Tag Archives: C130
Hercules C130 aka “Flossie”
Hercules C130 Flossie aka “Flossie”
A while back, whilst we were running a series on SAAF aircraft, the question arose as to how the Hercules C130 got the nickname ‘Flossie’. Well, here we have it courtesy of Jan Marais from Who’s Who in the SAAF.
Here is the story of where the name “FLOSSIE” came from.
Not many years after the arrival of the C130B’s onto the SAAF register, South Africa became embroiled in a Border War along the South West African/Angolan border. There has been much good and bad written about that conflict and I am not going to add further to that issue, other than to point out that the C130’s were used on a daily basis to convey troops and material to and from the border, and in later years SAFAIR, operating L100’s, were contracted to assist in the air transport effort. To the casual observer the C130 and L100 look so much alike that one could be forgiven for thinking they were the same. Having said the above I can now get on with story.
At 28 Squadron, the operators of the SAAF C130’s, was a Flight Engineer named Phil or “Flippie”. He was a most dedicated man who ate, slept and dreamed C130. In his private life he was a most disciplined man (real old school, soldier), who never did a half job of anything. You all know the type, “if its worth doing, do it properly or don’t do it at all”
Phil was married to a lady with the real old English name of Florence. In her family she was called Flo, and among her siblings she was called Flossie. (by now you can see where this is going)
Photo: Johan Stephens
Being the consummate professional Phil would ALWAYS walk out, long before the rest of the crew, to the aircraft he was scheduled to fly in and do a proper pre-flight inspection. A few of his fellow flight engineers would pull his leg and tell him the aircraft was only due for a major technical inspection at a future date. His standard reply was “Chaps, if you treat and look after your aircraft like you look after your wife, she will never let you down” This comment always gave all of his Squadron mates a smile. Over the months, whenever his crew were due to walk out to the aircraft they would ask “where is Flippie, is he at Flossie? or Come guys we shouldn’t keep Flossie waiting” or comments along those lines.
In time the reference to Flossie was made more often at the movement control section at Air Force Base Waterkloof and more and more people became attuned to this reference and this then morphed into all troop transport, becoming known as “FLOSSIE”
You may ask how I know this bit of history. The simple answer is that Phil was my Father and “FLOSSIE: was my Mother.
U.S. donates COVID-19 protective gear to South African Health Services
The U.S. government and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) delivered approximately $340,000 in personal protective equipment to the South African National Department of Health (NDoH), August 15.
The equipment, delivered by a U.S. Air Force C-130J, is bound for Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu Natal, where it will benefit front-line health workers.
AFRICOM purchased the supplies, which include N-95 masks, gloves, gowns and sanitizer, using Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid Appropriation (OHDACA) funds after the South African government made a formal request for assistance to the U.S. Embassy.
The command also is supporting the set-up of handwashing stations in Gauteng, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu Natal, contributing $225,000 to this initiative. This brings the total value of U.S. support toward South Africa’s COVID-19 response to more than $46 million.
“U.S. Africa Command is focused on mission and the fight against COVID-19. We’ve been working in close coordination with the Department of State and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide assistance where we can to the international COVID-19 response,” Lt. Gen. Kirk Smith, deputy commander, U.S. Africa Command.
“The contributions of critical personal protective equipment and supplies help South Africa and reflect our commitment to partnership in Africa,” he said.
The U.S. has had a long-standing relationship with South Africa. This relationship includes a commitment to improving security and military cooperation to advance peace and security in the region.
On the occasion of the C-130’s arrival, U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Lana Marks said, “We are so proud of our growing partnership with South Africa’s National Defense Forces and our cooperation to ensure peace in the region. This delivery of lifesaving equipment, critically needed here in South Africa, shows how we can leverage the infrastructure of our strong defense cooperation to further bolster the U.S. support to South Africa’s ongoing COVID-19 response.”
Earlier this summer, AFRICOM Foreign Humanitarian Assistance funds provided 11,064 face shields earmarked for the South African Military Health Service and two additional projects provided surgical face masks and protective face shields to assist the South African Government.
