50 jaar F-16 bij de Koninklijke Luchtmacht
mens en machine
[50 years of F-16 at the Royal Netherlands Air Force
man and machine]

Review
ModelFan
Authors: Mike Schoenmaker en Niels Hogenboom
Publisher: Geromy
ISBN: 9789083312293
Hardcover ,
Published: November 2024  
Pages: 368
Price: 59,95  euro.

An alternative title could well have been:
"People and Stories and Lots of Photos of people and Machines"

This fall, the Royal Netherlands Air Force said farewell to the iconic F-16, an aircraft that played a vital role within the Royal Netherlands Air Force for 45 years. Niels Hoogendoorn from Berghem and Mike Schoenmaker from Den Bosch have captured the history and personal stories surrounding this fighter jet in a remarkable book.

Both authors developed a passion for aviation early on. Schoenmaker's father worked for the air force, and Hoogenboom’s father took him to air shows as a child. Both envisioned themselves becoming pilots, but life took a different path, just as with me. Their interest persisted—not professionally but as a hobby—and for years they have been writing about military aviation in magazines and on social media.

This is the third book in a short time to be published about the F-16 and its retirement from the Royal Netherlands Air Force. First, we had Goodbye F-16, also published by Geromy, followed by Featherlight Heavyweight, a publication under the banner of the NIMH (Netherlands Institute of Military History) and Walburg Press, and now this book. It contains true, exciting, humorous, emotional, and above all, personal stories. According to the authors, this may be one of the most comprehensive works about the F-16, partly because the story continues to a few days after the aircraft’s retirement. I don’t entirely agree with that assessment. Each of the three books has its own character and value, and together they form an impressive chronicle of the F-16 in service with the Royal Netherlands Air Force. However, I certainly don't want to take anything away from
this book. Here, the authors focus on telling the human story. There was no point in delving deeply into every bolt and screw of the aircraft. Instead, the writers allow the people to speak—those who were deployed, worked behind the scenes, or otherwise have memories of the F-16.
The story of the Spyker Formula 1 race car competing against an F-16 has been mentioned many times—read the truth in the book—but my attention was drawn by a story about a deployment of 313 Squadron in Turkey, at Mürted Air Base. There were plenty of issues, but the cherry on top was the fact that the Turkish colleagues, with a few exceptions, barely spoke English, which nearly caused an accident, and this in a NATO context!

Chapter 5 discusses the squadrons and other units, including their symbolic meanings, Latin mottos, and translations. It also describes the non-aircraft squadrons, which may be less familiar to some readers. For example:
•    921 Squadron: responsible for the maintenance of transport equipment, mechanical ground equipment, communication, and information systems at Leeuwarden Air Base.
•    901 Squadron: the logistics squadron of Volkel Air Base.
•    640 Squadron: responsible, among other things, for securing air bases.

The book contains a very large number of photos, entirely in line with the chosen approach. They range from historically supportive to specifically internal to stunning action shots in colour. Following a reading guide by the authors and a foreword by the Commander of the Air Force, Lieutenant General André Steur, the book is divided into thirteen chapters. The publication concludes with acknowledgments, a list of abbreviations, and a numerically ordered overview (starting with the J-001) of all 213 F-16s that served in Dutch service. 

This list states that the aircraft were delivered to Sabena as the last flight. To be clear, this is Sabena Engineering Brussels and not the bankrupt Belgian national airline!

Conclusion
After covering the standard story of the F-16 and its acquisition, the book includes many true, exciting, humorous, emotional, and above all, personal stories, which clearly fulfil the book’s subtitle. Additionally, the book naturally covers the historical narrative: what happened with and around this aircraft type in fifty years of service with the Royal Netherlands Air Force. This mix of content makes it a valuable addition for aviation enthusiasts and those interested in the human side of military operations and the F-16. What makes this book unique is that it goes beyond just a historical summary, as the story extends to a few days after the aircraft’s retirement on September 27, 2024. For anyone interested in the aviation history of the Netherlands, this book is a must-have and certainly deserves a spot on your bookshelf as one of the three books about 50 years of the F-16.

Note: If you order the book directly from the publisher, you will receive a free colour catalogue of the publisher’s other publications, which looks very professional.

With thanks to Geromy Publishing for providing a review copy.