Forerunners to the NLF
General Snijders Fund
In 1932, the Royal Dutch Aviation Association (Koninklijke Nederlandse Vereniging voor Luchtvaart, KNVvL) celebrated its 25th anniversary. At the celebration of that anniversary in August, a committee was set up to honour the KNVvL's first president – and champion of Dutch aviation – retired General C.J. Snijders. Directors of Fokker, KLM, NLS and the Dutch Civil Aviation Authority presented the first golden General Snijders Medal of Honour to the general on October 19. Many dignitaries attended this special gathering for the aviation world, including Prince Hendrik, the Minister of Water Management, the mayors of The Hague and Rotterdam and administrators from the aviation sector.
The committee was later transformed into the General Snijders Foundation. It awards honours every four years to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to aviation. Until 2024,
The General Snijders Medal of Honor was awarded 17 times, including to Albert Plesman (1935) and Peter Hartman (2017). In the overview all persons who have received the medal of honour are mentioned.
A.H.G. Fokkerfund
Having obtained his pilot's licence 25 years earlier in an aircraft he built himself, A.H.G. Fokker established a foundation on May 16, 1936. Into this ‘A.H.G. Fokker Fund’ he first deposited an amount of 100,000 guilders. The fund was intended to enable flight training for the largest possible number of Dutch people, support aviation pioneers and their relatives, promote and develop Dutch aviation, and provide scholarships. Fokker chose prominent aviation representatives as board members, including the chairman of the KNVvL and the chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Aviation School. In the first year, 23 students were trained for the glider pilot licence and 33 for the motor pilot licence.
Van den Berch van Heemstede Fund
One of the co-founders of KLM was businessman and squire I.L. van den Berch van Heemstede, an enthusiastic balloonist and general secretary of the KNVvL. In 1919, he also became the first secretary-general of the International Air Traffic Association (IATA). Van den Berch van Heemstede was involved in all Dutch aviation activities like a spider in the web. For instance, he was secretary of the National Aviation Fund, and he founded the National Support Fund during the Second World War through his own foundation Van den Berch van Heemstede. After his death, this foundation received an important legacy, which also benefited the National Aviation Fund.
In the first half of the last century, several private funds were established to boost the aviation sector in the Netherlands. These are the forerunners of the Dutch Aerospace Fund: