The flying bug bit Daan Morkel in his childhood days when he lived in Strand, Western Cape. Propellers fascinated him and he started to build propellers from anything he could find. Tomato box boards and Eucalyptus tree bark was the best raw materials he experimented with. His interest further grew to a rope-controlled aircraft with a benzene fuelled engine. Later in military service, he used every opportunity he could find to fly or to parachute out of any aircraft. In 1984 he started farming at Diemerskraal. At the age of 50 he met Eddie Renton, who later became a very good friend and helped him to retrieve and fix a 1960 Cessna 172. At the same time, he started his training to earn his wings.
Diemerskraal Airfield is in the general flying area that student pilots frequent. During one of the simulated engine failures at Diemerskraal Airfield his instructor, Gavin Jones, asked Daan what will happen after he completed his training. This set in motion what is known as Diemerskraal Airfield today.