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longer wings to give greater lift. The machine was kept in a hangar on the Foreshore
Promenade and was moved to the water’s edge by being slid over specially laid railway

lines. Flying, as always, was weather-dependent and the public were informed of a
pending exhibition by the sounding of hooters and the launching of rockets from the

Bay. In addition, a banner was spread between Garlicks and the Vacuum Oil Co.

building at the bottom of Adderley Street. The exhibition was a great success and many
hundreds of spectators paid a shilling each to be admitted to the Promenade, where they

pressed against the railings, while thousands of others watched from other parts of the
Foreshore. Paterson demonstrated his complete control over the machine by flying

lengthy circuits around the bay, soaring aloft, swooping low, hopping over boats in the
bay, doing figures-of-eight, and skimming perfectly balanced a few inches above the

water for considerable distances. (Figs. 3.18 - 3.21). General Beyers, Commandant-

General of the Citizen Force, who had been charged by General Smuts to investigate
military aviation, was impressed by what he had seen and was given an extended flight

over the Bay and the city.

In July 1913 Paterson formed the Paterson Aviation Syndicate with its field at

Alexandersfontein, Kimberley. The Government’s decision later that year to enrol ten
pupil military pilots put the “Military Aviation School” temporarily on its feet.

However, the Union Government’s interest apparently waned and he returned to
England, and six of his ten pupil pilots were sent there to complete their training.

Strange sightings

In 1914, South Africans sighted unknown objects which they compared to Zeppelins. In
that year there was not a single airplane capable of flying in the entire Union of South

Africa; there wasn’t even an airfield. Yet reports persisted despite official ridicule. In
January “a powerful searchlight attached to an aeroplane” crossed over Pretoria. It made

a swishing sound as it circled overhead. There were no other published reports until 20

August when Cape Town and the surrounding area were visited by two objects “like
large pieces of wood”. During the next 10 days thousands of South Africans from Cape