA to the value of R148 863.00.It was also revealed that a R658 953.00 contract had been aw...
2 November 2005
Air Force may hire outsiders to train its pilots
General
The South African Air Force may outsource its basic pilot training to eliminate unsuitable candidates and save on the costs. The move follows a drop in the quality of pupil pilots selected for training that has resulted in a higher failure rate in ex...
1 November 2005
Brazil Acquires ex-SAAF Impalas
General
Brazilian Air Force plans to acquire Atlas Impala jet trainers from the South African Air Force appear to be progressing. MB-326M Impala Mk Is 484, 505, 522, 528, 551, 552, 566, 599 and 601, together with MB-326K Impala Mk IIs 1003 and 1034, were all...
31 October 2005
South Africa's new Gripen
General
Gripen International have released photographs of South Africa's first Gripen being rolled-out....
30 October 2005
Pilots to be trained like Swedes
General
The following is a (very) rough translation from an Afrikaans article that appeared in Beeld:The South African Air Force must change its attitude towards flight training because of the culture differences that are now part of the airforce.An open rel...
28 October 2005
South African Roll Out Is A Hat Trick For Gripen
General
Saab and Gripen International Rolls Out the First Gripen for South Africa and Salutes its First Export customer It is difficult to overstate the importance of the roll-out of South Africa´s first Gripen. In November 1998 the South African Air F...
28 October 2005
SAAB rolls out first SAAF Gripen
General
SAAB will today roll out the first production Gripen advanced light fighter for the SA Air Force at its Linkoping facility in central Sweden. South Africa has bought 28 of the aircraft, to be delivered from 2007 to 2012. The Gripen programme got unde...
28 October 2005
Mbeki-Mugabe military pact
General
Presidents Robert Mugabe and Thabo Mbeki have made a secret pact to train black pilots for South Africa while easing whites out of the SA Air Force (SAAF). An informed source with the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ), speaking on condition of anonymity, r...
24 October 2005
More information on Hawk birdstrike
General
Updating the news report of 20 October 2005, an anonymous source has stated that the birdstrike occured when a Vulture struck the left wing of the Hawk shortly after take-off, but the aircraft managed to land safely....
24 October 2005
Ex-SAAF Puma in RAF colours
General
This recently received photograph shows ex-SAAF Puma 144 upon completion at Eurocopter Romania (formerly IAR) in 2004. Of the six ex-SAAF Puma's purchased, 173/184 are in storage at IIangenech and will probably remain there because, since the pro...
21 October 2005
Basic flying training to be outsourced
General
In an effort to continue containing costs, the South African Air Force (SAAF) announced plans to outsource basic flight training.Newsclip Media Monitoring...
20 October 2005
New Hawk involved in bird strike?
General
It was reported on AvCom that one of the new Hawk aircraft was damaged in a bird strike near AFB Makhado two or three weeks ago and has been returned to Denel for repair....
19 October 2005
Decision on Rooivalk in six months: Denel
General
By Donwald Pressly A decision was likely in the next four to six months on the future marketing of Denel Aviation's Rooivalk attack helicopter, Denel's CEO Shaun Liebenberg has said. Addressing the National Assembly public enterprises portfol...
19 October 2005
SAAF receives replacements for ageing fleet
General
Bloemfontein - The South African Air Force received the first four of 30 new Agusta light utility helicopters (LUH) on Wednesday to replace its ageing Alouette III fleet.This is the first certified product to be taken into service by the SA National ...
18 October 2005
Impala farewell ceremony
General
In the early sixties the SAAF embarked on a long-overdue modernisation programme to replace Harvards and Vampires utilised as pilot trainers. Several aircraft types were evaluated for suitability to manufacture locally. The Italian Macchi MB-326, bra...
14 October 2005
A new flight plan
General
By Peter HoneyState and industry rally to the challenge of SA's manufacturing partnership with Airbus.South Africa's aerospace industry is heading for a renaissance, after gradually declining since it was orphaned by the death of apartheid-er...
Brazil considering investing in South African missile development
General
Brazilian Air Force Commander Air-Lieu-tenant-Brigadier (equivalent to South African Air Force General) Luis Carlos da Silva Bueno has revealed that Brazil and South Africa are currently undertaking a study on cooperating in the development of the A-...
Latest on HeliBase Super Frelons
General
Further to the news item of 12 October 2005, ex-SAAF Super Frelons 302 and 312 are now confirmed as the examples at HeliBase in Cape Town, awaiting restoration.In addition to the two ex-SAAF Super Felons, HeliBase has also acquired civil SA321 JA Sup...
Zim airforce trainers on loan to SA
General
Harare - At least four instructors from Zimbabwe's airforce have been on attachment training South African chopper pilots since January. The Zimbabweans have been rented out to the South African Airforce to train a corps of helicopter instructors...
Denel tendering for more Airbus deals
General
Johannesburg - Denel, the State owned arms company, was tendering for further "build-to-print" work packages for Airbus Military's A400M transport aircraft, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said on Tuesday.Replying in Parliament t...
