OttaviaNOTES

Big Shift of Gears

2011-04-17T03:16:00.000-04:00

Our Bible translation colleagues in Tanzania have for some time been asking for JAARS' help in assessing their transportation issues and making recommendations. Last year we sent someone to do a survey, and the upshot was the recommendation to bring in an aircraft in partnership with another mission aviation organization already in the country. The next step is now to answer all the difficult questions that require aviation expertise. Debbie and I were asked to come to Tanzania and quantify what it will take to accomplish this. On March 20 we departed for Tanzania, and its industrial coastal city, Dar-es-Salaam.

Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, as we cross the Kenyan border and descend into Dar-es-Salaam

The "Dar" staff come from all points: Europe, Canada, US, South Africa and of course Tanzania

We have met with the field administration of the "Uganda-Tanzania Branch" of SIL (Summer Institue of Linguistics) and talked to the team in "Dar," and have been getting a picture of their current situation. Our linguists are working in 26 language projects, with that many more still not yet begun.

Cessna Caravan going into the MAF hangar in Dodoma

We made a short trip by bus to the central town of Dodoma (technically the capital, and seat of Parliament) to visit with our colleagues of MAF, Mission Aviation Fellowship International (formerly known as "Euro MAF"). This branch of the MAF organizations is based in London and serves in many of the African countries. Our linguist colleagues use MAF frequently, but there is a limit to how much service they can offer. And our work is growing in Tanzania -- thirty new people arriving in the coming year, up from about a hundred and twenty presently. So we visited with MAF in Dodoma to propose that we work in partnership.

Our next step will be to spend about a month in the town of Mbeya, in the southwest of Tanzania, to get to know our workers there and understand their need. By the end of it all, we will hopefully have an idea of where to proceed from here. Some of the key questions to answer are: What exactly are the needs, for all the team, and what will they be in the future? How can we improve the situation, and plan for future needs? How can we adequately plan for the expense of air transport? How, and how soon, can we implement the solutions? As we progress through this three-month project, we will keep this site updated.

Soloy Cessna 207 Arrives at JAARS

2011-04-17T02:24:00.004-04:00

After many years of planning, on March 19 JAARS finally received its first 8-seat Cessna 207, coverted by the Soloy Corporation with a small 420 H.P. turbo-prop engine. The aviation program managers in Cameroon had asked for this special airplane because of the exhorbitant taxes there on aircraft the size of the Kodiak and larger.

The engine, a Rolls Royce Allison turbine, burns jet fuel which is readily available in Cameroon, and much cheaper then aviation gasoline ("AVGAS") which is actually hard to find at any price. We have used aircraft with this engine before, including the Jet Ranger helicopters in Papua New Guinea. The conversion involved extensive modification of the aircraft forward of the firewall. We hope to see this aircraft in Cameroon by July, serving in that country as well as another five surrounding countries. I was involved with this project for a long time, and we thought that we would be helping with its implementation, but we have been asked to step into another project on the other side of the African continent....

038 in Aiyura

2010-11-21T08:41:00.001-05:00

On Friday 038 and 008 made the 75 minute flight to our aviation center in the central highlands of PNG. Our aviation team there serves with seven airplanes and two helicopters, carrying personnel and supplies in and out of approximately the 400 airstrips sprinkled all over the mountains, lowlands and islands of that geographically and linguistically diverse country.

With nearly 800 distinct languages within its boundaries, PNG provides a very concentrated opportunity for the ministry of the Bible translators (expat and PNG citizens) who dedicate their efforts to providing the Word of God for this population.

Here are just a few more images of the aviation facilities at Aiyura. The Kodiaks will be replacing the aging Cessna 206's, and our team has already sold the twin turbine Islander (pictured here with the two Kodiaks in Port Moresby). As Quest produces more Kodiaks, we look forward to a fleet of four based out of Aiyura, besides the two Long Ranger helicopters.

038 Joins 008 in its New Home

2010-11-18T08:52:00.002-05:00

On Sunday November 14 Leon made the final flight into Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, after 16,000 miles and twelve days of flying since leaving Moundridge, Kansas.

First Half of Day Eleven

Final Day into AYPY

Our team in PNG is wrapping up the details of re-registering it in its new country, with the tail number "P2-SIR." Once the paper work is finished, and the new numbers are put on its tail and wings, 038 will join our first Kodiak in service to the people of PNG. For images of the ferry of 008 across the Pacific last year, you can look back to entries in this blog from September '09, and for images of the environment in which these two planes operate, you can go to posts for October of last year.

