The winter was now in full swing, it has been snowing for days, the rivers were frozen, it was 05h00 and after scraping off the ice on my car’s windscreen, I was on the slippery road to Rotterdam Airport to fly a charter to Milan Malpensa Airport.
I was founder and co-owner of Travelair Air Charters in The Netherlands. I know the name is not quite original but it had to do. At that time we owned only one aircraft, a Piper PA31P, a pressurised cabin class aircraft with awfully powerful and expensive Lycoming geared 425Hp engines. Surely a mistake to buy this type, but it was cheap to buy at Hfl. 300 000.00. It was the 80’s, the currency was still Guilders. The previous owner of Oxford, England was glad to let it go. The discussions with my bank took a good 2 months, and then we were the proud owners of PH-DDH.
I slithered on the half frozen road and snow. The freezing level was not difficult to ascertain, it was right there at ground level. The village I lived in was 13 feet below sea level, Amsterdam Airport is 5 feet below sea level, but fortunately the dykes keep us dry. Our aircraft was parked outside so we had to be early, to remove snow and ice from wings and tail surfaces. We parked close to the avionics repair shop and they installed a 220 Volt connection to the outside of the aircraft. We put a heater with a timer in the cabin. By the time we arrived, at around 06h00, at least the inside was not like a freezer. Removing ice and snow is a cold job, with an outside temperature of minus 9C. Your hands become numb, until they start to thaw in the cabin and then they hurt. We ordered cans of coffee, tea and some sandwiches for the passengers at the airport restaurant. In that time, the airport fence was just a 1.20 meter high and it had gates, where everybody could walk through and wander around the airport. The notion of terrorists would not have crossed anyone's mind.
Denne historien er fra September 2017-utgaven av Global Aviator - South Africa.
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Denne historien er fra September 2017-utgaven av Global Aviator - South Africa.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Edelweiss, The Sound of Music, Grossglockner And Snow, Lots And Lots Of Snow
Austria is a wonderland of mountains, green pastures, lakes and . . . mountains
Zimbabwe Air Rally 2021 Part two
The following day we were up early to watch the departure air show once again, it is a large amount of razzle-dazzle to be honest.
Boeing 727 One Crash Per 2 30 6300 Flying Hours
The Boeing 727 is a narrow-body airliner. The first 727-100 rolled out 27 November, 1962, first flew on 9 February, 1963, and entered service with Eastern on 1 February, 1964.
Taking Flight On Another World
The Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, is a technology demonstration model to test powered, controlled flight on another world for the first time. It hitched a ride to Mars on the Perseverance rover. Once the rover reached a suitable "airfield" location, it released Ingenuity to the surface so it could perform a series of test flights over a 30-Martian-day experimental window.
Thales Completes Successful First Flight Of New UAS With Range Capabilities Of Over 100 Km
• With a hybrid propulsion system for optimum safety, endurance and discretion, Thales's UAS 100 long-range unmanned air system for civil, government and military users will be able to operate at ranges of more than 100 km. • UAS 100 combines world-class flight safety performance with the compact design required for unmanned air systems, and complies with future European regulations for drone flights over populated areas. • The system will meet the requirements of a broad range of missions, including infrastructure inspection, coastal surveillance, border surveillance, event security, search-and-rescue and military operations.
Dutch Squadron Finalises F-16 Operations
The Royal Netherlands Air Force 322 squadron based at Leeuwarden air force base terminated its operations on the F-16 “Fighting Falcon” early July (2021). With the gradual ongoing new deliveries of its successor, the Lockheed Boeing F-35A “Lightning II”, it was time for the squadron to focus only on the embedding of the new jet in the unit.
Double Ended Project: Where Is It Now
Traditionally, bush and STOL aircraft have been little more than modified certified trainers, with engine and prop upgrades, or the addition of fatter tyres. However there have been attempts to improve the safety aspect of this type of flying.
Dyke Delta Lookalike Fighter Kit Plane
The Dyke JD-2 Delta is an American homebuilt aircraft designed in the United States in the 1960s and marketed for amateur construction. It is a monoplane with retractable tricycle undercarriage and seating for four.
Pratt & Whitney Canada Advances Sustainable Hybrid-Electric Propulsion Technology, Contributing to Canada's Green Recovery Plan
Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC), plans to advance its hybridelectric propulsion technology and flight demonstrator programme as part of a $163M CAD investment, supported by the governments of Canada and Quebec.
Airbus showcases the A350-1000 for the first time in Russia at the MAKS 2021 International Aerospace Show
Airbus demonstrated its latest technological innovations and projects implemented in Russia at the International Aerospace Show which took place in Zhukovsky from 20 to 25 July.
