New colours for Hawk
Date: 6 June 2012
New colours for Hawk
By Dean Wingrin
A Hawk of 85 Combat Flying School has recently been painted in new squadron colours.
The Hawk Mk 120 jet trainer (serial 267) features a stylised Gannet over a black tail and was painted to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the flying school.
85 Combat Flying School (85 CFS), based at Air Force Base Makhado in the Limpopo province, is the South African Air Force's jet flight-training and combat operations school and is the sole SAAF unit to operate the Hawk aircraft. The school's emblem features a Gannet bird which was first introduced in September 1992.
To celebrate the flying schools 25th anniversary in 1992, Atlas Aviation painted an Impala Mk II in the schools colours, resembling a large white Gannet. This aircraft (serial 1063) was then known as the Gannet and flown at open days and airshows until the Impala fleet was retired in 2005.
85 CFS already flies two Hawks painted in the SA flag colour scheme and used for national celebration flypasts.
It is expected that Hawk 267 will also be fondly referred to as "Gannet" and it is sure to appear at the international Africa Aerospace and Defence exhibition held at AFB Waterkloof in September this year.