SAAF C130 with a Kill
History of the SAAF C-130 with a “kill”: 408
This C-130B was first delivered to the USAF as 58-0731 in 1959, being converted to WC-130B for the weather service in 1970. Reverted to USAF operation as a C-130B in 1982 and donated to South Africa in 1996, where she still flies with 28 Squadron as 408.
USAF incident in 1966:
On 12 January 1966, in Vietnam, 58-0731 (now 408) was with the USAF 463rd Troop Carrier Wing at Mactan. It flew into Ca Mau airfield taking fuel to the Special Forces team stationed there. Just after landing and opening the aft doors the base came under sustained Viet Cong (VC) attack and the Green Berets on the ground radioed to tell them to take off ASAP. But “Wendy” Moser said “Let’s drop the bladders on the roll and keep going. We dont want to take a hit with all the fuel on board.” They taxied and pushed the fuel bladders out of the back of the airplane. As soon as the last bladder was off, Moser taxied the airplane to the end of the runway and wheeled around into takeoff position.
As as they prepared the takeoff roll, someone noticed a figure on the runway just past the area where they had off-loaded the fuel. The crew noticed that the figure had a gun, and it was pointed at them. They saw him open up, shooting into their direction, although none of the rounds appeared to strike the airplane. Then the figure did a strange thing, he jumped onto a bicycle and began pedaling down the runway as hard and fast as he could.
All four men in the cockpit agreed that they must get the VC. Moser released the brakes and the C-130 hurtled down the runway. When the airplane reached flying speed, Moser held it down and aimed at the fast-pedaling VC. Then the crew heard a “BRRRRRRRR” as a prop caught the VC and splattered him all over the side of the airplane. Moser let the airplane become airborne and came back around over the runway to see what they had done. They flew low down the runway and could see the remains of the chopped-up VC and his bicycle.
After landing at Tan Son Nhut, everyone stood around the front of the airplane and apologised to the crew chief for the damage done and for the mandatory engine change.
After that they put a sticker of a person on a bicycle under the pilot’s window as a kill marking.
From the book “Trash Haulers” by Sam McGowan.
58-0731 (408) in NOAA service:
“Despite the damage and death caused by Hurricane Camille in 1969, there was one positive side-effect: she was a wake-up call to Congress. As a result, $8-million was appropriated to obtain more aircraft for the weather recon fleet, and upgrade all of them with state-of-the-art equipment. The Air Force dubbed the effort Project “Seek Cloud”.
Under Project Seek Cloud, twelve 1958-series C-130Bs were obtained from PACAF. They were old, and some were not in great shape, but a tired C-130 is still the equal of almost any other airplane. All twelve were modified for weather reconnaissance at WRAMA in 1970-71 with the installation of the Seek Cloud equipment suite. None of them were configured for atmospheric sampling.
Only eleven of these B-models kept their blue suits, however. 58-0731 was given a temporary duty assignment to the civilian sector, with NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division. It was first re-numbered N6541C, then N8037, and was nicknamed NOAA’s Ark. It served NOAA proudly for eleven years as a hurricane research aircraft. Re-converted to transport in 1981, she then served with the Texas, Ohio, and Kentucky Air National Guards before retiring in 1992. She was later donated to South Africa…”
Source: “Whiskey-Charlie!” by Tom Robison
A Look back at past and present SAAF Centenary Logo’s!
With the South African Airforce celebrating 100 years of Airpower through 25 years of Democracy, we look back at the previous centenary logos from the past and present.
The official South African Airforce emblem is a golden African Fish Eagle with a laurel wreath in its claws. The motto on the wreath reads “Per Aspera Ad Astra”, meaning “Through Adversity to the Stars”. The roundel, which replaces the five-pointed castle with Eagle.
The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force has seen service in World War II and the Korean War. From 1966 the SAAF was involved in providing support during the border War in Namibia.