Kodiak 038 Tonight in Colombo

2010-11-09T18:44:00.002-05:00

Leon's been making good time, arriving in Sri Lanka around 9:00 p.m. local time. As he heads further south, the winds will be less favorable, but each individual planned leg is easily within the range of #038 with its auxiliary ferry fuel tank.

For better detail, just click on the SPOT tracking image. Here's a snapshot of #038's arrival in Europe:

038 Has Launched!

2010-11-05T18:04:00.003-04:00

Tonight our newest Kodiak is sleeping in Santa Maria in the Azores on its way to Papua New Guinea. Last night it was in St. Johns, Newfoundland. These images are from our SPOT tracking site. If you want to join the spectating fun, go to the JAARS tracking site. You can watch up-to-date position information for 038 as it makes its way around the globe.

The week before, Mark Wuerffel and I had dropped 038 in Moundridge, Kansas, handing it over to the care of Carl Weaver, founder of Weaver Aero International. Carl's company has already delivered four or five Kodiaks for different customers to SE Asia, Europe and South Africa. Carl is a former MAF pilot, and intimately familiar with our type of flying.

The pilot is Leon Stoman, pictured here with 038. Notice the Red-cowled Kodiak in the background -- MAF's next delivery to SE Asia.

Close to Ready

2010-09-28T21:05:00.001-04:00

Kodiak 038 has been in the JAARS hangar for the past six weeks, undergoing final touches before its trip to Papua New Guinea where it will join Kodiak 008 that has flown over 500 hours in service to missionaries and villages. Our team in PNG is eager to get their second one.

"Why does a new airplane need to sit in the shop for six weeks?" you might ask. There are a few modifications that we must do to it here before it's ready to enter service. One is the installation of a high frequency "HF" radio. Another is the installation of an engine fire detection system. Neither of these are offered by Quest as options yet. So our engineer and maintenance team here has designed these installations, and must get FAA approval before the airplane is returned to airworthiness. Add all the other minor additions, and six weeks goes by pretty fast.

Here you can take a look at what's behind those pretty screens -- just a collection of boxes creatively called "LRU's" by Garmin -- "Line Replaceable Units." Perhaps that gives you an idea of how maintainable these boxes are on the field -- not! Basically they're "remove and replace" maintenance items for the avionics technicians.

Lloyd Marsden is one of our technicians from PNG who was in the States and came to JAARS to get in on the fun.

What's in a Garmin 1000?

2010-08-16T15:20:00.001-04:00

Well, lots of stuff, if you consider billions of electronic imprints "stuff." But it's amazing what you can do with those electrons. For example, here is a graphic depiction over Google Earth of our final leg on Thursday between Council Bluffs, Iowa and JAARS at Waxhaw, North Carolina. Each entire flight is recorded on a second-by-second basis, with over 50 parameters. The entire route looks like a simple blue line from this perspective. (To better see these images, click on them to get a full screen view, then click on your browser back-arrow to return to this page.)

If you zoom in, you can see the one-second samplings marked with vertical lines. Here we're cruising past Evansville, Indiana and the Ohio River at 11,000 feet.

This graphic only uses altitude and GPS position, but the Garmin is also continuously taking "snapshots" of things like temperature, heading, track, navigation fixes and radio frequencies selected, engine parameters, and autopilot mode. This can be data "overload" in normal circumstances, but it enables support staff to get a good look at how the aircraft, and particularly the engine, are performing. I won't even attempt to discuss the issue of pilot performance "snitching," which this will no doubt introduce. And in the unfortunate event of an incident or accident, it will provide an objective look at the flight during the critical times (provided the SD card can be retrieved afterwards).

Here you can see the approach and landing pattern we made into JAARS, recorded in minute detail. This capability will be useable anywhere on the face of the globe.

Kodiak 038 On Its Way

2010-08-15T18:43:00.006-04:00

We were thrilled once again to take delivery of a new Kodiak 100, serial number 038, at the Quest factory in Sandpoint, Idaho last week, a year and a half after our first, number 008.

