BankGiro Loterij / Aviodrome Airtour 2009
@ Schiphol
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Scenic flight with Catalina PH-PBY
© Ruud Leeuw|
BankGiro Loterij / Aviodrome Airtour 2009
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 The BankGiro / Aviodrome Airtour 2009 visits Amsterdam IAP 'Schiphol', 15Aug09 |
 Saab Safir breaks formation The BankGiro Loterij Airtour has been organized to celebrate the anniversary of 100 years motorized aviation in the Netherlands. In a series of weekends this circus of vintage aircraft visited various airports in Holland. |
The name Canso versus Catalina explained: Something about construction numbers (c/n or msn) of Catalina's or Canso's: |
 Douglas DC-2 'PH-AJU' is a unique flying vintage aircraft, always a welcome sight |
 Saab Safir PH-RLA (c/n 91367) also joins the festivities |
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 PBY-5A Catalina c/n 300, on finals for runway 22 at Schiphol |
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 As yet DDA Airlines has its homebase at Amsterdam IAP and it played host to the Airtour. DC-3 PH-PBA also flew sightseeing flights on this beautiful day |
 There was a remarkable collection of other vintage planes Terry Fletcher provided the details of this classic: a Stearman 308, supposedly the same one as THIS ONE.. |
 Piper PA-18-95 Super Cub, D-EAEB (c/n: 18-3085) |
 Aviodrome director Arno van der Holst flew in this Piper J3 Cub. This Piper Cub was built in 1940 and delivered on July 09th, was mainly used as a trainer. Its last flight before preservation was made in march 1988, in Californië. Its present tailnumber is N16623. I had come across this Cub on a visit to the Aviodrome, CLICK HERE.. |
I did not have a clue what type of aircraft this was, but I got help! Paul H Eikelenboom identified it for me: "Yak-3U ( replica) '48' RA3482K with Dakata engine." |
 In June 1969 it was registered in Germany as D-ELKG. On March 9, 2004 it was registered in the Netherlands as PH-ENJ. In 2005 it was painted in the markings of the Royal Netherlands Air Force 'R-170'. [Source: www.1000aircraftphotos.com ] |
 It became a little more difficult to park all the visiting aircraft |
 It was such a beautiful day I decided to make use of seats being sold on the Catalina. It had been my intention for years now but the opportunity slipped away many times. Today it all came together! |
 Dipsticking.. the Catalina is being checked for departure |
 The Fokker S.11 was another plane which offered scenic flights. Tempting, but for another time. |
 Esther Jacobs took care of us in the cabin. Note the little hatch we had to crawl through.. |
 Airborne, wow! The Catalina used very little runway to get airborne. |
 Heading for 'Pampus' (I think), we flew over parts of Amsterdam |
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 The blisters offer a tremendous view. At a price: bumpy ride on a hot day, so I bumped my head several times |
 Bert Huizinga and Chris Goezinne in the driving seats |
 Hey Chris, bet this is more fun than flying a 747, eh? Don McDonald, former Catalina 'driver' wrote me: "Those photos brought back lots of memories of the 'pig-boat'... If you get a chance like that again, ask the crew about the emergency gear-lowering procedure... Just for fun, on a long boring flight, we used to do time trials on how long it would take; best time was just under 10 minutes if I recall correctly and it took a lot of practice to be that fast!" |
 When they tell you they are going to do a 'Splash and Go', you have no idea... Well, it is a thrill !! |
 Only a flying boat can offer this view.. Actually we are rotating out of the water. Esther has seen it all before, but she later told me there are so many varieties of water (waves) conditions and wind that each landing & take off is a little different. |
 Banking left, another view from the blister (but tied to our seats) |
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 Visit the website! |
 An overshoot and circling, looking at Schiphol-East (maintenance area), to line up for runway 22 again |
 On Terra Firma again.. Admiring the sleek lines of this superb flying boat (actually an amphibian, because the early Catalina had no fixed gear which made it a flying boat). |
 I have to watch my figure for any future flights.. |
 It's been a blast! |
Sad to note that the flight season for 2010 was cancelled by the 'Stichting Exploitatie Catalina PH-PBY', for failing to obtain in time the required certificates and permits. In 2017 a landing incident also grounded the Catalina for almost a year and brought expensive repairs. |
On 28Jul2018 the sad news became known: The Dutch Catalina, Stichting Exploitatie Catalina, will cease operations at the end of this season and PH-PBY will be offered for sale... The incident last year brought costly repairs and took a long time to complete, grounding the Catalina for almost a year. While the airworthiness was fully restored, it showed that the margins were small and a sound utilization cannot be met in the present conditions. A factor in the evaluation was the shortage of qualified engineers plus the fact that the Dutch Government never was enthusiastic about vintage aircraft flying and have put in place new rulings, considering operations with paying passengers a commercial operation with all that it may entail (reducing tax benefits). Hence the decision to cease the activities and sell the PBY-5A; it is not likely they will find a buyer in the Netherlands, probably not even in Europe. |
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More propliner action at- AVIODROME DEC. 2003 PROPS TURNING AT NIGHT AVIODROME VISITS IN 2006 2007 2008 AVIODROME, 02Apr09 |
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