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KAT 14 and 22
Multiple choice possibilities: one Dove H was transformed in a kind of light bomber,
The other could shoot from the side with a mi.30 or .50 when side door was removed.
There were also 2 DC3, KAT 02 and 03 and some Dornier. One of the Fouga ended at
Luanda in Angola in 1963 together with some other Avikat planes (last picture on this page).
The information received from Mr. Gülstorff and
Germany in 2017 included a letter from the Foreign
Office of West Germany of 5 October 1961 stating that
the “first plane of the order” had been flown on 21
August 1961 by a German pilot together with the
Belgian importer to Elisabethville. A later document
from the Federal Ministry of Economy of 24 November
1961 appeared to confirm that the first Dornier DO-28
took off from Munich-Riem international airport on 21
August and flew to Katanga through Italy, piloted by a
Mr. Schäfer, Dornier’s company pilot. Furthermore this
plane together with a Dove were modified into light
bombers before September 1961. This makes the story
of the pilot called wrongly Beukels very weak. Leif
Hellström, states that there did not appear to be Dornier
aircraft equipped with bomb racks available to the
Katangan Air Force before 28 September 1961.
However, this information conflicts with other
information discussed above, which is consistent
across multiple sources.
Note: Il suffit d’ajouter ici que depuis le mois d’aout
toute une série de bombes furent livrés à l’Avikat,
sortant des ateliers de l’avenue Industrielle. Ma mère
avec Mme van Dijk et la femme de Jimmy Hedges
travaillaient pour le gouvernement du Katanga. Le
ministre Kimba avait demandé de confectionner mille
drapeaux Katangais quelques mois avant le premier
anniversaire de l'indépendance et de la foire
internationale. Une autre commande concernait les
ateliers du mari de Maria Van Dijk pour la fabrication de
bombes pour le Fouga Magister, les Dove, Dornier ou
autres avions éventuels. Le pilote Jimmy Hedges
donnant des conseils techniques et l’union minière
comme fournisseurs des matériaux (excepté les
détonateurs).