It’s reassuring that amid the general chaos in our dysfunctional defence force, the air force is quietly moving back into the past.
The SANDF’s chief honcho may be making pacts with the world’s rogue state Iran without President Cyril Ramaphosa’s knowledge or permission. The ex-schoolmarm minister of defence may be declaring the army’s mission to the DRK a resounding success, with only 14 dead, 175 wounded, everyone having to wait months for buses to evacuate the country, and helicopters still there rusting.
But the air force is putting its faith in the tried and tested by taking out of mothballs its old workhorse since 1943, the twin-engined, propellor-driven Dakota C-47. Iran’s supreme leader, his eminence Ali Khamenei, can put that in his hookah and smoke it.
South Africa still has eight Dakotas but only five can be made airworthy by “cannibalizing” spare parts from existing planes, with each costing millions. Never mind, many thousands of South Africans will remember the Dakota with affection, especially from the Border War where it could land and take off almost anywhere in the bush.
I flew in one myself trailing UN secretary-general Kurt Waldheim round what was still South West Africa. On one occasion they had trouble starting one of the engines, and the pilot assured us journalists already in it that the plane could fly on the other. He then joined us for beers, which made us very nervous indeed. Pilots shouldn’t drink before flying, surely.
It was only after we had become airborne, with both engines working, that our former drinking companion rejoined us and confessed he was the steward, but anyone could fly it.
The idea of resurrecting Dakotas was to use them for marine reconnaissance. Why not skip an era and go back to the four-engined Avro Shackletons, specifically designed for coastal patrols? They created huge excitement when the first one landed in 1957.
The SABC’s air correspondent Robbie Forsen returned to our newsroom practically frothing at the mouth with enthusiasm, having watched its arrival at Wingfield before making it the lead story in that evening’s regional news. Alas, only a few are left in museums – nothing for General Rudzani Maphwanya’s Iranian pals to get their keffiyehs in a knot about.
No point in the air force’s return to the future by going even further back into the past. The coastal patrol planes flying low over my parents’ Plumstead home during World War II, having taken off from Youngsfield, were Venturas, reputedly unstable aircraft that crashed so often there weren’t many left by the war’s end. As boys my brother and I marvelled at the shiny projectiles in their open bomb bays.
No, the air force will have to stick to Dakotas. They’re a mere 82 years old and easier to fix than all our more modern planes, most
of which are grounded or awaiting service. They’ll make a welcome addition to our only two operational Gripens and one Oryx helicopter.
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