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Bophuthatswana Air Force
The Bophuthatswana Air Force (BAF) was the aviation branch of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force. The BAF existed from 1987 until 27 April 1994. The primary role of the BAF was to provide support and medevac services to the ground units of the Bophuthatswana army. The BAF operated from several bases, one being Mmabatho AFB. All surviving aircraft and helicopters were integrated into the South African Air Force after 27 April 1994. History An air component of the BDF was established on 19 March 1981 with the purchase of an Alouette III from the South African Police. It was flown by Major De Villiers and Captain LaGrange of the SAAF, with Warrant Officer Strydom, ex-Rhodesian Air Force as Technical officer and Warrant Officer Viljoen of the South West African Police as Gunner and Navigator. In 1982, the unit became known as ''Bophuthatswana Air Wing'' with the arrival of a 2 more Alouette IIIs and 2 Helio H-295s. In 1983, 2 Partenavia P.68s and an Eurocopter AS355, AS-355 Écureuil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Force
An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviation or naval aviation units. Typically, air forces are responsible for air supremacy, gaining control of the air, carrying out Strategic bombing, strategic and tactical bombing missions, and providing support to land forces, land and naval forces often in the form of aerial reconnaissance and close air support. The term air force may also refer to a tactical air force or numbered air force, which is an operational formation either within a national air force or comprising several air components from allied nations. Air forces typically consist of a combination of fighter aircraft, fighters, bombers, Military helicopter, helicopters, Military transport aircraft, transport planes and other aircraft. Many air forces may command and control ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counter-insurgency Aircraft
Counter-insurgency aircraft or COIN aircraft are a specialized variety of military light attack aircraft, armed with aircraft artillery and/or portable rockets and designed for counter-insurgency operations, armed reconnaissance, air escort of ground forces, and ground support against " low-intensity engagements"; usually irregular groups of insurgents. Roles Some of the roles carried out by counter-insurgency aircraft include: *Transportation in support of combatants and civilians alike, including casualty evacuation (CASEVAC). *Intelligence gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance. * Psychological operations (PSYOPs) through leaflet drops, loudspeakers, and radio broadcasts. *Air-to-ground attack against soft targets. For an aircraft—whether fixed-wing or rotary—to effectively carry out all these roles, it should have specification characteristics such as low loitering speed, long endurance, simplicity in maintenance, and the capability to perform short or ver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1987 Establishments In South Africa
Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader Mohammad Najibullah says that Afghanistan's 1978 Communist revolution is "not reversible," and that any opposition parties will have to align with Communist goals. * January 4 – ** 1987 Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route from Washington, D.C. to Boston collides with Conrail engines at Chase, Maryland, United States, killing 16 people. ** Televangelist Oral Roberts announces to his viewers that unless they donate $8 million to his ministry by March 31, God will "call [him] home." * January 15 – Hu Yaobang, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, is forced into retirement by political conservatives. * January 16 – León Febres Cordero, president of Ecuador, is kidnapped for 11 hours by followers of imprisoned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Transports Of Heads Of State And Government
Air transports for heads of state and government are, in many countries, provided by the air force in specially equipped airliners or business jets. One such aircraft in particular has become part of popular culture: Air Force One, used by the President of the United States and operated by the United States Air Force. Other well-known official aircraft include the Russian presidential aircraft, the British Air transport of the British royal family and government, Royal Air Force VIP aircraft, the French Cotam 001, the Royal Canadian Air Force VIP aircraft, the German ''Konrad Adenauer (aircraft), Konrad Adenauer'', the Royal Australian Air Force VIP aircraft, Royal Australian Airforce VIP aircraft, the Japanese Air Force One, the South Korean Code One, the Indian Air India One, the Brazilian Air Force One. Another well-known means of transportation for world leaders is by helicopter. Helicopters are seen as not only cheaper and more cost effective but also more convenient than a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlantic, North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and List of islands of France, many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean, giving it Exclusive economic zone of France, one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Metropolitan France shares borders with Belgium and Luxembourg to the north; Germany to the northeast; Switzerland to the east; Italy and Monaco to the southeast; Andorra and Spain to the south; and a maritime border with the United Kingdom to the northwest. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea. Its Regions of France, eighteen integral regions—five of which are overseas—span a combined area of and hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total population of over 84 million in an area of , making it the most populous member state of the European Union. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. The Capital of Germany, nation's capital and List of cities in Germany by population, most populous city is Berlin and its main financial centre is Frankfurt; the largest urban area is the Ruhr. Settlement in the territory of modern Germany began in the Lower Paleolithic, with various tribes inhabiting it from the Neolithic onward, chiefly the Celts. Various Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helicopters
