Ysterplatt Cape Town

[gilman]

I was in the Erection Unit 1950 working on the Harvards.I have several photos at the airfield and in the area

I was just leaving the RAF in 1955.
Nice view from Table Mountain.

It really was called that.:=

[sled dog]

Hmmm, an Erection Unit...the mind boggles :E

[Mark22]

Gilman,

Welcome to the forum.

May I ask if you have any shots of the Spitfires or the Spitfire wrecks at Ysterplaat.

Quite a number of the Spitfire wrecks gravitated to the scrap yard of 'S A Metals' in Cape Town and have subsequently been recovered with half a dozen or more being the starting point for airworthy restorations. RAF serials - TA805, RR232, MH603, BR601, SM520, TD314 etc.

PeterA

Spitfire Survivors (http://www.spitfiresurvivors.co.uk)

[Capetonian]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7593647/SPITFIRE.jpg

This was taken at an open day at Ysterplaat, I would guess it was about 1976 or 1977. If anyone needs to know I can find the orignal photo and it may have the date on the back.

[gilman]

What a charming photograph of the Spitfire and also othe interest being shown by all generations.

[gilman]

Sorry Mark but I never visited any scrap yards while I was at Ysterplatt.
We were very busy getting the planes out of the crates and into the air.
Any spare time I had was spent sailing in Cape Town harbour (by courtsey
of the SAAF who were fine friends) and sailing out to Roben Island for a snack in the cafe there before it became a prison.NO!! I never went into District 6. When I have found out how to post pictures I will do so

[henry crun]

gilman: Towards the top of the forum page there is a sticky thread titled Image Posting on Pprune, which will link you to instructions on how to post pics.

[Blacksheep]

NO!! I never went into District 6.I was born there. It was a nice multi-cultural place, according to my mother. The former Peninsula Maternity Hospital still stands, not far from the District 6 museum.

[Mark22]

"Sorry Mark but I never visited any scrap yards while I was at Ysterplatt."


Gilman

It was the pile of scrap Spitfires that were clearly building up at Ysterplaat, prior to sale to the scrap yard, that is my interest. :)

Mark22/PeterA

[gilman]

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h355/wdorman/HarvardSmallerImage.jpgThank you so much henry. There is always someone to help you when you need it you are worth your weight in gold!! You may soon be getting some pictures now that I have read that article.

[gilman]

:ok:http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h355/wdorman/ysterplatt1246-2.jpg (http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h355/wdorman/ysterplatt1246-2.jpg)

Sorry, to THORNHILL. Ternhill would have been a BIT far for a Harvard!!

[Warmtoast]

Harvards to 5 FTS (RAF Thornhill. S. Rhodesia)

As I mentioned in another thread:


...From my notes recorded whilst at 5 FTS, Harvards for the Rhodesian Air Training Group were shipped from the UK to Cape Town in South Africa and assembled at the RAF Erection Unit located at the South African Air Force base at Ysterplaat near Cape Town.

After assembly they were flight tested and then flown up to Rhodesia by instructors sent down from R.A.F. Thornhill to collect them. Standard procedure was for the pilots to travel down in an R.A.F. Thornhill based 3 Aerial Navigation School (3 ANS) Anson to Ysterplaat. Collect the newly assembled Harvards and fly them up to S. Rhodesia accompanied by the Anson for navigational purposes. From my notes the Harvards and Anson flew via Beaufortwest, Bloemspruit, Pretoria (Zwartkop) and R.A.F. Heany (4 FTS) and then on to 5 FTS...


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Thornhill/HarvardIIBs-FFlightline-up.jpg

And here's what they looked like when lined up at RAF Thornhill - 'F' Flight. 5 FTS. c.1951-53.

[gilman]

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h355/wdorman/Harvards066-1.jpg

When I get my wings I'll be able to fly.

[gilman]

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h355/wdorman/Harvards060-1.jpg

What a nice line up of Harvards. I prefere the plane aircraft without the numbers and letters. By the way how did F Flight become G Flight. We used to go up to Thornhill when I was at Heany for the inter-unit sports' I still remember the human chariot races.:ok:

[The Claw]

http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/5769/img0001ae.jpg

SA Metals.

