SELECT CHRONOLOGY OF A CENTURY OF HEAVIER-THAN-AIR FLIGHT

1903 December 17. First flight by a powered heavier-than-air machine, at Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina, US. Aircraft: the Wright Flyer. Designed and built by Wilbur and Orville Wright. Pilot: Orville Wright. Distance: 36,5 m, Flying time: 12 seconds. Three other flights followed the same day, the last covering 260 m and lasting 59 seconds. 1906 November 12. First flight in Europe of a piloted and powered aeroplane. Bois de Boulogne, , . Aircraft: Santos Dumont 14bis. Designed, built and flown by Brazilian Alberto Santos Dumont, previously a leading airship pioneer. Distance: 220m. 1909 25 July. Louis Blériot successfully flies English Channel in his Blériot XI monoplane. 1909 World’s first woman pilot, Frenchwoman Mme La Baronne de la Roche, gained her pilot’s certificate – number 36 – in France. 1910 January. First powered flights in . Flown by Frenchman Albert Kimmerling in a Voisin biplane. Kimmerling had been invited to SA by the East London town council, with sponsorship from local engineering company Howard, Farrar, Robinson & Co. After his initial flights in East London, Kimmerling went on to make others in Johannesburg and Durban. All were of short duration. 1910 January. First flights in Egypt, by two British pilots in French Blériot XI monoplanes. 1910 March 10. World’s first night flight. By Emil Aubrun, in a Blériot XI, at Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1910 March 28. World’s first flight of a seaplane. Designed and flown by Frenchman Henri Fabre, at Martigues, near , France. 1910 November 14. First aircraft take-off from a ship – cruiser USS Birmingham at anchor in Hampton Roads, Virginia, US – by pilot Eugene Ely in a Curtiss aircraft. 1911 January 18. First landing on a ship, cruiser USS Pennsylvania, also at anchor (in Bay), also by Eugene Ely in a Curtiss. 1911 January. First South African aviator, John Weston (1873 to 1950) gains his pilot’s certificate in France. 1911 February 18. World’s first official air mail, in , from Allahabad to Naini. 1911 May/June. Second aviator to be brought to SA, by the organisers of the Pretoria Festival Week, Belgian Joseph Christiaens, brought and flew two Bristol Boxkites in Pretoria and Johannesburg. 1911 John Weston returns to SA, with two ‘Weston Farman’ biplanes. He settled in Brandfort, bought Christiaens Boxkites and set up the John Weston Aviation Co., a non-profit company to promote aviation in this country. He makes demonstration flights in many SA towns and in Lourenço Marques, now Maputo, in Mozambique. 1911 October 23. Italy becomes the first country to use aeroplanes in war, in Libya, against Turkish forces. 1912 February 22. First time aeroplane exceeds 100 mph (161 km/h). At Pau, France. Pilot: Jules Vedrines. Aircraft: Deperdussin monoplane. 1912 African Aviation Syndicate, formed by Cecil Compton Paterson, Guy Livingston, and South African-born Evelyn Frederick Driver, to promote aviation in SA, brought a Blériot XI monoplane and Paterson’s self-designed Number 2 biplane to this country, and undertook demonstration flights in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Kimberley. The syndicate set up its headquarters at Alexanderfontein, near Kimberley, on land made available by De Beers. 1912 April. Paterson made first cross-country flight in SA, from Kimberley to Klerksdorp, in six stages. Distance: 336 km. Flying time: 4 h 42 min. 1912 September. African Aviation Syndicate liquidated. 1912 Following a visit to Europe to observe military manoeuvres, Union Defence Force Commandant-General Beyers recommended that SA train ten military pilots. 1913 May 10. SA Government Gazette published notice seeking volunteers for training as country’s first military pilots. There were hundreds of applicants. 1913 May 13. World’s first large, four-engined, aircraft flies, at St Petersburg, Russia. Sikosky ‘Bolshoi’ (The Great). Designed by Igor Sikorsky. 