Hoedspruit is South Africa’s largest fighter base being almost twice the size of AFB Makhado. Many specific details on AFB Hoedspruit are unknown to this day. As part of a strategic study in 1975 the north eastern sector of South Africa was identified to be equipped with a fighter base.  Subsequently the State purchased the farms Suikerkop, Boston and Zark near Hoedspruit. Civil works commenced from 27 June 1977 and  less than a year later on 08 March 1978 the first jet aircraft in the form of a Buccaneer landed on the newly constructed runway. On 1 July 1978 the then Minister of Defence, Minister P.W. Botha, officially opened the base and SAAF occupation started soon afterwards. The first base commander was Col. P.F. Gouws. In September 1978 the first personnel moved into their newly allocated houses in the domestic area of Drakensig which is located on the outskirts of the town of Hoedspruit. Drakensig was build to modern standards with every amenity imaginable. In December 1972, the first of the jet Squadrons arrived in the form of 2 Squadron, the “Flying Cheetahs” equipped with various variants of the Mirage III. Again in December 1980, 1 Squadron “the Billy Boys” started arriving and equipped with the latest fighter aircraft of the SAAF, the venerable Mirage F1AZ. Build essentially as a fighter base according to the latest fighter base design specification the base itself is like the surrounding area, being very flat. Driving around the interconnecting roads of more than 140kms very little is observable apart from the dispersed constructed buildings the rest of the area has not been altered or cleared away. Thus the terrain at Hoedspruit resembles the Bushveld which form the surrounding game park. While the game park adds to the base security it provided a unique problem. Small game interfered with the runways and proved very dangerous for aircraft. This led to the implementation of various conservation efforts and programmes. For these efforts AFB Hoedspruit has received various international and local awards. The best known is the use of the Cheetah as the fastest predator and animal on earth to keep small game in check around the runways. The heart of Hoedspruit is the reinforced revetments which are located close to the interconnecting runway system to facilitate the shortest reaction time from the revetments. In addition many of the buildings are located below ground level and with the natural camouflage of the Bushveld, fighter aircraft and other counter air elements – AFB Hoedspruit would have been a daunting target.

Airshow

With a constant eye on the seconds indicator of his Breitling watch, Brian Emmenis started the Capital Sounds broadcast at exactly 7 seconds past 7 minutes after 7 o’clock on 7 July 2007. The sky a brilliant blue after several days of dark over cast weather saw the stage set for an extraordinary air show. Spectators were allowed to park their cars on the base in close proximity to the crowd line. Around 10 o’clock, Glen Warden released the brakes on Mirage III CZ no 800 for the thunderous take-off run. This aircraft as the only remaining flying example of this type in the world enjoys a tremendous popularity and people from as far as Cape Town attended to view the aircraft display at its storage base.

Following the cavalcade, parachutists and a display by the Bantam, it was time for 2 Sqdn with Ettienne Potgieter keeping the Cheetah C low above the runway for the initial fly past. Given the topography of the base this was instantaneous excitement for the crowd as the Cheetah seemingly appeared out of nowhere. This particular Saturday was a very busy time for 2 Sqdn as they formed part of the proceedings to exercise the Freedom of Entry into Louis Trichardt on the particular day. AFB Makhado received this honour during October 1991 and has exercised this Freedom every second year since 1991.

Cheetah C at sunset

A formation of Astras represented the trainer component of the SAAF. In honour of Mark Beckley who lost his life the week before during a validation flight at Tzaneen, the Astras with Maj Van der Walt as leader performed a missing man formation. This was followed by a phenomenal single Astra display routine by Guy du Sautoy and certainly the best single routine performed in recent years in this aircraft type.