The Times Advocate, 2005-10-19, Page 14Crossroads
14
Wednesday, October 19,2005
Exeter Times Advocate
European family moves to Lucan to start business
By Nina Van Lieshout
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
LUCAN — The
Plokhaar family have
been in Canada for
just a couple of
months.
They arrived here
from Godalming,
Surrey, England on
Aug. 11.
The family of five
has settled down in
Lucan and are very
pleased with the big
move.
The Plokhaar family,
consisting of father
Richard, mother
Martina, and their
three children, seven-
year-old Lara, four-
year-old Malte and
two-year-old Robin
are extremely happy
to be a part of the
Lucan community.
Lara is attending
Lucan Public School
and Malte will begin
Jr. kindergarten next
month.
"The people here
seem very friendly,"
says Richard.
"It seems like every-
one is a little more
laid back than where
we came from, people
aren't as stressed and
they're so different,
they help you with
things here."
"Yes, the people in
London, England
especially are always
busy, busy," adds
Martina.
A job opportunity for
Richard was the rea-
son behind the big
move.
"I was appointed to
be President of the
new branch Aerosoft
North America Ltd."
Aerosoft is a compa-
ny that originated in
Europe and is expand-
ing in different parts
of the world, including
Canada.
So when Aerosoft
Ltd. decided to open a
branch in North
America they hired
Richard.
"I had a choice to go
to the United States,
in Michigan if I want-
ed to, actually that
was the original plan
but I decided to pick
Canada instead," says
Plokhaar.
The North American
branch of the business
is run right out of the
home they live in on
Saintsbury Drive.
"It's a big change
but it will be nice to
not have to commute
to work all the
time,"says Richard.
"It took a little while
to find the best house
that would suit both
the needs of the family
and the business,"says
Richard.
One of the needs was
two separate
entrances to the home
so people don't have
to walk through our
house.
"We were able to get
the help of a company
that specializes in
assisting people who
are starting their own
business," says
Richard.
There is one concern
that the Plokhaar fam-
ily are a little worried
about though.
"We're a bit con-
cerned about all of the
snow that we keep
hearing about," says
Richard.
"Other than that
we're very happy, it's
actually taken a short-
er time getting settled
in, here in Lucan than
it did in England, it's
been much easier and
everyone has been
extremely helpful to
our family."
With Aerosoft being
a company that deliv-
ers add-on software
for the Micro Flight
Simulator 2004,
amongst other things,
it seems Richard is the
perfect man for the
job.
His journey began in
Rotterdam in The
Netherlands, where he
was born.
After completing
MAVO-D (that's the
equivalent of high
school in Ontario) he
then took an electrical
engineering course in
Ede, Arnhem for three
years.
When that was fin-
ished Richard worked
for 10 years as a
Locomotive Engineer
for the Netherlands
Railways.
He met his wife
Martina in Germany
and married her in
1996.
Once in Germany he
became a Locomotive
Engineer for the
German Railways.
"I am licensed to
drive German ICE
High Speed Trains and
French TGV High
Speed Trains," says
Richard.
Not too many people
in the world have this
privilege, only about
20 engineers are qual-
ified to do this.
After five years of
driving he changed
jobs to the head office
of the German
Railways
There Richard man-
aged 18 Full Scale
Locomotive Simulators
and make the training
programs for 25,000
Engineers.
In the midst of this
job Richard also
developed Train
Dispatcher Simulators
as computer games.
With all of this expe-
rience behind his belt,
Microsoft Games
Studios asked Richard
to fulfill the role of
project manager on
Train Simulator 2.
This particular
opportunity meant
moving to the UK.
After this project
was completed
Richard began his
own railway consul-
tancy company in
Godalming, Surrey,
UK.
There he worked on
various projects for
the German Railways.
Before moving to
Lucan, Richard
worked on the Dutch
High Speed Line South
for seven months for
the London
Underground.
There is no doubt
that his credentials
are perfect for this job
opportunity.
Not only is he
extremely knowledge-
able in the flight and
train simulation world
but Richard is also
fluent in four different
languages.
With all of the trav-
eling done within the
past few years
Richard has picked up
German, French,
English and knows
Dutch, that's his
native language.
"Aerosoft Ltd. chose
me to be the president
of the new branch
because I know a lot
in the flight and train
simulation world,"
says Plokhaar.
"This should be the
next big thing for
maybe the next four
or five years, it's
exciting"says
Plokhaar.
Both Richard and
Martina are running
the business but
Richard might get
some extra help if
everything goes well.
"I was thinking of
maybe hiring some
University of Western
Ontario (UWO) students
to help out with some
of the paper work, for
now though we'll just
take it one step at a
time"says Richard.
Richard Plokhaar plays one of the many games that are made by Aerosoft Ltd.
Aerosoft Ltd is a company that delivers add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator
2004, amongst other things.The websites to find out more information about this
particular company are www.aerosoft.com or www.train-world.com. (photo/Nina Van
Lieshout)
From left Martina, four-year-old Malte, seven-year-old Lara, Richard and two-year-
old Robin Plokhaar stand in their new backyard in Lucan.The Plokhaar family
moved from Godalming, Surrey, England in August to begin a business. Richard was
appointed as president of Aerosoft Ltd., the North American branch.The business
is being run out of their home. Both Richard and his wife Martina are running it.
(photo/Nina Van Lieshout)