The order

For the Militaire Luchtvaart Museum (Military Aviation Museum) in Soesterberg Koninklijke Saan transported the Neptune to Lelystad in the weekend of 25 - 27 March 2011. The historical reconnaissance aircraft shall be fully renovated in Lelystad. The Lockheed Neptune SP-2H is suffering from corrosion and that is the reason it will get fully revised and newly painted. This will be done by the company Quality Aircraft Painting Services (in short QAPS), in their new location at Airport Lelystad. They expect the airplane to be ready in May.

The working method

The airplane needed to be dismantled for the transport. Wings, tail parts and propellers were transported separately. On Friday 25 March the loading of the various airplane parts started, after which the wings, tail parts and propellers were transported to Lelystad the very same morning. The transport of the sizeable body took place on Saturday night. Saan transported the body of the Neptune partially by road, partially via waterways. The execution took place at night in order to minimise the burden on the road network.

With the help of two 160 ton cranes and a 220 ton crane we played ‘leapfrog’ at a number of locations along the route. This way the aircraft was lifted onto the A28 near Kamp Zeist and at exit Nijkerk the aircraft was lifted over the traffic control installation. At Harderwijk it was lifted onto a pontoon. The aircraft continued its journey to Lelystad by boat, where the last part was done by road. This part also included cranes.

The transport of the Neptune: some figures

The length of the transport was 27 metres, the width 10 metres and the height 4.2 metres. The Lockheed Neptune weighs about 20 tons. To accompany this transport four exceptional convoys were present and Heijmans Techniek en Mobiliteit (technique and mobility) (former Van der Linden Verkeerstechniek (traffic technique) assisted where necessary to temporarily remove traffic signs. Saan provided eight certified traffic stewards for the transport of the Neptune.