No. 1 Squadron and the Spitfire Legacy 1940 to 1954 Written by Buskruit (Willie) Burger Introduction – East Africa A LEGACY is a gift, left or handed down by a predecessor, to those who appreciate it and what it stood for. It serves as a reminder of deeds and hardships endured by those who first …
The First World War ended at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. In the desolation of Flanders Fields, where much of the fighting had taken place, the only thing that still grew by the end of the war was poppies. In 1919, King George V of England inaugurated …
The graceful and majestic yet potent Supermarine Spitfire, designed by Reginald J. Mitchell, first flew on March 5th, 1936 and become operational in August 1938. Nineteen different Marks and 52 variations of Spitfire’s were produced between 1936 and 1948, totalling 22,759 (of which 2,408 were Seafires). The Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IX, otherwise known as type …
Article by Phil Scallan. The Spitfire Mk XVI and why was SAAF 5518/TE213, an MK IX HFIX, often mistaken for one? The late production MK IX Spitfires are externally very similar to the MK XVI Spitfire. Still, those late production MK IX’s fitted with the Merlin266 built by the US Packard Motor Company were designated …
The SAAF, the Museum and our Heritage. Swartkop in the late 1940s: Spitfires and Harvards in the foreground, with Dakotas and then Venturas behind them. Note how bare the landscape was. Heritage is a word which has many strings to its bow. Its meanings include birthright, inheritance, patrimony, bequest & estate, endowment, objectives & qualities, …
John Martin shares his spitfire Flying experience at SAAF Museum meeting.
On Saturday, 1st April 2017, the Spitfire Restoration Project hosted ten Spitfire pilots at the South African Air Force Museum at AFB Swartkop, Centurion.
