Tag Archives: aviation

Dutch Historic Jet Association’s Fouga

Gallery 16 September 2017 Niek van der Zande

During the Keep them Rolling anniversary event at Twente Airport one strange visitor arrived, that did not really fit in with the event. It was the Fouga Magister of the Dutch Historic Jet Association (DHJA), what did it do here?

Well, the answer was rather simple. The crew heard about the event and decided to have a look. Since the Fouga did not fit in with the event (it was buit after WW2), it was parked on the main platform of the airport and not with the event. The crew did however dress up for the occassion and perfectly blended in with the event.

Dressing in Style. Fons Hemmelder and Gerhard Westerdijk prepare for the flight back to Lelystad. — Dressing in Style. Fons Hemmelder and Gerhard Westerdijk prepare for the flight back to Lelystad Airport.

Later in the afternoon I was lucky enough to move to the main platform to take pictures of the Fouga. On this occassion I also met the pilots Fons Hemmelder and Gerhard Westerdijk, who flew here from Lelystad Airport. Both of them are former Koninlijke Luchtmacht pilots who later made the move to various airlines as captains. After their retirement they are now using their time to support the DHJA and fly the Fouga. Fons is very well known in the Dutch aviation scene (and abroad as well), as he was the NF-5 Solo Display pilot with Twenthe Airbase based 315 Squadron during 1981/1982. These skills come in very handy when displaying the Fouga during the various airshows. Gerhard used to fly the F-104G Starfighter with 322 Squadron, based at Leeuwarden.

Memories from a long gone time, the NF-5 has been phased out, 315 Squadron has been disbanded and Twenthe Airbase is now Twente Airport.

Both Gerhard and Fons receieved their initial jet training on the Fouga CM.170R Magister with the Belgian Air Force’s Voortgezette Vlieg Opleiding at Brustem. Here they both developed the love for this easy going whistle jet and they have been involved with the DHJA since its foundation in 1997.

The Fouga CM.170R Magister

The Fouga CM.170 Magister (and its navalised sister, the CM.175 Zephyr) was designed by Fouga’s engineersRobert Castello and Pierre Mauboisson. In 1948, development commenced at Fouga on a new primary trainer aircraft design that harnessed newly developed jet propulsion technology. The initial design was evaluated by the French Air Force (Armée de l’Air, AdA) and, in response to their determination that the aircraft lacked sufficient power for their requirements, was enlarged and adopted a pair of Turbomeca Marboré turbojet engines. First flying on 23 July 1952, the first production order for the type was received on 13 January 1954. Export orders for the Magister were received, which included arrangements to produce the type under license in Germany, Finland, and Israel. In addition, the related CM.175 Zéphyr was a carrier-capable version developed and produced for the French Navy.

While primarily operated as a trainer aircraft, the Magister was also frequently used in combat as a close air support platform by various operators. In the latter capacity, it saw action during the Six-Day War, the Salvadoran Civil War, the Western Sahara War, and the Congo Crisis. In French service, the Magister was eventually replaced by the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet. In total, 926 were built.

The Belgian Air Force operated 50 Magisters as primary trainers. The aerobatic team The Red Devils also used them as display aircraft. A small number of Magisters remained in use until September 2007, as flight maintenance aircraft for senior officers. The Belgian Air Force was the last country that used Magisters for full duty.

DHJAs Fouga Magister F-GLHF on the tarmac of Twente Airport

The Dutch Historic Jet Association currently owns two Fouga Magisters and is based at Lelystad Airport. The CM.170R with registration F-GLHF is a former French Air Force Magister with constructionnumber 406, which was delieverd to the Armée de l’Air in 1964. In 1997 the DHJA acquired this airframe and painted it in the striking red colours. The second airframe is former Belgian Air Force MT-37 (constructionnumber 312), which is not in flyable condition. This aircraft is painted in the coloursof the famour Red Devils aerobatics team.

Fons and Gerhard during the pre-flight check (walkaround) prior to startup

When preparing to depart from Twente Airport in the afternoon, the jet did not want to start up, even after several attempts. Since the saying “Better safe than sorry” particularly applies to aviation, Fons and Gerhard decided to abandon the attempts and park the Fouga in Hangar 9 (a former F-16 hangar) and return at later stage with the technicians. On Friday the 15th of September the Fouga could return to Lelystad after a faulty fuel-micro-pump was replaced.

Acknowledgements: I want to thank Fons Hemmelder and Gerhard Westerdijk for their time and the really nice conversations and explanation.

