Hundreds of enthusiasts came up when flying on a jar of syrup. It was one for them ‘Once in a lifetime“Chance. US President Donald Trump came to the Netherlands in his presidential plane yesterday to attend the NATO summit. And that plane, that’s what it was hundreds of spotters to do.
The Air Force One. Rare to spot, even for the experienced aircraft spotter. To spot him in the Netherlands, that is even more exceptional. One of the people who set out especially to photograph the special Boeing 747 was Rego Meijer from Assen. But what looked like taking a simple photo turned out to be a whole undertaking.
“Of course you prepare well in advance. You want to know where and how the plane lands, that is decided at the last minute by people with whom you have no contact.” The aircraft landed at Schiphol, and then there are a number of jobs where it may put a wheel on the ground. Meijer: “You have the Polderbaan, but it was intended for parking devices. Another job is in maintenance, so it also dropped out. So there were four jobs as an option.”
Of those four jobs, one is reserved for rising aircraft, and moreover you are dependent on the wind for both taking off and countries. “So I could bring it back to three jobs, the Swanburgerbaan, the Oostbaan and the Kaagbaan.”
After some thinking, Meijer concluded that the Zwanenburgbaan was not a likely option. “Trump would not park on the Polderbaan, so he had nothing to look for there. He was going to park at the freight platform where The Beast, his car, was parked. The Air Force One wants as little taxi as possible for safety reasons. At the Zwanenburgbaan you have to go over the viaduct over the highway.