In 2024, Martin Schröder died at 93. He was one of the great pioneers of Dutch aviation. His charter company, Martinair, was one of the first companies to promote tourism using air transport.
But as car enthusiasts, we never forget his glamorous stunt of accompanying the DAF team during the London-Sydney marathon in 1968. Martin offered to make an old DC3 from his fleet available for the Dutch DAF rally team at low costs. It gave his company enormous publicity as journalists could fly along for free and were photographed typing their articles during long, cold flights in the Martinair Douglas. It was an adventure never seen before.
Martin was not only a pioneer; he was an excellent businessman too. At the end of the sixties, Martinair got landing rights in the USA for freight and passengers. The company needed long-haul planes like the DC8, and the old fleet had to be replaced. Coincidentally, Martin found a buyer for his DC3 in Australia, so the sponsored flight was not only a sponsored flight but also a ferry flight for the old DC3 to its new owner, a convenient, cost-efficient combination.
And so, the DC3 stayed in Australia and was later sold to the Indonesian Navy to start a new life. In 1984, it crashed in New Guinea, and the remains were stored until 2000 in Surabaya, probably for parts.
For me, this adventure in 1968 with the DC-3 flying half the world, and the little DAF's driving through Asia and Australia to finish in Sydney was unforgettable. As a 10-year-old boy, I admired the battered rally cars at the RAI exhibition in Amsterdam in 1969. It was a fabulous adventure, forever connected to Martin's Air Charter (MAC) and its founder, Martin Schröder.
R.I.P.
