During this period most of the national markings and squadron insignia were already removed from the Mirage IIICZ’s, and the aircraft carried the matt, feathered finish.   Mirage IIICZ, 806, however, still had Springbok Castles applied to the fuselage and wing upper surfaces, while 805 still had the unit emblem applied to the tail fin.

Mirage IIICZ 806 at AFB Ondangwa, 1987

The squadron deployed to South West Africa/Namibia for the final time during August 1988.  This deployment formed part of the yearly “Golden Eagle” Force Preparation Exercise that was held by the SAAF.  The deployment was an Air Combat Maneuvering camp in conjunction with the Mirage F1's that were based at AFB Grootfontein at the time.  The squadron deployed to Grootfontein on 8 August 1988 for a 2-vs-2 camp.  They operated from there for a week and then deployed to Ondangwa.  The final return sortie of this deployment was made on 19 August 1988, by Richard Cornelius, flying 802 back to Hoedspruit, the squadron’s base in the RSA.

The Model

The box art of the 1/48 Scale Academy Mirage IIIC model

The model of Mirage IIICZ, 806, was built for Richard, who flew this aircraft during the 1987 deployment to AFB Ondangwa.  The Acadamy 1/48 scale kit was used for the project.  Although a very basic kit, the model does build up into a nice representation of the real aircraft and it captures the main lines of the aircraft quite well.  The kit has very nice and fine engraved panel lines and the overall fit of the parts was good with very little filler required.