Flying is no longer just for the rich: busier than ever at Vliegschool Middenmeer

Hidden behind the trees, just after the Middenmeer exit along the A7, you will find Middenmeer Airport with its own flight school. For almost 20 years, flying enthusiast André Harte has been teaching everyone who wants to learn to fly with his flying school Adventure Flights. In the hangar he proudly displays his aircraft, the Sirius TL-3000 microlights.

This started with a number of students per year, but has grown enormously in recent years. “We currently have more than 60 students for the practical training and a good 20 for the theory training. There is an incredible amount of interest at the moment,” says André proudly.

And you can see that, because even on a perfectly normal Tuesday afternoon, many training aircraft are taken out of the hangar for a round of Noordkop. “We have scheduled about eight lessons today,” says André, “And there are days when we teach 20 lessons a day.”

In the video below André Harte takes us on a flight over the Noordkop and that produces beautiful images. The text continues below the video.

The reason for this explosive increase: “I think that in recent years people are increasingly looking for individual sports,” explains André. In addition, according to André, it is also a big misconception that only rich people can fly. “Of course you can spend an incredible amount of money when flying, if you wanted to,” emphasizes André.

Because if you buy such a Sirius TL-3000 microlight yourself, you will of course lose a lot of money. But André’s planes can also be rented in Middenmeer, so you don’t have to buy your own plane. “I see that the largest group spends around 3,500 euros a year on this hobby. Now I’m not saying that that isn’t a lot of money, but that is fine for many people,” says the flight instructor.

And you get a breathtaking view in return, which never gets boring. Not even for Andre. “Every day is different. Today we have a view of more than 40 kilometers, we look across the IJsselmeer and can see Texel. I can still enjoy it every day.”