Aviation, Events, Transport

Keep Them Rolling (and Flying)

Gallery 11 September 2017 Niek van der Zande

During the weekend of 9 September 2017, the Keep Them Rolling association celebrated its 45th Anniversary in the region of Twente. During this weekend a WW2 Airfield was set up at Twente Airport.

Keep Them Rolling (KTR) is a Dutch association that has the objective to preserve and maintain Military vehicles that were built or used during the 2nd World War, more in particular maintaining the historical aspects and background associated with these vehicules as well as preserving and maintaining memories of events during the 2nd World War for future generations.

In order to do this, they have the following activities:

Preserve military vehicles, cars, trucks (softskinned or armoured), boats and planes.

Organise meetings and publish a Club Magazine.

Establish and upkeep contacts with Dutch and foreign associations with the same interests.

Spreading of Newsletters about the activities being held by the members of the association.

Help organise tours and processions or static shows in order to show to the general public the preserved material.

Give support to events organised by foreign associations.

Obtain facilities which might be usefull to the members.

Guide and be helpfull with renovations and work on objects restored.

Do all things possible which can be usefull to the association

(Source: www.ktr.nl)

Because KTR celebrated the 45th Anniversary, a special event was organized. Already 2 years ago, the organisation spoke to the owners of Twente Airport to see if there were possibilities to establish a fully operational WW2 Airfield. The airport management was enthusiastic from the start and soon the first plans were drafted. With the involvement of the Vliegclub Twente a location to create the Airfield was soon found.

During the course of 2017 the invitations were sent to the various aircraft operators and many of them agreed to participate in the event. Amongst others, DDA Classic Airlines would come an perform sightseeing flights during the weekend. Initially the Catalina PH-PBY would come as well, but unfortunately she had a landing accident some weeks before, which prevented participation.

When the 9th of September arrived, Twente woke up to a grey sky with low clouds and lots of rain. This is not the ideal scenario to fly historical aircraft and soon news came through that several participants had to cancel due to this weather. However, towards the end of the morning the meteorological conditions improved and soon the first participants, in the form of two KLu Historical Flight Harvards appeared over Twente’s runway. The aircraft were carefully marshalled onto the airfield and then pushed into the shelter area, where guests could see them up close.

Not much later the Dakota arrived from Schiphol airport, after which various sightseeing flights took place in the afternoon. Finally P-51D Mustang “Trusty Rusty” of the Early Birds Foundation arrived from Lelystad.

Throughout the day, various convoys with Keep Them Rolling vehicles visited Twente Airport, where the visitors could enjoy the whole airfield scenery, listen to live music from marching bands and singers, or just enjoy the sunshine and catch up with fellow enthusiasts. By the end of the ofternoon it was time to say goodbye, but to quote Dame Vera Lynn, maybe “We’ll meet again”?

Aviation, Transport

AOPA Fly In at Twente Airport

Gallery 19 July 2017 Niek van der Zande

On the 8th of July Twente Airport played host to the annual Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Fly In.

One of the parking spaces at Twente Airport

During this event, more than 100 aircraft found their way to Twente Airport, where they could enjoy lectures, an aviation market and a nice barbecue.

The excellent weather during the day made this a very enjoyable event. Twente had not seen that many visiting aircraft, since the last Royal Netherlands Airforce (KLu) Open House in 2003. This meant that all possible help was needed and provided.

Below is an impression of some of the visiting aircraft

Aviation

Large scale drone testing at Twente Airport

Gallery 16 July 2017 Niek van der Zande

During the first week of July the NLR (Netherlands Aerospace Centre) used Twente Airport to perform the first tests with the XCalibur+ Jet Trainer, a certified drone, according to the ASRPAS1 standards. The jet trainer is being used to gain experience on flying jet-powered drones.

The XCalibur+ is prepared for the first flight

The XCalibur+ jet trainer is based on a model aircraft, where several modifications have been applied to bring the aircraft onto ASRPAS1 specifications. The drone can fly on various speeds and is remotely piloted. It was the first time that the NLR flew this drone. Four NLR employees have been specially trained in Germany in order to fly jet powered, fixed wing, drones. Furthermore, the trials are supervised by a pilot with expertise on real jets and drone jets.

The experience gained with the jet trainer is essential for future NLR big drone activities. For some time, NLR has been working on the development of a large remote controlled jet plane measuring 4 meters in length and 4 meters span and weight over 100 kg. It does this within the framework of the EU Cleansky 2 SCALAIR (SCALed AIRcraft) project, in which a flying scale model of an existing airplane is being developed, built and tested. The purpose of this scale model is to show connection between the scale behavior of the scale model and the full-scale aircraft.