[Warmtoast]

gilman

By the way how did F Flight become G Flight.

If you're referring to the letter G on the Harvard's fuselage, the G was the code for 5 FTS-based aircraft. G possibly because Gwelo was the nearest town (but why not T for Thornhill?). Heany based aircraft sported H as thier fuselage letter.

See below for Thornhill-based aircraft wearing letter G as their fuselage codes.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Thornhill/ChipmunkT10.jpg



http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Thornhill/Thornhill-TigerMoth2.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Thornhill/HarvardIIBs-PracticeforFatalFormati.jpg

[gilman]

As mentioned above - Inter Unit Sports Day at Thorn Hill 1950

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h355/wdorman/Harvards079.jpg


http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h355/wdorman/Harvards078.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h355/wdorman/Harvards077.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h355/wdorman/Harvards076.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h355/wdorman/Harvards075.jpg


http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h355/wdorman/Harvards071.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h355/wdorman/Harvards074.jpg

[gilman]

Mark 22,
Will be pleased to see this shot of the Spitfire at SA Metals. I wonder how many Spits finished up here?
namrod.

[Mark22]

Yes indeed.

It is BR601 and I photographed it there in 1981.

It was being restored to fly in NZ for a UK customer until recent times.

Ten Spitfires emerged from the SA Metals yard in Cape Town with identity provenance and all are listed in this directory. Spitfire Survivors (http://www.spitfiresurvivors.co.uk)

PeterA

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/Mark12/9-BR601SAMetalsCapeTownJuly1981ImagePeerArnold.jpg

[gilman]

Mark 22
What a marvelous photo of the Spitfire at SA metals. I like the way you have set the scene with Table Mountain in the background. Classic.

[aviate1138]

Pedantic but I had to clean up the pic a little……..

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn77/aviate1138/ScreenShot2011-08-24at170630.jpg

[gilman]

Dear Warm Toast
I received your letter and must say I have so far only managed two photos, Three if you count the one of me on the Harvard wing. I have been very busy but will try to equal your impressive shots or the planes at Thornhill. My favourite is the Tiger Moth with the pilot going solo.
namrod

[gilman]

Dear aviate1138,
It may seem pedantic but what an improvement,many thanks. Keep up the good work.
Best wishes namrod

[Warmtoast]

At the Cape with the R.A.F. — R.A.F. Erection Unit Ysterplaat

To supplement my incomplete PDF copies of “BUKA”, the 5 FTS, (R.A.F. Thornhill, Southern Rhodesia) station magazine, I’ve just acquired a complete printed collection of BUKA magazine. These cover the period June 1952 – June 1953 and contain a wealth of articles specific to life at R.A.F. Thornhill and the R.A.F. in general. Perusing these sixty-year old magazines I came across an article about the R.A.F. Erection Unit at Ysterplaat near Cape Town together with a photograph of the members of the unit. Author’s name is not given.


At the Cape with the R.A.F.

I wonder how many of my readers know the story of the Harvard aircraft at present on this Station? They were assembled by a special detachment working in the Union, at Cape Town. The aircraft were received from the U.K. stripped down to fuselage and engine, with mainplanes, empennage and all ancillary equipment removed, the whole thing being neatly packed into one large crate. This crate was the cause of the R.A.F. Erection Unit’s existence, for it happened to be just too large for rail transit to Rhodesia! In consequence, the aircraft had to be built up on the spot, and then flown to R.A.T.G.

The Erection Unit was formed in November, 1950, under the command of Flt./Lt. Smith-Carrington, with Flt./Lt. Houghton as Engineering Officer, and a staff of some 40 airmen, mainly two drafts from U.K., plus some postings from R.A.T.G.

We were based at a South African Air Force Station just outside Cape Town, bordering on Table Bay. As usual, with a new unit, we had our teething troubles, mainly slow delivery of equipment and tools; but, with the co-operation of the S.A.A.F., we had some semblance of organisation by the time our first crates arrived.