1913 Original ten SA military pilot volunteers receive initial flying training from Cecil Paterson at his flying school – the first in SA – in Kimberley. Nine graduate and are sent to the Military School in Bloemfontein. Six are then selected to complete their training with the (RFC – the British Army’s then aviation wing) in England. 1913 September 23. First flight across the Mediterranean, from France to Tunisia. Pilot: Roland Garros. Aircraft: Morane-Saulnier monoplane. Distance: 453 miles. Flying time: 7 h 53 min. 1914 January 1. First scheduled aeroplane service by a company established as an airline. The Benoist Company, Florida, US. Pilot Anthony Jannus flew a passenger from St Petersburg, Florida, to Tampa, Florida, in a two-seat Benoist flying boat. 1914 July 30. First aeroplane flight across North Sea by Norwegian pilot Tryggve Gran in a Blériot monoplane. 1914 to 1918 First World War Global war spurs dramatic advances in technology, capabilities, and uses of aircraft. 1914 August. The five SA military pilots who successfully completed their training with the RFC were allowed to volunteer for service with the RFC. 1914 October 5. A German two-seater became the first aeroplane ever to be shot down by another, a machine-gun- armed Voisin two- seater of French Army Aviation squadron VB.24. 1915 January 29. Official establishment of the South African Aviation Corps (SAAC). First three SAAC pilots were GP Wallace, GS Creed and Kenneth van der Spuy. 1915 April. SAAC began operations in the then German South West Africa (SWA) (now Namibia) after the delivery of six French Henri Farman biplanes to Walvis Bay. The SAAC was under the command of Major Wallace and included Creed and Van der Spuy. The SAAC undertook reconnaissance and bombing missions against the German forces and had a dramatic impact on the campaign. SA commander and Prime Minister Louis Botha enthused “Now I can see for hundres of miles!” 1915 July. German forces in SWA surrender to SA forces. 1915 July. The first aircraft ever to be designed as a single-seat fighter, ’s Fokker E.1 monoplane, started operational trials over the Western Front. 1915 October. SAAC ceases to operate as a separate unit as personnel are dispersed to serve with RFC squadrons in other theatres. Major Wallace appointed to command RFC 26 Squadron in East Africa. 26 acquires Afrikaans motto:’‘n Wagter in die Lug’. 1915 December 12. World’s first all-metal aircraft, the Junkers J.1, flew in Germany. 1917 August 2. For the first time an aircraft landed on a ship which was under way at the time. The pilot was Squadron Commander EH Dunning Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS – the aviation wing of the Royal Navy), the aircraft was a fighter, and the ship, HMS Furious. Furious was subsequently converted into one of the first aircraft carriers. 1918 April 1. As a result of recommendations made by an Imperial Defence Committee headed by SA Premier General regarding the more efficient defence of the UK from German Zeppelin and bomber attacks, on this day the RFC and RNAS were merged to form the (RAF), the world’s first independent air force. 1918 July 22. Death in action of India’s first fighter ace, Lt Indra Lal ‘Laddie’ Roy RFC. Roy scored 10 kills. It is very difficult to ascertain who the first Black African or West Indian pilot was, as the British and French did not record colour or ethnicity of trainees. However, the first African American to become a pilot, and a fighter pilot, was Eugene Bullard, who successfully volunteered for pilot training while serving with the French Foreign Legion in the trenches. He flew exclusively with the French, the US Air Service not wanting to have a black pilot at that time (1917/18)! 1918 November 11. End of First World War. More than 3 000 South Africans had volunteered to serve as commissioned officers in the RFC, RNAS and RAF. Top SA fighter aces of the war were Captains Anthony Beauchamp-Proctor, VC, with 54 kills and Samuel Kinkead with between 35 and 40 (including between 5 and 10 while serving against the Bolsheviks in southern Russia in 1919). Both served with the RFC and RAF. 1919 April 6. Customs inspection of airline passengers’ luggage started at Brussels. 