MARINUS VAN MEEL 1880-1958

Marinus Van Meel This photo was published on the occasion of a flight from Tiel to Soesterberg, 1911 Photo courtesy of Jean-Pierre Lauwers

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES By email from Jean-Pierre Lauwers, 6-26-03 Hallo Ralph!      He first flew in a Farman and then started to construct his own plane patterned after it!      He constructed the first Dutch military planes ! They were called the "BRIK"'s! (1911 - 1913). He delivered a landplane (Brik) as a hydro-plane Brik to the Dutch Military Aviation forces!      He stopped flying after 1911 when he began his own plane construction firm! He made several long distance flights!      The photo here was published on the occasion of a flight from Tiel to Soesterberg. There he established his first plane factory. It was in fact the first Dutch plane factory in Soesterberg. Greetings, Jean-Pierre.

 

CORRECTION via email from Dave Lam, 9-3-07 Ralph: Van Meel seems to have been the third Dutchman to be licensed. French license 34 was granted on 08-03-1910 to Jhr F.L. van Riemsdijk French license 46 was granted on 07-04-1910 to G.P. Küller I believe that both of these were Dutch. Van Meel does not seem to have ever gotten a Dutch license. Dave

 

Van Meel & His Plane This photo is identified as his OWN constructed plane...he made the flight with it from Soesterberg (homebase) to Utrecht, (where photo was shot!), somewhere mid 1912! Photo & legend courtesy of Jean-Pierre Lauwers, 8-20-07

 

"van de weinige Nederlanders, die - na het ondergaan van Wijamlen's zoa - nog geregeld de vliegsport betracht ?aarin een steeds hoogeren trap tracfht te beraiken is de heer Van Meel. Zoo maakte hij oalangs een tocht met drie sagiers, de beide gebroeders en mejuff?ouw Van Dijk uit Utrech, waardoor hij het Nederlandsch record in't vliegen met passagiers op zijn naam bracht - Op onze foto zien wij de luchjtreizigers gereed voor den tocht." Best I can do is: "...one of the few Dutchmen who-- after having undergone Wijamlen's still regulated flying sports practiced a still higher step tried is Mr. Van Meel. He determined to make an excursion with three passengers, both brothers and Miss Van Dijk of Utrecht, as a result of which he holds the Dutch record for flight with passengers. In our photo we see the air travelers ready for the trip." Transcription & Translation courtesy of Dave Lam, 9-3-07      This photo is from Marinus van Meel published on 24th February 1912 taking 2 brothers and a sister, (Family Van Dij, from Utrecht), as pasengers and so setting the record for a flight with 3 passengers for The Netherlands.. No idea if this was still his normal Farman or his own contructed first plane!,(Ameliorated Farman model), I know he constructed during 1912 his own first plane, but when ???? Photo & legend courtesy of Jean-Pierre Lauwers, 8-20-07

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      A search of the net on "Marinus Van Meel", using Google, reveals about 44 links. (1-28-03). Most of them are written in Dutch, but I have found that the Systran website enables one to translate a website or a selected phrase from Dutch to English. You can access the site by clicking on:   SYSTRAN Among the most helpful are the following:   Meel      One of the most comprehensive and interesting is to be found on this website. It is written in Dutch, so unless you read that language, you will have to resort to the Systran program to read it in English. To access the site, just click on the title above.

Phantasy in Blue      On this website, you will find a beautiful picture of one of van Meel's planes, the Brik. You can find the picture by scrolling down the page. It is the first photo to be seen near the top of the page. To read the description, you can highlight it, copy and then paste it into the Systran program. To access the site, just click on the title above.

 

Marinus Van Meel died in 1958

 

Editor's Note: If you have any information on this pioneer aviator please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper

 

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