I was born during WW II on 13 April

Last update may 27 2001

	I was born during WW II on 13 April '43 as son of a contractor. That same day, in Great Brittain eleven Spitfires rolled off the production lines to save us from the Hun, who at that time ruled by power of violence and suppression.
Mk Va		Serial numbers of planes delivered April 13 1943 Mk Vc EF646 EF648 EF649 EF650 Mk Vb EN571 JL111 JL381 JL388 Mk VIII JF425 JF427 Mk IX JL383
	As I grew up, technics of flight fascinated me above all, but I took up a career as ships engineer in order to explore the world and satisfy my hunger to know. Because opportunity so had it, I joined a merchant marine company with bulk carriers and hauled wheat, iron ore etc, all over the world, but mainly between Canada, America's West coats and the orient. My ship, HMSS Hollands Duin During winters, and consequently bad weather in the Northern Pacific, we would go South towards Australia, the Indies and Africa. I found the tropics much more enjoyable than the stormy Northern Pacific.
	When, in the late sixties I stopped going out to sea, I shopped around doing different jobs, more or less like a trainee, in the fields of metal casting, sheet metal forming, craftsman training, tool construction, process control and process engineering, finally ending up writing product standards and working as a patent engineer. Most of the time, my passion had to do with model building and engine tuning.
	After a severe car accident in the mid seventies, which grounded me for nine years I took up archery and became three times field archery national champ in the bare-bow class, after all, I had all the time in the world to practice, study applied integrated cirquit amplifiers, and build my own competition bows.
	From 1991 on, I did board member work in our motor model flight club " the Pioniers" as combined chairman and treasurer. At the moment the task of chairman is passed on to a worthy successor who is a much better politician than I am.