1919 June 14/15. First nonstop crossing of the North Atlantic in an aeroplane. Pilots: Britons Capt. John Alcock and Lt Arthur Whitten Brown. Aircraft: a converted bomber. Flying time: 16 h 27 min. 1919 August 28. The International Air Transport (originally, Traffic) Association (IATA) formed. 1920 February 1. This date is now regarded as the birthday of the South African Air Force (SAAF). See below. 1920 February 4/March 20. First flight from England to South Africa. Pilots: South Africans Lt-Col and Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt – RAF rank equivalent to SAAF Captain) Christopher Quintin Brand. Took off from Brooklands Airport, accompanied by two RAF mechanics, Burton and Sherratt, in a Vimy named ‘Silver Queen’. Flew to Derna, Libya, where Burton was replaced by RAF Flight Sargeant E Newman. Then on the Korosko, Sudan, where the Silver Queen crashed on February 11 and was written off. Aircraft was replaced by a second Vimy, ‘Silver Queen II’, with which Van Ryneveld, Brand and crew left Cairo on February 22. Silver Queen II crashed on take-off at on March 6. Premier Smuts sent a DH.9 to Bulawayo and Van Ryneveld and Brand then flew this machine from there to Cape Town, arriving on March 20 at 1600. Flying time: 109 h 30 min. 1920 June. Van Ryneveld appointed Director of Air Services, back- dated to February 1. With this appointment, the SAAF came into existence, although it is not mentioned in any legislation until the 1923 Defence Act! As the SAAF replaced the SAAC, the new force continued the use of the Army rank titles employed by its predecessor, unlike all other major Commonwealth air forces, which adopted the new rank titles and insignia invented by the RAF. The SAAF’s first equipment was all donated. The country received 100 aircraft, plus spares, tools, workshop facilities, hangars, vehicles, dopes, varnishes and paints – everything needed to create an air force – as an Imperial Gift from Britain. Not all of these aircraft were assembled or used. 1921 April. Zwartkop Farm near Pretoria was taken over by SAAF and became SA’s first Air Force Base (AFB). Swartkop, as it is now called, is today home of the SAAF Museum. 1921 June. Bessie Coleman became the first African American woman pilot. Significantly, she had to go to France for pilot training, as no US flying school would accept her, on racist grounds. 1922 June. First flight, executed in stages, across the South Atlantic, by the Portuguese Navy aviators Sacadura Cabral and Gago Coutinho. Aircraft: Fairy IIIF (again, three aircraft were needed due to crashes en route). 1923 August 27/28. First successful demonstration of air-to-air refuelling. US Army Air Service (USAAS) pilots Capt LH Smith and Lt JP Richter stayed airborne in a DH-4 for 37 hours, refuelling 15 times from a second DH-4. 1924 April 4/September 28. First round-the-world flight (in stages) by aeroplanes. Four Douglas DWC aircraft of the USAAS took off from Seattle, Washington, US, under command of Major F Martin, of which two successfully returned to Seattle. Flying time: 371 h 11 min. 1926 (May 9) First flight over the North Pole. Pilots: Lt-Cmdr Richard E Byrd US Navy and Floyd Bennett (civilian). Aircraft: Fokker F.VII-3m. 1927 May 20/21. First solo nonstop flight across North Atlantic. Pilot: Charles Lindbergh. Aircraft: Ryan NYP monoplane. Distance: 4 715,9 km. Flying time: 33 h 30 min. 1927 October 14/15. First nonstop flight across South Atlantic, from to . Pilots: Frenchmen Capt. Dieudonné Costes and Lt- Cmdr Joseph le Brix. Aircraft: . 1928 SA’s first women pilots, Marjorie Douglas and Dulcie Evans, qualified within minutes of each other. By 1939, some 50 SA women had pilot’s licences, of whom four – Doreen Hooper (later Dunning), HM de Waal, Rosamund King Everett and Rhenia Slabbert – had commercial licences. 