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Aim for the moon and hit the stars

If knowledge is power...this office is the hydrogen bomb...

NELSPRUIT – When 11 year old Charl du Plessis sat in the cockpit of a Douglas DC3 airliner during the summer of 1965, aviation became his first love. It was Collendale, East London in the middle of the sixties and together with his friends, Douw and Freddie Steyn, Charl would spend his weekends and holidays at the end of the runways watching the planes take off and land. Often they pretended to be flight controllers or even pilots themselves – the pinnacle of their aviation dreams.

The Glider King, Otto Lilienthal was a German pioneer of aviation who now navigates a section of the popular office at KMIA.
The Glider King, Otto Lilienthal was a German pioneer of aviation who now navigates a section of the popular office at KMIA.

“It wasn’t like today,” he said, “as kids we could run around unattended without fear of abduction or any such nonsense. Many times the pilots and aircraft engineers took us around the hangers and the workshops and showed us how the planes were being serviced and what the inside of a cockpit looked like. We befriended the ground staff and would often even load the baggage for the passengers.” The epiphany, however, struck when one of the DC3 pilots let the boys into the cockpit and showed them how to start the motors. “Right there I knew there could be nothing better.”

His teenage years were mostly spent with his head in the clouds, and among the stars when the sunset. He dreamt of flying and couldn’t imagine not being able to. He loved the skies and was eager to learn the mysteries it kept so well hidden behind its bright blue veil. “The problem was, in those years, when you finished school you were asked what you were going to do with your life and if your answer couldn’t sufficiently satisfy the hopes of your parents, well, then you went to the police force.”

The legendary F14-A Tomcat perched on the mantle piece in Du Plessis office overlooking the Lowveld escarpment.
The legendary F14-A Tomcat perched on the mantle piece in Du Plessis office overlooking the Lowveld escarpment.

So he followed the path set out before him and for a period of three years, almost to the month as he remembers, constable Du Plessis upheld the laws of the land. But it wasn’t meant for him. He left the police force and joined the mining industry but following a near fatal accident two years after the fact, resigned from his position. Naturally gifted in the art of service and possessing an inherent love for people, he found his place at the fire and rescue services near his hometown. There he moved through the ranks until his passion landed him the role of instructor. Still there was a yearning and there came a day when that familiar voice could no longer be silenced. It was the sky. It was calling and he knew he had to answer. “I finally made my move into aviation as a Customer Services and Change Management instructor for Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) at the very same airfield that once resonated with the sound of my own little bare feet pattering through its corridors.”

From East London he made his way into a management position at Pietersburg (Polokwane) airport which preceded his eventual trek to Nelspruit.

The French inventor, Louis Blériot, who became the first human to fly accross the English Channel in 1909.
The French inventor, Louis Blériot, who became the first human to fly accross the English Channel in 1909.

“I love it. Coming to work everyday is truly a blessing, especially considering the many different and interesting people I get to meet regularly here.”

Last year in December Charl was the first South African to welcome the Chinese vice-president on African soil and in 2003 he was fortunate enough to spend three months working with former Apollo Astronauts Bob Young and Scott Worden on the NASA Safari 2000 programme. “They were some of the most intellectual and professional men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting in my entire life. They were extremely well trained, diligent and by the book, we could learn a few things from these people you know.”

The American space travellers were on a mission to map Africa and spent time with Charl and his wife during their stay in the Lowveld. “Inevitably the question regarding UFO’s and the likes popped up during one of our many conversations,” he chuckled. “I noticed the four men looking at each other and Bob Young nodded in acknowledgement before saying that in their experience there has to be life out there in universe other than on earth.”

One of the most intriguing pieces in the collection is this model of the infamous Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen.
One of the most intriguing pieces in the collection is this model of the infamous Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen.

The walls and ceiling of his tiny office are almost entirely covered in memorabilia ranging from scale model airplanes to geniune fighter helmets and pilot wings. One of the most prized in his collection is a brass, handcrafted paperweight. It used to be on the desks of the young pilots at the battle of Midway during WWII. “This statue contains the tears of 18 year old boys who knew they were going to die when their phone rang to order a scramble. They had three hours flight time and would go into battle against some of the greatest fighter pilots the world had ever seen. They knew they were not coming back.”

If knowledge is power, then this office is the hydrogen bomb.

One of the pioneers of modern aviation were the Wright brothers.
One of the pioneers of modern aviation were the Wright brothers.

Some of the pieces in his “museum” stem from his personal toybox as a boy, while most of them were hand me downs from pilots, visitors and those who knew he collected. “If there were enough space in the main airport building, I would donate my entire collection to the airport so that children and visitors could learn about the history of aviation.”

For the time being, Charl continues to grow his collection and invites those he meets who share his interest to take a stroll through his now famous office.

“I dont want the people to remember me, not Charl. I want them to remember our past, see how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go – perhaps then mankind will learn to like each other a little more.”

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