Flying the MS brings back memories about KEES! by Ronald Termaat.And some news from the Antares by Ludwig.

We, here in Holland,  had a “try out” of the National Air Games at Teuge last Sunday [ only one day]  and they turned out to be a success even with the tough wind. It showed that several air-sports can operate from ONE field, also here in Holland. Due to the wind, balloons and parapentes could not fly and also the parachute jumpers got a different program for their precision-jumps,  but all in all it turned out to be a great day for all others. The day was finished with an impressive aerobatic display in a glider by Sape Miedema.

MS airgames day Sape

Winner in the soaring-“department” was Ronald Termaat, who flew the “old “glider MS from Kees Musters.

Kees MS Ronald 3  Kees MS Ronald
Ronald in the MS AND a
modern view on the totally refinished MS.
Courtesy Ronald.

 Love stories from the past and here is one from Ronald , who describes the past and the “now” in a lovely story.
Here you are;

MS flies to victory again!

“Thirtyfour years ago I started soaring, but long before I was always on the airfield playing with models and looking at the famous pilots at Terlet airfield. It was like magic how always the same people seemed to have all the luck. They won the competitions and made spectacular flights, when nobody else seemed to be able to stay aloft at the airfield. I do clearly remember how I always was thrilled when they returned and made a nice finish at the airfield to complete their flight.

One person really stood out for me. Kees Musters!

Kees

Kees always happy in his glider.
Picture courtesy Ronald Ternmaat.

He was not only a spectacular pilot who seemed unbeatable when he really was going for it, but he was also a very enjoyable person to be with. The joy of flying was shared with all and his good moods and spirits motivated me to fly the best I could. One day I wanted to be as good as Kees!

At seventeen, in 1982, I flew my first competition, the Juniors at Venlo airfield. Kees became European Champion that year. I clearly remember my discussions with Kees about the best way to fly the competition and his trust in me that I could win. He always told me that in the future I would be the best pilot of the Netherlands and a champion too!

The best plane available then was the Ventus. A brand new design from Klaus Holighaus and Kees bought the A model with the narrow cockpit. With some tweaks on the pedals and the instrument panel Kees could fit in it. It was a sleek little glider and Kees could get the best performance out of it. He explained me about the flap-settings and that the S was not only for Speed, but also very good for flying upside down. That same day he made a nice finish over the airfield, pulled up and joined my thermal (I was flying his old ASW-20). After we climbed we flew formation for some time before I asked him about the S flap setting again. He instantly rolled the Ventus on his back and we continued the formation flight. Moments I will never forget!

One day we were at the bar on the airfield (talking about flying…) and Kees suddenly asked me if I wanted to fly his brand new Ventus the next day. Although I had to skip some classes on school I did not hesitate a second. Yes, of course. So the next day I biked from school to Terlet airfield and called Kees on the radio that I had arrived. With a nice finish (I never saw him doing a normal pattern) he landed and said to me: ‘here is the plane, have fun!’. I was the first person after Kees to fly his plane. Back then I thought I was a big guy. When I look now at people of the age of seventeen I do realize how special it was.

In 1983 Kees became World Champion in Hobbs on his Ventus A MS.

There was something else that made his appearance on the airfield special. His cars, always Citroën. Towing the trailer with a red 2CV that had a door-bell instead of a horn. Going to competitions with a Traction Avant and driving with the DS, the former car of Aart Dekkers ex-Dutch Champion. His latest car was a Citröen CX 2400ie Pallas.

Kees MS Ronald2

MS last weekend with a Citroën in the back.

One evening in 1987 we had dinner with Kees and Gretha (his wife) at his house and told them about our skiing plans and asked them to join. They accepted and we went to Les Gets in France. Kees and Gretha went a few days earlier to spend some time together. When we arrived in the evening we had a nice dinner with Raclette (actually it was a bit messy with the cheese). Kees challenged me to do some dangerous things with a knife and my fingers. Nobody was wounded in the end. The next morning I drove down into the valley together with Kees where he parked his CX. He wanted to fly his hang-glider down after skiing that day and needed the car in the valley. While driving up again we talked about the hang-gliding and I got an unpleasant feeling about it. At the end of that day Kees took of with the hang-glider and crashed. He was dead.

