Walraven 2 Seletar

10/31/2007. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "This aircraft was designed in 1934 by the Dutchman Laurens W. Walraven in the Dutch East Indies for the Chinese millionaire Khouw Khe Hien, who wanted a fast and comfortable two-seat aircraft to visit his food companies dispersed over the Indonesian archipelago. Of wooden construction, this was one of the first purpose-designed business aircraft.

Technicians of the LA/KNIL (Luchtvaart Afdeling/Koninklijke Nederlands-Indische Leger, Aviation Department of the Royal Netherlands-Indies Army) constructed the aircraft in parts at their base at Bandoeng (now Jakarta), Java, and it was assembled at Andir Airfield. The first flight was made by First Lieutenant Cornelis Terluin on January 4, 1935, only twenty days later it received its CofA and was registered as PK-KKH.

Khouw was pleased with the aircraft performance and intended to establish an aircraft company in the Dutch East Indies to produce the Walraven designs. To promote this idea, he and Terluin flew the Seletar from Batavia to Schiphol in the Netherlands. From September 16 to 27, 1935, they needed 82 hours flying time to cover the 10,253 mls (16,500 km), the return trip, that was made from November 1 to 12, took only 71 hours.

However, Khouw was killed in a LA/KNIL Martin B-10 that crashed in February 1938 and the production plans did not materialize. The stored at Andir and it was destroyed during the Japanese attack of February 19, 1942."