Saab meet at our airport

Gavin has made his "report" of our Saab meet from this week;

Just back from a memorable trip to Holland, the question is where do I begin? Went down to London on Sunday and spent time window shopping in Mayfair before going to St. James's Park to see the ducks and squirrels. It was a glorious evening and I did so enjoy being there. Dinner at my club, nice to have freshly starched linen and a good meal washed down with Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand! Then to Docklands and the Thistle Hotel, the less said about that the better, but it was handy for the airport! Monday dawned dark and miserable, not like the previous evening! EGLC was a joy, security quick and efficient and no check in, I was soon strapped into the leather seat of a City Jet F50. A nice but short flight and we were at Antwerp where the skipper brought the Fokker off the ILS to low cloud and poor visibility, way below the weather minima for the Cessna to come in and pick me up Rudy howe...ver had turned up in his classic Saab 95 and we were soon heading down the motorway for the Dutch border. A brave man that Rudy as he invited me to drive his lovely old car, I had to 'fess up' that I had not driven a manual for 10 years and had never driven on the right hand side of the road. Three modern Saabs overtook us honking madly and I thought they were saluting this old-timer, should have known better! I managed to cope with the driving and even negotiated a roundabout before getting to his shop (of which more later) for a much needed coffee to calm my nerves, we were soon off to the small airfield where he keeps his Cessna 150. We arrived at the grass airfield and I was amazed to see a huge collection of Saabs lined up outside the clubhouse for my visit, I was most impressed. Rudy had been in contact with his chums who turned out in big numbers, including the three cars I had seen earlier - there must have been upwards of 20! There was a great range of cars, estates, convertibles and even a 9-7X, a 4x4 SUV never officially imported into the UK. The weather improved somewhat and it was time to take to the air, it was nice being in a light aircraft once again although the visibility was still poor, we went over the coast and saw some of the long bridges that link the islands. On our return Rudy took some more friends flying while I inspected the Saab collection. It was soon time to get something to eat and Rudy had booked a table in a nice restaurant overlooking the sea at Vlissingen (Flushing to you Brits!) there must have been upwards of twelve people dining and a good time was had by all, I can recommend the cod! After dinner we went for a tour around the town, had to make the obligatory visit to the statute of Admiral Michael de Ruyter who was born in the town. I will not dwell on the Admirals naval successes during the Anglo Dutch wars, somewhat embarrassing for us Brits, so I will move swiftly on!! Having looked around Flushing we moved on to Middelburg, the capital of Zeeland and had a look at some of the fine architecture although much was damaged during the war. It was then time for me to be dropped off at a very nice B &B ready for Tuesday. Tuesday was another damp and miserable day, Robert came to pick me up in the classic 95 and we went to Rudy's kitchen design shop. This is a temple to the gastronomic art, full of Neff and Miele appliances. Rudy has sold a fridge to London and other equipment to Australia so distance is no object! I liked the integrated plate warmer and the built in steamer but the piece of kit I loved most was probably the cheapest, a self powered LED mixer tap which illuminated the flow of water blue when cold and changed it to red when hot, how cool is that!! Soon it was time to leave for the airport in Antwerp, Robert at the wheel of the 95 once again. We made good time till we reached the outskirts then got heavily snarled up along the ring road - at 2 in the afternoon??? Faulty navigation on my part and the need for the satnav to find itself again was more time lost, then disaster! Someone bumped into the back of the Saab denting the chrome bumper, not easy to replace! Robert soon sorted things out but more time was lost, we arrived at the airport 15 minutes before take off. At a larger airport I would gave missed the flight but the staff were brilliant and soon got me through security and onto the aircraft, amazingly I was not the last passenger! So ended a super visit, my thanks to Rudy for being such a kind host and for the flight in the Cessna, to his many friends for being so welcoming, to Robert for all his driving and finally to the staff at City Jet who were not in the least fazed by my late arrival at the airport, they could not have been kinder. To you all I say a big thank you!

Pictures of the Saab meet of this week are collected on this page.