As usual in these cases, the receiver is preparing for a sale of the assets owned by the museum. Here’s hoping a take-over party will step in at the last moment, but things are indeed looking bleak. Staff has been laid off, museum closed. The collection is facing a break-up. Some significant aircraft are safe because they are owned by thrid parties (e.g. the 1911 Fokker Spin, some other Fokkers, the Norseman, DDA’s DC-3’s, etc.), but the vast majority (several dozens, ranging from the 1920s to the 1990s, including vintage biplanes, 1930s transports, jets, helicopters, everything) is owned by the museum. Some of them are priceless to the Dutch aviation heritage. And that’s the aircraft alone, there’s also the biggest aviation books collection, photographic collection and artifiacts. An auction would be a disaster in my opinion, especially with some aircraft too big to viably move off-site. Time’ll tell what’ll happen…

Don’t worry. There’s a longtime tradition in a part of the country where small towns take a trophy for the New Year celebrations. This is suspected to be one of those. They are usually returned after January 1st.

Earlier thefts involved the 20-ton sailing vessel Vrouwe Jans out of the water, a statue of Gorbatsjov from Madame Tussauds museum (in broad daylight), a famous Stone Age rock monument (12 tons), etc. Silly, I know, but I’m sure it’ll turn up in a couple of weeks.

No major news yet. Except that a decision is apparently expected before Christmas on an attempt by KLM to buy the flying DC-2 out of the bankruptcy and operate it under their own flag.

Bomb disposal on the mainland is somewhat of a necessity, and is mandatory on discovery AND on getting new planning permissions (at least in The Netherlands). Cases in my hometown alone the past decade:
– Clearing of around 65 bombs and mortars around a major river crossing bridge to enable a new bridge to be built. Heaviest was a 1000-lbs.
– Clearing of a shot-down Lancaster bomber including bombs and ordnance due to a new road being put in (the Lanc went in with a 4,000-lbs bomb on board).
– Dredging the medieval city centre canals produced no less than 200 pieces of heavy ammo, guns, mortars and grenades.
– A two year delay in a housing estate plan due to unexploded ordnance from WW2, mainly 500-lbs bombs that missed a nearby wharf. They were discovered during planning when looking at old air-ground pics showing exploded bomb strings with ‘missing’ gaps indicating unexploded ordnance.

And my hometown wasn’t even heavily bombed in WW2!

I remember the foggy mornings on Eindhoven airport waiting for the weather to improve to fly, with the military routinely setting off bombs they found on the old airfield. 163 alone from an old 1500 metres strip, including 39 1000-lbs ones. Made for some pretty impressive bangs.

Trying not to go too off thread, the Berlin Museum also had some allied aircraft on display during the war. IIRC there was a Wellington, a Hurricane, Battle, and a couple of French types (bomber Bloch? and a fighter MS406?), and details of which aircraft? Shame the Dornier DoX did not make it out, now that would have been some train:eek:! It was just a shame the UK lagged so far behind Europe in pre-war museums.

Don’t forget the Dutch Fokker D.XXI, D.VII, Spin and Douglas 8A. Richthofen’s Dr.I, the Taube that is now in Berlin again, etc.

Pacific Scientific is a well-known seatbelts manufacturer, making belts for anything from sailplanes to triple 7’s. Not that I am implying that the seat is from a sailplane 😉

seven Grumman Mallards. Seven? I wouldn’t believe it now, but it’s there in my handwriting from the time!

I would say seven Albatrosses of the Italian air force? THey had a whole fleet of them at the time…

Ugly, unpractical and unreliable. French?