A unique event took place during the weekend of 27 & 28 May 2006: Douglas DC-3 vintage airliners flew in from all directions into Lelystad Airport (EHLE), Netherlands.
These 2 days we heard radial engines triumph over modern turbine props!

The people and volunteers of the Aviodrome Aviation Theme Park excelled yet again in bringing aviation history alive
to the masses of this modern day and age!

Aviodrome's PH-DDY sits in the background, while DC-3's LN-WND of Norway and K-682/OY-BPB of Denmark take prime parking places on Aviodrome's ramp.

While in their glory days it was quite common to witness a scene like this, it now takes a huge effort by many enthusiasts to make something like this happen: the people of the Aviodrome and those who support the visiting classic airliners I salute them whole-heartedly!

See LN-WND participating to 'D-Day 75' - Daks over Duxford (2019), commemorating D-Day's 75th anniversary.

Now isn't this a sight for sore eyes: DC-3's lining up behind each other !

Air Atlantique failed to appear as well, still, an impressive number of DC-3's did show up and the ramp showed a nice line up as can be seen here.
In the background DC-3 look-alike Lisunov Li-2 HA-LIX can be seen: a unique appearance here in Holland!

This photo shows the arrival of OY-BPB, a C-47A from Danish DC-3 Friends; the aircraft is decorated in the Royal Danish Air Force livery and carries tailnumber K-682. It has construction number 20019.
Note the copilot has his cockpit window open to facilitate taxying, improving his view as taxying in a socalled taildragger
is a tricky affair.

An unusual viewpoint, from the vintage atc tower of Amsterdam Municipal Airport.

C-47A OY-BPB is seen here warming up its engines for a short flight display. The weather on the Saturday of this event was cloudy, but the rains stayed away until late that afternoon; the sound of the radial engines managed to warm the hearts of the many enthusiasts.
Here is OY-BPB's history in detail by Nils Rosengaard

DC-3's OY-BPB and PH-ALR

The Goldtimer Foundation spent over 30.000 man hours and over 120.000 euros to complete the restoration of this Lisunov Li-2, which could well be the only flying Li-2 presently around. The restoration was completed in 2001, but to keep it flying is hard work because people in Hungary don't yet fully appreciate the uniqueness of this plane and funds is always in short supply.
The smoke with engine starts is common with the radial engines, it can be quite spectacular at times!

HA-LIX is seen taxying past the Lelystad atc tower.

www.goldtimer.hu

The Lisunov Li-2 HA-LIX (c/n 18433209) came all the way from Hungary and made some money to recoup the costs of flying to
Lelystad by doing some flightseeing flights. I was very pleased to see it here, as I had not seen it before.
And it was good to see that in spite of the far from perfect weather, people did indeed book for the opportunity to
fly onboard the Li-2. I hope to do the same on some future visit.

How nice to see the sun come out, it does Li-2 HA-LIX much better justice!

Landing a DC-3 or Li-2 with a crosswind takes some skilfull handling and this landing got a bit bumpy, smoke
can be seen coming from the tyres.

Interior of Lisinov LI-2 HA-LIX
This here is a detail of the cabin interior. It seems the seats come from a Tupolev TU-154 jet airliner and is featured in 2 by 1 row
of seats, totalling 21 seats. I hope many more will come and join a flight with the Goldtimer Foundation Li-2, to keep them flying.

Cockpit of Li-2 HA-LIX; note the gloves on the righthand steering column.

Detail of Li-2 HA-LIX; reading cyrillic is not easy, but the construction number is clear: 18433209!
Apparently Hungary's national airline Malev does some sponsoring, but the budget is small.

Clouds get darker but the sun puts a spotlight on HA-LIX.
Note how the tailwheel is positioned, rather unusual, probably caused by the pushback into this parking position.
I was glad to see it still going strong at the 70th anniversary D-Day celebrations! See HERE

HA-LIX joined the 'D-Day 75' (2019) event, commemorating the 75th anniversary of Jun 6th 1944 landing of Allied forces at Normandy. SEE MY REPORT on 'Daks over Duxford': 22 DC-3's and this Li-2 (repainted with 'Malev'-titles) meeting up for a unique event.

Suggested reading www.hab3045.nl for Historical Consultancy 30-45: a group of people who do research,
make reproductions, provide actors in vintage clothing, organise events, set up displays and much more.

This C-47A has c/n 19345 and is owned by Patrick "Paddy" Green; who had this warbird restored to impeccable detail !

How this came about can be read on my page on N5831B, though it was recently (14Jun06) reregistered to its present tailnumber N473DC (in name of 'Dakota Heritage').
The paint is hardly dry from its magnificent makeover at RAF Church Fenton in recent weeks. Note how the registration
has 'C-47' and 'DC-3' worked into it.

This here is a detail from the lefthand side and show the Normandy D-day stripes to full advantage. N473DC will participate in next June's anniversary of "D-day", dropping paratroopers on June 5th and 7th.

