Exactly 70 years ago, the Fokker S-11 embarked on its first test flight from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The plane was transported on a flat-bottomed boat from the now-defunct Fokker factory in Amsterdam-Noord to Schiphol, where it went on its maiden voyage.
Having retraced the keel’s route flying over the Kostverloren canal, the Fokker S-11 aircraft arrived at the airport today under the escort of Schiphol cars. The pilots from the Stichting Fokker Four foundation enjoyed a brief pit stop before they took the Fokker S-11 planes back to the skies over Schiphol at 2:36 pm – the precise time when the first test flight departed 70 years ago.
Chaperoned by fire engines to mark the historic occasion, the Fokker S-11 aircraft circled the air traffic control tower twice and set a course for their flight to Lelystad Airport.