1928 May 15. Inauguration of Australian Flying Doctor service. 1928 May 31/June 9. First trans-Pacific flight (in stages). Oakland, , US to Eagle Farm, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Pilots: Australians Charles Kingsford-Smith and Charles TP Ulm. Aircraft: Fokker F.VII-3m. Flying time: 83 h 38 mins. 1928 June 11. First flight of a rocket- powered aircraft. Pilot: Friedrich Stamer. At Wasserkuppe mountain, Germany. 1929 SA’s first regular commercial air service started with formation of Union Airways. 1929 April 24/26. First nonstop flight from England to India. Pilots: RAF Squadron Leader (Sqn Ldr – equivalent to SAAF Major) AG Jones-Williams and Flt Lt NH Jenkins. Aircraft: Fairey Long Range Monoplane. Distance: 6 647 km. Flying time: 50 h 37 mins. 1929 September 24. First successful blind (that is, instruments only) take-off, circuit and landing, at Mitchell Field, Long Island, New York. Pilot: Lt James H Doolittle US Army Air Corps (USAAC, previously USAAS). Aircraft: specially modified Consolidated NY-2 Husky biplane. 1930 World’s first airline stewardess, registered nurse Ellen Church, flew her first duty trip on a Boeing Model 80 12-passenger, three- engined biplane, in US, from San Francisco, California, to Cheyenne, Wyoming. 1930 May 5/24. England’s Amy Johnson becomes the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Aircraft: DH.606 Gipsey Moth biplane. 1931 October 3/5. First non-stop flight across Pacific, from to US (Washington state). Pilots: Hugh Herndon Jr and Clyde E Pangborn. Aircraft: Bellanca monoplane. Flying time: 41 h 13 mins. 1932 April 27. UK’s Imperial Airways inaugurated the first regular passenger service between London Croydon and Cape Town. 1932 May 20/21. First solo flight across the North Atlantic by a woman. Pilot: Amelia Earhart of the US. Aircraft: Lockheed Vega. 1933 February 6/8. First nonstop flight from England to SA. Pilots: Sqn Ldr OR Gayford and Flt Lt GE Nicholettes. Aircraft: Fairey Long Range Monoplane Mk II. Distance: 8 544 km (a new record). Flying time: 57 h 25 min. 1933 July 15/22. First solo round-the-world flight (in stages). Pilot: American Wiley Post. Aircraft: Lockheed Vega. Distance: 25 099 km. 1934 February 1. State-owned South African Airways (SAA) formed, taking over the assets and liabilities of Union Airways. 1937 April 12. First successful bench-test of a gas turbine engine designed for jet propulsion. In England. Designer: Frank Whittle. 1937 May 7. World’s first aircraft with a completely successful pressurised cabin, the Lockheed XC-35, first flown. In US. 1938 December 31. World’s first pressurised airliner, the Boeing 307 Stratoliner, makes maiden flight. 1939 June 28. US airline Pan American (PanAm) starts regular passenger flights across the North Atlantic, via the Azores. 1939 August 27. World’s first aircraft to fly entirely on turbojet power, the Heinkel He 178, flies in Germany. Pilot: Erich Warsitz. 1939 to 1945 The Second World War Again, global war brings dramatic advances to aviation and associated technologies. 1940 May 13. First flight of Sikorsky VS-300 helicopter, the first truly successful single main rotor helicopter. With a small tail rotor to counter the torque from the large main rotor, it set the pattern that most helicopters have since followed. Designed and built in US by Igor Sikorsky, by then a US citizen. 1940 May 24. SAA suspends its services due to war. 1940 June/September. . First major war campaign waged almost entirely in the air. 1941 May 15. Maiden flight of first British jet aircraft, the experimental Gloster E28/39. Pilot: PEG Sayer. 1942 July 18. Maiden flight of German Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter under jet power. Pilot: Fritz Wendel. 1942 October 1. Maiden flight of first US jet, the Bell XP-59 Airacomet. 1942 October 3. First successful flight of German A4 strategic ballistic rocket, better known as the V2. 