Well, it is about time to announce a very special book.

On February 3, 2012 the company European Airlines Rob Mulder celebrated its fifth birthday! A jubilee. For this occasion we will publish a book with the catching title: “Flying With My Photos – A Selection Of Photographs From The Period 1918-1940″. This is a book with only photographs of European airliners from the period 1918 to 1940.

76 pages with 63 beautiful photographs. To mention some: Caproni Ca.48, Breguet 14T2, Vickers Vimy Commercial, Fokker F.III, Junkers F 13, Farman F.190, Laté 28, De Havilland D.H.34, Handley Page W.8b, Dornier Merkur, Savoia Marchetti S.55, Caproni Ca.97, CAMS 53, Heinkel He 70, Bloch M.B.220, Koolhoven F.K.50, Short S.23, Dornier Do 26, De Havilland D.H.91 Albatross, Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condor, Caudron C.630 Simoun and many more.

The price of the book will be a surprise and announced once printed and delivered! But we will print 1,000 books! So there is enough for everyone! And if you’re lucky, you will get the book free of charge!

Kind regards
EUROPEAN AIRLINES

Rob J. M. Mulder

Mulder is married to Monika Müller. They have three children (one daughter and two sons). He lives in Spikkestad, Norway. As well as his life-long interest in aviation, Rob enjoys also genealogic research and is active member of the Bardstjernen Lodge in Drammen.

Contents

Period 1977-2008
First book published
Series: A Piece of Nordic Aviation History
Memberships
Books written by Mulder
Future books
External links

Period 1977-2008
Mulder made his first airplane trip in 1977 when he flew in a Douglas DC-9-32 from Vienna to Amsterdam. He was allowed to enjoy parts of the flight in the cockpit. The oldest aircraft he has flown in so far was in August 2008 the Douglas C-47 / DC-3 of Dakota Norway, when he made a flight from Sandefjord Airport Torp (Norway) to Aalborg (Denmark) and return.

His first interest was the history of aviation in Austria. He wrote many pages of an unpublished manuscript on the subject. During his school years in Hilversum he published a small private aviation magazine covering news about civil aviation. He also started to write about the history of European airlines that were operating between 1910 and 1945 and finished up with over a 500-pages manuscript. Many of the histories from this manuscript ended on the web, under www.europeanairlines.no. This site was opened in September 2007.

First book published
In 1987 Mulder published his first book in Norway: Luftbussen til Kontinentet about the first international air service operated out of Norway. It is a biography about Captain Wilhelm Meisterlin and his airline Norske Luftruter AS, who acted as general agent for Deutsche Luft Hansa AG in Norway between 1927 and 1934.

Series: A Piece of Nordic Aviation History
In the beginning of the nineties he started to work on a new book called “Junkers for Scandinavia”, a history of the German influence in Scandinavian and Baltic airlines up to the year 1926. This book specifically details the work by Junkers Flugzeugwerk AG in Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Denmark. It also describes in detail, the history of the Danish airline Dansk Lufttransport AS. It was not published until 2007, and it was awarded the Norwegian Aviation Book of the Year Award for 2007. The book was the first of a series of books under the subtitle A Piece of Nordic Aviation History. Further titles followed in the next years:

May 2009: Ternen – Junkers W 34hi, LN-DAB, DNL’s første trafikkfly, 1935-1946, about the first airliner of the Norwegian airline Det Norske Luftfartselskap, Fred. Olsen & Bergenske AS. It was published in the Norwegian language with an English translation available.

May 2010: Valkyrien – Sikorsky S-43, LN-DAG, DNL’s amfibiefly, 1936-1938, about the amphibian of the Norwegian airline Det Norske Luftfartselskap, Fred. Olsen & Bergenske AS. It was published in the Norwegian language with an English translation available.

October 2011: Oliver Andre Rosto – A Life Dedicated To Aviation, about the norse-american Oliver Andre Rosto, who was the first Norwegian to have designed and built a flyable monoplane. He flew it successfully for the first time in 1913.

In November 2009 Mulder published the book ELTA – The First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam, 1919 about the first major aviation exhibition after the First World War, held in Amsterdam between August 1 and September 14, 1919. More than one hundred aircraft visited the exhibition and more than 500,000 visitors were registered. The book was awarded Book of the Month in the British aviation magazine Aeroplane Monthly (April 2010) and rated Absolute Fabulously.
In co-operation with freelance aviation journalist Günter Endres, aviation historians Lennart Andersson and Günther Ott, Mulder published in 2012 the book Junkers F 13 – The World’s First All-metal Airliner.

Memberships
Mulder was member of the now dissolved Norsk Flyhistorisk Forening. He is now member of Svensk Flyghistorisk Förening, Dansk Flyvehistorisk Forening and Air Britain. He runs several websites: www.europeanairlines.no; www.elta1919.nl; www.oliverrosto.com, www.junkersf13.com and www.chrisbraathen.com. Many articles for websites and aviation magazines have been written and published by him.

Books written by Mulder
Luftbussen til Kontinentet (own publication, 1987)

Junkers for Scandinavia (European Airlines Rob Mulder, 2007)
Ternen – Junkers W 34hi, LN-DAB, DNL’s første trafikkfly, 1935-1946 (European Airlines Rob Mulder, 2009)
ELTA – The First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam, 1919 (European Airlines Rob Mulder, 2009)
Valkyrien – Sikorsky S-43, LN-DAG, DNL’s amfibiefly, 1936-1938 (European Airlines Rob Mulder, 2010)
Oliver Andre Rosto – A Life Dedicated To Aviation (European Airlines Rob Mulder, 2011)

Co-author:
Junkers F 13 – The World’s First All-Metal Airliner (EAM Publishing, scheduled 2012)
Deutsche Lufthansa in Norway, 1927-1945 (European Airlines Rob Mulder, scheduled 2012)

Future titles:
Brevduen – Caproni Ca.310, LN-DAK – DNL’s crest for a mail plane (European Airlines Rob Mulder, scheduled 2012)
The Beginnings of Norway’s airlines, part 1: 1910-1922 (European Airlines Rob Mulder, scheduled 2012)
Junkers Ju 52/3m – DNL’s Working Horse (European Airlines Rob Mulder, scheduled 2013)
Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condor in Denmark (European Airlines Rob Mulder, scheduled 2013)
The International Aero Exhibition of Gothenburg, 1923 (European Airlines Rob Mulder, scheduled 2013-14)
The Beginnings of Norway’s airlines, part 2: 1922-1939 (European Airlines Rob Mulder, scheduled 2014)

External links:                                                                                
www.europeanairlines.no
www.elta1919.nl
www.oliverrosto.com
www.junkersf13.com
www.chrisbraathen.com

In 1923 the Internationella Luftfartsutställningen i Göteborg (ILUG), the International Aero Exhibition in Gothenburg, was a great success. It was the first big international event after the ELTA – The First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam, held in 1919. One of the events was the skywriting (1) of Mr. Bramson in the sky above the Swedish harbor city. After the visit to Gothenburg, he travelled to Copenhagen, Malmö and Christiania (since 1925 known as Oslo) for more demonstrations of skywriting. Here is the story of his visit to Christiania.

Read more about the ELTA

 -“Is it Mr. Bramson?”
- “Jaha, det är det!”, meaning “yes it is” in Swedish. The reporter of the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten was surprised that the pilot Mogens Louise Bramson from Britain could speak Swedish. It turned out that the Danish-born Mr. Bramson spoke Swedish, Norwegian and Danish! He was born in Copenhagen in 1895 as son of Dr. Louis Bramson (1861-1952) and famous Danish author Karen Bramson (1875-1936). He had received his training in Britain and had flown there for some time before he took a position at Major Salvage. He obtained his Aviators’ Certificate on June 12, 1923 with the number #7943. (2) Soon he became the leader of the “Scandinavian Sky-Writing Expedition” in 1923-24!

