The largest plane ever received at this airport has landed at Schiphol, the Stratocruiser Europe; the flagship of American Overseas Airlines. Developed from the B-29 Superfortress, this aircraft’s wingspan is 43m. Each of the 4 engines provides 3500hp to propel the plane at 550km/h. The most remarkable feature of this aerial giant is its two decks. The upper deck seats a maximum of 100 passengers in comfort. A staircase down leads us to a 14-seater cocktail bar. The cockpit has so many dials, levers and gauges, that a normal person would become dizzy at the sight. All of this was taken in by 4000 visitors to Schiphol when the Mayor of Amsterdam and the Minister for Transport boarded the plane with many others for an aerial tour over the Netherlands. The plane uses a special generator to start its engines. With 56 invited guests and 10 crew, the 65,000kg machine makes its way to the runway. The 4 engines that consume 3000l of fuel per hour, are hardly heard in the cabin, whilst the plane shoots through the sky at 550km/h. For the passengers it seems like the plane is barely moving as the panoramas of the cities in the west pass the ‘Europe’ by. An hour after it left, the stratocruiser returns to Schiphol. That same day, the aircraft left with 40 Journalists bound for the US invited by the US Government to take a 16-day tour.