The SAAF will be celebrating with three special occasions this year:
Prestige Day AFB Swartkop -31 January 2020
SAAF Museum Airshow AFB Swartkop-9 May 2020
Africa Aerospace & Defense Airshow AFB Waterkloof-16-20 September 2020
We Fly the C130B -Botswana Defence Force
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed. Now known as Lockheed Martin, which is capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medevac, and cargo transport aircraft.
The Botswana Defence Force received their first of three C130 B models in the late 90s as their medium transport resource.The last C130 which was . The latest addition to the transport fleet was an ex-AMARC C-130 Hercules to complement the two existing aircraft. The C130s belong to the Z10 Transport Squadron, made up of the Lockheed C-130, Casa 212 and CN235 – Maparangwane Air Base (Thebephatshwa/Molepolole in Botswana.
The C-130B model was developed to complement the A-models that had previously been delivered, and incorporated new features, particularly increased fuel capacity in the form of auxiliary tanks built into the center wing section and an AC electrical system. Four-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers replaced the Aero products three-blade propellers that distinguished the earlier A-models. The C-130B had ailerons with boost increased from 2,050 psi (14.1 MPa) to 3,000 psi (21 Mpa), as well as uprated engines and four-blade propellers that were standard until the J-model’s introduction.
An electronic reconnaissance variant of the C-130B was designated C-130B-II. A total of 13 aircraft were converted. The C-130B-II was distinguished by its false external wing fuel tanks, which were disguised signals intelligence (SIGINT) receiver antennas. These pods were slightly larger than the standard wing tanks found on other C-130Bs. Most aircraft featured a swept blade antenna on the upper fuselage, as well as extra wire antennas between the vertical fin and upper fuselage not found on other C-130s. Radio call numbers on the tail of these aircraft were regularly changed so as to confuse observers and disguise their true mission.
At Aviation Central we’ve had the privilege of also flying with the South African Airforce C130BZs from 28 Squadron based at Airforce Base Waterkloof in Pretoria on a number of occasions. A big thank you to the Botswana Defence Force for allowing us to join you during the 2019 Makgadikgadi Skydiving Epic in the beginning of July.
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Makgadikgadi Epic 2019-Skydiving Boogie
The Magadikgadi Epic once again took place with some of Africa’s finest scenery along the salt pans of Sowa,which lies in the Central District of Botswana. The event consisted of a number of skydivers from across the world sharing their knowledge with one another and using jumping platforms from both the Botswana Defence force and a lonely South African based Atlas Angel.
The Sua Pan or Sowa Pan is a large natural topographic depression within the Makgadikgadi region of Botswana. It is located near the village of Sowa, whose name means salt in the language of the San. The Sua salt pan is one of three large pans within the Makgadikgadi, the other two being Nxai Pan and Nwetwe Pan.
A lot of our questions we get is what is skydiving, another word for skydiving known as Parachuting is a method of transiting from a high point to Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent with the use of a parachute or parachutes. If you enjoy skydiving the Sua pan is the best place to view from the sky.
We had a early start, leaving Pretoria in the premature hours of Thursday 11 July 2019. Arriving back at the pans after visiting last year, we were greeted by members of the Botswana Parachute Association and old friends from Botswana. The evening we were briefed for the upcoming days activities. Before going to bed, one could admire the beautiful galaxy the pans bring out with the absence of city lights and other concerning noises one would hear while trying to get some sleep.
Our accommodation was made up tents with comfortable beds, added with warm blankets and pillows for the chilly nights. With the wildlife in Botswana we were spoiled to see many types around the area, including Wildebeest, Zebra, Kudu and many more!
The following morning saw the first jump with a quick briefing at manifest (meeting area) before making our way with the shuttles to Sowa airport, just a few kilometers away from the pans. The first two days the jump ship was the Botswana Defence Force Casa 235, while the next two days saw the welcome return of the Lockheed Martin C130B. The Atlas Angel flown by Dennis Howe took tandems (first time skydivers) during the course of the epic.