The crates were delivered from the docks by South African Railways tender. As there were only three of these tenders large enough to cope, we kept them busy at times! The crated aircraft were off-loaded, opened and the contents transported to the hangar. That all sounds pretty easy, but, believe me, it wasn’t, at least, not at first! At a later stage, we organised the use of an electric gantry, but in the first instance all we had was a Cole’s crane! The crane struggled and strained to lift the fuselage out of the crate, whilst a brave soul in the cockpit of the swinging aircraft lowered the undercarriage!

ASSEMBLY
Once inside the hangar, the wheels were set in motion, somewhat on the factory production line basis. The various component parts came in at one end, and were checked and serviced by the individuals concerned. Then the fuselage moved on to the empennage bay, where tail unit, etc., were fitted. Another move, and mainplanes and ancillary equipment were put in place. Then to the next bay, where engines were checked, prop, fitted, and the first run-up took place. Finally, the complete aircraft was checked, certified and wheeled out for air-test. The C.O. was also test pilot, and a member of the Unit always went up as passenger.

The initial progress was slow, but once the crates began to arrive in a steady stream, production stepped up to an average of three aircraft a week.

THE FLESH POTS
Life at the Station was good. Cape Town, with all its amenities, was within easy reach, and, of course, the seaside attractions of Table and False Bays were always well patronised! The hospitality of the S.A.A.F., many of whom were ex-R.A.F. types themselves, made even in-camp life pleasant.
One or two incidents stood out during the life of the Unit. The dock strike in U.K., early in 1951, caused a sudden stoppage in the delivery of crates. Then, suddenly, so many arrived that they were piling up at the docks, and S.A.R. spent a very busy period delivering them to us (not to mention our rush in erecting the aircraft!). The Christmas and New Year celebrations on the Station, which all the Unit will remember for a long time! The occasion when five Harvards were “lost” on the way up to Rhodesia, and there were some fevered brows for a day or so. And perhaps, most of all, the too frequent occasions when our pay cheques failed to arrive on time, and we had many nasty things to say about R.A.T.G. pay clerks!

It was a sad day when the task was complete, the last aircraft left on the long trip to Rhodesia, the Unit disbanded, and the personnel scattered to R.A.T.G. Stations. If the need for such a Unit arose again, I’m sure there would be no lack of volunteers from ex-Erectioneers!

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAFErectionUnitMembers1951.jpg

RAF Erection Unit at Ysterplaat arranged in front of the first completed Harvard

Postscript by Warmtoast

From other information the R.A.F. Erection Unit at Ysterplaat was in service until at least late 1951 and possibly later, but it’s not clear when it finally closed.

Mention is made of “The occasion when five Harvards were “lost” on the way up to Rhodesia, and there were some fevered brows for a day or so”. I was at R.A.F. Thornhill at the time, and recall the five Harvards getting lost on their way from Ysterplaat to R.A.F. Thornhill, having got lost they ran low on fuel and made “wheels-up” landings on the sea shore somewhere north of Durban, this took place about September/October 1951 - I think. I recall photos of the stranded Harvards appearing in the Rhodesian newspapers, but despite web searches I’ve not been able to find mention of this event anywhere apart from the article above which appeared in the November 1952 edition of “BUKA”, the R.A.F. Thornhill station magazine.

The procedure for delivery of the newly assembled and flight-tested Harvards from Ysterplaat for the 1,600-mile flight to the RATG was for five instructors to fly in the station Anson from Thornhill down to Ysterplaat, collect the Harvards and fly them up to Thornhill via Beaufortwest, Bloemspruit, Pretoria (Zwartkop) and R.A.F. Heany. The station Anson accompanied the five Harvards on their journey to offer navigational assistance. On this occasion something obviously went seriously wrong, which resulted in five new Harvards becoming stranded on the beach in a “wheels-up” state north of Durban. I would assume these Harvards were retrieved and later entered service with the RATG, but have no evidence of this.

I'd welcome any documentary evidence (photos/press cuttings etc) of the five Harvards that force-landed near Durban, but after sixty-plus years I don't hold out much hope.

[Sultan Ismail]

Seriously Wrong Navigation

The proposed route would have Durban 300 nautical miles to the South East of Zwartkop, and if the they had drifted East after Beaufort West then the Basutoland Highlands would would have impeded their progress.

Some error.


Beaufort West, a favourite destination, anyone remember or have pics of the Beau Geste Control Tower?