87 Helicopter Flying School is a unit of the

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

. It is a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

flight training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a st ...

school. The Helicopter Conversion Unit was established at Ysterplaat on 1 February 1968 to fulfill the helicopter pilot and flight engineers training role. The present unit was formed on 9 April 1968 by redesignating Training Flight, 17 Squadron at AFB Ysterplaat. The unit, equipped with Alouette II and III's, took over responsible for Helicopter Conversion Training of SAAF pilots and training of Flight Engineers for the SAAF. The Helicopter Conversion Unit became an autonomous unit in 1971 and in January 1973 the units name changed to 87 Advanced Flying School. In 1973 the Alouette II's were retired and transferred to the Rhodesian Air Force. "B" Flight, 16 Squadron, also stationed at AFB Ysterplaat, took responsibility for advanced helicopter training from 16 September 1974 to January 1975.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:87 Helicopter Flying School Saaf Squadrons of the South African Air Force Military units and formations in Bloemfontein Flying Training Schools of air forces Educational institutions established in 1973 1973 establishments in South Africa