Background information
People involved. A small and good team formalize the beating heart of Stichting Classic Aircraft Foundation (CAF). Different persons with their own aviation minded identity share their time, knowledge and efforts to get historical aircraft back in the air again. Because of the formal identity of a legal foundation in The Netherlands the daily management is effected by three persons having decision making positions. Ruud Heinen is chairman and Koen Koetsier is treasurer. They founded CAF. The secretary position is effected by Jeanet Heinen, Ruud’s wife.
The management is completed with two more management members. Feike de Vries as Technical Co-ordinator. Nico Swager as general management member. If needed Kees Brouwer can be asked to assist because of his excellent technical helicopter knowledge and licences.
Background of Ruud Heinen
As son of a well-known Royal Dutch Navy pilot Ruud started his aviation career in the germ at home. His first position in aviation was one in the Royal Dutch Air Force in 1979 as a helicopter engineer, which he left in 1986 to work for a private company. Meanwhile he started the foundation of the Dutch Spitfire Flight with three other aviation minded persons. This foundation bought and restored the Spitfire MK 732, which is currently still flying in The Netherlands. In 1993 Ruud bought two Bell 204’s in Spain together with a Schreiner colleague, sold one to the USA and restored the other one to flying condition. This restored Bell with registration N 98049 flew several years from Naval Air Station De Kooy as ex-MLD AB 204 B “220”, attending the Air show circuit ending up in Chile as fire fighting helicopter, for which purpose it is still used. However, it is painted in ‘fire red’ and lost its navy colours. After seven years flying off shore for Schreiner, Ruud joined the Royal Dutch Air force as a Search and Rescue commander on the Agusta Bell 412 from Leeuwarden. In 2000 he left the Air force and had a flying position as a Learjet A 36 pilot and L-39’s captain. Both aircraft were operated in a target tow company, for training purposes of Navy crews on Navy vessels. In this firm he was shortly involved in the setup of a Dutch Hawker Hunter, which the company did not succeed because of difficulties in law permissions of operating these aircraft free in Dutch air space. Ruud left the target tow company in September 2004 and started flying helicopters again in Qatar, soon dispatched in Iran as Base Manager and in 2005 he joined Canadian Helicopters Global division, for which he is now flying in Nigeria.
Background of Koen Koetsier
Koen originally was an instrument engineer. He started his career as a Marine in the Royal Dutch Navy and became technician on the Agusta Bell’s. This is where his predilection for these helicopters started to grow. Koen could ‘smell’ the charm of this robust helicopter with is recognizable and unique sound of the rotating rotor blades during flying. Koen continued his career as operations manager of a service company in the offshore sector. He travelled a lot and supplied oil rigs with adequate and quality material to free drill strings in complicated wells all over the world. This way of life made him see helicopters put to work in their most suitable way. He never lost connection with aviation due to his work. Via both wives Ruud and Koen accidentally met with each other. And this was the start of a very deep friendship between mini –Ruud- and maxi –Koen-. They discovered that they had the same predilection for the huey helicopter. He joined Ruud in operating N 98049 as an engineer and flight engineer until the shipment to Chile. The huey became subject of conversations again and again. This is where the idea of a historical aviation minded foundation started and was effected in the foundation of CAF.
Background of Jeanet Heinen
Jeanet started her aviation career as an assistant of the flight service department at Schiphol Airport in which simulator trainings, hotel bookings and licence matters passed her desk every day. She changed office to work for the managing director of KLM ERA Helicopters at Den Helder Airport as an Office Manager. After two years she started high schooling in marketing and public relations and choose for a new position in promoting KLE in printed matters, arranging circuit flights together with the Avidrome from Schiphol Airport and she filled the open spaces in the offshore helicopter schedule by selling onshore flights to companies. In this period Jeanet met Ruud Heinen and they got married. After fusion of Schreiner and KLE Jeanet decided to start a new job within a media company, where she was traffic manager in marketing and pr-projects for four years. These days she is doing marketing affairs for a life and health care institution of physically and mentally disabled. Besides that she runs the office of CAF.
Background of Feike de Vries
Feike already had a special predilection for Huey helicopters from childhood. During Ruud Heinen’s previous Huey restoration Feike wrote a letter to Ruud and explained him about his eager to join this process. Feike had to wait until CAF became a fact. He finished schooling with a certificate for mechanic and started to work as engineer for the Lynx helicopters with the Royal Netherlands Navy at The Kooy in Den Helder, which he still does. In September 2006 he went to the U.S.A. to gain his US A&P (airframe & powerplant) license.
Background of Nico Swager
Nico made his interest in the aviation sector serious by choosing to follow schooling for an engineer certificate at the NLC (Dutch Aviation College) (now ROC Amsterdam Airport). He finished schooling in 2002. During schooling he did practice with the Naval Airforce (MLD). After his schooling period Nico started to work with Skyline via his study mate Kees Brouwer. He worked at Den Helder Airport and at Naval Airstation Valkenburg on the technical condition and airworthy of Albatros L39 jet-fighters and the Learjet A36. This is where Nico met Ruud Heinen, which resulted in cooperating in CAF now. After the Skyline period Nico has joined the Royal Netherlands Airforce in Leeuwarden as F16 jet fighter engineer till today. He is starting schooling in HTS (High Technical School) during evening hours. Nico is management member in CAF.