Holiday Flights Above NL-2000 v3 Christmas Release 2007
By Jeroen Arends
26 December 2007
Part I
The Netherlands may be a small country, but from the sky it is
incredibly rich in scenery. Jeroen Arends takes you on a guided tour
above this densely populated country. As one of the developers of the
NL-2000 scenery, obviously I use this beautiful package. It is
downloadable at our site
www.nl-2000.com.
The download is big but for this you get an almost real flying
experience as you can read in this article. This Christmas we updated
the package with even more buildings. In my flight I will visit these
updated areas. During writing I realised that there is in fact so
much to see that I've decided to do a series of articles.
Part I Randstad: Amsterdam - The Hague - Rotterdam
For this first part I've decided to start at Schiphol East, where
the general aviation and maintenance facilities are, including KLM
and Martinair's.
The weather is cold and foggy today with about 8 miles visibility
at most. After startup I let my plane roll easily towards the
threshold of runway 22. I push the throttle and off I go. Luckily
for me there is not much traffic at the moment.
Out of my left window I have a clear view of the maintenance area.
Slowly I turn to 90 degrees and fly into the direction of the river
Amstel. After a while I cross this little river. It's a rural scenic
sight just outside the big city of Amsterdam.
While still flying East I can see the Amsterdam Arena stadium and
Amsterdam Bijlmermeer on the horizon. On the 4th of October 1992 a
Boeing 747 of El-Al crashed in this area killing 43 people. As I find
myself directly above these blocks of flats slowly turning to the
West to take a good look at the Amsterdam Arena, the biggest soccer
stadium of Amsterdam.
Amsterdam Arena
I am flying a circle around it before I continue my journey to the
North. I pass the 'Bijlmerbajes' (a large detention center) towards
the Rembrandt Tower (135 meters high).
After a while I find myself above the large water mass known as
'Het IJ'. I am making a turn left towards the West to admire the old
centre of Amsterdam. I can see all the famous places under my left
wing such as the Palace on the Dam and the Westertoren (Western
Tower) and of course the world famous canals.
Amsterdam Central Station
After a full circle above the center of Amsterdam I am heading to
the Western Part of the city. Here you can find the modern railway
station of Sloterdijk with modern office blocks around it, such as
the Crystal tower (95 meters high).
Amsterdam Sloterdijk Station and Chrystal Tower
At this point I am making a turn South and pass some residential
towers. In one of these towers the first meeting of the NL-2000
development team took place.
In one of these blocks the first NL-2000 meeting was held
I am overflying Schiphol Airport. I have a special clearance today
from the tower to overfly the field at very low altitude. Thanks
folks!
Buzzing Schiphol
After snapping a few pictures I continue into the direction of
Hoofddorp and enter the area of New Vennep, Lisse and Katwijk. At
Noordwijk aan Zee I can see the white lighthouse standing on the
coast. After flying a while along the coast I re-enter the country to
take a closer look at the old military field of Valkenburg. I cross
this field at low altitude.
The airfield was used frequently by the royal family but the
airfield closed in 2006 to make room for a new urban area. I soon
notice that I am not very far from some great architecture in the
center of The Hague as I can spot the Hoftoren (141 meters),
Malietoren (75m), Zurichtower, VROM and the Central Station.
The Hague Center
I am also spotting the 'Binnenhof', the building where the
government of The Netherlands resides. After turning a full circle
around the complex I visit the 'Vredespaleis'. This is the home of
the International Court of Justice.
Leaving The Hague at the South edge of the city I can now clearly
see the many greenhouses in the area known as Westland. The area is
known for its flowers and vegetables export.
I arrived at the town of Hoek van Holland which means in English:
corner of Holland. Out of my left window I can see indeed a sharp
corner. It is the place where the Waterway enters the North Sea. In
front of me another very important economic area can be seen, namely
the 'Maasvlakte'. This is the latest expansion of the Rotterdam
Harbour. In terms of economic output this is the biggest port of
Europe but the Asian ports of Singapore and Shanghai overtook
Rotterdam after 2004. But the area is still the largest port by far
in Europe and stretches about 17 miles from coast to city.
Travelling eastwards I see the many busy areas of this port. One
of the highlights is the Shell Pernis area with its many high
chimneys. Normally a plane is not allowed to fly very close to the
complex.
The oil refinery of Shell
After Shell I am heading Eastwards into the direction of the old
ECT Terminal in the Waal harbour. This area is easily marked by the
KPN tower (192 meters high). At this point we have a spectacular view
of the harbour and the Rotterdam skyline.
Now the Erasmusbridge comes in sight. This is the new symbol of
the city of Rotterdam. Rotterdam is the second largest city of The
Netherlands. Near the Erasmusbridge the skyline of Rotterdam has many
big skyscrapers. One of the latest built towers is the Montevideo
(152 meters). One of the reasons that Rotterdam is famous is because
of its special modern architecture.
Kop van Zuid Area of Rotterdam
One of the delights of our scenery is that you can fly below 500
feet and still have a sharp image. As I turn a few circles around the
city center I can recognize my own house.
The street where I live is under my left wing
I once more circle the center to check out the Euromast. This is
the highest public tower of The Netherlands (185 meters high). From
above you can see that Rotterdam is 'booming' in terms of newly built
towers.
The Euromast
To end the flight for part I decide to land at Rotterdam Airport
(EHRD). I slowly touch down on runway six. After a while I turn the
engine off to enjoy a meal at the airport.
I hope you enjoyed the flight!
Jeroen Arends
pagroove@chello.nl
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