Sunday, July 31, 2011

New home for "Nippy"

It's been a roller-coaster two months to say the least and no flying in between. In mid-June, right before I was heading off on holidays, I got a phone call from my friend Wouter, the owner/director of Polder Aviation, telling me the sad news that his business had gone belly-up. The old adage of "How do you make a small fortune in aviation? Start off with a big one" finally rang true for him. With a large amount of debts mounting up, he had to close the doors. This had an immediate impact to me because I have been storing "Nippy" there now for over a year.

The added complication was that everything that was on Polder's balance sheet would now be sold-off, including the hangar, and I would have to find a new home. I started looking for hangar space all over Noord Holland. Hilversum has absolutely no space, and to be honest, the two wankers working in the control tower on the day I went there, would put me off even flying into Hilversum. They were extremely unfriendly, and even more so when they heard me speaking in English. I eventually found a new hangar only two doors up from Polder. It was advertised in the local pilot shop and they were more than happy to have us move in.

I collected the keys last weekend from Wouter and moved "Nippy" into her new digs. With Wi-Fi, a pilots lounge and ample parking, it should be a nice new home. 

Sands of Time

With the scramble for a new hangar before our holidays, and then the three weeks off during June-July with work getting in the way the rest of the time, there has been absolutely no time to fly. Mind you, Mother Nature has decided to not bother granting us a Summer in these parts this year. The weather is absolutely SHIT. I'm off travelling again for work next week, so the chances of getting up in the air this Summer slip away as each day passes. I must be honest though....I really do love Summer in the Netherlands.....it's my favourite day in the year ;-)