85 Combat Flying School is a unit of the

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

(SAAF). It is a jet flight-training and combat operations school, it was first formed in 1982 at AFB Pietersburg (It was known as Advanced Flying School from 1967). History of 85 CFS
www.af.mil.za, Retrieved 2013-10-06 It relocated to

AFB Hoedspruit Air Force Base Hoedspruit is an airbase of the South African Air Force. It is located adjacent to the Kruger National Park. In the late 1990s an unused portion of the base was converted into a civilian airport known as Eastgate Airport. It wa ...

on 1 January 1993 due to the closure of AFB Pietersburg. The school also has a wartime reserve role, although it has publicly been stated that the school will not be used operationally unless a very urgent need arises. Aircraft used previously : * Mirage IIIEZ/DZ/D2Z * Canadair Sabre Mk.6 1975 - 1980 * Atlas Impala Mk.I/II 1972 - 2005 The school has been relocated to

AFB Makhado Air Force Base Makhado , formerly Air Force Base Louis Trichardt, is an airbase of the South African Air Force. It is the SAAF's northernmost base, situated at Louis Trichardt near the border with Zimbabwe, as well as being its most modern, an ...

from

into a new purpose-built facility with state-of-the-art computer-aided flight training instruments. The school shares this facility with the SAAF Gripen community. During October 2007 there were several pilots that went solo on the Hawk Mk.120. The squadron also participated in the annual South Africa National Defence Force preparation exercises and fired live cannon rounds and dropped live bombs. They also had a successful weapons deployment exercise to AFB Bloemspruit in 2007.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Squadrons of the South African Air Force Military education and training in South Africa Training units and formations of air forces Military units and formations established in 1982 Military history articles needing attention to coverage and accuracy