Ralph Aarts
2010.07.18

With please we announce the first blog from Ralph "Sheik" Aarts.


It was October 2009 when former Air Race Pilot Frank Versteegh invited me to become a member of the jury who would select the winner of a photo competition held at Teuge Airport. Afterwards Frank invited me to fly with him some time later in the mighty Extra 300L. When he phoned me last April with the question: "when do you have time to fly", I replied: "Yesterday?" Not long after his call we succeeded in making a very impressive and memorable first flight in his unlimited extra 300L. A new addiction was born! Aggressive yet elegant, this airplane has best of both worlds, it is a pure pilots airplane, it does exactly what you want it to do : ) We ended the day with a few beers and a new plan was born. Frank just dubbled his fleet with another extra 300L. How nice would it be to fly airshows not only with one but with two Extra\'s! Since my busy job, being the pilot of the Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 demoteam for the last 3 years has ended, time became available for this new challenge. Frank and I both have a lot of experience in flying solo demonstrations. Frank is the guru on the unlimited aerobatics, my display experience combined with lot\'s of military formation flying would make a great combo and basis for a new challenge for the both of us. We already noticed during some training sessions we can learn many tricks and tools from each other by sharing our knowledge whether we are flying or when enjoying a cold beer in the Teuge Bar.