The SAAF Forum

I posted this one here some time back - I think perhaps a little clearer than Dean's

SAR occurs when u least expect it!

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"Kwassie"

All emergences happen when you least suspect it.

You are talking to an ex-member of SAS Flamingo, the navy's SAR unit. We were once called out to a
desperately ill man on a ship - a Puma brought a medical team from Cape Town to Langebaan. Always happens at knock off time too. Off we went - got the doctor on board. Diagnosis - dead drunk with DTs. On another occasion we had a drunk doctor - he was slammed out of his skull and we had a character on a trawler with suspected appendicitis. Got the patient aboard - by which time the doctor was sleeping in a corner. We made it back to Langebaan with the patient still alive and not yet needing an operation - thank heavens as the coxswain would have had to try and do it!

Rescues occur quite frequently off our coastline with 22 squadron and Titan launching a few times this year already. Most of the time we train and standby for any emergencies that may arise. Our deep sea rescue craft is capable of embarking on 3 day rescues but there is little requirement for this. As someone else said thats coastguard and if further its the Navy. You are correct in stating that any ship in the area are obliged to assist.

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"Kwassie"

Yep - it's the reason the NSRI was originally founded. What was the philosophy - lots of boats all around the coastline. No good having a couple of expensive craft hundreds of miles away from the action. Much like the inshore function of many coastguards. Don't know about today - but back then it was mostly ski-boat warriors who thought they knew it all and the occasional yachtsman - highly experienced on the Vaal dam thinking he could tackle the Big Dam with no problems. Back then - as my old man bitterly pointed out, regularly after another ruined Sunday - there were absolutely no regulations covering these. A 4 year old could take a ski-boat to sea.

The Japanese had the "B" class in WW2 - 29 built, all equipped with a hangar and floatplane.
All in all the Japanese operated 36 aircraft equipped subs in WW2. Later in the war many had the aircraft hangar removed to make place for supplies - the Japanese submarine fleet was heavily reduced to a supply carrying force to service it's besieged islands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_submarine-borne_aircraft

And for delivering Tacos.

All of the boats are in Simmons town. And smits leaves them Saturday. After that we g
Have to look after them.

This one must be from the Vrystaat - there's a nartjie on the aerial!

It's a company in California, I believe, who want's to get them certified to deliver take-away Tacos. Currently the FAA holds to the rule that only the military are permitted to use UAVs. I wonder if they could do pizzas as well? Better than some student on a scooter.

Oh - I don't know what the naartjie is doing there either. (I thought it looked like the ball valve out of a lavatory cistern, myself.)

It is a cia plot. Tacos are code words for nerve gas.


I am going to get my self on a DAF boat.

Actually the "naartjie" is a visual indication of the front side - without it the controller would become confused as from a distance all four sides look the same.

Does it matter which side is front?

I thought the naartjie was to stop someone sticking their eye out on the aerial.

Anyway, getting far off topic now ...

Looks like an inverted Wasp helo!

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"Kwassie"