Aero Club of the Netherlands Indies
The Nederlandsch Indische Vereeniging voor Luchtvaart or Aero Club of the Netherlands, among other translations, was incorporated as a limited public company on 8 March 1911. It aimed to promote aviation in the broadest sense and in all its ramifications and applications; furthermore, it wanted to aid the development of all sciences related to aviation and to dedicate attention to the industrial and commercial interests of aviation. However, it appears to have actually been formed on 27 July 1909 as a ballooning club in Batavia, West Java, Isle of Java, in the Dutch East Indies, or in what is now known as Jakarta, Indonesia. Four days later, a branch was founded in Surabaya, East Java, Isle of Java. In 1910, additional branches were etablished in Central Java and at Deli, a regency in what is now known as the Indonesian province of North Sumatra. At some point, but likely 1914, the society came under the patronage of the Dutch throne and the predicate Koninklijke or Royal was added to the name.
The organization was founded by Lord D.F.W. van Rees, vice president of the Board of the Dutch East Indies. Lieut. Gen. P.C. van der Willigen, the army commander and chief of the War Department in the Dutch East Indies was vice chairman. Naval officer Alfred Emile Rambaldo, then at the Dutch Navy's Royal Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory in Batavia, was appointed 2nd secretary and in that position was the driving force of the organization until his death in an accident embarking a hot air balloon in July 1911. While a lieutenant seaman, Rambaldo had been instrumental in forming the Aero Club of the Netherlands in Amsterdam in 1907. The Medal of the Royal Netherlands Indies Society for Aeronautics, a private award, was established in 1932. The medal, in gold, silver, or bronze, was awarded to those who had rendered meritorious service to aviation in the Dutch East Indies. Because the medal was recognized by the Dutch government, it could be worn on uniforms.
The Aero Club of the Netherlands is written in Dutch as Nederlandsche Vereeniging voor Luchtvaart. The editions of Jane's cited gave the name in Dutch and did not provide a translation. According to various editions of the Staatsblad van Nederlandsch-Indie and Staatsblad van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden from 1911-1917 viewed on HathiTrust It appears to have received an annual government subsidy but it's not clear what agency gave it.
There were branches of this club in Central Java and at Deli.
Sources
- 24 Marineblad (1909-1910) 576; 1913 Jane's 71; 1914 Jane's 65; 1915 Regeerings-Almanak voor Nederlandsch-Indie en Bijlagen 309; Schoenmaker,Wim and Postma, Thijs, Aviateurs van het eerste uur, De Nederlandse Luchtvaart tot de Eerste Woreldoorlog (1984, 2008), 104, at http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/post034avia01_01/; http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medaille_van_de_Koninklijke_Nederlandsch-Indische_Vereeniging_voor_Luchtvaart; http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afred_Emile_Rambaldo; http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medaille_van_de_Koninklijke_Nederlandsch-Indische_Vereeniging_voor_Luchtvaart. Also used were Braunbeck's Sport-Lexicon: Luftschiffahrt, 1911, 169; Aéro-Manuel 1911 268 (1 Oct. 1910); 1910-11 Jane's 123; 1912 Jane's 107
| Organization names | Aero Club of the Netherlands Indies ; Nederlandsch Indische Vereeniging voor Luchtvaart |
|---|---|
| Entity type | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| City | Batavia, West Java; Isle of Java ; Dutch East Indies |
| Affiliated with | |
| Scope | Dutch East Indies and West Java |
| Started aero | 1909 |
| Ended aero | 1932 or later |
| Keywords | |
| Key people | |
| Wikidata id |
