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Aircraft marking (Uganda)

image by Jarig Bakker, 27 Jun 2004

Aircraft marking

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Aircraft marking

Uganda in Album2000: Aircraft Marking.
Roundel of black-yellow-red-black, the last containing the crested crane head (black/white only?)
Željko Heimer, 29 Aug 2002

[cos98] reports that a small Police Air Wing was operative between 1962 and 1964 and used the national flag as fin flash. In 1964 the Ugandan Air Force was formed.

The story of the Ugandan Air Force (UAF) is a great deal a story about former Ugandan President Idi Amin. The former sergeant-major in the British Territorial Army and boxing champion, became Chief of Staff in 1965 and invited the Israeli Air Force to help create the Uganda Air Force. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) sent 9 training planes (C.M 170) and instructors to assist. The honourable Chief of Staff was invited to Israel to do a quick parachuting course. He had one jump and refused to do it again, but got his wings which were always on his sparkling uniforms. In 1971 he led a coup d'état and took control of the country. He immediately asked the IAF for advanced fighters for his air force, but that request was declined so he turned instead to Libya which supplied him with no less than 44 MiG's (17 &21), which spent most of their time on the ground due to lack of pilots and maintenance. However, those MiG's were used by the UAF to attack Tanzania in 1972.
On 4 July 1976, during operation "Kadur ha'Ra'am" (Thunderbolt), later called "Mivtza Yehonathan" (Operation Jonathan, after Lt.Col. Yhonathan Netanyahu who commanded it and was killed in the process), the Israeli troops destroyed 11 of these MiG's to prevent any danger to the IAF cargo planes.
Two years later, Idi Amin was removed from office and the UAF came to be a small force of light planes and helicopters.

In 1964, the UAF adopted a roundel comprising a inner black disc charged with the head of the crested crane and red-yellow-black rings.
Another marking is the plain national flag on the tail.
Dov Gutterman, 27 Jun 2004