He had been one of the first to arrive at the ILUG and had made several flights above Gothenburg. He flew a small biplane of the type RAF S.E.5a with the British registration G-EBDU and named “The Sweep”.  The aircraft was registered on June 28, 1922 and was scrapped in June 1924. In May 1923 he had been employed by the inventor of skywriting, Major J. C. Savage, as Continental Manager of Savage Sky Writing Company Ltd. By 1923, the company had eight pilots and twenty biplanes of the type RAF S.E.5a in service. His aircraft was powered by a 200hp engine and had a maximum speed of 200 kph. Seven of these aircraft were stationed in the USA. The company performed sky writing in the United Kingdom, the USA, France, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden. It got more and more popular and since Major Salvage was in the possession of the patent only the sky seemed to be the limit!

In Gothenburg, despite of a strong wind, Mr. Bramson, on July 2 wrote the word “Ät Läkerol” (eat Läkerol – a small candy) and on July 19 he wrote the word “Capstan” in the sky above Gothenburg. People in the streets and on the exhibition grounds watched with great interest. Later, on Sunday, August 5, Mr. Bramson wrote the word I-L-U-G as well.

So, how does it work?
The pilot would climb to 3-4,000 meters and “write” the letters in a horizontal and mirrored position. A special exhaust pipe was mounted alongside the fuselage and smoke was pressed through this pipe to the rear of the aircraft. In order to be able to write a letter he needed 20,000 cubic meter of a special, secret and patented substance. In order to understand the size of a letter: a six-letter word could easily have a length of six kilometers. Sky writing was visible on an area of 80-100 square kilometers! In the USA Major Salvage’s company had performed no less than 1,500 flights for a tobacco firm (Lucky Strike). During the three months in service Mr. Bramson had already performed 100 flights. After the ILUG, Mr. Bramson would travel to the capital of Denmark and Norway. In Norway the company had made an agreement with the newspaper “Aftenposten” (The Evening News) and the tobacco firm “Tiedemand”.

Arrival to Christiania
The original plan was to arrive at the Kjeller air field, just north of Christiania on Saturday, August 11, 1923. Unfortunately he had to postpone the departure due to weather conditions in Copenhagen. And when he wanted to take-off on following Sunday, his engine problems and had to replace a part. He hoped to depart as soon as these repairs were done. In the end the people of Christiania had to wait until Friday, August 24, before Mr. Bramson could take off from Gothenburg. He had been told to go for the first green spot in the north – that would be Kjeller air field. The flight from Gothenburg to Christiania and Kjeller went without any problems. On his arrival a journalist from Aftenposten greeted upon him and the Norwegian Army Captain Vetlesen, in charge of Kjeller air field, had space for his small RAF S.E.5a in one of the hangars. For Mr. Bramson the most important question was: “How is the weather forecast for tomorrow?” He wanted to start as soon as possible with his sky writing. On neither Saturday and Sunday it was possible for Mr. Bramson to take-off and show his skills. It was expected that if he wrote letters in the sky right above the Oslo harbor his writing would be visible in a 5 kilometer circle, covering areas like Nordstrand, Bryn, Grorud, Stabekk and further north of Holmenkollen. A funny remark one journalist wrote was: “The sky writing does not do any harm to its audience!”

Arrival of the RAF S.E.5a, G-EBDU, on Kjeller Air Field, August 11, 1923

Finally sky writing
The start of Monday, August 27, was weather wise not too well. But during the day the weather improved and at 14.00 hrs. Mr. Bramson could start to prepare his aircraft. At 14.30 hrs. he took off and set his course for Christiania. There were still clouds and high winds, but at the altitude he was going to fly the winds were not too strong. He would fly to the center of Oslo and write first the word “Aftenposten”. This word was to have a length of 10 kilometers! He climbed out of Kjeller and arrived high (3,100 meters) above the center of Christiania. The population was stretching their necks to get a glimpse of the aircraft, but all they could see was a small dot in the sky, which looked more like a bee than an aircraft. But he had reached its height and started his sky writing in front of a huge crowd standing on the Karl Johans Gate, in parks and on ships on the fjords.

People shouted “Look he is writing the A” and soon followed by the “f”, the “t”, the “e”, the “n”, the “p” and the “o”. But then a cloud disturbed him and he had to end the word, fly past the cloud and on the other side he could continues with the “s”, another “t” and finally the letters “e” and “n”. Suddenly the word “Aftenposten” appeared in the sky. Right after finishing the word, he returned to Kjeller, where he landed his small biplane on the green grass of the air field. He had written a word that was ten kilometer long and he had flown 25-30 kilometer at a speed of 180 kph in order to be able to write the word!

The aircraft would fly from right to left and write mirrored.

Flying for Tiedemand
On the following Wednesday afternoon Mr. Bramson made some advertising flights for the tobacco firm Tiedemand and wrote above Christiania the words “Røk Teddy – Kef” (smoke Teddy – Kef), while he continued outside town and wrote the words “Garter Tiger”. After that, Mr. Bramson had fulfilled his contracts and was ready with sky writing in Christiania.

People who had made a photograph of one of the word could send it in to the newspaper Aftenposten and they could participate in a draw. The best photograph would be awarded with 100 Norwegian kroner. The winner was Mr. Ole Bjerke, Nordahl Bruns Gate 12, who took a picture from the street Karl Johans Gate with the statue of Henrik Wergeland in front. In the sky the word “Kef” was visible.

The next day Mr. Bramson thanked Captain Vetlesen for his hospitality and took off from Kjeller air field bound for Stockholm, where new assignments waited for him. But Christiania had had its sky writing adventure. Has it ever been done again?

Notes:
(1)    Skywriting is the process of using a small aircraft, able to expel special smoke during flight, to fly in certain patterns to create writing readable by someone on the ground. The message can be a frivolous or generally meaningless greeting or phrase, an advertisement aimed at everyone in the vicinity, a general public display of celebration or goodwill, or a personal message such as a marriage proposal or birthday wish. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywriting

(2)    From Flight, June 21, 1923.

Price: NOK 150 / EUR 19

Check the special website about  Oliver Andre Rosto

Book review:
Flyhistorie Nr 22 (2011)
Flyhistorie Nr 22 (2011 – English translation)

For:    www.europeanairlines.no and www.elta1919.nl
By:      Rob J M Mulder

The Eerste Luchtverkeer Tentoonstelling Amsterdam – E.L.T.A. (the First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam) is a clear comprehension. Every aviation enthusiast (and not only in the Netherlands) has read, heard or seen something about this exhibition. However, a detailed account has never been published. In my opinion it is one of the most important events in Dutch aviation history and equal to the first flights to the Netherlands East-Indies. Abroad the ELTA was seen with great respect and the French wrote that they had not seen such an impressive exhibition since the aviation meeting in Reims in 1909. An immensely compliment.

The immediate cause for the organisation of the ELTA laid in the fact the Dutch people during the Great War (1914-1918) had lost contact with aviation. The ELTA had to bring a change and to instigate the inauguration of national and international air services. The initiative to the foundation of the KLM – Royal Dutch Airlines had already been taken well before the opening of the ELTA. The founders of the KLM wanted to wait with the final foundation until the ELTA had shown that the general opinion was favourable.