In August 2006 I received the following email:
Here is our teamphoto of the LIBERTY JUMP TEAM and 'DRAG EM OOT' just prior to her dropping them in Carentan on 05Jun06 on the 101st DZ (Drop Zone).
Two days later (07Jun06) she dropped them in Amfreville, on the 82nd Airborne DZ.
Our Halo jumpers from the Golden Wings Parachute Team also jumped from her as well.
Through the generosity of Mr Patrick Green, Mr Peter Kuypers and crew plus their dedication to the veterans, we also were treated on a flyover for the 507PIR Ceremony in Amfreville on 06Jun06. And our veterans, who travelled to Normandy with us, were given a wonderful aerial tour of the beaches.
We also had the added thrill of Mr Bill Allin, the original pilot of this beautiful plane, coming to join us in Normandy.
MR. Green truly epitomizes the kind of individual who helps those of us seeking honour the brave men and women of WW2.
We cannot thank him enough and look forward to our future associations with him in 2007.
JIL LAUNAY
TEAM LEADER, LIBERTY JUMP TEAM

The name 'Drag-em-Oot' is Scottish slang for drag them out and refers to snapping up the lines of the gliders to bring them home.
For info on this see further down.

N473DC in front of the historic tower and terminal at Lelystad's Aviodrome

The cabin has only 8 seats.

As I said before: restored with an impeccable sense of (historic) detail: the names of all the crewmembers during
D-day have been applied on various places of the aircraft (the name of the crewchief is next to the cargodoor and
the pilot and copilot crewnames are on the exterior, beneath the cockpit windows.

The construction plate of this aircraft, as one can see it was built for the USAAF as 42-100882, converted
to DC-3C and found its way to Canada (it was registered as CF-AKZ and C-FKAZ)

The tail of 'Drag'em Oot' in detail

DC-3C N473DC 'Drag-'Em-Oot'

OH-LCH came all the way from Helsinki, Finland and we were more than pleased to see it here.

This Douglas C-53C once operated for the Finnish Air Force and has c/n 6346.
It has been decorated in the livery of Aero OY, which became Finnish Air Lines and later Finnair.
OH-LCH is operated by Airveteran OY.

Douglas C-53C OH-LCH later in the day, when the sun had come out

Except for the fun to be able to immerge in all this aviation history, it was great fun to share topics with people such as Roger Syratt, whose propliner experiences go back so much further.

It was also good to meet Andrew Martin, Bill Blanchard and Mick Bajcar, who show such excellent aviation photography and represented AirTeam Images this day. Sorry about the weather guys, but am sure you've seen worse on your global travels!

For their photos on Airliners.net: Andy | Bill | Mick

Andrew wrote me afterwards: "Though I have some pics on A.net I really only upload to AirTeamImages now - my pics are at www.airteamimages.com/photographer19.html. My stuff on AirTeamImages is much more representative of my current output than is what I have on A.net."

OH-LCH, very much airworthy, looks out over the grounded PH-ALR. Though restoration
work was ongoing on 'ALR, it was never to fly again.

A nice book to read up on the Dutch DC-3 aviation heritage, is 'Sluipvluchten naar Lissabon' by
Ad van Ommen (subtitled "Nederlandse vliegers en hun Dakota's", which covers the wide range of subjects
much better. Am not sure if it was ever published in an English translation.

Freightdoor PH-ALR

The cockpit

Douglas C-54A PH-DDY (c/n 7488) has exchanged places with the Lockheed Constellation and was moved outside.

Its history can be read on my page Aviodrome Dec. 2003

Superb view from the tower..

Close up of the (cargo)door.

I have the distinct impression this nose was modified and have reason to believe it was done whilst in service
of the South African Air Force.

For the sake of Fokker's heritage I could not resist including this Fokker S.11, a flight trainer.
This particular S-11 served the Royal Netherlands Air Force from 1952 until 1973, registered as E-27. Its present registration is PH-HOL (since 1974). The PH-HOL is now owned by the Stichting Fokker Four.

One of the first activities undertaken by Fokker after the second world war was the design of a new military aircraft for initial pilot training, the S-11 Instructor. An aircraft trader already placed orders for 100 of these aircraft in 1946, before construction had even begun!
The first prototype flew at Schiphol on 18Dec1947. Eventually 101 S-11's were sold to the Royal Netherlands Air Force, Israeli Air Force, Italian Air Force and Brazilian Air Force. Numerous S-11 instructors are still flying today. The Dutch organisation Fokker Four, dedicated to the preservation of this aircraft, owns five S-11's and amongst other activities still performs with them on airshows.
From: en.wikipedia.org:_Fokker_S.11
Go to the link for the Technical Specifications.

The Spitfire is very much a replica but does add atmosphere, and the Beech in the background will never fly either.

For a list of aircraft present at the Aviodrome, have a look at my 2003 page (the list stems from a later date).

Saab Viggen handover ceremony at Lelystad's Aviodrome

The Saab Viggen was a contender in the follow-up competition when the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter needed replacement with the Royal Netherlands Air Force; I still regret the choice befell the F-16.
On the Saturday an excellent looking Viggen was handed over by the Swedish military in a formal procedure, reminding us how close we got to the deal with the Swedish.

The Noorduyn Norseman is (very) slowly progressing in its restoration.

One should have a look how it looked in 2003... Progress can be seen on April 2009 report and my March 2018 report.

Lockheed VC-121B Constellation N749NL (c/n 2604) has changed places with PH-DDY; recently 2 good engines were purchased by the Aviodrome from South Korea and expect they wanted a dry place to start making the 'Dutch Connie" airworthy again but 'events' seem to have placed that perspective beyond any horizon, alas.

Tom Beudeker sent me a photo of engine maintenance in the ol'days...

Another photo of the 'Connie' and in the background one can see that the Fokker F.3 has been raised off the ground, compared to the 2003 photos.

Well... that's all Folks !!!
Many thanks to all those who made this weekend so tremendously enjoyable !!