History

Near In 1966, a number of (formal) air-force and navy pilots decided to join and establish an aeroclub. The Gilze-Rijen base commander at that time, colonel Hofstede, thought it was a great idea and so it happened that at the end of the sixties "Sichting Vliegsport Gilze-Rijen" was established on the sport where an old German dispersal was situated.

Initially they were flying with three blue/white painted former air-force Piper Cubs. In 1969, on the old dispersal of the German Luftwaffe a hangar was built. Shortly after the fleet was extended with a Harvard.

The developments happened in a short time of period because the SKHV cooperated at the recordings of various movies. From the Military Aviation Museum in Soesterberg two Harvards came over and these planes, using special fairings, were transformed into a Fokker D-21, a Focke Wulf and a Thunderbolt. You can see these planes in the promotion documentary "Waakzaamheid, de prijs van de vrijheid" the movies "Soldaat van Oranje", "A Bridge too Far" and "De Aanslag", and projected on huge screens in the musical "Joe".

An example can be seen in the trailer of 'A Bridge Too Far' below, our Harvards come into action from minute 4:45

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From that moment on the new goal of the SKHV was to keep all propeller-driven aircraft which once flew in the Royal Dutch AirForce in the air by means of restauration of the planes. From that moment on the name is changed in “Gilze-Rijen Historical Flight”. In 1998, there is a merge with "the Dutch Spitfire Flight" and the name has changed again in "Royal Netherlands Air Force Historical Flight Foundation” With this fusion the beautiful Spitfire and Beaver became part of the SKHV fleet.

Because of the hard work and the commitment of many volunteers the SKHV will received the official recognition of the Dutch Civil Aviation Authority (IVW). Besides the periodic aircraft maintenance, the SKHV can now better carry out restoration projects. Without the enormous contribution of the Dutch CAA (IVW) and the outstanding collaboration of the RNLAF, the SKHV could not have reached this professional level.

Cees de Veer, President