"spotters archive soesterberg"

kiwi · Post by **kiwi** » 09 Dec 2007, 22:50

I read the stories on the site posted earlier. Guess you are the guys that f*cked it up for my generation.. No hard feelings though, the movements today are not worth climbing over a fence onto military grounds

warthog64 · Post by **warthog64** » 09 Dec 2007, 23:09

Hans v/d/ Vlist, was at my place tonight with some photo's from his own collection,

his own words,
For the second time a backseat trip in an F-16 !!!
F-16B MLU J-067 315 Squadron
Goose Bay, Canada 17 july 2001

the pics,

K2G · Post by **K2G** » 10 Dec 2007, 09:02

kiwi wrote:I read the stories on the site posted earlier. Guess you are the guys that f*cked it up for my generation.. No hard feelings though, the movements today are not worth climbing over a fence onto military grounds

Hi Colin,

I think it was not very common to climb over the Soesterberg fence in the 1980's to take picture's. The spot was already perfect, but sometimes somebody had to pick up the soccer ball

If you can read Dutch, please visit

http://home.tiscali.nl/sberg.sixties/An ... rhalen.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and read stories Kuil 1,2 and 3 about Soesterberg spotters in the 60's.

In the 60's people had NO big lenses ..........

Hans

Stefan · Post by **Stefan** » 10 Dec 2007, 09:50

Hi,

No 'Soesterberg' archive pics but found these at Rob de Bie's 'old' website (http://www.xs4all.nl/~robdebie/vvs-ddr.htm)

Relaxing at Welzow

Who needs skijumps to get airborne?

We got out...!

Greetings,
Stefan

warthog64 · Post by **warthog64** » 10 Dec 2007, 12:05

very nice stefan!,
Some more from me. also a few from former east germany,

from left to right, Roel van Maarseveen, Roel Reijne, Rick versteegh, an a Hind pilot at his appartment. (served us some self made alcohol 90%...)

somewheredown the road, with our new bought russian hads and belts.

Rick Versteegh, Roel Reijne.with some afghanistan tour of duty drawings.

us in a wrecked car

and one from the US '89, Roel Reijne, Rick Versteegh, Warren Kerzon (retired lt Col, F-105 pilot usaf test pilot) after a flight with him in an piper cherokee at Mojave airport.

Rick Versteegh and Roel Reijne, discussing air-combat tactics
( in my garden....)

K2G · Post by **K2G** » 10 Dec 2007, 12:16

We got out...!

Driving around airfields sometimes required some serious off-road driving with barely suitable cars. Although this looks serious, the Vectra is not stuck in the mud. The driver was wise enough to stop there. Before backing up, they put as much grass and sticks under the wheels as possible. The spinning wheels (the driver was cool) almost set them on fire. Photo by Theo van den Boomen, 26 February 1991.

Indeed driving around Russian airfields in East Germany in rental cars was very exciting and I can write a book about it.

Especially the muddy tracks around Sperenberg were famous ....... Mr AVIS was not so happy with us that time

.

We had also a more serious accident very early in the morning in Frankfurt am Oder, near the Polish border.

Maybe Roel can post the pictures, then I will tell more details.

keep watching this site .......

Hans

warthog64 · Post by **warthog64** » 10 Dec 2007, 12:36

Here are the accident pics....

the story Hans?

K2G · Post by **K2G** » 10 Dec 2007, 13:40

warthog64 wrote:Here are the accident pics....

the story Hans?

The accident happened on 31 december 1990 in East Germany. The exact place was Frankfurt am Oder near the Polish border. Inside the car (a brand new Open Vectra) were me, Ron Duurland, Lesley Delsing and .... van Kaathoven (not Peter).

After a long day spotting on December 30, 1990 (Parow, Basepohl, Neubrandenburg, Mirow-Larz, Wittstock, Neuruppin and Oranienburg we found a hotel in Frankfurt am Oder.

Very early in the morning of the last day from 1990, we left our hotel. It was not so cold and the windows of our car were clean (not frozen).
In the first corner it went wrong and we landend up-side down, about one meter lower on a railway track. The road was unexpected icy and on the second picture you can see a second (more lucky) car !!

In a very short time the police collected our wrecked car. I can remember they were very suprised to find us in "a funny mood", and taking pictures together with the wreck. We were happy we were alive (no train was passing) and that it was not my personal car. Within a half hour everybody was gone and we were standing alone with all our stuff...... what now ???