DA pans Zim pilot instructors
General
Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance party has urged the government not to use Zimbabwean flying instructors to train South African Air Force (SAAF) pilots. The DA's Rafeek Shah said: "The proposal is severely flawed on a number of accounts.&...
Life extension programme for Oryx dynamic compnents
General
Armscor has revealed that a contract had been awarded to Denel (Pty) Ltd, t/a Aerospace Group Aviation, for a life extension programme of the Oryx dynamic components. ...
Mugabe's fighter pilots to combat racism in S. Africa
General
At home dire shortage is causing ox wagons and steam engines to be brought into service again, but Zimbabwe's air force pilots have a mission in their much more powerful neighbour - to rid the South African air force of racism.A new agreement bet...
Zim to train SA pilots
General
Cape Town - Zimbabwean Air Force instructors are to be dispatched to South Africa to train local air force pilots under a memorandum of understanding signed between the two governments on Thursday. Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils said: "Thi...
South African Gripen makes maiden flight
General
The first South African dual seat Gripen took to the skies on its maiden flight in Sweden on Friday 11 November 2005.Painted in South African Air Force grey livery, the aircraft took off at 13.40 from Saab's Flight Test Centre in Linkoping, Swede...
Extension to upgrade of the two Falcon 50 VIP aircraft
General
Further to the news item of 15 September 2005, Armscor has revealed that it had awarded an extension of the previous contract with Duncan Aviation Inc of the USA to the value of R148 863.00.It was also revealed that a R658 953.00 contract had been aw...
Air Force may hire outsiders to train its pilots
General
The South African Air Force may outsource its basic pilot training to eliminate unsuitable candidates and save on the costs. The move follows a drop in the quality of pupil pilots selected for training that has resulted in a higher failure rate in ex...
Brazil Acquires ex-SAAF Impalas
General
Brazilian Air Force plans to acquire Atlas Impala jet trainers from the South African Air Force appear to be progressing. MB-326M Impala Mk Is 484, 505, 522, 528, 551, 552, 566, 599 and 601, together with MB-326K Impala Mk IIs 1003 and 1034, were all...
South Africa's new Gripen
General
Gripen International have released photographs of South Africa's first Gripen being rolled-out....
Pilots to be trained like Swedes
General
The following is a (very) rough translation from an Afrikaans article that appeared in Beeld:The South African Air Force must change its attitude towards flight training because of the culture differences that are now part of the airforce.An open rel...
South African Roll Out Is A Hat Trick For Gripen
General
Saab and Gripen International Rolls Out the First Gripen for South Africa and Salutes its First Export customer It is difficult to overstate the importance of the roll-out of South Africa´s first Gripen. In November 1998 the South African Air F...
SAAB rolls out first SAAF Gripen
General
SAAB will today roll out the first production Gripen advanced light fighter for the SA Air Force at its Linkoping facility in central Sweden. South Africa has bought 28 of the aircraft, to be delivered from 2007 to 2012. The Gripen programme got unde...
Mbeki-Mugabe military pact
General
Presidents Robert Mugabe and Thabo Mbeki have made a secret pact to train black pilots for South Africa while easing whites out of the SA Air Force (SAAF). An informed source with the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ), speaking on condition of anonymity, r...
More information on Hawk birdstrike
General
Updating the news report of 20 October 2005, an anonymous source has stated that the birdstrike occured when a Vulture struck the left wing of the Hawk shortly after take-off, but the aircraft managed to land safely....
Ex-SAAF Puma in RAF colours
General
This recently received photograph shows ex-SAAF Puma 144 upon completion at Eurocopter Romania (formerly IAR) in 2004. Of the six ex-SAAF Puma's purchased, 173/184 are in storage at IIangenech and will probably remain there because, since the pro...
Basic flying training to be outsourced
General
In an effort to continue containing costs, the South African Air Force (SAAF) announced plans to outsource basic flight training.Newsclip Media Monitoring...
New Hawk involved in bird strike?
General
It was reported on AvCom that one of the new Hawk aircraft was damaged in a bird strike near AFB Makhado two or three weeks ago and has been returned to Denel for repair....
Decision on Rooivalk in six months: Denel
General
By Donwald Pressly A decision was likely in the next four to six months on the future marketing of Denel Aviation's Rooivalk attack helicopter, Denel's CEO Shaun Liebenberg has said. Addressing the National Assembly public enterprises portfol...
SAAF receives replacements for ageing fleet
General
Bloemfontein - The South African Air Force received the first four of 30 new Agusta light utility helicopters (LUH) on Wednesday to replace its ageing Alouette III fleet.This is the first certified product to be taken into service by the SA National ...
Impala farewell ceremony
General
In the early sixties the SAAF embarked on a long-overdue modernisation programme to replace Harvards and Vampires utilised as pilot trainers. Several aircraft types were evaluated for suitability to manufacture locally. The Italian Macchi MB-326, bra...
A new flight plan
General
By Peter HoneyState and industry rally to the challenge of SA's manufacturing partnership with Airbus.South Africa's aerospace industry is heading for a renaissance, after gradually declining since it was orphaned by the death of apartheid-er...
