Grasshoppers reunited

It looked as if the clock had been turned back some 50 years at Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu, Royal Netherlands Air Force) air base Deelen, last Saturday 25 September 2023. In front of Hangar 2 of the base, four Sud Aviation Alouette 3 helicopters, painted in the colours of the famous ‘Grasshoppers’ demoteam, were lined up.

This line up had been organized on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the formation of the team in 1973, which ended its activities in August 1995. To celebrate this remarkable 50th anniversary a reunion was held for all those who had in any capacity been active with the Grasshoppers and all the enthusiasts with a soft spot for the team and its helicopters.

The museum directors and volunteers had envisaged that there was only one way to organize a genuine reunion: revival of the historic helicopter demoteam. Bringing together this quartet was the result of a truly difficult assignment the Dutch Alouette Museum, in Barneveld had imposed on itself.

Three of the museum’s own Alouettes serials A-350, A-390 and A-453 were present, painted up as Grasshopper choppers, while the fourth machine, serial A-465, was trucked in from the Nationaal Militair Museum at Soesterberg.

As all four Alouettes are non-airworthy, we will unfortunately not see a revival of the famous demoteam. So obviously the reunion was shortlived: the helicopters have by now returned to their display collections in Barneveld and Soesterberg!

Photo: Peter van Diermen