The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) will bid farewell to its last KDC-10 on Thursday, October 7, with a farewell tour of the Netherlands. The three-engine strategic tanker and transport aircraft will depart from its base in Eindhoven and fly over five military air bases, Schiphol Airport and Rotterdam The Hague Airport.
Op donderdag 7 oktober vliegt de laatste KDC-10 een afscheidsronde. Ze vertrekt vanaf @VlbEindhoven en vliegt op lage hoogte langs @VlbVolkel, @VlbLeeuwarden, @schiphol, @RTHA_Nieuws, @VlbWoensdrecht en @dhcluchtmacht. @gemeentetxl @AmsterdamNL @rotterdam @breda #watvliegter pic.twitter.com/o9PO0YdPy4
— Koninklijke Luchtmacht (@Kon_Luchtmacht) October 4, 2021
The retirement of the McDonnell Douglas KDC-10 with the registration T-235 and the name «Jan Scheffer» marks the end of almost 49 years of continuous use of the iconic DC-10 in the Netherlands. The KDC-10 will be replaced by the Airbus A330MRTT, a model of which the Royal Netherlands Air Force acquired nine units as part of NATO’s Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF).
The Dutch flag carrier KLM took delivery of its first DC-10 in late 1972. KLM flew twelve DC-10s on its intercontinental route network. The type remained in KLM service until the mid-1990s, when it was replaced by the MD-11, a derivative of the DC-10.
Martinair took delivery of its first DC-10 in 1973 and over the years had five in service for passenger and cargo flights. Two DC-10s were transferred to the Royal Netherlands Air Force in 1995 for conversion to tanker/transport aircraft, including the later T-235.
The farewell flight currently scheduled for October 7 will depart Eindhoven Air Base at 11:00 a.m. and is scheduled to return there at 13:00. The flight will take place at an altitude of between 600 and 1200 meters.
Probably the T-235 «Jan Scheffer», after its retirement, will follow in the footsteps of its brother «Prins Bernhard» (registration T-264), and will be sold to the company Omega Aerial Refueling Services, a private contractor that rents aerial tanker services, mainly in the USA for military aircrew training purposes.