The Saturday was open to the people of Botswana to come enjoy a day out on the pans, in addition as listen to some local musicians while skydiving doings took place. This saw mass jumps from the C130B, as said this could accommodate more skydivers in the large cargo hold the aircraft has. One of the jumps saw the aircraft climb to 19 000ft with oxygen fitted to the aircraft for the skydivers use. Helicopter flips were also available with one of the Delta Rescue Bell Jetrangers.
Botswana current president Mokgweetsi Masisi also visited the event on Saturday afternoon. Great to see world leaders visiting top notch events that bring exposure from around the world. The only waterskiing we saw on the pans this year was a hilux bakkie(pick up van), just this time on sand and stone.
A big thank you to the Botswana Parachute Association, Colonel Majama, Botswana Tourism and many others who got us to the event. A big Congratulations to another successful boogie and a safe event.Individually next year is again on our lists to attend without a doubt.
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Closing in fast-The Makgadikgadi Epic
The Makgadikgadi Epic is closing in fast which is set to be another successful skydiving boogie, with skydivers from around the world, are coming see Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, and precisely, in the Nata Bird Sanctuary.
Makgadikgadi is synonymous with awesome birding experiences and open natural landscapes that will be a marvel from any view, be it from the ground or above.
The event will take place at Sowa pan, which is the same venue as Race For Rhinos which we have visited in past years. We will see the first jump from 12 – 15 July 2019.
Aircraft that will be jump ships from the start of the event will be Atlas Angels as well as a Botswana Defence Force C130 and Casa 235 which will take bigger loads of skydivers.
The main objective of the event is to give travellers to Botswana, Is a lifetime unique experience to capture the majestic wildlife and a an uncultivated area.
With the Parachute Assosioan of Botswna,Gabarone Skydiving Club,Botswana Defence Force and Botswana Tourism on board and many others, You don’t want to miss out on this event. Stay up to date with our Facebook page and website for more information closer to the event.
2019 Schedule
Thursday, 11 July 2019
18:00
Arrival – Licensed Skydivers
Friday, 12 July 2019
08:30
Briefing – Licensed Skydivers
18:00
Arrival – Members of the Public, Tandem Passengers
Saturday, 13 July 2019
06:00
Start – Tandem Skydives
Monday, 15 July 2019
18:00
Last Operational Day
Facebook pages
Makgadikgadi Epic, 2019 Event page – https://www.facebook.com/events/2316344431977757/
Makgadikgadi Epic, page –
https://www.facebook.com/Makgadikgadi-Epic-1925115194401236/
Parachute Association of Botswana, page – https://www.facebook.com/Parachute-Association-of-Botswana-391366344374851/
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I Can Dream – Newcastle Airshow 2019
I Can Dream – Newcastle Airshow 2019
All systems are a go for the 2019 ‘I Can Dream’ Newcastle airshow that will be taking place 1 June 2019 at Newcastle airport, Amajuba district.
Since the show first started nine years ago, the theme has been ‘I Can Dream’, “The reason behind this is that people can dream to become pilots or dream that they will also one day have the opportunity to fly in an aircraft. 95% of the local Amajuba community have never flown in an aircraft, while 80% had never seen a Boeing or an Airbus up close”, said Johan Pieters, one of the organisers of the event.
The driving forces behind this year’s event is the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs of KwaZulu Natal and KwaZulu Natal Tourism with the event organisation been handled by the Champ Group of Companies lead by Johan Pieters and Christo van de Vyver.
A major bonus for visitors this year is that there will be no entrance fee to the show. “We had a look at the economic situation of the district and the country and together with our sponsors decided to make it a free airshow for 2019”, said Pieters.
The Newcastle airshow has become one of the largest one-day events in the Amajuba District and boosts the local district and Newcastle by R5 million.
Amongst the many highlights for this year, AON will host an educational guidance day on the day of the airshow. The educational guidance day is geared at Grade 11 math and science learners from the Amajuba district with around some 1000 learners attending. The learners will be addressed by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), The South African Airforce (SAAF) as well as the SAAF Silver Falcons, and will be given the chance to learn more about aviation as well as possible career paths that can be chosen in the various aviation fields.
