South Africa AFB
Swartkop,
The base is the oldest operational air
base in South Africa and home to 17 Squadron, 41 Squadron and the SAAF
Museum.
Zwartkop AFB was established in April 1921 and was South Africa's first
air force base and is home of the SAAF Museum. The base is located on
the western side of the main runway. The name was officially changed to
'Swartkop' on 1 April 1949.
The SAAF commenced vacating the base in 1999, with the intention of
leaving only the SAAF Museum behind and thus the base is now known as
'Swartkop', an extension of AFB Waterkloof. The SAAF Historic Flight has
already moved to the airfield and airfield has been proclaimed a
heritage site. The proposed future name for the airfield is Zwartkop Air
Station. However, the SAAF then changed it's mind and it is not known
when the SAAF will eventually vacate all its operational units. The SAAF
Museum occupies the northern side of the base, while the active SAAF
units occupy the southern end of the base. At the moment there is a
proposal to rename the base again to Zwartkop.
From the museum part of the air base the local flying can be watched and
easily photographed. On a normal day you will see most of the locally
based types flying
and maybe some visits from nearby Waterkloof AFB
Based
at Swartkop are the following units;
17 Squadron.
Formed on 1 September 1939, 17 Squadron formed part of the Airways Wing
at Swartkop, flying ex-SAA Junkers Ju-52/3m's, but was disbanded on 1
December that year. In 1957 the squadron started to fly helicopters in
the form of three Sikorsky S-55s and the surviving S-51 for air-sea
rescue duties. In December 1960 the squadron received the Alouette II
and in mid-1961 moved to Ysterplaat. Alouette IIIs were received in
1962, with A flight stationed in Pretoria and B Flight at Bloemfontein,
while C Flight and Training Flight remained at Ysterplaat.
17 Squadron and its two Flights eventually moved to its current base
Swartkop. A Puma flight was added in 1992, but in 1994 they were
replaced by the new Oryx. However, the last two Pumas were only retired
in 1997. The squadron currently flies the A109 LUH and Oryx helicopters.
41 Squadron
This squadron was formed at Waterkloof on 16 October 1940 with the
Hawker Hartbees. 41 Squadron was reformed in January 1963 as the first
part-time Army co-operation unit, flying Austers, later Cessna 185s,
from Grand Central Aerodrome. By October 1968 the squadron was flying
only the Cessna 185 when it was transferred back to the SAAF and moved
to Swartkop in May 1973. In February 1974 the squadron re-equipped with
the Bosbok and in July 1976 they received the Kudu. After flying the
Kudu from Lanseria Airport, in late 1988 the squadron re-equipped with
the Cessna Caravan and is now based at AFB Waterkloof. Later, Beech
KingAirs were acquired from 21 and 35 Squadrons. A Pilatus PC-12 was
acquired in July 1997.
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