A most interesting meeting

摘要

Firstly, my apologies to Bernard McGrath - due to family commitments I was unable to attend the meeting which he gave to the Branch. My colleagues (who did attend it) spoke highly of Bernard's presentation. Many thanks to Bernard. Secondly, the April meeting was a combined AGM and talk on the NDT of Historical Aircraft by Lees Van De Wiel, who came from Holland to give this presentation. This meeting was well attended by visitors from BAE Systems and Scottish + Southern Energy. Lees Van De Wiel gave us an insight into the history of the air base GILZE -RIJEN. The airfield began operating in 1910 and up to WW2 was used by the army's flying division, KLM and privateers. During WW2, the Germans enlarged the airfield and it was often targeted by British bombers. A couple of slides showing before and after the bombing showed extensive damage. There are still problems relating to war damage and ground compaction and currently the runway is being repaired. On 10 January 1946, the Dutch air force took command and used it for training until August 1962. It has since been used for light aircraft training, a fighter base and used by the tactical helicopter group.