1943 March 5. Maiden flight of first UK jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor. 1943 June 15. Maiden flight of the first jet bomber, Germany’s Arado Ar 234. 1944 January 3. First lifesaving flight by a helicopter. A Sikorsky HNS- 1 flew 40 units of blood plasma in weather that had grounded conventional aircraft, thereby saving the lives of several sailors burnt in an accident. Pilot: Commander Frank A Ericson US Coast Guard. 1944 June 13. The world’s first strategic cruise missile, the Fieseler Fi- 103, better known as the V1, launched on first strikes this day, against England 1944 September 8. First strategic rocket bombardment campaign started with A4 (V2) attacks on Paris and London. 1944 September 15/16. First air-launched strategic cruise missile campaign started, with Fi-103 (V1) cruise missiles being launched from Heinkel He 111 bombers against England. 1944 December 1. SAA restarted its passenger services, using Lockheed Lodestar aircraft. 1945 August 6. First atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, by a Boeing B-29 strategic bomber. 1945 August 9. Second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Japan consequently surrenders. 1945 During the Second World War the SAAF saw active service in East Africa, North Africa, Italy, the Mediterranean, the Balkans, East and Central Europe, Madagascar, and home waters. During the course of the war, 2 227 members of the SAAF lost their lives and 932 were wounded, while 738 medals and decorations were awarded for bravery and distinguished service, including a VC. The top SAAF fighter aces were Major JE Frost with 15 kills and Lt-Col MS Osler with 12. However, higher scores were achieved by South Africans who were members of the RAF. Sqn Ldr MT St J ‘Pat’ Pattle scored more than 40 kills before his death in action, and was the RAF’s and Commonwealth’s highest-scoring ace of the war. Group Captain (Gp Capt – equivalent to full Colonel in the SAAF) AG ‘Sailor’ Malan scored (if his shared kills are consolidated) 28,66 kills, Sqn Ldr JJ le Roux 23,5 kills, and Gp Capt PH Hugo 22. 1945 September 20. First flight of a turboprop-powered aircraft – a modified Gloster Meteor fighter. In England. 1946 April 24. Maiden flights of first successful Russian jet fighters, the single-engined Yakovlev Yak-15 and the twin-engined Mikoyan- Gurevich MiG-9. 1947 August 9. Maiden flight of first jet designed in Argentina and, probably, the Southern Hemisphere. The FMA IAe 27 Pulquí. Disapointing performance led to the cancellation of the project. 1947 October 14. First time an aircraft exceeds speed of sound in level flight. Pilot: Capt Charles Yeager US Air Force (USAF). Aircraft: Bell XS-1 (later redesignated X-1). 1948 June. Start of Berlin Airlift. First time a major city entirely supplied by air transport. 1948 SAAF acquires its first helicopters, three Sikorsky S-51s. 1948 SAAF first operated a jet fighter, a Gloster Meteor on loan for two years from the RAF for trials purposes. 1949 January 23. First indigenous French jet fighter, Dassault Ouragan, makes its maiden flight. 1949 February 26/March 2. First nonstop around-the-world flight. Commander: USAF Capt James Gallagher. Aircraft: Boeing B-50.

1949 September. End of Berlin Airlift. A total of 2,362-million tons of supplies had been flown into the city. SAAF aircrews had participated, flying RAF aircraft. 1950 to 1953 Korean War First jet-versus-jet combat. The air war came to be dominated by two swept-wing fighters: Russia’s MiG-15 and America’s North American F-86 Sabre. SAAF 2 Squadron participated, as part of USAF 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing. Initially using North American F-51D Mustang piston-engined fighters, 2 Sqdn was re-equipped with F-86F Sabres (on loan from USAF) in 1952. 2 Sqdn awarded both US and South Korean Presidential Unit Citations. 1952 May 2. World’s first scheduled jet airliner service inaugurated by British Overseas Airways Corporation, with De Haviiland Comet I on London/Johannesburg route.

