From Hilversum to Twente

Even before the weekend, the weather forecast for Monday was such that it would be a shame not to take advantage of it to do some flying. We booked the Cessna in advance so we could make sure it would be available. Monday, of course, was a weekday, and there were no others to fly with. But that didn't spoil the fun.

In the morning we first had work appointments and some things to take care of, but then the room was clear to go to the airfield. From the airfield, the two cross-border mandatory flight plans were submitted by phone. The first flight from Twente to Nordhorn, and the second from Stadtlohn to Teuge. No flight plans were required for the other three flights.

After take-off and leaving the traffic pattern, I flew to the north-west, passing Baarn soon thereafter. At Baarn is the Groeneveld Castle with a garden park. We frequently visit the garden park and the castle.

West of Nijkerk is the Arkemheense polder, one of the oldest polders in the Netherlands. The Hertog Reijnout Steam Pumping Station, or Steam Pumping Station Arkemheen, was built in the 1880s to replace a windmill that was used to drain the polder (more about the history of the pumping station in this trip report).

North of Nijkerk is a country house, the Salentein Estate. Salentein has been owned by the Pon family since 1980. A restaurant has been established in the coach house. The main building is in use as a venue for meetings and events, including weddings and funerals according to their website.

Further down the route, between the river Gelderse IJssel and Twente, lies the Sallandse Heuvelrug National Park. Located on the Holterberg is the Holten Canadian War Cemetery, one of the largest military cemeteries in the Netherlands.

The hills of the Sallandse Heuvelrug were formed during the ice age. Continental ice pushed the land upwards and this was covered by a layer of wind-blown sand. In many places this poor soil still forms the basis for existing vegetation. After the ice ages woodland developed on the hills. In the stone age hunters and farmers settled on the higher land where it was drier. Their burial mounds can still be found there. Later settlers cleared the woodland for farming and the result is a mainly heathland landscape. Sheep grazing kept the heathland open. Most of the present woodland was planted in the last century for timber.

Parked near the beginning of runway 05 at Twente Airport were five Embraer E175 regional transport aircraft belonging to the Danish leasing company Nordic Aviation Captial. The aircraft previously flew with Alitalia Cityliner. Alitalia CityLiner ceased operations at the same time as its parent company, Alitalia, on 15 October 2021.

With some headwind en route, the PH-GYS landed after a 45-minute flight time. The last time we flew to Twente was over three years ago. In the trip report of that time is also information about the history of the airport.

From Twente to Nordhorn

After a short stop with coffee and after paying the landing fee, I continued on to Nordhorn. It was a flight of a few minutes, but because it crosses the border with Germany, the Netherlands wants a flight plan to be submitted for it. The flightplan had already been filed before departure from Hilversum, so it only had to be activated by Twente Radio.

After passing the towns Oldezaal and Nordhorn, the landing could already be started. In the distance, the cooling towers with clouds of steam were visible from the gas power plant and nuclear power plant near Lingen. After landing, the flugleiter closed the flightplan.

From Nordhorn to Stadtlohn

At the airport, I spoke with two brothers who were at the airport waiting for a potential buyer of their homebuilt ultralight aircraft, in which they themselves could no longer fly due to losing their medicals. It must have been quite a step to say goodbye to it.

After some time, it was time to move on again. There was a flight plan ready from Stadtlohn to Teuge, and in principle the flight plan is still valid for half an hour after estimated time of departure. South of the aerodrome is the Nordhorn air/ground shooting range. The area would become active from 2pm, so it was good to leave before then to get some photos of it.

Runway 11 was in use at the Stadtlohn airport. After landing, I had a chat with an instructor and his student Ralph, who turned out to be a professional classical pianist. The instructor had comments about flight training in Portugal. He also mentioned that when approaching reporting point Sierra south of Teuge Airport, he made a looping with a Fuji FA-200 instead of doing a 360 when once there was another aircraft approaching as well.

From Stadtlohn to Teuge

When we finished the coffee it was time to move on again. There were no noteworthy events for the flight to Teuge. At Teuge I stopped by to have a coffee with Goof. Then I continued my way back to Hilversum to be back in time for sunset.

From Teuge to Hilversum

During lining up for departure from runway 08, Teuge Radio reminded me to make a left turn after take-off. There seems to be a fair amount of complaining, but as is usually the case with small airfields, the lion's share of the complaints are only from one or two people. The forest of the Veluwe looked beautiful in the autumn colors. During the last part of the flight the visibility was somewhat limited due to the low sun. After landing on runway 07 and parking, all that was left was to fill out the paperwork, and then head home.

The Veluwe is a forest-rich ridge of hills that was formed by the Saalian glacial some 200,000 years ago. Glaciers some 200 metres thick pushed the sand deposits in the Rhine and Maas Delta sideways, creating the hills which now form most of the Veluwe. See this trip report from 2020 of a flight around The Veluwe.