It shows the plane I had my first flight in! How could I resist?
It shows a Noordduyn TA-16 Harvard IIb of the SKHV (Stichting Koninklijke Luchtmacht Historische Vlucht) that was based in an old hangar in a corner of Gilze-Rijen Airbase in the Netherlands. I came along as a passenger on a flight to Antwerp and back, and got to fly part of the way as well. Wonderful experience. In contrast, my second flight, a while later, saw me on a Canadian DC-10 all the way to Sydney. That was exciting too, but in a totally different way...
Anyway, here are some pics of me recreating that first flight:
Flying over Prinsenbeek after leaving Gilze Rijen
Crossing the border into Belgium (I never realised that you could see it this clearly from the air, amazing!)
Coming in to land in Antwerp.
On the platform. The pilot took off to talk to someone and left me to guard the plane. I was forever explaining that no, it was not a military plane, bomb racks and fake machineguns notwithstanding. (it was actually this colour because it had been used as a Focke Wulf in the movie 'Soldaat van Oranje').
Leaving Antwerp again.
It is a nice model, but I distinctly remember having my own panel in the back! (Even though I could hardly read the instruments due to vibrations)
The weather deteriorated on the way back, so no more stuntflying! (We did do an Immelman on the flight to Antwerp, most disorientating!)
Approaching Gilze Rijen. Note that the base is a military secret, and as such not recognizable...
I nearly killed myself on the base, as there was a road crossing the runway, conveniently equipped with traffic lights....with the red at the bottom! Being colourblind proved to be a definite handicap, I do believe they changed the lights later...
So there you have it, my first ride on an airplane ever! I hope you enjoyed it, I most certainly did!