NLR chooses Twente Airport because this location is unique. ‘The NLR has the Netherlands RPAS Test Center (NRTC) in Marknesse, however, for the first flights with the jet trainer and other big drones, Twente Airport is chosen because of the availability of a long hardened runway, an obstacle free environment and relatively little air traffic. In addition, Technology Base, located at Twente Airport, offers the environment where innovative entrepreneurship and a lot of space to experiment together, “said Jan Willekens of NLR. Within the Dutch Drone Platform, NLR works closely with Space53 and the other proposed Drone test locations in the Netherlands to promote Drone development and use.

Aviation, Transport

Twente Airport Opened

Gallery 16 April 2017 Niek van der Zande

On Thursday 30 March 2017 Twente Airport was officially opened as a civilian airport. During a ceremony the authority was officially transferred from the Dutch Ministry of Defence to the Province of Overijssel.

Colonel Apon officialy hands over the authority to Eddy van Hijum

More than 250 guests attended the ceremonies surrounding this transfer of authority, one of them was Sharon Dijksma, secretary of Infrastructure and Environment. In her speech she referrred to the pioneering powers for which the Twente region is well known. “Twente Airport will be a regional airport with regional characteristics and a national innovative agenda”.

Secretary Dijksma issues the safety certificates to airport director de Groot

Twente Airport will focus on 3 aspects of aviation: business and small aviation, testing and the settling of aviation related companies. This was already shown earlier with several tests that were executed at Twente Airport (see The Runway is Wet and NLR Tests at Twente Airport) and after the opening the NLR also announced that it would start testing large scale drones at Twente Airport. The settling of companies has also started with AELS. AELS is a company that specializes in the dismantling of aircraft and selling the reclaimed parts. They will use Twente Airport as a location to dismantle wide-body aircraft, such as the Airbus 340 and Boeing 747. The dismantling of aircraft like this takes approximately 2 months per airframe.

The signing of the handover documents between Colonel Apon and airport director de Groot

After a round-table discussion the moment came for Colonel J.P. Apon to officially transfer the authority to respresentative Eddy van Hijum. During this transfer the Koninklijke Luchtmacht said goodbye in a fitting way, two F-16’s made a fly-by over the runway that they had used for many years.

Airport Director Meiltje de Groot was hopefull for the future and commented: “The last couple of months we already received several requests to land at Twente Airport. Now we are really open for business! We already have several aircraft booked for the coming months and for example, the NLR will use Twente Airport to test their X-calibur drone.”

One of the visiting aircraft was this O-2 from Teuge

Earlier on the day several aircraft had already landed at Twente Airport to take part in the official opening. A special visit was made by a CH-47D Chinook from the Koninklijke Luchtmacht, it gave a small performance show for the spectators that had gathered on the Spotters Hill.

A Gallery of visiting aircraft:

Aviation

Twente Airport re-opened

Gallery 2 May 2016 Niek van der Zande

The 1st of May 2016 was a historical date for Twente Airport with the arrival of the first commercial flight since 9 years.

With the departure of the Koninklijke Luchtmacht on 7 December 2007 military use of the airport ceased. As of 1 January 2008 the airport has been closed for civil aviation as well, pending governmental agreement on the future of the airport. On 16 June 2010 the province of Overijssel agreed on a spatial plan including an airport.

On 1 December 2010 the ownership of the airport grounds was transferred to the Twente region and the city of Enschede. Though it was attempted to find a party interested in operating the airport commercially, it was announced on 4 December 2012 that despite three parties showing interest in this proposal, none of them made a bid to operate it. In March of 2014 the government proposed that the airport could re-open for General Aviation users in 2015, and commercial traffic in 2016. Movements would be limited to 22.000 a year under the proposal primarily for noise abatement. However, in June of 2014 both the provincial government and the city of Enschede abandoned the plan to re-open the airport for commercial traffic. The future of the airport remained uncertain.[8] In August 2015 it was announced that Belgian aircraft recycling firm Aeronextlife intended to start using the airport to scrap aircraft. As part of the plan, Aeronextlife would become responsible for the costs of certain vital services required for airport operation, such as a fire fighting presence during aircraft operations.

Besides the arrival of Boeing 737 aircraft for scrapping, additional traffic allowed at the airport include cargo aircraft to transport airplane parts, business charter aircraft of a number of operators that requested permission to use the airfield, a limited amount of smaller general aviation aircraft and gliders. Approval was granted, and flights to Twente Airport resumed one the first of May 2016 with the landing of Cessna Citation Sovereign PH-HGT, owned by ASL – Air Service Liège, coming from Manchester, which departed for Aosta later that day. Plenty of enthusiasts were present on the newly erected spotters hill to witness this historical moment.