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 attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed-wing aircraft and many forms of short take-off and landing (STOL) or short take-off and vertical landing ( STOVL) aircraft cannot perform without a runway. The Focke-Wulf Fw 61 was the first successful, practical, and fully controllable helicopter in 1936, while in 1942, the Sikorsky R-4 became the first helicopter to reach full-scale production. Starting in 1939 and through 1943, Igor Sikorsky worked on the development of the VS-300, which over four iterations, became the basis for modern helicopters with a single main rotor and a single tail rotor. Although most earlier designs used more than one main rotor, the configuration of a single main rotor accompan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Pictorial
''Air Pictorial'' was a British aviation magazine covering contemporary and historical military and civil aviation topics. By 2002, when the magazine was renamed '' Aviation News'' (a title that had been incorporated into it six years previously), ''Air Pictorial'' comprised 64 volumes containing 620 issues between them. Initially published as '' Air Defence Corps Gazette'' in 1939, it was renamed to ''Air Training Corps Gazette: The Journal of the Air Training Corps'' in 1941, resetting the issue numbering to Vol.1 No.1 in the process. In 1946, the title was changed to ''Air Reserve Gazette'', restarting the numbering at Vol.1 No.1 again. In January 1947 the numbering was reset to Vol.9 No.1, reflecting the cumulative volumes from 1939 to ease confusion. Aeroflight. In 1951 ''Air Pictorial & Air Reserve Gazette'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclave of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The United States asserts sovereignty over five Territories of the United States, major island territories and United States Minor Outlying Islands, various uninhabited islands in Oceania and the Caribbean. It is a megadiverse country, with the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest land area and List of countries and dependencies by population, third-largest population, exceeding 340 million. Its three Metropolitan statistical areas by population, largest metropolitan areas are New York metropolitan area, New York, Greater Los Angeles, Los Angel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helio Courier
The Helio Courier is a cantilever high-wing light Short Take-Off and Landing, STOL cargo aircraft, utility aircraft designed in 1949. Around 500 of these aircraft were manufactured in Pittsburg, Kansas, from 1954 until 1974 by the Helio Aircraft Company. The design featured four leading-edge slats that deployed automatically, and large trailing-edge flap (aeronautics), flaps. The engine was the 295 hp Lycoming O-480, Lycoming GO-480, which had a gearbox that lowered the output RPM and allowed for the use of a large three-bladed propeller to further improve takeoff performance. Couriers were famous for their takeoffs, which often took only a few plane lengths and then climbed at very high angles. During airshow demonstrations, it was common for the aircraft to actually take off across a runway. During the early 1980s, new owners (Helio Aircraft Ltd.) made an attempt to build new aircraft with direct-drive Lycoming engines, to replace troublesome and expensive geared engines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pilatus PC-6
The Pilatus PC-6 Porter is a single-engined STOL utility aircraft designed by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. First flown in 1959, the PC-6 was produced at Pilatus Flugzeugwerke in Stans, Switzerland. It has been built in both piston engine- and turboprop-powered versions, and was produced under licence for a time by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. After 604 deliveries in 63 years, Pilatus ended production in 2022. Development On 4 May 1959, the first prototype, powered by a 254 kW (340 shp) piston engine, made its maiden flight. In early May 1961, the first ''Turbo Porter'', powered by a Turbomeca Astazou II turboprop engine, performed its initial flight.Fricker 1962, p. 38. In comparison to its earlier piston engine-powered incarnation, the Astazou II-equipped ''Turbo Porter'' had an increased gross capacity and top speed, as well as benefitting from the engine's automatic handling functions. These benefits came at the expense of the greater initial purchase c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CASA C-212 Aviocar
The CASA C-212 Aviocar is a turboprop-powered STOL medium cargo aircraft designed and built by Spanish aircraft manufacturer Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA). It is designed for use by both civil and military operators. The C-212 was developed during the 1960s in response to the Spanish Air Force's need to replace much of its transport aircraft fleet; it was designed to perform numerous missions, including air medical services, paratrooper transport, and utility roles. Three years after its maiden flight on 26 March 1971, an order was secured from the Spanish Air Force. Several other customers emerged, initially from the military sector; but interest from civilian airliners also led CASA to develop a dedicated civil version of the C-212. Production of the type at the Seville facility would continue for 40 years, with 485 aircraft produced there. Indonesia emerged as a key early customer for the C-212. In 1975, Indonesian aircraft company IPTN successfully secured th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
