Origins and history of the NLF
The flight of the ‘Pelican’
In 1933, several parties were trying to set up a fast airmail link between the Netherlands and Indonesia (at the time a Dutch colony). Lieutenant pilot Dick Asjes had been working for several years on plans to make a record mail flight from Amsterdam to Batavia (Jakarta) using a three-engine fighter. The Hague aircraft factory Pander designed and built the ‘Postjager’, hoping that if successful, the Ministry of Defence would buy the aircraft as a fast reconnaissance/bomber.
On July 6, 1933, the Netherlands-Indies Rapid Mail Study Committee (Studie-Comité Snelpost Nederland-Indië) was formed to find support and resources for the initiative. Although the Pander S-4 Postjager (PH-OST) flew for the first time on October 6, 1933, the aircraft faced constant setbacks and the plan to fly to Asia by December 9 could not go ahead. Dutch airline KLM, meanwhile, wanted to fly its newest aircraft, the Fokker F.XX ‘Silver Gull’ (PH-AIZ), to the same destination transporting Christmas mail on December 17. But this aircraft also suffered engine trouble on the day of departure, so KLM management decided to deploy the older, slower Fokker F.XVIII ‘Pelican’ (PH-AIP). Nevertheless, captain Iwan Smirnoff, second pilot Piet Soer, engineer Jef Grosveld and radio operator Carl van Beukering managed to reach Batavia in record time – four days, four hours and thirty-five minutes. Through radio and newspapers, everyone in the Netherlands followed the news about the return flight. Despite dense fog, the Pelican landed safely at Schiphol Airport on December 30.
Pelican committees
Out of the enthusiasm across the country around the Pelican flight, action to strengthen aviation interests emerged in the following weeks. This took shape in the National Pelican Committee. On January 10, 1934, this committee honoured the crew of the Pelican in Amsterdam at a meeting attended by many administrators of governments and companies. Retired general C.J. Snijders was executive chairman of the committee. He announced the establishment of the National Aviation Fund during the meeting. Indeed, according to M.H. Damme, director general of PTT (the Dutch state corporation of postal, telegraph and telephone services), there was widespread awareness that the development of aviation was important for the Netherlands. All mayors across the country received a letter urging them to set up local Pelican committees to raise money for the fund.
How enthusiastic people in the Netherlands were about aviation is shown by the composition of the National Pelican Committee. Honorary chairmen were the prime minister and the ministers of the Interior, Defence and Water Management. The honorary committee included the vice-president of the Council of State, the presidents of the Senate and House of Representatives, the commander of the Dutch Field Army and the chief of the General Staff. Besides chairman Snijders, the executive committee consisted of people with top positions in business, interest groups and the media. The General Committee included 120 authorities.
The National Aviation Fund
The Netherlands saw a great future for aviation and wanted to carve out its own place in it. The National Aviation Fund was to contribute to this by fostering entrepreneurial spirit and keeping alive the memory of exceptional flights by aviation pioneers. The public was called upon to support the fund financially, as the government was not making funds available for it. Activities by the national and local Pelican committees, plus proceeds from an aviation event, raised 100,000 guilders. On October 9, 1934, the executive committee of the National Pelican Committee met one last time to transfer this amount to chairman engineer (ir) J.F. de Vogel of the National Aviation Fund foundation established on August 16, 1934.
To promote Dutch aviation, the foundation undertook all kinds of activities to make the sector more widely known among the population, and specifically among young people. This was done, for example, through contributions to scholarships and study trips, launching competitions and promoting the fund.
The Dutch Aerospace Fund
During the pioneering years, the Netherlands had several private aviation funds. Some ran out of reserves over time, while others flourished. Three funds merged in 1985: the National Aviation Fund, the A.H.G. Fokker Fund and the Van den Berch van Heemstede Fund.
They jointly continued under the name Fokker van den Berch van Heemstede Aviation Fund. During the same period, the Generaal Snijders Fund also existed.
In 2009, Anne Cor Groeneveld, at the time a board member of the General Snijders Fund, was asked to become a board member and project leader for the National Aviation Prize at the Fokker van den Berch van Heemstede Aviation Fund. Three years later, on April 24, 2012, this resulted in a merger of the two funds with the new name Dutch Aerospace Fund (Nederlands Lucht- en Ruimtevaart Fonds), the NLF. Lt-general Droste, also former dean of the Faculty of Aerospace at TU Delft, became the first chairman. In 2017, retired Lt-general Jac. Jansen took over his role and, since 2021, Anne Cor Groeneveld is chairman of the NLF.
The Pelican in Batavia, Netherlands-Indië
Source: https://blog.klm.com/
The history of the Dutch Aerospace Fund goes back to the 1930s, a time of aviation pioneering.