South African Airways Museum Society 3.85

The South African Airways Museum Society is an aviation museum based at Rand Airport in Germiston, Gauteng, South Africa. The museum was founded in 1986 and houses a collection of South African Airways memorabilia such as photos and aircraft scale models. The museum also has a collection of static display aircraft including two Boeing 747s donated to them in 2004 and 2006. The museum is funded by entrance fees to the museum and by renting out the aircraft interiors for corporate functions. The flying aircraft of the museum are known as the South African Historic Flight collection, the aircraft are owned by the South African Airways Museum Society and are leased to the company Skyclass Aviation, who operate them for charter usage.SAA museumThe South African Airways Museum Society was officially founded in 1986 by individuals working at South African Airways and other parties who were interested in the preservation of SAA history and South African civil aviation. The interest in starting a museum began when SAA bought a Junkers Ju-52 in 1981, the museum restored the aircraft to flying condition and have been active in preserving SAA history ever since.In March 2002 the SAA Museum requested that an ex-SAA Boeing 747 be made available. Two 747s were donated to the museum by SAA, a Boeing 747-244 and a Boeing 747SP. On 5 March 2004, the 747-244, known as 'Lebombo', was delivered to the SAA Museum from SAA Technical at Johannesburg International Airport. It landed on Rand Airport's runway 11, which is 15m wide and 1712m long at an altitude of 1671m, without the use of reverse thrust. The flight had been postponed twice because of bad weather. The 747SP, nicknamed "Maluti" was delivered on 30 September 2006 and also landed on runway 11.