Botswana Independence Day Flypast

Saturday, September 30, 2023, saw Botswana celebrate 57 years of independence with the usual large event at the National Stadium. This included a flypast by the Botswana Defence Force and the Botswana Police Service, followed by a parachute jump into the stadium.

The event is a favorite of aviation enthusiasts in Gaborone as we get a week of rehearsals and a daily flypast at midday. This is always interesting to watch as formations are tweaked as various aircraft become available. 

One example was the relatively new PC-24 making its flypast debut, where for the first part of the week it stood in for the presidential Global Express.

Two more aircraft were making their public debut as well. The BPS’s Enstrom 408B eventually entered my photo archive. This aircraft was bought as a trainer/hour builder to reduce wear and tear on the Squirrels and can be often seen over Gabs, especially on a Friday morning - I just never seem to have my camera ready when it flies over my house! 

The ex-Wildlife AW109 was looking very smart in its VIP livery where it joined a similarly liveried 412 on transport duties from the stadium after the flypast.

The flypast on the day was a little late, after an initial run was abandoned following the early finish of events on the stadium. This was unfortunate as Saturday was the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures reaching 37C degrees in the shade - not that there was any shade outside of the main stand that had been given over to VIP’s. This meant that many people had left before the aircraft arrived.

However, they missed a treat as the Enstrom led a pair of BPS AS350’s and they were closely followed by a BDF formation of the AW109, the Bell 412, and a camouflaged AS350.

Hot on their heels was the fixed wing formation. This consisted of a King Air, a CASA 235, the PC-24, and the presidential jet flanked by four PC-7II’s. 

The trainers then banked away, before returning in a diamond formation low over the stadium.

As the flypast departed, a second 235 dropped its load of paratroopers from the BDF special forces. They made a spectacular arrival in the stadium to close proceedings. 

The final action of the day was the departure of the VIP helicopters. They raised huge clouds of dust as they lifted off from the dirt football fields behind the stadium.

Happy Birthday Botswana! 

For all the pics see- https://www.flickr.com/photos/119086573@N02/albums/72177720311484783/with/53224245348/