How it all began

SAA Boeing 747-400

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The inception of the dream

Well I guess this story starts when I was about five years of age, now I can’t remember if it was for my birthday or Christmas, but my parents bought me a replica Boeing 747-400 supporting the national sign of then SAA (South African Airways) on the tail wing of the aircraft. Those were the years when Television broadcasts were only between certain time frames , and if you switched on the TV in the down time of broadcasting, the teleprompter would display a very significant screen that was multi colored with some kind of writing in the center with some kind of numbers………well back then being so young I couldn’t read yet so the only things I could understand was the shapes and colors, and that meant that it wasn’t time for the show yet, and that I had some more waiting to do………

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For a five year old that wait felt like an eternity some days, but it laid a solid foundation of teaching me patience when I look at it in hindsight. It also forced me to entertain myself everyday that lead to a vivid imagination of unrealistic and endless possibilities. I am so grateful for those experiences, as it set a tone in my mind that anything can be achieved. All the great inventions started with someone's imagination. Take aviation for example, the idea that man could fly was thought of by some very imaginative fellow, as most of the early attempts to man flying were based on the same concept of how birds fly. And so for centuries attempts were made to help man fly by flapping wings, but none were successful in creating lift and sustained flight. So at that time it must have seemed like an unrealistic dream for most. But those with the imagination didn’t stop trying, and thanks to them my dream can become a reality. Aviation is now such a part of our everyday lives, that for most people it’s lost that majestic …… only possible in our imagination…….feel. Now it’s more an expectation that you can hop on here and a few hours later hop off on a new continent without as much as batting an eyelid.

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Now just as you read through that last paragraph, thinking what is this boring blah…..blah……blah, childhood, semi history lesson nonsense. That is exactly what I felt like as a five year old having to wait for my favorite TV show to start. I distinctly remember the theme music, and once I heard the music coming from my parents’ bedroom I would run along the passage into their bedroom and jump on the bed and sit next to my dad and watch this black and white "super cool" helicopter "Airwolf ’’ rise from its secret mountain lair. I could think of nothing I would like to do more than fly in that helicopter. A year later my parents got me a model replica of Airwolf, I can still remember the intense joy I felt at owning my very own Airwolf, needless to say, there wasn’t a battle that the poor Boeing 747-400 didn’t lose against the mighty Airwolf…..again imagination…..ah fond memories.

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And so my love for aviation was born, by the influence of those two aircraft. If you have never seen the TV series ‘’Airwolf’’ I highly recommend it, not just if you are an aviation enthusiast, but also if you enjoy the hero saves the day kind of action.
Stay tuned for more on how an ordinary guy gets to live his dream.