86-Year Old Plane Spotter Has Dream Come True with A380

86-year old Mr. Van Dam worked for Airbus, but retired before the A380 was released.  The A380 is the world’s largest passenger plane, and Mr. Van Dam has been enamored with it from afar.

Our intrepid plane spotter headed out to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in hopes of seeing the A380.  While he was trying to spot it in the distance, he was approved by an airport employee who invited him to have a closer look.  (Video below)

This started a day of exploring the outside of the plane, checking out the interior (including the cockpit) and watching the plane take off from up-close.

Certainly a lot more than he was expecting that day!

In the travel world and especially for those of us on FlyerTalk/Milepoint and through Dos and MegaDos, we’ve had a lot of opportunities to see planes up close–something a lot of people don’t get to do.

Getting to check out the Dreamliner was an amazing experience.

Dreamliner

And this video hepled remind me of what a unique experience that is.  This man’s pure enthusiasm (and adorable nature) reminds me how great it is that we get these opportunities.  But I also hope this isn’t his last encounter with an A380.

Check out the video below:

Hat-tip to this post in Reddit/r/aviation.

About Jeanne Marie Hoffman

Former bartender, still a geek. One equal part each cookies, liberty, football, music, travel, libations. Stir vigorously. +Jeanne Marie Hoffman Jeanne on Twitter

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3 comments

  1. That made my day – thank you for sharing

  2. This and that other one with the two Dutch grandmas flying for the first time. That one had me in tears.

  3. Ah, The Netherlands, a country that doesn’t view 86 year old retirees as a security threat.

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