Welcome to Gabriel le Roux’s pages about aviation in South Africa.
I trust you will enjoy reading the articles and looking at the images in this website!
ARTICLES
Under AIRLINES you will find two articles about Air Namibia. One provides details of individual Air Namibia aircraft and the other a pictorial overview of Air Namibia. Both cover the period 1970s to 2010. Another airline article is one on Hawker Siddeley 748s operated by South African Airways. This article is not a full-fledged one, but provides details of the five aircraft used by South African Airways. The article is also illustrated with several images of HS-748s ZS-SBU, ZS-SBV and ZS-SBW.
AIRSHOWS,FLY-INS AND EXHIBITIONS features an article about the origins of Africa Aerospace and Defence. The origins of Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) are traced by looking at the two series of biennial airshows and military exhibitions, the SAAF 75 military show and aerospace expo and the amalgamation of the airshows and military shows into Aerospace Africa. Highlights for all these shows are discussed and more detailed overviews for AAD 2000, AAD 2002, AAD 2004 and AAD 2006 are presented. You will find images of Aviation Africa 1977; Aviation Africa Lanseria 1983; Aviation Africa International 1990 and Aviation Africa International 1992; Dexsa 1994; and AAD 2000, AAD 2004 and AAD 2006 in the Gallery. Note that the image on the right is a scan of the cover of the World Airnews magazine.
FEATURE ARTICLES contain a history of aviation in Springbok [details of Joe Jowell's involvement in aviation, Namakwaland Lugdiens (including the fleet in 1974 and 1986), the aviation scene in general and some aircraft based at Springbok Airfield are provided], a short history and pictorial overview of Catalina CF-MIR/C-FMIR and an overview of the South African aviation scene in 1974. The latter articles include movements at DF Malan Airport, Rand Airport and Jan Smuts Airport. Details of SAAF important dates and other South African news are also provided. In addition images of various aircraft are provided.
Under MILITARY AVIATION you will find an overview of the Boeing EC-135N and specifically EC-135N 61-0329. You will also find an article with the title “SAAF – A PICTORIAL OVERVIEW”. In this article a chronological account is given of the South African Air Force. The period from 1920 to 1939 is not covered in detail, the period from 1940 to 1944 is covered in a bit more detail and the period after the Second World is covered in much more detail. This article currently covers the period 1920 to 1982.
An article about the registration ZS-RCS appears under REGISTRATIONS. Significant historical highlights of the SA Red Cross Air Mercy Service and some details of each of the four aircraft with the registration ZS-RCS are given. Images of the four aircraft are also provided.
ARCHIVES
Airport visits
Here you will find reports about airfields and other aviation venues for Eastern Cape (Graaff-Reinet and Willowmore), Western Cape (Oudtshoorn, Ladismith, Contermanskloof, Morning Star, Delta 200, Fisantekraal, Stellenbosch, Worcester and Lamberts Bay Airfield, Boland Air Spray Airfield near Malmesbury, Saldanha Airport, Military Academy at Saldanha, Koedoesvlei Guest House, University of Stellenbosch, Yak-52 at Touws River and Beaufort West Airfield), Northern Cape [Kuruman (Johan Pienaar Airfield), Sishen Airfield, Olifantshoek Airfield, Klippunt landing strip, Keimoes landing strip, Upington Airport, Kenhardt Airfield, Brandvlei Airfield, Kakamas Airfield, Augrabies Airfield, Pofadder Airfield, Aggeneys Airfield, Springbok Airfield, Loeriesfontein Airfield, Nieuwoudtville Airfield, Calvinia Airfield, Williston Airfield, Carnarvon Airfield, Loxton Airfield and Victoria West Airfield), Gauteng (the Circus Airfield, Lanseria International Airport and Krugersdorp Airfield) and Parys Airfield in the Free State.
Airshows, fly-ins and exhibitions
More than one heading covers these subjects. You will find an overview of the Museum Flying Day that took place on 5 June 2010. Here there is also a pictorial overview of a SAAF 90 airshow that took place on 14 August 2010 at Swartkop. Older articles cover the years 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Aviation tour
Here you will find a description of various South African aviation venues visited during the period 14 November to 2 December 2005. Small airfields and airports and large international airports as well as heliports, airforce bases (airshow-related), museums, memorials, etcetera in four provinces (Free State, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Western Cape) were visited. A total of 58 venues were covered.
If you would like to share thoughts about the images and articles in this website or are interested in buying prints of any of the images in the website, please see the contacts page.
IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT THE WAY DATES AND TIMES ARE WRITTEN:
1 DATES
(a) Written out: First the day, then the month and then the year (e.g. 7 May 2005)
(b) In figures: First the year, then the month and then the day (e.g. 2005-05-07)
2 TIMES
The 24-hour system is used. For instance, 08:00 means 8 in the morning and 20:00 means 8 in the evening.
|
|
