By Garth Calitz
Photos by Garth Calitz, Trevor Cohen, Rayno Snyman, Timmy Homan, Jared van Bergen and Dian Townsend
On a bitterly cold Saturday morning AFB Swartkop or SAAF Mobile Deployment Wing as it is now known became the busiest airfield in the country for a few hours. Over 100 aircraft descended on what is largely accepted as the oldest continuous operational air force base in the world for the 2024 edition of the Elders Flight.
In the run-up to Elders Flight the organiser, Felix Gosher, was hamstrung by the idiotic AFIS débâcle between the SACAA and ATNS. This effectively ruled out hosting the event at any unmanned airfield. Felix with his never-say-die attitude exhausted all civilian avenues and in almost desperation turned to the military and in true Airforce tradition he was welcomed with open arms.
LtGen Wiseman Mbambo was open to the idea of merging the Elders Flight with the monthly SAAF Museum open day. Moving the event to AFB Swartkop proved to be a massive blessing as the military was willing to go far beyond what would be permissible at any civilian airfield.
It was a very early start for all the Elders, Military Veterans and volunteer team who were greeted by sub-zero temperatures at the airbase, when I arrived at 7:00 my car's ambient temperature reading was -2° with a nasty wind blowing through the airfield. Fortunately, the sponsors were ready with hot coffee to warm everyone. The civilian plots were arriving one after the other vacating the runway as fast as they could, sadly, one pilot in his haste to clear the runway found a hole in the grass and got stuck, temporarily shutting the runway while the emergency services cleared the undamaged aircraft.
Just after 8:00 the Antonov AN2 belonging to Heystek and Michelle Pretorius took to the beautiful blue sky with skydivers on board. While the Antonov was climbing the event was opened with a scripture reading and prayer. The skydivers exited the aircraft and the larger of the two canopies, piloted by Graham Field, opened a massive South African flag and slowly drifted down to the ground accompanied by the national anthem.
The Chief of the Airforce, LtGen Mbambo, welcomed everyone and praised the cooperation between the military and civilian aviators to realise the dreams of the senior citizens who have never had an opportunity to experience flight. In his speech, he also acknowledged the sacrifices of the military veterans who were honoured guests for the day. One special guest was the former Chief of the Zambian Airforce LtGen Colin Barry, Felix invited him as they had built up a close friendship when he was organising the Zambian rendition of the popular Children’s Flight.
Shortly after the welcome speech the airspace above Swartkop was filled with the very familiar sound of North American Harvards. The Puma Flying Lions opened what was to become one of the better airshows we would see so far this year.
Nigel Hopkins and Jason Beamish followed them with a magnificent display in their Master Power Extra 330s, their display started with a massive heart in the sky and the elders showed their appreciation with a round of applause.
Once the Extras were safely on the ground Juba Joubert took to the air in a civilian-owned Alouette III helicopter, throwing the machine around the sky like the true professional he is.
The Airshow component continued with displays by Andre van Zyl in his Magni Gyro, The SAAF Museum with various museum aircraft, Andrew Blackwood Murry in his Extra 300 and a great surprise Ron Wheeldon in his ex-Swiss Air Force Hawker Hunter.
The SAAF Museum continued with their normal flying day flights but added a mass museum formation which included all the airworthy museum aircraft.
One of the SAAF Rooivalk Attack helicopters popped in for some fuel and created quite a stir amongst the aviation enthusiasts, we don't often get to see these amazing aircraft in the air any more.
The airshow was closed off with a mass Civilian/Military flypast consisting of both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
Once all the displays were done it was time to get down to the business of sharing the gift of flight with the 400-odd senior citizens that had been eagerly awaiting their chance. Miles Van Der Molen flew the bulk of the elders in a de Havilland Dash 8 Q-400 generously made available by CemAir.
The guests were kept entertained by Brian Emmenis from Capital Sound while enjoying their meals and drinks supplied by the many sponsors which made the day even more unforgettable for the elders.
As the day wore on the emphasis was shifted from the elders to the military veterans that included two previous Airforce Chiefs, LtGen Carlo Gagiano and LtGen Fabian Msimang. Captain (ret) Ivan Holshausen, a Korean war veteran was honoured with a flight in Menno Parsons’ P51 Mustang the same type of aircraft he used to fly in Korea. Other Veterans were treated to flights in Harvards, Chipmunks, Bosboks and other ex-SAAF aircraft.
The day was closed off with each elder receiving a set of commemoration wings from LtGen Mbambo as a permanent reminder of the first time they left Mother Earth.
Events of this nature are only possible with the generous support of sponsors and plots willing to sacrifice their time and aircraft, the list of sponsors is too long to publish here but to every one of you thank you for your selflessness this small gesture made a massive difference in the lives of all the recipients. Special thanks must also go to Brian and the team from Capital Sounds for taking the event to the next level.
Felix, Belinda and the whole team you guys manage the impossible and you manage it over and over. Organising an event of this magnitude takes more than just dedication it takes unconditional love.
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