Ronald "Rudi" Elwin Kappel (8 November 1926 – 6 October 1959) was a

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

se pilot. He was one of the founders of ''Luchtvaartbedrijf Kappel-Van Eyck'' which is now called

Surinam Airways Surinam Airways (), also known by its initials ''SLM'', is the flag carrier of Suriname, based in Paramaribo. It operates regional and long-haul scheduled passenger services. Its hub is at Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (Zanderij). Sur ...

, the first airline in Suriname. He also helped construct the

Zorg en Hoop Airport Zorg en Hoop Airport is a small airport in the city of Paramaribo, Suriname. It is west of the Suriname River, between the city quarters of Zorg en Hoop and Flora. It is mainly used for general aviation, flight training, emergency medical ...

, and the

Rudi Kappel Airstrip Rudi Kappel Airstrip is located south of the Tafelberg tepui in Suriname. It was constructed as part of Operation Grasshopper. It used to be named Tafelberg Airstrip, but was renamed Rudi Kappel Airstrip, after the co-pilot of a flight that cr ...

. Kappel died in an air crash near

Paloemeu Paloemeu or Palumeu is an Amerindian village in the interior of Suriname, situated at the site where the Paloemeu River joins the Tapanahoni River. Most inhabitants of the village are native Tiriyó Amerindians. The remainder belongs to the Wayana ...

Biography

Kappel was born on 8 November 1926 in

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

. Both his parents were from Suriname. He went to the United States and obtained his pilot licence in 1948. In 1950, Kappel met Leendert Jägers, director of

Ypenburg Airport Ypenburg Airport (Dutch: Vliegveld Ypenburg), which later became Ypenburg Air Base was an airport in the Netherlands in Leidschenveen-Ypenburg near the city of The Hague. The ICAO code was EHYB. History The airfield was established in 1936, initi ...

near

the Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, with whom he had wanted to establish the first Surinamese airline company. They had planned to begin operations in February 1951. A second-hand

Cessna AT-17 Bobcat The Cessna AT-17 Bobcat or Cessna Crane is a twin-engine advanced Trainer (aircraft), trainer aircraft designed and made in the United States, and used during World War II to bridge the gap between single-engine trainers and larger multi-engine ...

was purchased. On 5 February, one engine failed near Aruba, and then the other stopped as well. Kappel was forced to make an emergency landing at Bubali. Both Kappel and Maurice Young, his passenger, escaped with minor injuries. However, the plane was lost, and not insured. In 1952, Kappel and , owner of the

7 Up 7 Up (stylized as 7UP worldwide) or Seven Up is an American brand of Lemon-lime drink, lemon-lime–flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, although the beverage is internationally distributed ...

factory in Suriname, founded ''Luchtvaartbedrijf Kappel-Van Eyck'', and received permission to start a

cargo airline Cargo airlines (or air freight carriers, and derivatives of these names) are airlines mainly dedicated to the transport of air cargo, cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines. In 2018, airli ...

in Suriname. They were not allowed to transport passengers, because the government wanted to start a national airline. Kappel and van Eyck possessed only one airplane based in Zanderij Airport. In order to expand operations, van Eyck sold his factory, and the

in Paramaribo was constructed. On 1 October 1952, Luchtvaartbedrijf Kappel-Van Eyck received permission to transport passengers. On 13 October, Kappel flew to Camaguey Air Base, Cuba, and wanted to fly on to

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

using a

letter of recommendation A letter of recommendation or recommendation letter, also known as a letter of reference, reference letter, or simply reference, is a document in which the writer assesses the qualities, characteristics, and capabilities of the person being recomme ...

of the mayor of

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

. Upon landing in Santiago, he was arrested. After contacting the Dutch embassy, he was released; however, he was arrested again when he tried to leave Santiago. With the aid of the embassy, he was released for a second time. The negotiations with the Surinamese government to establish a national airline were difficult. In 1954, Kappel closed the company and started flying in

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

. On 1 January 1955, the ''Surinaamse Luchtvaart Maatschappij'' (SLM) was founded as the national airline. Kappel and van Eyck were reimbursed for their investments, and Kappel became chief pilot for the SLM.

Grasshopper

The Geijskes expedition to the Tafelberg began on 3 March 1958. The goal of the expedition was to examine the flora and fauna of the

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

around the mountain, and whether an airstrip could be built there. Kappel was assigned the latter task. On 16 March, Kappel, H. Massink, and 18

Amerindian In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

s started clearing the savanna, and on 24 March, the first plane landed on the

airstrip An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

. Geijskes decided to name the savanna "Kappel Savanna". In February 1959,

Operation Grasshopper Operation Grasshopper was a project to look for natural resources in Suriname from the air. For this project, seven airstrips were constructed in the interior of Suriname from 1959 onward. The project was the brainchild of the Minister of Develop ...

was announced which intended to map the natural resources in the

interior Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...

of Suriname. As part of the operation, six more airstrips were to be constructed.

Death

Wicenty "Vincent" Fajks was born in

Chełm Chełm (; ; ) is a city in eastern Poland in the Lublin Voivodeship with 60,231 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is located to the south-east of Lublin, north of Zamość and south of Biała Podlaska, some from the border with Ukraine. The ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

on 22 May 1914. He was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

veteran who had served in the No. 317 Polish Fighter Squadron of the Polish Air Force in Great Britain. In 1957, he started flying in Suriname. On 6 October 1959, Fajks and Kappel set off from Tafelberg to Paloemeu in an Aero Commander 520 with registration "PZ-TAG" to deliver cargo for Operation Grasshopper. In the fog, one of the engines failed, causing the aircraft to crash into a hill several kilometres from Paloemeu Airstrip. Both pilots were killed. On 11 October, Kappel and Fajks received a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

with speeches by Prime Minister Severinus Desiré Emanuels of Suriname and Prime Minister

Efraïn Jonckheer Efraïn Jonckheer (20 October 1917 – 30 March 1987) was a businessman and politician of the Netherlands Antilles. Jonckheer served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles from 8 November 1954 until 14 February 1968. He served as Minister ...

of the

Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles (, ; ), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba (island), Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, ...

Legacy

On 10 October 1959, Prime Minister Emanuels announced that the airstrip at Paloemeu would be named "Vincent Fayks Airstrip," and the airstrip on the Kappel Savanna near Tafelberg, "Rudi Kappel Airstrip." Also the mountain discovered by Fajks would be named Bonita after his daughter. On 11 August 2004, the first

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

was named "Ronald Elwin Kappel". On 11 February 2017, a bust of Kappel which was sculpted by Erwin de Vries was placed near the terminal of

Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport , also known as Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport, and locally referred to simply as JAP, is an airport located in the town of Zanderij and hub for airline carrier Suriname Airways, Surinam Airway ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kappel, Rudi 1926 births 1959 deaths Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents People from Port of Spain Surinamese aviators 20th-century Surinamese businesspeople Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1959 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Suriname