Air force fan club celebrates 45th anniversary at Hoogeveen airfield: F-35s give flying salute to members

It has probably not escaped the attention of many residents of Hoogeveen that there were some extra flight movements on and above the airport last Saturday afternoon. This had everything to do with the 45th anniversary of Department North of the Royal Association of Our Air Force. The board of this club did not want to let this memorable fact go unnoticed and had done everything possible to give the members of the North region at Hoogeveen airport a (flying) party.

To realize this, the club had contacted the old-timer club Egmond Vintage Wings (EVW) at an early stage, asking if they wanted to display the old-timers on this anniversary day. EVW wanted that and the result was that a large number of old-timers were parked on the grass and that various aircraft, which also regularly took to the air, were displayed at the airport.

EVW’s newest addition also had to take action, but to the great disappointment of those present, the unique Fokker D.21 had to be grounded, this time due to a technical defect. A copy of the Spitfire fighter plane was also required, but the home base of this aircraft (Gilze-Rijen airport) had to contend with low clouds, which prevented this program item from taking place. A positive point was that five F-35s flew over the airfield to give a flying salute to the fans.

The National and Royal Association of Our Air Force was founded in the late summer of 1948. To this day, this association wants to foster interest and understanding in every Dutch person for military aviation in general and the Royal Netherlands Air Force in particular. The association does this by providing as much historical and current information as possible about the tasks and functioning of the air force.

ttn-45