After some phone calls to holland .... "you are really sure, it is not possibe to drive the car back to holland", it was possible to collect a new car at Berlin-Schonefeld. After a train ride to Berlin, we pick up our new car in the afternoon. That day we even visit some airfields, because with german car markings it was easier to enter airfields

Late in the evening we arrived back in holland, on time to celebrate new years eve.

Mr. AVIS was not so happy with its new German car.

Hans

Hans · Post by **Hans** » 10 Dec 2007, 18:34

Hans van der Vlist wrote:If you can read Dutch, please visit

http://home.tiscali.nl/sberg.sixties/An ... rhalen.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

When on that site, also have a look at those movements from the 1960s, you don't have to understand Dutch to have a good time there

http://home.tiscali.nl/sberg.sixties/Sixties.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hans

kiwi · Post by **kiwi** » 10 Dec 2007, 23:00

Hans van der Vlist wrote:
kiwi wrote:I read the stories on the site posted earlier. Guess you are the guys that f*cked it up for my generation.. No hard feelings though, the movements today are not worth climbing over a fence onto military grounds
Hi Colin,

I think it was not very common to climb over the Soesterberg fence in the 1980's to take picture's. The spot was already perfect, but sometimes somebody had to pick up the soccer ball

If you can read Dutch, please visit

http://home.tiscali.nl/sberg.sixties/An ... rhalen.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and read stories Kuil 1,2 and 3 about Soesterberg spotters in the 60's.

In the 60's people had NO big lenses ..........

Hans

That's the site I was talking about

Nice to read the stories but this illustrates clearly one of the reasons that the spotting place is no more and also why there is security like there is now. Now you can already get a warning for looking towards the hangars from 'het gashuisje', while it was no big deal in the 60's and a bit later even to get a great overview of the base as long as you stayed outside of the fence. I wish they hadn't put up those high sound walls (heuvels) around the base and chose a spot for the spottersplace where you can't see anything of the actual base. It's not like Soesterberg is some kind of Area51 where seeing infrastructure alone is a crime, especially now, cause it's relatively quiet on the base compared to other bases through the Netherlands and Europe.

roel lodder · Post by **roel lodder** » 11 Dec 2007, 15:21

Or clean up the mess other people left behind!!!!!!
Grtz,
Roel

F-4G_rhino · Post by **F-4G_rhino** » 12 Dec 2007, 23:21

kiwi wrote: ..........I wish they hadn't put up those high sound walls (heuvels) around the base and chose a spot for the spottersplace ...........

They didn´t put these high walls there because of the "fun" we had there that times.
These are there because of the funny people who buy a house next to an airfield...and after that, complain about the jet-noise they hear, when sitting in their garden.......
......and it was as Hand v.d. Vlist already told. We/they climbed over the fence just to pick up the ball !

warthog64 · Post by **warthog64** » 14 Dec 2007, 22:34

Finally found some time to edit some more pics...

Pokey,

fiat panda comercial, police officer,

Martien with death frog,

"balthazar" (can't remember his real name),

JCD · Post by **JCD** » 17 Dec 2007, 11:19

Hi Roel. This is a great thread. I can contribute to it, but I´ll need some time to dig through `the archives` I have a few pics available already. I will add more (much) later.

1978 Rob de Jong. Minolta and Supertramp fanatic from Bilthoven doing some bicycle stunts. In the back the office of LFE. A wine import firm. I guess we´ll drove those guys crazy with all of the noise we made (espcially when we used their building to shelter for the rain).

1978 The group at the `Spottersplek` From left to right: Ron Damstra?, Maico van Dijk, Bertje ....., Bert S(r)tubbe, ????, Peter v. Hattem and in front Rob de Jong.

1980: Rick Versteeg and Huub Kattevilder at 'the Kuil'.

1982: Henk de Ridder and Dick Wels at "de Landing" Soesterberg

1983: Hahn. Dick Wels, Rick Versteeg and the victim is Hans v/d Vlist (who else).

More to follow.

Hans Drost

JCD · Post by **JCD** » 17 Dec 2007, 11:27

Found one more.

1980 This is the spottersplek. Photo taken from a bus on the base. Really don't know what I was doing in that bus!
I do recognize Peter ....., Rick Versteeg, Peter v. Hattem and Hans v/d Vlist?