The preparations of the ELTA started already in the autumn of 1918, but in March 1919 the “Vereeniging Eerste Luchtverkeer Tentoonstelling Amsterdam” (Association to Further the First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam) was formed with its seat in Amsterdam. The organisational committee under leadership of Lieutenant Albert Plesman, Lieutenant M J L Hofstee and the (retired) General C J Snijders was soon active. The Dutch architect Ir D Roosenburg was hired to design the exhibition area and in May 1919 the ground works at the Papaverweg (Papaver Road) were already finished. The construction of the buildings and the airfield could commence. Despite a short strike of the workers the halls and the administrative buildings were finished by July 1919. The scheduled opening date of 5 July 1919 could not be reached, but when the ELTA was opened on 1 August people had not much to complain. Not all the stands in the exhibition hall were finished yet and only a few aircraft had arrived. But this changed fast and at the end of the ELTA more than 100 aircraft had visited the exhibition. Among them were the modified Caproni bombers with as highlight the impressive triplane, the Caproni Ca.48. But also the British had flown over a considerable number of aircraft, among them the Handley Page V/1500 and the O/7, a large number of Avro-aircraft and the Airco D.H.4A, D.H.9A and D.H.16.

CHECK OUT FILM FOOTAGE:
Opening of the ELTA and the arrival of the Handley Page V/1500

There were also some racers, such as the Fiat B.R. (with a 700hp engines!) and the British Airco D.H.9R. Latter had only made a five-minute test flight before it was departed for Amsterdam. The French government showed to begin with not much interest in ELTA, but once they saw the impressive Italian and British participations they decided to fly over more aircraft. In the end they too had a respectable number of aircraft: fourteen.

There can be published a whole list of the participating aircraft, but lack of space forces us to mention just a few of them: From Italy arrived the Ansaldo A.1 Balilla and the flying-boats Macchi M.7 and M.8. From Great Britain landed three beautiful products from Frederick ‘Kully’ Koolhoven: the B.A.T. F.K.23 Bantam, the B.A.T. F.K.26 Commercial and the B.A.T. F.K.28 Crow. One of the F.K.23 Bantam, K-123 still exists today (at the Aviodrome, Lelystad in the Netherlands) and also one of the Avro-aircraft, the Avro 536 Baby (G-EACQ) is still on display in Australia.

CHECK OUT: The Italian Aircraft on the ELTA of 1919 and The British Aircraft on the ELTA of 1919

From the Netherlands the ELTA saw two products from the Dutch factory Trompenburg: the Spyker V.2 and the prototype of the Spyker V.3. The Dutch Marine Luchtvaartdienst – MLD displayed a Friedrichshafen FF 49C and the Luchtvaartafdeeling had parked the Vreeburg A.2M on its stand. This was the first twin-engine in the Netherlands. In addition young designer Joop Carley showed his single-engine low-winged Carley S.1.

The ELTA was also a meeting point for the Allied pilots. There were several of them present, but we mention the ace of all aces, French Captain René Fonck, who flew his deep blue painted Spad XV/5 to Amsterdam. Other well-known pilots were the Italians Lieutenant Arturo Ferrarin and Francesco Brack Papa. A popular pilot was the Italian Lieutenant Umberto Guglielmotti, who was simple called ‘Motti’ in the Dutch press. But also ‘La Socieda Gio Ansaldo’s’ chief designer Giuseppe Brezzi and chief test pilot Mario Stoppani arrived in the Ansaldo A300/2. Of the British pilots we notice names as Major Christopher Draper (he later flew under nearly all the bridges of the river Thames!) and Lieutenant Eardley ‘Bill’ Lawson, who opened on 25 August 1919 the air service London – Paris). A popular British pilot at the ELTA was Regnald W Kenworthy, who flew the modified Blackburn R.T.1 Kangaroo. All pilots had certainly heard of each other, but most of them had never met each other. The ELTA made it possible.

But what activities took place at the ELTA, the First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam. Except the exhibition in the halls (which were very interesting as well) the activities on the airfield drew most of the spectators. How many people there were at the ELTA is not quite clear and the numbers vary between 500,000 and 1,000,000. More than 4,000 of them made a joy flight. The daily activities on the airfield consisted out of joy and demonstration flights. Most of the joy flights were made by the Avro 504K and 536 and the Blackburn R.T.1 Kangaroo. Also ‘Fokker’s Luchttoerisme’ (Fokker’s Air Tourism) operated numerous aircraft as the LVG B III, Fokker D VII and Fokker D VIII.

One of the most popular pilots was the Frenchman Alfred Fronval. He was test pilot at Morane-Saulnier and flew a modified MoS.30bis. He made numerous breathtaking acrobatic flights. He had painted his last name on the wings and named the name ‘Bijou’ on the fuselage. With tears in their eyes the Dutch said farewell to the popular pilot once he had to return to France.

During the ELTA special days were organised such as the Italian and French Day (but no British!), each Thursday evening there were night flights, there was an ‘Elite Day’ and two air races were organised: An air circuit race above the Netherlands and the ‘Nederlansche Stervlucht’ (the Dutch Star Flight, a circuit flight in the shape of a star) for Dutch military aircraft (Spyker V.2 and Rumpler C VIII). An air race for flying-boats and seaplanes was organised, but cancelled after the seaplane accident of the Dutch naval Lieutenant J Heckman.

At some occasions an increased admission fee was imposed. That was the case when for example Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik visited the ELTA. Also the Queen-mother Emma visited the exhibition. Among the most prominent foreign guests were General Sir Fred J L Sykes, who arrived in style: A flight of five Felixstowe F.5As. By train came the conqueror of the Atlantic Ocean: Captain Sir John Alcock. Ten of thousands were waiting for him at the Central Station of Amsterdam. He was overwhelmed.

Numerous pages of this article could be filled with stories, but we would like to mention one of them: During one of the first official diners straight flights broke out between the officers and the serving personnel. Latter had been drinking the remains out of the bottles of champagne and wine. Dutch military police made an end to the fights.

But as mentioned at the top, the ELTA made a lasting impression at each visitor and certainly deserves its place in Dutch aviation history. The ‘Vereeniging Eerste Luchtverkeer Tentoonstellin Amsterdam’ could be disolved in March 1920. The aim had been achieved: The Dutch were air-minded again.

A book with the title ‘ELTA – The First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam, 1919’ has been written by Rob J M Mulder. It describes in detail the ELTA, what happened day-by-day, which aircraft and pilots were present, and what impact the exhibition had on the development of civil aviation in the Netherlands. On the website www.elta1919.nl you can find information about the book in Dutch, French, English and Italian.

ELTA – The First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam, 1919 – Rob J M Mulder, ISBN 978-82-997371-1-1, 236 pages, more than 370 photographs many of them never published before. Price Euro 29.95 + pp.

Check out: Digital sample of the book!

To read more about the ELTA go to www.elta1919.nl and for at shopping go to www.europeanairlines.no/webshop

Order and payment by PayPal via the www.europeanairlines.no – webshop (credit cards accepted!)

Between the 1 August and 14 September 1919 the Eerste Luchtverkeer Tentoonstelling Amsterdam – ELTA (First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam) was held. It was hailed as a great success: more than 100 aircraft participated and more than 500,000 spectators (some sources take about as many as 1,000,000) passed the gates. The French Captain Hirschauer wrote about the exhibition ’…since the air exhibition of Reims of 1909…never has an air show been as impressive as the ELTA’. After 90 years it is time to reflect and have a look at the Italian participation.