1953 December 12. Capt Charles Yeager USAF reaches Mach 2,345 (nearly two and a half times the speed of sound) flying a Bell X-1A. 1957 October 4. Russia launches first satellite, Sputnik 1. 1958 July 29. Establishment of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa). 1960 July 15. SAA enters jet age with delivery of its first Boeing 707- 320. 1961 April 12. The first man in space. Russia’s Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth once. Spacecraft: Vostok 1. Flying time: 1 h 48 mins. 1961 June 17. Maiden flight of prototype of first supersonic fighter designed in Asia (excluding the USSR), India’s Hindustan Aeronautics HF-24 Marut. 1962 February 20. John H Glenn becomes first American to orbit the Earth, in Mercury spacecraft. Alan B Shepard and Virgil I ‘Gus’ Grissom had both briefly flown in space in suborbital trajectories in 1961. 1963 June 16. First woman in space. Russia’s Valentina Tereshkova. Spacecraft Vostok 6. 1963 August 22. North American X-15A rocket-powered research plane sets unofficial altitude record for aeroplanes at 107 960 m. Technically, it entered space. Pilot: Joe Walker. 1963 SAAF acquired its first supersonic fighter, the Dassault Mirage IIICZ. 1964 October 12. Russia launches first three-man spacecraft: Voskhod 1. 1964 December 21. Maiden flight of prototype General Dynamics F- 111, the first variable-geometry- (‘swing’) wing aircraft to enter production.

1965 March 18. Russia’s Aleksey Leonov undertakes first spacewalk. Pavel Belyayev was the other crew member on the spacecraft, Voskhod 2. 1965 June. Maiden flight of first jet combat aircraft designed in China, the Nanchang Q-5 (export designation A-5). However, the Q-5 used the wings, tail and rear fuselage of the Russian MiG-19. 1965 December 15. First successful, manoeuvred, rendezvous of two space craft in orbit: US spacecraft Gemini 6 and 7, crewed by Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford, and Frank Borman and James Lovell, respectively. 1965 SAA introduced jets on internal and regional flights: Boeing 727s. 1966 August 31. First flight of the Hawker Siddeley (now BAE Systems) Harrier, the first truly successful vertical take-off and landing fighter. 1967 October 3. X-15A-2 sets an unofficial speed record of Mach 6,72, equivalent to 7 297 km/h, nearly seven times the speed of sound. PIlot: Maj. Pete Knight USAF. 1968 December 21/27. First manned spacecraft to orbit the moon. Apollo 8. Crew: Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders.