This year promises to be a jammed-packed day with plenty of activities for the entire family. The show will open at 10:30 with a spectacular Airbus A320 display. For the adrenaline junkies all the action will be found in the sky and visitors can look forward to a fun-filled day, and will see acts from South Africa’s top aerobatic teams, the SAAF will be in full force at this year’s show and visitors will get the chance to see the SAAF Silver Falcons, fast jet action will be the Gripen as well as a SAAF Oryx helicopter will be put through its paces.
For the car-crazy visitors, there will be Hot Rods on display as well as a car and plane race.
For the family members that would prefer to do a little shopping, there will be plenty of stalls, a Munro Art exhibition, as well as various motor vehicle dealerships offering advice on your next vehicle purchase, as well as plenty of food and drink stalls and a beer garden. KZN Tourism will have a virtual reality stand where you can experience KZN live, a stand not to be missed.
For those that would like to view the show from a more VIP point of view this year members of the public can buy VIP Tickets at Computicket for R100 – that ticket will give you an experience in a Marquee with upholstery chairs, shade and VIP toilet. Limited tickets are available.
By the end of the show, which will be around 17:00, if you still have enough energy there will be an after party hosted by Tree Tops.
Africa Aerospace and Defence Airshow 2018
Africa Aerospace and Defence Airshow 2018
The 10th edition of the Africa Aerospace and Defence trade and airshow has come and gone, what was definitely the most exciting show we all looked forward to panned out to be a great success once again. The event took place over the 19th-23 September 2018 at Air force Base Waterkloof, Centurion, City of Tshwane.
Static Park
The apron was full of aircraft and most of the hangers were full of all different companies showing off their technology to the world. The crowds were kept busy with all the walking through the halls and interacting with aircraft and pilots.
Crowds flocked to the gates around the base from the 22-23 September to get the best seat along the crowd line,this to insure they don’t miss any part of the exiting program Colonel Keith Fryer(flight director) and Keith Andrews and their team put together to excite and show off air capabilities of the South African Airforce (SAAF). The Saturday show started off with the Sound of Freedom, that been the sound of jets, six Gripens from 2 Squadron and 3 Hawks from 85 Combat Flying School took to the skies and put a formation flypast over the crowds.What a way to start a airshow!
With Airforce Base Swartkop down the road from Airforce Base Waterkloof, Swartkop was used as a second base for aircraft including the new microlight display team known as the Misasa Aerial Display-MAD Team. The team is made up of Adrienne Visser as lead, Pieter Kriel at the number two, Gary Heyenreich at number three, Gavin Van Der Berg at four and number five Marius Nel. It was great to see a microlight display team after the absence at airshows for some years now,we hope to see them on the regular airshow circuit in the future. There was a Airplane Factory Sling 4 and a Raven 500 formation Flypast.A mass Bathawk display was put on show, and is shown why its a great aircraft for Anti-Poaching missions.A light sky jeep was also thrown into the formation as well as the wagtail gyrocopter, all aircraft not shy to the African bush!
Raven 500
Wagtail
Capital Sounds once again had their ever hard working team at the event and this has to be the longest line of speakers that Capital has at a airshow in South Africa. Brian Emmenis and Leon Du Plessis informed the crowd of each aircraft taking to the skies and brought a lot of the airshow vibe to Waterkloof.
Capital Sounds
Lieutenant colonel Craig “Shark” Lesson once again did 85 Combat Flying School proud,as he put the Hawk Mk120 through its paces.The Officer Commanding 85 Combat Flying School displayed both one of the Flag Hawks’271′ and one of the grey aircraft during the course of AAD2018.Andrew Blackwood Murray flew his Nashua Extra 300 and Neville Ferriria flew his Slick 540 with a combined aerobatic sequence with high energy aerobatics and low knife edge passes so the crowd could capture the sleek lines on both aircraft. Neville Ferreria had just returned from Hungry where he is flying the Geneavation Aerobatic aircraft for the country. He is surely doing South Africa proud!
