Africa Aerospace and Defence 2002
Date: 18 September 2002
Africa Aerospace and Defence 2002 was held at AFB Waterkloof, with 18 - 20 September being trade days and Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 being the public flying days. It was attended by a large number of local and international military and civilian aircraft, with a few warbirds thrown in for good measure. Although the international participation was smaller than previous shows, the appearance of a Cameroon Impala MkII and a Botswana CF-5 (BF-5?) more than made up for that! The USAF once again came to the party, with a B-1 (the second did not arrive), two F-15E's (out of four scheduled to appear), a C-9, C-130, two KC-135R's and even a C-5 Galaxy that was on a scheduled supply mission! BAE Systems brought the Hawk Mk100 LIFT demonstrator (together with the full-scale plastic mock-up), while Gripen International brought two Gripens, one on static display and one flying. The SAAF rolled out an example of every type of aircraft in the fleet, with the 16 Squadron (Rooivalk) and AFB Hoesdspruit (Impala MkII) static displays being particularly good. Unfortunately, the static Cheetah weapons display did not materialise, although there was a Cheetah on display with a V-4 R-Darter. The Rooivalk demonstration, flown by four 16 Squadron aircraft, was a joy to watch. The SAPS flying wing and anti-hostage unit also put up a polished display.
The airlines made good use of the opportunity to put their names in the public eye, with the a SAA Boeing 737-800 on static display for the duration of the show, leaving on the Sunday after performing a couple of flypasts. SAA also put a Boeing 747-300 through it's paces on Saturday, including a touch-and-go, earning them the prize for the best flying display of the show. Not to be outdone, Kulula.com also performed a few flypasts with their Boeing 727, while Nationwide Airlines went one better by performing with two Boeing 737's, one of which also did a touch-and go!
Unfortunately, there were also a few incidents and accidents during the show, but happily no-one was killed. On 19 September a SAAF C-130 Hercules blew a tyre on landing, causing the runway to be closed for an hour while the tyre was changed. More seriously, on Saturday, one parabat suffered serious spinal injuries when his parachute did not fully deploy (parachute 'roman-candled'), while another broke his leg during a low-level mass jump from a C-130. As a result of the delay in attending to the two injuries, the rest of the mini-battle was cancelled. Sunday was the turn of the Harvards, with the SAAF Museums only T-6G, flown by Col Jeff Earle, suffering an engine failure and being destroyed by fire after the ensuring crash landing. Thankfully, the pilot only suffered some broken ribs and minor burns. Later that afternoon, a civilian Harvard also suffered engine failure, but managed to perform an emergency landing in a field without injury to the two crew.
Despite a smaller number of aircraft participants than previous years, the show was well run and was thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. And for those who know a thing or two about aircraft, commentator Brian Emmenis continued to irritate ...
Although the above report has not done the show justice, hopefully the accompanying photos (in no particular order) will :-) They were taken with my new digital camera, in between using my normal SLR camera.