Once the guns of the Great War fell silent the world could focus on the rebuilding of their nation. Great Britain, Italy and France were particularly hard hit, but the Netherlands had remained neutral and in many ways benefited from the war trade. But already during the Great War plans emerged in many nations to start up air services once practically possible. In the Netherlands Lieutenant M L J Hofstee and R J Castendijk (officers in the Luchtvaartafdeeling – LVA, the Dutch Army Air Corps) had written an essay about the possibilities for civilian aviation in the future. The essay was read by their colleague Lieutenant Albert Plesman, who thought about how can we find interest in the Netherlands for such plans? The Dutch population had not seen many aircraft during the Great War as the country had been neutral. The only flying activity taking place was by the military. The LVA and the Marine Luchtvaartdienst – MLD (Dutch Naval Air Corps) used mainly confiscated aircraft and had a mix of German, English and French aircraft at their disposal. They also operated some locally built aircraft like the Spijker V.2.

The Lieutenants Plesman and Hofstee came together and decided to form an organising committee that would set up an aviation exhibition with the main focus on the civilian site of aviation. It was important to show what the modern aircraft could mean for civilians. They found government support and a guarantee fund was formed to make sure that the idea could be realised and not became a financial disaster. In the spring of 1919 the plans for the Eerste Luchtverkeer Tentoonstelling Amsterdam – ELTA (First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam – ELTA) were put into life. The exhibition opened on 1 August and lasted for six weeks until 14 September 1919. On a newly developed site in Amsterdam an exhibition hall and an air field (670 m x 750 m) were constructed. Invitations were send out to the Entente members as well as Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Austria. Under pressure of the Entente members Great Britain and France the German and Austrian invitation were withdrawn. It was too early after the Great War for them to compete at this event and also Allied pilots were not too keen to meet their former rivals in the air. Nevertheless, the ELTA was to become one of the finest exhibitions the world had ever seen. During the six weeks the ELTA lasted the committee had organised numerous activities, including night flights, air races, display flights, joy rides and much more. There was even an informal flying display with a lady jury present.

CHECK OUT FILM FOOTAGE:
Opening of the ELTA and the arrival of the Handley Page V/1500

In the exhibition hall numerous exhibitors displayed their products and in a cinema on the site lectures were held by people like Anthony Fokker, H B Pratt (Technical Manager of the Airship Department of the Naval Construction Work at Barrow-in-Furness, the airship department of Vickers Ltd) and the well-known French professor L Marchis.

During the six weeks more than 100 aircraft (both land- and seaplanes) came to the ELTA. In the beginning mainly civilian aircraft, but more and more military and converted military aircraft arrived. Not many pure civilian aircraft existed yet. The four countries represented (Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and Italy) displayed a beautiful mix of aircraft:

Great Britain: Airco D.H.4A, D.H.9B, D.H.9R, D.H.10; Handley Page V/1500 and O/7, British Aerial Transport Co Ltd B.A.T. F.K.23 Bantam, F.K.26 Commercial (the world’s first aircraft designed and built for commercial use) and F.K.28 Crow; Avro 504K, 504L, 534 Baby and the 536; Vickers Ltd showed the bomber F.B.27 Vimy and the civilian version F.B.28 Vimy Commercial; Blackburn R.T.1 Kangaroo; and Gosport Aircraft Co with the Gosport Flying Boat FBA, the F.5 and the F.2A. In addition came five Felixstowe F.5As and two rigid airships (HMA R.32 and R.33).

Check out: The British Aircraft on the ELTA of 1919

France: Caudron G.III, Spad XV/5, SEA-4, Breguet 14T2 Salon, Breguet 17C.2, Breguet 14A.2, Morane-Saulnier MoS.30bis, Morane-Saulnier MoS.35, Nieuport 29C.1, Farman F.50P and F.46 and fly-over of a Farman F.60 Goliath.

The Netherlands: Fokker D VII, Fokker D VIII, LVG B III, Fokker C I, Fokker V33, Fokker V39, Fokker M17E (all these were former German aircraft, but displayed by Fokker’s new Dutch company NV Nederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek). Also present he Carley S.1, the Spijker V.2 (trainer) and V.3 (fighter), Rumpler C VIII (from the LVA), Van Berkel W-A (MLD) and Friedrichshafen FF 49C (MLD). Finally the LVA bomber Vreeburg A.2M was on display in the hall.

The Italian contingent
The Italian participants decided to have a special section in the exhibition hall, where they could display randomly the aircraft they wanted to display. The “Sezione Italian” covered quite some space and most of the time 1-2 aircraft were on display. Most of the time the Ansaldo SVA.10 and the Caproni Ca.58 made occasionally the Fiat B.R. were placed on the stand. But the Italians were much more active on the airfield and in the air.

The participators of the Italians arrived throughout the ELTA lasted. The first to arrive was Tenente Umberto Guglielmotti, known in the Netherlands simply as ‘Motti’. He flew one of the three Ansaldo SVA.10s (military serial number 12222) that arrived on 1 August in Amsterdam. One week later the next Ansaldo SVA.10 (12974) arrived, followed by a third aircraft (12714) on 22 August. Latter was to remain in the Netherlands. In addition to these three fighters, Tenente Arturo Ferrarin was commanded to fly an Ansaldo A.1 Balillas (16550) from Paris to Amsterdam. He was to have a great time in the Netherlands with a lot of flying. Finally SA Italiana Gio Ansaldo & C transferred the prototype Ansaldo A300/2 to Amsterdam. The pilot was chief pilot Mario Stoppani and he carried with him the chief designer Giuseppe Brezzi.

Another impressive Italian participant was the Società di Aviazione Ing Caproni that transferred three aircraft to Amsterdam. The first to arrive was the Caproni Ca.450 (23170) for two crew and six passengers. It landed without any problems on 6 August and stayed only for a short while in Amsterdam. This aircraft was succeeded by the Caproni Ca.57 (12042) and this one had an enclosed cabin for six. It was on display in the exhibition hall and was used a little bit for joy rides. The largest aircraft to arrive after the Handley Page V/1500 was the three-engine triplane Caproni Ca.48 with looked very much like a flying omnibus. Captain Giulio Laureati had flown the aircraft non-stop from Milano/Taliedo across the Alps to Lyon and Paris/Orly. He was grounded by bad weather, but on 25 August it could proceed to Amsterdam, where it arrived after a flight marked by headwinds. But it was impressive sight once the triplane landed on the airfield. Once its roaring 380hp Liberty engines stopped it became pretty silent on the airfield. On board were also two Belgian officers, as well as two engineers and the co-pilot Baldi. In addition a detachment of the Italian Flying Corps dismounted from the aircraft!

The Fiat Società Anonima was represented by a very nice aircraft: The Fiat B.R. It had flown in the middle of July to London and on its way back it flew to Amsterdam, where it arrived on 2 August. The pilot was the famous Italian Tenente Francesco Brack Papa. His aircraft was powered by a 700hp Fiat engine – an impressive engine.

The remainder of the Italian participants were all flying boats from both the Società Idrovolanti Alta Italia and the Società Anonima Nieuport-Macchi. The first company send the Savoia S.9 and S.13 to Amsterdam, while latter flew the Macchi M.8 (13611) to Amsterdam and transported by train two M.7s to the Netherlands. They were assembled at the naval workshop De Mok on the island of Texel and were flown on demand to Amsterdam, where they moored either at the naval base Schellingwoude or at the Hoofdkanaal-West near the ELTA exhibition area.

