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

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

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

Surinam Airways Surinam Airways ( nl, Surinaamse Luchtvaart Maatschappij), 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 Penge ...

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

Zorg en Hoop Airport Zorg en Hoop Airport is an airport serving general aviation in the city of Paramaribo, Suriname. It is west of the Suriname River, between the city quarters of Zorg en Hoop and Flora. The runway length includes a displaced threshold on Runway ...

, 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 ...

. 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 (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. Both his parents were from Suriname. He went to the United States and obtained his

pilot licence Pilot licensing or certification refers to permits for operating aircraft. Flight crew licences are regulated by ICAO Annex 1 and issued by the civil aviation authority of each country. CAA’s have to establish that the holder has met a specifi ...

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, initia ...

near

the Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, 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 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 combat aircraft. The ...

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 outside North America) is an American brand of lemon-lime-flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo. 7 Up comp ...

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 cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines. In 2018, airline cargo traf ...

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 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 Surinam Airways, south of Param ...

. 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 Ignacio Agramonte International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional Ignacio Agramonte) is an international airport in central Camagüey Province, Cuba. It serves the city of Camagüey and the resort village of Santa Lucía. History During ...

, 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 recommen ...

of the mayor of

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the 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 ...

. 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, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

. 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) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

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 The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

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

airstrip An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) 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 publ ...

. 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 Develo ...

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 (; uk, Холм, Kholm; german: Cholm; yi, כעלם, Khelm) is a city in southeastern Poland 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 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

on 22 May 1914. He was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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 Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

with speeches by Prime Minister

Severinus Desiré Emanuels Severinus Desiré "Freek" Emanuels (27 February 1910 – 27 August 1981) was a Surinamese politician, and Prime Minister of Suriname from 25 June 1958 to 30 June 1963. Biography Emanuels was born in Rotterdam on 27 February 1910. He studied law at ...

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 nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

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 large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...

was named "Ronald Elwin Kappel". On 11 February 2017, a

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places *Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazine ...

of Kappel which was sculpted by

Erwin de Vries Erwin de Vries (21 December 1929 – 31 January 2018) was a Surinamese painter and sculptor. De Vries was born in Paramaribo, and is the half-brother of Henry Lucien de Vries, who served as governor of Suriname from 1965 until 1967. Wim Bos V ...

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 Surinam Airways, south of Param ...

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