AFB Ysterplaat
| AFB Ysterplaat | |||||||||||
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Impala Mk I plinthed at AFB Ysterplaat
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Owner | Government of South Africa | ||||||||||
| Operator | South African Air Force | ||||||||||
| Location | Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa | ||||||||||
| In use | 1941–present | ||||||||||
| Commander | Col. A.J. de Castro | ||||||||||
| Occupants |
22 Squadron 35 Squadron |
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| Elevation AMSL | 49 ft / 16 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 33°54′23″S 018°29′42″E / 33.90639°S 18.49500°ECoordinates: 33°54′23″S 018°29′42″E / 33.90639°S 18.49500°E | ||||||||||
| Website | af.mil.za | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
 FAYP
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Air Force Base Ysterplaat (ICAO: FAYP) is an airbase of the South African Air Force. It is located in Cape Town, on the southwestern coast of South Africa. The name Ysterplaat is Afrikaans from the Dutch "Ysterplaats" meaning "Iron Place" or "Place of Iron" in English.
The base's motto is Fortiter In Re (Resolute in Action).
The site of AFB Ysterplaat was originally used as a civilian airfield, known as Maitland Aerodrome, from as early as 1929. African Air Transport (AAT) opened at Maitland in 1938, and was involved in training pilots for the Union Air Training Group's pupil pilot training scheme. With the coming of World War II, AAT moved to Tempe and Maitland was taken over by the SAAF. On 24 October 1941 AFS (Air Force Station) Brooklyn, as it was then known, opened as an SAAF unit. 3 and 9 Air Depots were transferred to Brooklyn for the repair and assembly of aircraft. In the first year of its existence, 790 aircraft were assembled at Brooklyn, consisting of 254 Airspeed Oxfords, 154 Miles Masters, 148 Avro Ansons, 79 Harvards, 78 Fairey Battles, 63 Martin Baltimores, nine Bristol Beauforts and five de Havilland Dominies. Curtiss Kittyhawks and Hawker Hurricanes were also assembled at a later stage, but by the end of the war, the depots were now disposing of aircraft for scrap or exporting them. In 1946, the first jet aircraft to reach South Africa, a Gloster Meteor III, was assembled and flown at Brooklyn. On 1 April 1949, AFS Brooklyn was renamed AFS Ysterplaat. It lies now literally in the heart of Cape Town, South Africa's Legislative Capital.
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