As mentioned before, on the opening day the first Italian Ansaldo SVA.10 arrived. Subsequently, Tenente Guglielmotti was during the whole time on the ELTA and did a lot of flying displays. He was often mentioned in the Dutch press. During the flying displays on the first day Tenente Guglielmotti
made an impressive display together with Anthony Fokker (in a Fokker D VII) and the Dutch Lieutenant Willem Versteegh (in a Spyker V.3). He was joined by Tenente Francesco Brack Papa in the Fiat B.R. the day after and he was described by the English press ‘…as one of the most charming as well one of the most gallant and skilful if Italian pilots’. The roar of the 12 cylinder 700hp Fiat A.14-engine impressed the Dutch public. They had never seen or heard something similar.

There has not been too much written about the arrival and stay of the Caproni Ca.450, but the arrival of the Caproni Ca.57 (12042) has been well documented as it sank away in the sandy underground of the airfield. This was a problem for many of the larger aircraft and made it for them nearly impossible to make joy ride or display flights. The Ca.57 has made some flights, but this was mainly during to the “Italian Day” (see further on). Its arrival was preceded by the arrival of Tenente Arturo Ferrarin in the Ansaldo A.1 Balilla and Tenente G Masiero in an Ansaldo SVA.10. Tenente Ferrarin had been in Paris as part of an Italian delegation promoting Italian aircraft. He was send to Amsterdam as punishment (!) after unauthorised fake dog fights with French aircraft. He did not mind to be send to Amsterdam as he would there meet many of the famous Allied pilots. During the ELTA he made numerous flights in his little Balilla and became a popular figure in the Netherlands. He would not return to Paris until well after the ELTA. The night display flights held during the ELTA were loved by the audience. The searchlights tried to follow the aircraft, but had problems with that. Tenente Ferrarin was also in the air and had attached green and red lights on the wings of his aircraft to symbolize the colours of the Italian flag.

Popular were also the flight around the country. The ELTA organising committee wanted as many as possible to be able to see the aircraft and therefore pilots were asked to fly to numerous places throughout the Netherlands. Among places, Heerlen, Sittard and Meerssen in the south of the Netherlands received a visit of Tenente Ferrarin in the Ansaldo A.1 Balilla and Tenente Guglielmotti in the Ansaldo SVA.10. Latter made joy rides, while Tenente Ferrarin performed some breathtaking acrobatic flying.

On Tuesday 19 August the first Italian flying boats arrived at Amsterdam: the Savoia S.9 (registration unknown) and the Macchi M.8 (13611). The flight stood under the command of Tenente Conte Di Robilant. They moored at Schellingwoude, the naval air base of Amsterdam. Two to three Macchi M.7s arrived by train in Den Helder and were transferred by ship to the island of Texel. Here they were assembled by Italian personnel. The pilots for these flying boats were Tenente Maddalena, Mincotti and Sergeant Longo.

On Sunday 24 August, the ELTA organising committee had scheduled the highlight for the Italian delegation: the “Italian Day”. On this particular day the Italians could show their colours. A small booklet with information about Italian aviation had been prepared and sold by boy scouts. The earnings went to the poor of Amsterdam. The day started with the handing over of an Ansaldo SVA.10 to the Dutch government, who passed it on to the Luchtvaartafdeeling – LVA (the Dutch Army Flying Corps). The Dutch pilot Lieutenant Willem Versteegh was assigned as the pilot of this aircraft. A second SVA.10 was delivered one month later, but no further orders were placed. Meanwhile, the flying display started and most of the aircraft were in the air. The Caproni Ca.57 made some joy rides and the earnings from these flights also went to the poor of Amsterdam. In the end the Italians managed to collect Hfl 5,374.50 (around € 29,525) for the poor of Amsterdam – a great gesture that left a lasting impressing with the Dutch population.

Unfortunately the impressive triplane Caproni Ca.48 was not in time to participate on the Italian Day. Captain Giulio Laureati arrived on Monday afternoon and managed to put the heavy aircraft safely down on the sandy airfield. The British press called the aircraft as a Caproni triplane, complete with omnibus attached. The Dutch Prince Hendrik later visited the aircraft and was pretty much impressed by the quality and the beautiful cabin.

During that week the Caproni Ca.57 left for Paris and Italy and that meant that the first Italians were leaving the ELTA already. But they were not ready yet! On 31 August and 1 September the ELTA organising committee had agreed with the city of Rotterdam to have a flying display in their city. The display became a disaster. The Italians wanted that part of the earnings would go to the poor of the city of Rotterdam, but the committee in Rotterdam could not promise this. Therefore the Italians refused to fly to Rotterdam with other aircraft than the small ones. The crowd had to return home disappointed and angry. The next weekend a new attempt was made and the Italians promised to send the Caproni Ca.48 for joy rides, while four smaller aircraft would fake dog fights and make acrobatic flights. Also the Savoia S.9 would make a fly-pass. Still the committee did not want to give some of the earnings to the poor of Rotterdam. And thus the programme was again reduced. The Savoia S.9 with Tenente Maddalena was send to Rotterdam and landed there on the River Maas (Meuse). He performed also acrobatics and made a low pass over the crowd. In addition Tenente Guglielmotti (in the Ansaldo SVA.10) and Tenente Ferrarin (in the Ansaldo A.1 Balilla) flew to Rotterdam, but did not land there! Again this was not a good result for the organising committee in Rotterdam.

On 5 September the ELTA organising committee had set up an air race. There were prizes for the fastest aircraft, the fastest solo aircraft, the best placed airliner and the aircraft with highest pay-load of passengers on board. The most prestigious award went to French Captain Gaston Damelincourt in the Farman F.50P. After the handicap time had been deducted the captain had used only 38 minutes and 44 1/5 seconds for flying the circuit Amsterdam – The Hague – Rotterdam – Utrecht – Soesterberg – Bussum – Amsterdam (220km). The best placed Italian pilot was Tenente Arturo Ferrarin in the Ansaldo A.1 Balilla, who ended on sixth place. The next Italian ended on the tenth place: Tenente Guglielmotti in the Ansaldo SVA.10. No other Italian aircraft participated. There was also to be organised an air race for seaplanes, but this was cancelled after the death of a young Dutch lieutenant, who crashed with his Friedrichshafen FF 33L a day before the race was to be held. Out of respect the competition was cancelled.

The day after the competition the next Italian aircraft arrived in Amsterdam. It was the prototype of the Ansaldo A300/2 and was flown by chief test pilot Mario Stoppani. He carried as passenger the chief designer Giuseppe Brezzi. In addition test pilot Umberto Guarnieri and Tenente Campucci made a fine performance when they departed from Sesto Calende at Lake Maggiore for a non-stop flight with the Savoia S.13 across the St Gotthard Pass and further along the river Rhine to Amsterdam. During its stay some of the flying boats were used for short flights to smaller lakes throughout the country and on one of these flights the Macchi M.8 (13611) had to make a forced landing near Deventer for refuelling.