I just could not believe it. It was like if I was in a bad movie. All the people had holidays and made fun. The train was passing by like always. But for me life stopped for that moment. The visit to the hospital, the goodbye to Kees, it is all carved into my memories. My hero was dead. But he will always be my hero!

The next day I drove Gretha back to the Netherlands with the CX. And Gretha gave me the CX of Kees the next flying season to fly a competition in France. From then on I always got the feeling that Kees was watching what I was doing down here. His picture is on my desk for 26 years now.

Today we are 26 years later, a good 30 years after I had flown the MS for the first time. The MS was sold and had a few owners, it even went to the UK where it was G registered. When it was bought back by some Dutch people, it got back it’s PH-707 registration but without the famous MS call sign. Not long ago a good friend of me, Marc van Breemen Dutch champion in ‘94, bought the glider and I took a share in it. The glider was in very bad condition and needed major repairs. We decided to make it as good as new again and bring back the original paint-scheme and competition number as an honour to Kees. I still had some pictures from the time Kees was flying on it.

The 31st of August the National Air Games were organised. For gliders there was a Grand Prix  where the top Dutch pilots (including two Junior World and EGC Champions) competed against each other in 15m class. An ideal opportunity for me to fly the MS again. I went there with my own Citroën CX and was crewed by Dillen, a young member of our club. He was not even born yet in ‘87 and only knows Kees from the picture in our club house. So I told him the story about Kees. And I did this again and again on this day. The people were really enthusiastic about it.

I tested if I could still fit in the glider after so many years. Luckily I did.

Close to 3 o’clock we took of for a small task because of the marginal weather. I needed a minute to get used to the direct controls. I remember the fast roll-rate when I saw Kees flying the MS. All sorts of memories came back. It really was a special feeling flying the MS again in a competition. The flight was interesting due to the challenging weather. Low clouds, a bit of rain, overdevelopment, a big blue hole and a lot of wind. I could climb very well in the light little glider and the lift seemed to work for me just a little better than for the others. The MS was the first on final glide and with a comfortable margin I could proudly announce ‘Mike Sierra, 10km’s’.

Mike Sierra, 26 years later, another victory!”

THANK you to RONALD for his story and sorry it is  published a bit later than normal, as you knew I had a busy weekend and would publish on Monday morning.

Never get used to loosing mates, even not after more than 25 years and longer!!!!!

More news  and more busy people,  this time from the containers going to Kiripotib now from Ludwig;
“This week was very busy for me, we had to bring four gliders, our two Arcus, the ASH 25 from Christian Hynek and our brand new Antares 23E to the harbour of Koblenz, where
Bernd Dolba had organized the packing of the gliders for Kiripotib.
Luckily two of our gliders where at the Lange factory in Zweibrücken, so until now we had only 3700 km to drive, to have three of them there.
Only the Antares 23E is still at Lange, some final adjustments have to be done until Axel Lange will do the maiden flight on Tuesday. This Antares is the first 23E with the big rudder as the serials will be.
Last year in Uvalde the wings of our gliders where still mounted to the small fuselage of the 20 Meter glider.
On Wednesday, Wolfgang and I will drive again to Lange and I will make my first flight on the 23E , if everything is ok, as I think, it will also be packed on Thursday. On Monday the 16th of September the two containers for Kiripotib will leave and arrive there on the end of October.
I will be in Kiripotib as well, to help Bernd, Christian and Janusz to unload the containers, we will need the first five gliders on the 1st of November for our Event “Flying with the Champions.
We are very lucky with the booking, we have 4 trainees in the first block and 6 trainees in the second block, so we are nearly booked out.”

Ludwig

A happy Ludwig as owner of the new glider!
Courtesy Ludwig.

Ludwig 2

Packing the gliders for Kiripotib.

So far Ludwig and after the maiden flight he will be back with a short update! Good on him and THANKS!!!!!

Sorry again for the delay which created some stress by some, but here you are with the full blog from Sunday November 8 2013.
Cheers Ritz, for all other news from last week you can look at www.soaring.eu Enjoy!