Aviation

Getting on my Nörves

Gallery 24 July 2015 Niek van der Zande

During the month of July the Büchel based Tornados from Taktisches Luftwaffen Geschwader 33 were temporarily deployed to Nörvenich Airbase (close to Cologne). The reason for this deployment was the fact that Büchel’s runway was being renewed.

NvdZ_ETNN_15072015-07 — A TLG 33 Tornado crew prepares for another mission from Nörvenich Airbase.

Having both Eurofighters (Eufis) and Tornados (Tonis) operating from the same, very approacheable, base was a good reason to plan a day at the fence.

A TLG33 Tornado blasts away from Nörvenich's Runway 25, using full afterburners. — A TLG 33 Tornado blasts away from Nörvenich’s Runway 25, using full afterburners.

Aviation

Paris Air Show 2015

Gallery 27 June 2015 Niek van der Zande

During the week of 15 to 21 june 2015, the 51st edition of the Paris Air Show (Salon international de l’aéronautique et de l’espace) was held at Le Bourget airport. This Air Show takes place every 2 years and counts as one of the largest trade shows for the aviation industry. Also this year, the show was visited by over 150,000 professional visitors as well as more than 3,000 journalists from over 80 countries.

This year’s edition of the Paris Air Show showed 1,017 order commitments and 206 options, which leads to a total of 1,223 orders. Of these orders, 531 went to Airbus and 350 to Boeing.

Traditionally the Paris Air Show is the home show for Airbus, as well as companies from the French defence industry like Dassault, Thales and MDBA. After this year’s merger with Eurocopter, the Airbus booth was the largest booth on the grounds and showed a wide spectrum of aircraft, ranging from the electrically powered E-Fan, through the Caracal helicopter, up to the enormous A.380 airliner. The booth also featured a full-scale mock-up of the new H160 helicopter. The H160 made it’s first flight from Marseille in the week prior to the Paris Air Show. Airbus also showed it’s goods in full force during the flying display. After the may 2015’s fatal crash in Seville and it’s subsequent grounding, the A.400M was back in action, showing an impressive flying display.

The Airbus A.400M waits at the beginning of the runway whilst the A.380 completes its display.

Due to the sequestration, the United Stated Department of Defence had to miss out on the 2013 edition of the Paris Air Show, but this year they returned in full force, showing aircraft such as the A-10 Thunderbolt II and the P-8 Poseidon on the static display.

US Navy P-8 Poseidon at Paris Air Show 2015

A US Air Force F-16C from Aviano Airbase

A USAF F-16C together with a US Navy P-8 Poseidon

A Davis-Monthan based A-10 Thunderbolt II

An interesting newcomer was the Chengdu/PAC JF-17 fighter aircraft from Pakistan. This fighter aircraft was developed jointly by China and Pakistan. Pakistan produces 58% of the aircraft, China produces 42% and the aircraft is powered by a Klimov RD-93 engine. There are plans though to equip the next version of the JF-17 with a different engine, as the RD-93 (developed from the MiG-29’s RD-33) produces too much smoke. For this year’s Paris Air Show, the Pakistan Air Force brought 3 aircraft. One featured in the static show, while the other was shown during the flying display. The 3rd JF-17 featured as a backup aircraft. At the end of the show, Air Commodore Khalid Mahmood of the Pakistan Air Force announced that the first export-order was signed with an undisclosed Asian country.

The JF-17 in the static show displaying the weapons it can carry.

Even though Airbus dominated the show, Boeing also made sure it’s presence was noted. In the weeks before the Air Show a video was already loaded onto YouTube, showing the complete display that the Boeing 787-9 would fly in Le Bourget. This display featured a near-vertical take-off and the audience was not left disappointed.

Boeing displayed the B.787-9 Dreamliner in the colours of Vietnam Airlines

A new player in the market for small airliners is Bombardier. In Paris the Canadian company showed it’s new C-series with the CS100 and the CS300. With these aircraft Bombardier focuses on the market that is currently served by aircraft such as the Airbus 320 and the Boeing 737.

On the Ground

Le Bourget always has many gems in the static display, some hidden away behind flagpoles, tents and banners. Below is an impression of what could be found on the ground.

Up in the Air

Next to a huge showground for the static display, Le Bourget would not be complete without a flying display. Here are some pictures from this years show.