The SAAF Forum

ZS-HSF in old color scheme

ZS-NIT

ZS-NIU

ZS-RFI and ZS-RFH

ZS-HRH 1985 in old color scheme

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There's no such thing as a good or bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guy.

ZS-MSZ aka "oudste". I am the one on the left



ZS-HWX

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There's no such thing as a good or bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guy.

Cool pics Wingman, those look like some nice clean aircraft and hangars. Thanks also to you and your colleagues for performing the largely thankless job(s) that you do.

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A plan is simply a basis for change.

Thanks H1017412. I visited the Wonderboom and Pretoria Airwings on many occasions and one thing I can say is that the SAPS take good care of their aircraft. It is seldom that you will see an aircraft that is not shining.

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There's no such thing as a good or bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guy.

A little bit of history on the PC-6’s.

S/N: 866 Built: 1990
Registration Type Operator/Owner From To
ZS-MSZ PC-6B/B2-H4 Pilatus Charters 1990-04-04 1992-03-13
ZS-MSZ PC-6B/B2-H4 SAPS Airwing 1992-03-13 Current (Nick name: "Oudste")

S/N: 871 Built: 1990
Registration Type Operator/Owner From To
T320 PC-6B/B2-H4 Bophuthatswana 1990-04 1994-04 (Merged with South Africa in April 1994) Defence Force
2070 PC-6B/B2-H4 SAAF 1994-04 1999-08-11 (42 Sqn)
ZS-OLO PC-6B/B2-H4 SAPS Airwing 1999-08-11 Current

S/N: 885 Built: 1993
Registration Type Operator/Owner From To
ZS-NIR PC-6B/B2-H4 SAPS Airwing 1993-04-16 Current

S/N: 886 Built: 1993
Registration Type Operator/Owner From To
ZS-NIS PC-6B/B2-H4 SAPS Airwing 1993-04-16 Current

S/N: 896 Built: 1993
Registration Type Operator/Owner From To
ZS-NIT PC-6B/B2-H4 SAPS Airwing 1993-08-16 Current

S/N: 897 Built: 1993
Registration Type Operator/Owner From To
ZS-NIU PC-6B/B2-H4 SAPS Airwing 1993-08-16 Current

S/N: 898 Built: 1993
Registration Type Operator/Owner From To
ZS-NIV PC-6B/B2-H4 SAPS Airwing 1993-08-16 Current

S/N: 899 Built: 1993
Registration Type Operator/Owner From To
ZS-NIW PC-6B/B2-H4 SAPS Airwing 1993-09-01 Current

S/N: 900 Built: 1993
Registration Type Operator/Owner From To
ZS-NIX PC-6B/B2-H4 SAPS Airwing 1993-09-01 Current (Nick name: "Blou Bul Express")

Cheers
Rickus

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There's no such thing as a good or bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guy.

Saw a number of them ( PC6's) today when I was at Wondertree.

Looks like a lot of sevicing is been done!

Geoff

Howzit guys, hope all is well. This is an interesting read. When I was down on the south coast about 2 years ago in december we had the opportunity of seeing Gen Bheki Cele fly into margate airport. The pilot was Cpt Haasbroek. What an awesome guy, he showed us around the chopper MBB 105 and had a lekker chat with us. He is apparently one of the only guys in the police airwing who is certified to fly any aircraft on the airwing!?!

And I must say, the SAPS airwing aircraft always seem spotless!! Big respect to all of you who are involved.

Out of interest, how does one become a pilot in the SAPS Airwing?

Hi BassBoy,

To qualify as a Pilot-in-Command (PIC) in the SAPS Air Wing the candidate must be in possession of a Valid Commercial Pilot Licence, night rating and a total of at least 800 flying hours, of which 600 hours must be in helicopters and not more than 200 of the 600 hours may be obtained as a co-pilot.

The PIC must also have knowledge of the helicopters in the area of operations, procedures applicable to flight paths over densely inhabited areas, areas of higher traffic density, obstructions, physical layout, lighting, approach aids and arrival, departure, holding and instrument approach procedures and operating minima.

That is why most of the pilots in SAPS are ex-SAAF pilots due to their training and experience. The pilot next to me on the one photo was a normal police officer before becoming a pilot. He took a further bond on his home loan to pay for his flying lessons to obtain his Comercial Pilot Licence.

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There's no such thing as a good or bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guy.

Has anybody got a updated list of the SAP Air Wing fleet?

It would be great to see additions/ deletions to the list.

In April this year, the SAPS Air Wing had 34 aircraft, of which only 15 were operational and the rest were undergoing maintenance or grounded after incidents.
According to Scramble magazine, the Air Wing has 13 AS350 Squirrel, six R-44 Raven II, two MD500 and one BK 117 helicopters and nine PC-6 Turbo Porter, one PC-12, one King Air C90 and one Citation Sovereign fixed-wing aircraft.

In addition to the last list posted here on the forum, I only know of the following:

None of the 3 BK 117-B1's is in service anymore.
BK 117-B1 ZS-HMY 7033 w/o 23 July 2010 (Witbank area)
BK 117-B1 ZS-HSD 7079 2015-05-04 accident hard landing at Grand Central Airport in Midrand
BK 117-B1 ZS-HSE 7093 w/o
The current operational BK 117 is a C1 with registration ZT-RCM. It is not an ex-SAAF BK but a former BK from Everett Aviation in Kenya which was obtained 17 June 2017 by SAPS.

AS 350 B3 ZS-RWX 3670 Damaged on 20 August 2019 at Virginia Airport, Durban
AS 350 B3 ZS-RDL 4170 w/o 01jan18 at Cathedral Peak, Drakensberg Mountains

Hughes 369E ZS-HWX 1200672D w/o Wonderboompoort 21 January 2011

There were 9 PC-6 Porters of which ZS-NIT was damaged. I don't know which are the other two w/o?

There was a tender process announced for the disposal of redundant SAPS Aircraft Helicopters BO-105 and Spare Parts of which the tender closing date was 28 February 2020. I don't know what was the outcome and if the BO 105's are still with SAPS.

Hope this shed some light @AT6C.

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There's no such thing as a good or bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guy.

Welcome back Wingman

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How come every time my ship comes in, I'm at the airport?

Thank you Wingman.

Long time no speak or post.

Thank-you Dean

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There's no such thing as a good or bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guy.

Long time indeed! Kids left the nest, the house got too big, sold the house, bought a small lock-up and go flat, demolished the entire place with only the walls standing and had a two-year renovation project on it, oh and don't forget COVID...

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There's no such thing as a good or bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guy.

You've been busy!

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How come every time my ship comes in, I'm at the airport?