Did you miss this year’s South African Air Force (SAAF) Aviation Show? If you are into aviation, you should have been there. It was much better than I had anticipated.
Based on what I could gather online, I thought the show would be slow. While researching the event online, I noticed there was not too much interest.
Knowing this, I thought 09:00 would be a good time to arrive. Boy, was I wrong! To my surprise, the queue was 300 meters long before the entrance.
Thank goodness I bought tickets online. Waiting in the queue to buy tickets would take even longer.
By the way, ticket costs were R120 per person, which was a good price for an aviation show, I think. The show took place at the Swartkops Air Force Base in Centurion.
We waited in the queue for about 30 minutes. When I say we, I mean my son. He is a teenager, and getting a teenager to do something with his parents is a challenge.
It’s NO! 9 out of 10 times. If it’s a YES! You need to make it count. As we made our way through the gate, we were greeted by permanent museum displays of airplanes and helicopters.
They were ideal for photography opportunities, and I made them count. 😉
Past these displays, the show opens up. To the front was the airstrip where all the aerial demonstrations took place. To the right, there were more airplanes on display, including a Boeing 707C that was primarily used for air-to-air refueling.
People could stroll through the plane. Due to its age and the availability of more modern aircraft, the Boeing 707c was phased out by 2007.
To our left, there was a 500-meter-long row of hangers, other vendors, and food stalls. Inside these hangers were more displays of airplanes and their engines, and what I thought was unique was a demo display of the Wright brothers’ airplane, which was the very first flight ever taken.
A Buccaneer 421 Restoration Project also allowed people to sit in the cockpit. It was a good selfie opportunity. They are in the process of restoring this plane, and it has attracted quite a lot of attention.
The aerial demonstrations involved a lot. There were parachute jumps that played into a mini-war demonstration, helicopters hovering around, and two Hawks coming across the runway to finish it off.
The sound of those Hawks, in conjunction with explosions, makes me feel like I’m part of a Top Gun movie. 💪
As an aviation fan, I enjoyed the show. It was a good way to spend a Saturday morning. There was lots to see and something to eat and drink when the time came.
The only thing I disliked was not knowing what was happening throughout the day regarding the aerial demonstrations. A digital reverence of what planes and what times would be ideal. Just a thought.
To avoid FOMO, mark your calendars for roughly the same time next year.