How much the Dutch loved the Italians can be illustrated with the next story: The Dutch female artist Agatha Wegerif-Gravestein offered the Italian officers a knitted blanket. General Snijders and Lieutenant Albert Plesman joined Mrs Wegerif-Gravestein and the Dutch general opened the ceremony with a short speech in which he said that the ELTA would like to be the link between the Dutch artist and the Italian section. The Tenente Conte di Robilant and Marquise Laureati represented the Italians and accepted the gift. The Dutch artist held a speech in perfect Italian and expressed her admiration for the Italian people and the country. The Italians offered the artist white roses and everybody walked over to the restaurant for some tea…

The ELTA was approaching its closing days and on 14 September the exhibition was closed for the public. Most of the aircraft had by then already left for their home country. In Amsterdam remained the lieutenants Guglielmotti and Ferrarin, who were to participate at the next air meeting, this time at Ockenburgh near The Hague between 26-29 September. They were accompanied by three Avro 504s, one Avro 536, two Caudron G.IIIs, one Spyker V.3 and one Fokker D VII (with Anthony Fokker as pilot). The Italian aircraft were again used for joy rides and acrobatic flying. After this air meeting both Italians remained in the Netherlands and made at several places joy rides and display flights. A landing at Bergen op Zoom nearly ended with the loss of the Ansaldo A.1 Balilla. He was to land on the beach, but instead made a forced landing in a rifle rage! From here they Italians returned to Paris and the last Italians had left the Netherlands.

The Italian contribution to the success of the ELTA should not be underestimated. They were always willing to participate in display flights and showed their aircraft wherever possible. The Dutch were very pleased with their participation and the fact that so many different aircraft were present. Their contribution was regarded as a major factor for the success of the ELTA.

A book with the title ‘ELTA – The First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam, 1919’ has been written by Rob J M Mulder. It describes in detail the ELTA, what happened day-by-day, which aircraft were present, which pilots and what impact the exhibition had on the development of civil aviation in the Netherlands. On the website www.elta1919.nl you can find information about the book in Italian.

Check out: Digital sample of the book!

ELTA – The First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam, 1919 –Rob J M Mulder, ISBN 978-82-997371-1-1, 236 pages, more than 370 photographs many of them never published before. Price Euro 29.95 + pp. Information on www.elta1919.nl or at www.europeanairlines.no/webshop

Order and payment by PayPal via the www.europeanairlines.no – webshop (credit cards accepted!)

Between the 1 August and 14 September 1919 the Eerste Luchtverkeer Tentoonstelling Amsterdam – ELTA (First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam) was held. It was hailed as a great success: more than 100 aircraft participated and more than 500,000 spectators (some sources take about as many as 1,000,000) passed the gates. The French Captain Hirschauer wrote about the exhibition ’…since the air exhibition of Reims of 1909…never has an air show been as impressive as the ELTA’. After 90 years it is time to reflect and have a look at the British participation.

Once the guns of the First World War fell silent the world could focus on the rebuilding of their nation. France, Great Britain and Italy were particularly hard hit, but the Netherlands had remained neutral and in many ways benefited from the war trade. But already during the First World War plans emerged in many nations to start up air services once practically possible. In the Netherlands Lieutenant M L J Hofstee and R J Castendijk (officers in the Luchtvaartafdeeling – LVA, the Dutch Army Air Corps) had written an essay about the possibilities for civilian aviation in the future. The essay was read by their colleague Lieutenant Albert Plesman, who thought about how to find interest in the Netherlands for such plans? The Dutch population had not seen many aircraft during the First World War as the country had been neutral. The only flying activity taking place was by the military. The LVA and the Marine Luchtvaartdienst – MLD (Dutch Naval Air Corps) used mainly confiscated aircraft and had a mix of German, English and French aircraft at their disposal. They also operated some locally built aircraft like the Spyker V.2.

The Lieutenants Plesman and Hofstee came together and decided to form an organising committee that would set up an aviation exhibition with the main focus on the civilian site of aviation. It was important to show what the modern aircraft could mean for civilians. They found government support and a guarantee fund was formed to make sure that the idea could be realised and not became a financial disaster. In the spring of 1919 the plans for the Eerste Luchtverkeer Tentoonstelling Amsterdam – ELTA (First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam – ELTA) were put into life. On a newly developed site in Amsterdam an exhibition hall and an air field (670 m x 750 m) were constructed. Invitations were send out to the Entente members as well as to Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Austria. Under pressure of the Entente members Great Britain and France the German and Austrian invitation was withdrawn. It was too early after the First World War for them to compete at this event and also Allied pilots were not too keen to meet their former rivals in the air. Nevertheless, the ELTA was to become one of the finest exhibitions the world had ever seen. The exhibition opened its doors on 1 August and lasted for six weeks until 14 September 1919. During the six weeks the committee had organised numerous activities, including night flights, air races, display flights, joy rides and much more. There was even an informal flying display with a lady jury present.

In the exhibition hall numerous exhibitors displayed their products and in a cinema on the site lectures were held by people like Anthony Fokker, H B Pratt (Technical Manager of the Airship Department of the Naval Construction Work at Barrow-in-Furness, the airship department of Vickers Ltd) and the well-known French professor L Marchis. During the six weeks more than 100 aircraft (both land- and seaplanes) came to the ELTA. In the beginning mainly civilian aircraft, but more and more military and converted military aircraft arrived as well. Not many pure civilian aircraft existed yet. The four countries represented (Italy, France, the Netherlands and Great Britain) displayed a beautiful mix of aircraft:

Italy: Caproni Ca.450, Ca.48 and Ca.57; Ansaldo A300/2, A.1 Balilla and SVA.10; Macchi M.7 and M8; Savoia S.9 and S.13 and the racer Fiat B.R.

Check out: The Italian Aircraft on the ELTA of 1919

France: Caudron G.III, Spad S.15/5, SEA-4, Breguet 14T2 Salon, Breguet 17C.2, Breguet 14A.2, Morane-Saulnier MoS.30bis, Morane-Saulnier MoS.35, Nieuport 29C.1, Farman F.50P and F.46 and fly-over of a Farman F.60 Goliath.

The Netherlands: Fokker D VII, Fokker D VIII, LVG B III, Fokker C I, Fokker V33, Fokker V39, Fokker M17E (all these were former German aircraft, but displayed by Fokker’s new Dutch company NV Nederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek). Also present the Carley S.1, the Spijker V.2 (trainer) and V.3 (fighter), Rumpler C VIII (from the LVA), Van Berkel W-A (MLD) and Friedrichshafen FF 49C (MLD). Finally the LVA bomber Vreeburg A.2M was on display in the hall.

The British contingent
Beside the Dutch the British had the largest contingent of aircraft and exhibitors. Most of the joy rides were done by British aircraft and it is safe to say that their participation made the success of the ELTA possible. The joy rides were done by no less than nine AVRO-aircraft and up to three Blackburn R.T.1 Kangaroo’s. Many of the display flights were made by the versatile B.A.T. F.K.23 Bantams flown by Major Christopher Draper and Captain Cyril Turner.

CHECK OUT FILM FOOTAGE:
Opening of the ELTA and the arrival of the Handley Page V/1500

On 25 July 1919 the first British aircraft arrived on the boggy, sandy ELTA airfield. It was the huge Handley Page V/1500 that immediately sank into the mud. It had to be brought to dry grounds and was put on display in the exhibition hall. It was simply too heavy to take-off from the airfield. Beside this huge four-engine bomber Handley Page Ltd transferred two O/7s (G-5414 ex F5414 and G-5417 ex F5417) to Amsterdam also with little fortune. Captain Meintjes’ O/7 (G-5414) tipped on its nose after the landing. No joy rides could be made with these aircraft either.
A V Roe & Co Ltd was the largest single participant and sent over ten aircraft. They included five Avro 504Ks (G-EAIH, G-EAII, G-EAIJ, G-EAJQ and G-EAJU), two 504Ls (G-EALH and G-EALI), two 536s (G-EAHA and G-EAID) and finally the beautiful decorated 534 Baby. Latter carried two different registrations: K-131 and G-EACQ! During the ELTA Captain H A Hammersley did most of the flying on this aircraft.

