As day two of the AAD 2018 Public days arrived it seemed as if the weather was going to live up to its reputation of ruining at least on day of the show, the morning started off very overcast and grey. Fortunately the clouds lifted and by the time the first display was about to take off the sun had broken through.
The show started slightly later than planned with Craig Leeson getting airborne at just after 9:00 to kick off excitement.
BAE Hawk
Neville Ferreira and Andrew Blackwood- Murry kept the excitement going with their amazing aerobatic abilities. Neville in his Penta Motor Group Slick 540 and Andrew in his Nashua Extra 330. Neville has reached new heights in Europe, he has been employed as the official test pilot and display pilot for the new Genovation Genpro, the Genpro is an all composite unlimited aerobatics machine.
Neville Ferreira
Andrew Blackwood- Murry
AHRLAC XDM and PDM led a proudly South African formation, they were joined by Bat Hawks, a Savanah, a Wagtail, a Sling 4 and a Raven 500. All these aircraft are products of South Africa and are being exported all over the world.
Proudly South African Display
The Tailifts Flying Cows were the next team to display, this Pitts Special formation aerobatic team, led by SA aviation legend Scully Levin, first took to the skies 32 years ago, and has been a highlight at airshows across the country ever since.
Tailifts Flying Cows
The show took on a new direction with a stunning display by a Bombardier Challenger 300, it’s not often that we are treated to a Biz Jet display especially on of this calibre. This Challenger is operated by CFS Comair Fight Services and is based at Lanseria International Airport.
Bombardier Challenger 300
From the ultra-modern to the slightly less comfortable and slower means of flying but by no means less enjoyable. Little Annie the orphan Antanov An2 which found a home here in South Africa was joined by a Boeing Stearman in a display of East and West Bi-planes.
Antanov An2 and Boeing Stearman
On day Two the SAAF Museum mini war was taken to a new level with the pyro technics exploding on que the crowd all seemed to rush to the flight line to get a glimpse of these heroes from yesteryear.
SAAF Museum Mini War
After the year Neville Ferreira delivered a magnificent display of unlimited aerobatics, Neville had the crowd holding their collective breath as he threw the Slick 540 around the sky.
Neville Ferreira
The pace increased again as the two on one dog fight took place, two Gripen fighters from 2 Squadron made very short work of downing a Hawk from 85 Combat flight School. The three aircraft then formed up in a formation fly-past.
BAE Hawk
SAAB Gripen
The Silver Falcons kept the adrenaline pumping with yet another brilliant display, the guys seem to get better with every show.
From the current trainer to the past trainer, the Puma Flying Lions showed the graceful beauty of these old ladies of the sky. The Flying Lions have recently signed a new contract with Puma Energy so we can expect to see them at events for a long time to come.
Puma Flying Lions
Col Glen Warden took to the air in an L-29, this aircraft was part of the Sasol Tigers aerobatic team that graced the airshow circuit a few years ago.
L-29
Glen was followed by yet another jet, this time it was a K-8 from the Zimbabwean Airforce, this aircraft was the only international display aircraft on the programme.
Zimbabwean Airforce K-8
Little Annie the Antanov AN-2 operated by Just love mission distributed marshmallows in a very novel way. They flew above the crowd line and dropped hundreds of marshmallows to float gently down to the crowd below under tiny parachutes. Little Annie was flown by Juba Joubert and Jon-Marc Hill.
Mallow Drop
The AHRLAC team took to the skies in both XDM and PDM, there is definitely some interesting developments coming from the AHRLAC Stable, we at Flightline Weekly will do our best to keep everyone up to speed with the developments in this proudly South African aircraft.
AHRLAC
The AHRLACs had no sooner landed when Waterkloof once again became a “war zone” this time the current hardware was put through its paces in a simulated attack. Two Gripens and two Hawks got airborne and commenced an aerial attack on the “enemy”. Soon the Rooivalk joined in on the attack clearing the area for the troops to be deployed by both the C-130 and the Oryx helicopters. After the War all the Helicopters formed up in formation and did a fly-past down the display line.
Mini War
In yet another treat for anyone who loves Biz jets a Dassault Falcon 8X gave an unexpected display, this is one very slick jet it is capable of making a non-stop flight from Cape Town to London and it will do this in absolute comfort.
Dassault Falcon 8X
The sound of Pratt n Whitney Radials filled the air with three Harvards from the SAAF Museum, Four from the Harvard Club of South Africa and a DC-4 Skymaster joining the party. The sound of all these Radial engines was totally unexplainable.
Radial Formation
The sky was again filled with the sound of Pratt n Whitney engines this time it was the turn of the world renowned PT-6 which powers the Pilatus PC7 Astra which is used by the Silver Falcons.
Silver Falcons
As the shadows grew long the Jet apron became very busy with six Gripens and three Hawks getting airborne they moved out of sight while the C-130 took centre stage. The Hercules of 28 Squadron flew a brilliant display which built up to a climax when the C-130 released a load of flares which led to a spontaneous cheer from the remaining crowd.
C-130
As soon as the C-130 had left the box the mighty Rooivalk entered the picture flying a breath-taking display of wingovers and very steep turns. Just when everyone thought the display was about to end the Rooivalk climbed and then released a payload of flares that lit up the whole area.
Rooivalk
Just when we thought this could not get better the Gripens and Hawks returned in a beautiful nine ship diamond formation . While this was happening a marching band was forming up to march down the runway to where the handover of the AAD baton was to take place. They were then joined by the Golden Eagles skydiving team who jumped from a Casa 212.
The Commercial Aviation Association of Southern Africa (CAASA) were the organisers of AAD 2018 and in my opinion they did a sterling job, the baton was now handed to The South African Aerospace Maritime & Defence Industries Association (AMD) who will be the organiser of the 2020 AAD Expo, Gen Msimang the Chief of the South African Airforce was at hand to witness the handover .
The show had one last surprise for the public that had stayed to the end Maj Jeffery Cooper quickly landed to refuel before heading off again to do one final display for AAD 2018. As it was dark already the display was very impressive with the afterburner clearly visible. The show was finally closed off when Maj Cooper went vertical in an upper Charlie and a massive wall of fire was detonated right in front of the crowd.
A special thank you must go to Nakedi and her team for looking after all us media people so well you really went out of your way to make this a memorable week, Thank You!!!
