UPAeSSA opens with a bang!

Genl. Barker was the test pilot who flew the very first Cheetah at the Test Flight and Development Centre (TFDC) based at AFB Overberg in the Western Cape, and very fittingly, flew the very last flight at the same location. He has recently retired from the Air Force after a very long and successful career. He now heads up the Aeronautical department at the CSIR. 

During this lecture the audience was awed with the transformation of this aircraft from the mirage I to the last cheetah in service the Cheetah D. This transformation included the upgrading of the cockpit to include head-up display and better avionics, this shape of the aircraft was also slightly altered by adding canards to improve stability at high speed and in high gravity force manoeuvres. The aircraft was also given the ability to refuel during flight with a refueling probe. The original mirage engine was replaced by a larger engine from a Mig-23.

At the end of this remarkable lecture the new committee of the UPAeSSA was voted in, please see the "about us" link to see the members of the committee and the "contact us" link to view information about the committee.