Vickers Ltd flew the bomber F.B.27 Vimy B9952 and the civilian version of this bomber, the F.B.28 Vimy Commercial K-107 over to Amsterdam. Latter was flown over by Captain Stanley Cockerell. It was sporadically used for joy rides. Captain Sir John Alcock was given a hero’s welcome upon his arrival in Amsterdam and was pretty impressed by it.

An interesting participant was the British Aerial Transport Co Ltd who displayed three F.K.23 Bantams (K-123, F1659 and G-EAJW), one F.K.28 Crow (unregistered prototype) and two F.K.26 Commercial (K-167 and K-102). Latter type was actually the world’s first aircraft designed and built for commercial use. It made a good impression on the ELTA. Nice for the Dutch was that its designer Frederick ‘Kully’ Koolhoven originated from their country.

An important participant from Great Britain was also the Aircraft Manufacturing Co Ltd. On the stand in the exhibition hall it had the complete fuselage of the Airco D.H.16 G-EALM, while on the field the D.H.4A G-EAHG and the D.H.9B G-EAGY were presented. It also had the D.H.10 G-EAJO over for a short visit. The impressive D.H.9R, G-EAHT, a racer, participated in the air race on 5 September 1919 and made a great performance. The Airco Co showed at this stage how military aircraft could be converted into civilian aircraft.

Joy rides were during the ELTA an important source of income, both for the committee, who received a part of the fee, and the operator. The Blackburn Aircraft & Motor Co Ltd sent over the R.T.1 Kangaroo G-EAIT with Reginald W Kenworthy as pilot. His aircraft was converted for civilian use and had an enclosed cabin for four. After its arrival it was immediately put into service and carried numerous joy ride passengers throughout the time the exhibition lasted. It was supplemented by another two aircraft: G-EAIU and G-EAKQ. Latter had its registration painted wrongly on top of its wing!

Finally, there was a rather unknown participant from Great Britain: Gosport Aircraft Co. It was the first company to send a flying boat to the ELTA: the Gosport-built Felixstowe F.5, N4634. It also sent the F.2A N4441 and its own construction the Gosport Flying Boat FBA, G-EAIK. It was both on display in the hall and made later some display flights.

The British Air Ministry cooperated fully and had General Sir Fred J L Sykes, the Controller-General of British Civil Aviation flown over in a flight of five Felixstowe F.5 flying boats. It was an impressive site above Amsterdam. If that was not enough he returned above the ELTA (on the day the French would have their special flying displays) in the early morning of 11 September 1919 with the two rigid airships (HMA R.32 and HMA R.33). HMA R.32 hovered above Amsterdam a while before following R.33 back home.

Joy rides

A Dutch journalist had joined a Swiss colleague of the Journal de Genève-Gazette de Lausanne for a flight in the Avro flown by Mr Shanks. Describing the flight, he wrote that the propeller starts up the engine and the engine makes a bang. The Avro starts to roll, dancing on its rubber wheels across the uneven ground to take off with the nose pointing into the wind. It all has the feeling of a car ride over bumpy obstacles. At the starting line that is placed between two orange flags I assume the starter, Lieutenant W L Bisschoff, who is sitting quietly in his chair on the field, keeps a sharp eye on the field. For a while, Bisschoff seems to point at an aircraft in front of us, but before we know it he gives the signal for takeoff and our bird jumps up and flies into the air. We still have contact with the ground, but just a split second later we are hovering above the ELTA restaurant, where people on the terrace wave to us with their hats and handkerchiefs. About flying he wrote …it is the same feeling as driving a car as fast as an arrow up a steep mountain. Easy and stable. They made a flight above the IJ and could see the canal that links Amsterdam with the North Sea. Flying above Amsterdam he recognised the many well-known buildings like the Royal Palace and the Lutheran Church in the city centre. The wind made it difficult for him to look down and Shanks’ habit of flying as if the aircraft was a boat following waves, continuously descending and ascending. He felt this gave people a feeling of how safe flying was. Turning was spectacular and the journalist was sorry when Shanks started the decent and returned smoothly to the ELTA airfield where he landed without any problems. At the booking office the re-born journalist collected his certificate.

Another Dutch journalist asked Captain Saint for a flight in the D.H.9B and was granted one. He wanted to enjoy some stunt flying, but Captain Saint had eaten too much and refrained from any heavy stunt flying. He was another victim of the good Dutch food. One loop was all Captain Saint managed to perform. The Captain had agreed with the journalist that he would raise his hand when he would start the loop, but he never did raise his hand. He was of the opinion that passengers would be anxious if he warned them on beforehand. After take-off Captain Saint was struggling with turbulence. Then suddenly the journalist felt a powerful push in his neck and managed with great difficulty to remain seated. Looking up at the sky, he saw green meadows divided by narrow canals. After a short while the aircraft returned to a level flight and the journalist later wrote that my shoes and socks were in the right position again. He had survived his first loop.

Another highlight of the ELTA was the arrival of Captain Gerald W Gathergood and the Airco D.H.9R G-EAHT. He had flown from Hounslow to Soesterberg military airfield (for custom clearance) in two hours and ten minutes with an average speed of 134.5mph. He continued to the ELTA in Amsterdam and participated in the air race that consisted out of flying a 220km (136.7 miles) long circuit over the Netherlands. Of course he made the fastest time using 55 minutes and 53 seconds. But after the handicap time had been added he ended up eighth. The competition was won by the French Farman F.50P flown by Captain Gaston Damelincourt. The best British participant was actually the Airco D.H.4A with Captain H J Saint. He ended on the fourth place.

Throughout the six weeks the ELTA took place the British pilots were very much present. They were popular and the Dutch press wrote a lot about their performances. Major Draper was also very much liked by the ladies. During an informal competition the lady’s jury just simply had to look at the flying display and tell what they liked best. But before the start of the competition they summoned all the pilots one by one to come and present themselves. The ladies concluded that Major Draper was the most handsome one and would win! The flying display did not make them chance their mind.

For Thursday, 7 August 1919 the ELTA organisation committee had announced that for the first time night flights would be arranged. The display would start at 2200 and last for several hours. This led to a chaotic situation around the Amsterdam Central Station and on the De Ruyterkade. Thousands of people wanted to cross the river IJ to the exhibition and soon the police could not control the crowd. All regular traffic was stopped and only pedestrians were allowed on that harbour area. The ferries were by no means sufficient to meet demand and private boats supplemented the ferries. Many of them were overloaded and that there were no accidents can only be described as a miracle. Thousands were still on their way to the exhibition when a searchlight lit up the sky, quickly followed by another. One of the searchlights lit up one of the hangars and out of it rolled the beautiful Avro 534 Baby, K-131/G-EACQ with Australian pilot Lieutenant Roberts at the controls. He took off and climbed easily into the dark. The searchlights soon found him allowing the crowd to follow his aerobatic display. He occasionally disappeared out of the searchlights, but was soon found again. After a half-hour he fired flares as a sign that he wished to land. One of the searchlights was trained on the landing ground and the Avro Baby landed smoothly. The crowd was ecstatic and some sixty people ran to the aircraft and took Lieutenant Roberts on their shoulders. He was, of course, presented with a laurel wreath and carried to the ELTA restaurant, where the organising committee honoured him even more. Much to the disappointment of the crowd, who was now waiting for the next display, none came. Although disappointed, the crowd had been impressed by the Robert’s display and showed their enthusiasm for this young Australian aviator. On their way home the crowd met those unfortunate ones who had not made it to the ELTA for the display.