1968 December 31. Maiden flight by the world’s first supersonic passenger aircraft, Russia’s Tupolev TU-144. Pilot: Eduard Elyan plus three crew. However, the aircraft did not start regular passenger flights (route: Moscow/Alma Ata) until November 1, 1977. Following the crash of a TU-144 that was not being flown commercially, this service was terminated. 1969 February 9. maiden flight of the first wide-body airliner, the Boeing 747 ‘Jumbo Jet’. Pilot: Jack Waddell. 1969 March 2. First flight of prototype of Anglo-French Concorde supersonic airliner. Pilot: André Turcat. Concorde became the first supersonic passenger aircraft to enter regular commercial service, on January 21, 1976, with flights on the routes London/Bahrain and Paris/Rio de Janeiro (via Dakar). Transatlantic services began on May 24, but to Washington, DC. The flagship London/New York and Paris/New York services did not start until November 1977. 1969 May 28. Launch of the Airbus consortium. 1969 July 16/24. The first manned mission to the moon. (Lunar touch down was on July 20, lunar liftoff July 21.) Apollo 11. Crew: Neil Armstrong, Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin (who both landed on the moon) and Michael Collins (who remained in lunar orbit). 1971 SAA acquired its first wide-bodied aircraft: the Boeing 747 ‘Jumbo Jet’. 1973 May 14. Launch of the first space station, America’s single- module Skylab. 1977 December. Maiden flight of US low-observable (‘stealth’) technology demonstration aircraft, code-named ‘Have Blue’. 1977 SAA first operates Airbus aircraft – the A300. 1981 April 12. Maiden flight of first re-usable space craft, or space shuttle, the American STS Columbia. Crew: Robert L Crippen and John W Young. After nearly 22 years of service, Columbia was lost with all hands during re-entry on February 1, 2003. Seven died. It was the second shuttle lost, after STS Challenger on January 22, 1986, which also killed seven. 1981 June. Maiden flight of first production low-observable combat aircraft, the Lockheed F-117 of the US. 1983 June 18. First American woman, and second woman, to enter space. Physicist Dr Sally Ride was a mission specialist on STS Challenger. Unlike Tereshkova, Ride flew again, on October 5, 1984, again on Challenger. Ride was training for her third mission when Challenger was lost, and served on the Commission of Inquiry on the loss. She totalled 344 h in space and left Nasa in 1987. 1983 August 30. First African-American astronaut in space. Aerospace engineer Dr Guion S ‘Guy’ Bluford, on STS Challenger. In all, Bluford flew four times in space, on Challenger and Discovery, amassing 688 h in space. He left Nasa in 1993. 1986 First version of Mirage III upgrade programme for the SAAF, the Denel Cheetah D, rolled out. 1987 The first Denel Cheetah E produced. 1989 July. Maiden flight of first production flying-wing aircraft, the US low-observable Northrop (now Northrop-Grumman) B-2 bomber. 1990 First flight of the Denel Rooivalk attack helicopter for the SAAF. 1992 The first Denel Cheetah C rolled out. 1999 Saab Gripen advanced fighters, BAE Systems Hawk lead-in fighter-trainers, and Agusta A109 light utility helicopters ordered for SAAF. 2002 April/May. First South African astronaut, Mark Shuttleworth, flew in space. Lift-off on April 25 in Russian Soyuz TM-34 under mission commander Yuri Gidzenko and with Italian astronaut Roberto Vettori. The Soyuz docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on April 27 and Shuttleworth stayed aboard the ISS, executing experiments for SA scientists, until returning to Earth on May 5. Shuttleworth was also the first citizen of an African country to fly in space. 2003 October 15/16. China became the third country to launch a man into space. Astronaut Yang Liwei flew a 21 h mission on the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft. 2003 October 24. Last passenger flights by Concorde supersonic airliners. These were British Airways aircraft, Air France having ceased operations in May 2003. In nearly 27 years of operation, Concorde flew more than 2,5-million passengers, with only one accident, the July 25 2000 tragedy when an Air France Concorde crashed shortly after take-off from Charles de Gaulle international airport at Paris, killing all 109 on the aeroplane and four on the ground. 2003 First black SAAF fighter pilot, Major Musa Mbhokota started test flying Gripens in Sweden.

Engineering News would like to thank the SAAF Museum for its invaulable assistance in compiling both this chronology and in the information used to write the article in our print edition of December 12, 2003, “100 Years of Flight: How South Africa Benefitted and Contributed”, and in the provision of historical photographs used in the magazine. Especial thanks go to Ken Smy and to Col. Gordon Lennox. The SAAF Museum is located at Swartkops AFB in Pretoria, easily accessible by the public, with a wide range of aircraft and related systems on display, including the Alpha XH-1 helicopter and the country’s only surviving (but deactivated) medium-range ballistic missile. The SA National Museum of Military History in Saxonwold, Johannesburg, also has a valuable aircraft collection.

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