Hawk MK120 ‘Vlaggie’
Hawk MK120 ‘262’
Andrew Blackwood Murray Extra 300
Slick 540 Neville Ferreira
Paramount Groups AHRLAC aircraft did some tight formation flying and was defiantly a way to show it off to the worlds market of defence. Staying with the locally manufactured aircraft the 16 Squadron Rooivalk was put through its paces in the UN white livery by Major Paul ‘Raccoon’ Kempthorn, at the end of his display he released a large amount of flares,a great end to a display!
Paramount Group AHRLACs
Paramount Group AHRLACs
16 Squadron Rooivalk
16 Squadron Rooivalk
The Rand Airport based Puma Flying Lions Harvards and Taillifts Cows Pitts Specials flew their usual display infront of the 45 000+ crowds.The SAAF Museum and Harvard Club Harvards and a single Douglas DC4 did a couple of formation Flypasts over the crowd and brought back many memory’s of the former SAAF trainer before the Harvard was replaced by the Pilatus PC7MKII. The DC4 then went onto doing a solo display flown by Captain Bill Good.
Puma Flying Lions Harvards
Taillifts Cows Aerobatic Pitts Team
Mass Radial Display
Harvard Club
Harvard Club
Douglas DC4
Douglas DC4
The cockpit ambassadors of the South African Airforce The Silver Falcons Aerobatic Team 82,put on a great display led by Major Omphile Matloane who received his Golden Wings a couple of days before the start of AAD2018.Lt Colonel Glen Wraden flew the Aero L29 from AFB Swartkop, The Airforce of Zimbabwe K8 was also flown with a support CASA 212 on static display.
Silver Falcons
Silver Falcons PC7MKIIs
Falcon 5 Sivu Tangana
L29
L29
K8
K8
There were two mini-wars on the day of the show,both from the SAAF Museum and from the current SAAF inventory of aircraft.A vast amount of pyrotechnics and armored vehicles were used during the show.
SAAF Museum Bosbok and Cessna C185
Ratels
Oryx Helicopters
Top Cover Rooivalk and Hawks
Ivan van Der Schaar and Jon-Marc Hill, Juba Jourbet flew the Bi-plane formation that being a Boeing Stearman and Antonov 2 ‘Little Annie’.Later in the day Little Annie escorted by the Stearman dropped a large amount of Manhattan Marshmellows for the crowds.
AN2 and Boeing Stearman
AN2 ‘Little Annie’
AN2 marshmallow drop
2 Squadron was well represented at the show once again,we were able to see six Gripens in formation,two Gripens in the mini-war and a solo gripen display flown by Major Geoffrey ‘Spartan’ Cooper and a 2v1 combat routine.
2 Squadron Gripens
Gripen JAS39D flown by ‘Midnite’ and ‘Bluebird’
Gripens being flown by ‘Cipher’ and ‘Doberman’
28 Squadron was busy during the mini-war delivering troops into the simulated battle-zone, Lt Col Clint Hawtrey also gave one of the best C130BZ displays to date. What a display it was to witness!
C130BZ
C130BZ dropping flares
C130BZ during the mini-war
A huge of congrats must go to the organisers of AAD2018
Florence Musengi-AAD Chairperson
Simphiwe Hamilton-Excutive Director
Leon Dillman-CEO CAASA
Leona Redelinghuys-Exhibition Director
Marketing and Public Relations-Nakedi Phasha
Youth Development Program-Kholisile Khumalo
General Fabian Zimpande “Zakes” Msimang-Chief of the South African Airforce
The 11th Edition of Africa Aerospace and Defence, AAD2020, will take place 16 – 20 September 2020. 2020 SAAF and the Aero Club of South Africa will be celebrating their centenary birthdays and this creating lots of expectations among young and old to see a Super Show. All we can do is wait and see what they deliver and how many Countries except the invite to join South Africa on this centenary celebrations.
Click to enlarge photos below
Africa Aerospace and Defence Airshow programme
Africa Aerospace and Defence Airshow programme
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