The ELTA was a success – not only for the Dutch organising committee, but also for the British participants. They dominated in the early days after the ELTA the aviation scene in the Netherlands. The first international air service between The Netherlands and Great Britain was operated by the British Aerial Transport Co Ltd on behalf of the Dutch company “Cobor”. On Thursday, 18 September 1919 Major Draper flew in the B.A.T. F.K.26 Commercial between London/Hounslow and Soesterberg. It was the first international air service out to the Netherlands. Although it was irregularly operated (once a week depending on demand) it showed that interest was there. In March 1920 the North Sea Aerial General Transport Co Ltd organised a freight service between the UK and the Netherlands using Blackburn R.T.1 Kangaroos. And finally, once the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines had been established its administrator Albert Plesman turned to the Air Travel & Transport – AT&T and started to cooperate on the Amsterdam – London air service. This service is now one of the world’s oldest air services still in operation.

The conclusion must be that the British participation on the ELTA and the subsequent support on regular services meant a lot to the development of civilian aviation in the Netherlands. Actually two aircraft present on the ELTA can still be seen in museums: The BAT F.K.23 Bantam, K-123 is on display in the Aviodrome at Lelystad (The Netherlands) and the Avro 534 Baby, K-131/G-EACQ can be found in the Aviation Museum of Queensland in Australia!

A book with the title ‘ELTA – The First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam, 1919’ has been written by Rob J M Mulder. It describes in detail the ELTA, the preparations, what happened day-by-day, which aircraft were present, which pilots and what impact the exhibition had on the development of aviation in the Netherlands. On the website www.elta1919.nl you can find information about the book in Dutch, English, French and Italian.

Check out: Digital sample of the book!

ELTA – The First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam, 1919 –Rob J M Mulder,

ISBN 978-82-997371-1-1, 236 pages, more than 370 photographs many of them never published before. Price Euro 29.95 + pp. Information on www.elta1919.nl or at www.europeanairlines.no/webshop

The Junkers F 13 was first called the Junkers Type F, although at the factory it was known as the J 13.

Today, the original Junkers archive is available to researchers. Of course original research costs time, money and effort, but in my view the publication of articles that continue to distort the already maltreated history of Junkers and other German interwar aircraft in general is no longer justifiable. Previous mistakes, inventions and imperfections need not be reiterated, because if that happens the inaccuracies will inevitably be taken up again and used by future authors as “facts”.
This article is intended to set the record straight, at least on some aspects of Junkers aircraft development. However, what is written here can still not be considered to be “the last word”, as there is no such commodity in historical research, but it is at least based on over 25 years of research into Junkers and other German aircraft of the interwar period – mostly in original documents.

Junkers Aircraft Designations
Let us start with the Junkers aircraft designation systems, which may seem confusing to someone not so well informed. What did the “F” in Junkers F 13 and the “K” in Junkers K 16 really mean? Attempts made through the years by different authors to produce explanations have only muddied the water. A typical example can be found in the book “Junkers und seine Flugzeuge” by Günter Schmitt (1986), page 163 (excerpt only):

A – Open low-wing sport aircraft
F – Single-engine passenger transport aircraft
G – Three-engine and multi-engine passenger transport aircraft
H – Aircraft adaptable for military use (used until 1923)
K – Small passenger transport (Reiseflugzeug)
K – Aircraft adaptable for military use (used from 1926)
S – Twin-engine aircraft
T – Open experimental sport aircraft
W – Single-engine multi-purpose aircraft, primarily for freight transport

These explanations might seem reasonable at a glance. The F 13 was indeed a single-engine passenger transport aircraft, but on the other hand, the S 22 was certainly not a twin-engine aircraft. In Wolfgang Wagner’s “Hugo Junkers. Pionier der Luftfahrt – seine Flugzeuge” (1996), which is part of the German handbook series “Die deutsche Luftfahrt”, the following table can be found on page 180 (here arranged in alphabetical order):

A – Open single-engine mail and liaison aircraft
F – Single-engine passenger transport aircraft
G – Multi-engine aircraft
H – Single-engine Military aircraft (Fighters, Reconnaissance aircraft)
K – Warplanes (Bombers, Reconnaissance aircraft)
M – Multi-engine freight transport aircraft
R – Armed variants of civil aircraft
S – Open multi-engine mail and liaison aircraft
T – Small sport- and training aircraft
U – Trainers
W – Single-engine freight transport aircraft

Wagner is closer to the actual truth, but he still mixes things up and the main problem with these lists is that it is not stated by their creators to which period they relate. In fact all allegations that the letter prefix of Junkers aircraft designations originally designated different roles are fictitious. Strictly speaking it is even incorrect to speak of a “Junkers F 13″ or a “Junkers A 20″ during the period before 1924, as those designations did not yet exist!

Junkers Type A (Aegir) – J 10.

Starting with the J 1 (J for Junkers) in 1915 every new Junkers aircraft type had been assigned a type number in a consecutive series. These J-number designations were used internally on drawings, etc, as design bureau, or factory designations. In July 1919 a new, parallel, official or public designation type was introduced for “external” use. The aircraft were given names (codenames) from German mythology and the initial of this name then became the type designator:

This means that the aircraft that we now call the Junkers F 13 was originally known as the Junkers Type F, or just the “Junkers Limousine”, to those who operated it. In company documentation it was referred to as the J 13.
Only in July 1924 the internal designations and the official designations were finally combined to form the more familiar designations F 13, K 16, T 19, A 20, H 21, S 22, U 23 and G 24, although the J-number designations were still retained for internal use. This means that all aircraft sold and delivered before July 1924 fall under the old system and for example the J 20s and J 21s acquired by the Soviet Union were never referred to as A 20s and H 21s.
From June 1927 a suffix consisting of none, one or two (in some cases three, plus a number) lower-case letters was added to the designation, for example F 13ge. References given by authors to designations of this type during the period before 1927 are incorrect*. The original version of a new type had no suffix (G 24). For each major modification of the airframe a consonant was added (G 24b, G 24c, etc) and new types of engine installations were designated by a vowel (G 24a, G 24e, G 24ba, G 24de, etc). The G 24e was the basic airframe with the “e” type of engine, and the G 24be was a modified airframe with the same type of engine. When running out of vowels an extra “a” was added: ae, ai, ao, au, ay, etc.

At the same time the prefix letters already in use were linked to certain roles for the first time:

A – Open single-engine mail and liaison aircraft
F – Single-engine passenger transport aircraft
G – Multi-engine aircraft, mainly passenger transports
K – Aircraft produced by AB Flygindustri at Limhamn (Previously R)
M – Multi-engine freight transport aircraft (New, was never used)
S – Open multi-engine mail and liaison aircraft (New)
T – Small sport and training aircraft
W – Single-engine freight transport aircraft

Note: If this original list is compared to Wagner’s list is it apparent that the letters H and U mentioned by him had in fact been discarded by the time that the letters signified roles, and K and S had been reassigned to new types/roles.

In 1931 standard designations with the abbreviation Ju for Junkers were finally introduced (Ju 46, Ju 49, Ju 52, etc).

For convenience the designations adopted in 1924 can of course be used also when dealing with the period 1919-1924, although the simplest and most correct way to refer to a Junkers aircraft before 1924 would perhaps be to write J 13, J 16, J 19, J 20, J 21, J 22 and J 23.

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* Lower-case suffix letters were used for some aircraft to designate projected versions, for example for the G 23/G 24 when trying to get an approval from the Inter-Allied Aeronautical Committee of Guarantee in 1924.