Flying along through History

After missing the chance to fly in a warbird at Egmond Vintage Wings' Open Hangar Day, I went back to the airfield nearly two months later. The weather wasn't great, it was cold and grey. But hey, I got to fly along in an historic plane! The Klemm I originaly wanted to fly was repaired, so this was the plane of choice. This KL35D (D-ECCI) was build in 1940, and used during the war to train future Luftwaffe pilots. It was a strange feeling to be sitting where once these pilots sat before they went to war in Messerschmitts, Junckers, Focke Wulfs and Heinkels... It was quite exciting to go into the air in an open cockpit. I hadn't flown in many planes back then. And there was not a lot plane around you. But after a short feeling of uneasiness it was beautiful! I had a GoPro on my wrist and a photo camera in my other hand. Shame about the grey weather, but that's what to be expected in October.

After flying in the 'Dutch Dakota' I was looking for more historic aircraft to fly along in. I found Egmond Vintage Wings (EVW) in Hoogeveen. That airfield is reasonably close to where I live. And EVW have some very nice planes. In August of 2020 they had an Open Hangar Day with an opportunity to fly along in one of their warbirds. Ofcourse I immediately bought a ticket. It was during the days of covid, so only 250 people could come to the field. I was lucky to be one of them. There were some very beautiful planes. EVW was (re)building a Fokker DXXI fighter as used by the Dutch Airforce at the outbreak of the Second World War. There was a very pretty Ryan PT-22, a Bücker Bü 131 and many more. I wanted to fly in a Klemm KL35D. Unfortunately the plane had a mechanical issue, so she wouldn't fly. The other option was to fly in a Fairchild PT-26a. But because that was the only available plane, the wait was longer. And then the weather changed. There was a lot of rain coming, wi...

Fast Forward to 2019. Looking for an alternative for the missed flight in the Catalina, I found the Dutch Dakota Association. It was possible to book a flight aboard PH-PBA. This Dakota has quite a bit of history. It was build in 1944. It took part in Operation Overlord. She dropped paratroopers near the beaches of Normandy. Then in September of the same year, she towed a glider during Operation Market Garden. Then after the War, the plane was gifted to HRH Prince Bernard, the husband of future Queen Juliana. The Prince found out pretty quick that owning a Dakota is quite an expensive hobby. So he gave the plan to the Dutch government, with the condition that he be allowed to fly her any time he wanted. That sounds like a nice deal! As a government plane, PH-PBA flew during the Berlin Airlift. Later in life she became a plane used for scientific work. After hanging is a museum, she finally became part of the fleet of the Dutch Dakota Association. So I picked a flight. I wanted to start...

 In the summer of 2016 I saw something about flying along in the Dutch Catalina PH-PBY. The plane would do two 'touch and go' landings on the IJsselmeer, and then land again on the airfield it took off from: Lelystad. That sounded very interesting to me, a lifelong plane fanatic. A friend of mine, Erik, was also into historic planes, and flying boats in particular. So we planned to go together in September. This was very exciting. So the day came closer. The evening before the flight however I got a message that the flight was cancelled due to the weather conditions (choppy water on the lake). It was impossible to plan another flight that year, but there's always next year... 2017: During the first half of the year there was no suitable moment for us to fly, so we aimed for the second half. But in August 2017 the Catalina had to make an emergency landing due to a failing (stuck) nose wheel. She landed on her belly, doing quite some damage to the hull. So that was it for 201...