The remaining handful of C-47TPs in service with 35 Squadron are in line for maintenance with Armscor seeking suitable suppliers of parts.
The venerable C-47s have been in service with the SA Air Force (SAAF) since 1943 in configurations ranging from transport (cargo and passengers) to jump aircraft for Parabats, and maritime patrol and surveillance.
The upgrade to turbine from piston engines in 1994 was seen as a short term replacement in the maritime role following retirement of the Shackletons, military aviation enthusiast and historian Dean Wingrin told defenceWeb.
That no replacement platform for maritime patrol and surveillance was ever acquired means the remaining nine C-47TPs, with the TP suffix indicating “turbo prop”, still fill that role to a certain extent today.