This one is also slated to go to Papua New Guinea (see previous posts from September and October 2009). It's nearly identical to our first, with a few minor improvements Quest has made. Our pilots and mechanics in PNG are telling us that the first Kodiak is proving to be a very efficient and reliable tool (see "008 In the Village," October 2009). They're extremely anxious to see this one arrive, besides two more, for a total of four Kodiaks slated to serve in that country.

After I departed by airline from Waxhaw, there were some minor glitches in the FAA certification of the airplane, so I had some time to "kill" in the Northwest. Such a deal. So I found my way to one of my favorite places on earth, Clydehurst Christian Ranch, a few miles south of Big Timber, Montana. It's the current work and passion of my brother and sister-in-law, Wayne and Judy Brownson. Even four months after my week-long hospitalization upon returning from Haiti, I have still been struggling with the effects of some as-yet undiagnosed malady. Four days at Clydehurst were just the "medicine" I needed, and I think from these pictures you will agree.

Finally we were able to spend a day looking over and flying the new Kodiak, and on Wednesday August 11 we departed for JAARS. My fellow pilot was Gerry Gardner who I had trained in the Kodiak for service in Haiti with Samaritan's Purse. We took off from Sandpoint, Idaho and skirted north of the Beartooth Mountains of Montana, right over Clydehurst and the Boulder River valley.

After a fuel stop in Powell, Wyoming to visit my friends Bill and Mary Beth Keil, and Orville Moore, we were dodging the summer storms across Nebraska. We made an overnight stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and made it to Waxhaw, North Carolina on the second day, after a total of about thirteen hours of flight.

Kodiak N497KQ now sits in its new (temporary) home where we will begin installation of a few more modifications such as an HF radio. This airplane is on an accellerated track, and it is our hope to have it on its way to PNG by October.

Pooling Resources

2010-03-23T07:43:00.001-04:00

The mission aviation effort in Haiti continues with MAF as the host and principle player. Their Kodiak was brought down to help the existing program with three Cessnas. The Samaritan's Purse Kodiak is also helping, crewed by us JAARS pilots. I've been here two weeks of my rotation, and have a little less than two to go. Occassionally several planes go to the same place, as pictured here, at Mole St. Nicolas on the northwest coast. Some parts of Haiti's north coast are desert, complete with cactus.

The loads vary, but often we're carrying MRE's - meals ready to eat - from the UN's World Food Program. Depending on the type of MRE, we can carry between 1,000 and 1,300 MRE's per flight. The food is going to help the displaced people who have fled Port Au Prince, and are on their families' doorsteps back in their home villages. One town 50 miles from Port Au Prince has around 100,000 displaced people in and around it.

Often we're carrying teams, mostly from the U.S, of medical workers and other mission workers. Here a load of riders gets a briefing on the operation of the passenger door in the Kodiak.

MAF's Kodiak N103MF on the roll from Hinche, central Haiti. This airplane is actually slated to join two other Kodiaks already in Southeast Asia, but it was temporarily diverted here to help in the relief effort.

Back to My Other Job

2010-03-10T09:59:00.004-05:00

Meanwhile, our own Kodiak program development must continue, so Mark and I found ourselves back in Spokane to wrap up the Kodiak training of two more of our pilots from Papua New Guinea, Jonathan Federwitz and Remi Vanwereskerken.

As before, the Spokane Turbine Center course had given them excellent transition into the airplane, and our week with them was a pleasure. STC gave us free use of their facilities, and had the airplane and simulator reserved for our use as well. Since we don't have a full-time airplane at JAARS in Waxhaw, STC provides us with a very valuable resource for projects like this.

The simulator offers an incredibly realistic Kodiak cockpit in which to perform operations and emergency procedures that would be too hazardous in the actual airplane. It even has a database that "covers the world," offering acurate terrain visuals as well as a complete aviation facitilies database. The two trainees were able to conduct most of their simulator training in the familiar terrain and environment of Papua New Guinea. Here you can see them on a road in a valley in PNG after a simulated emergency landing (see the car on the road?).

A Moment to Reflect

2010-02-17T21:29:00.001-05:00

Of course you have seen the images coming from Haiti. On Sunday we spent a bit of time being shown around by Haitian friends of the MAF staff. Here are a few images of my own. They require little comment.

Life on the streets continues. Food is available, if you have money to buy it. But that's the problem. Normal sources of income, as meager as they were before, have been disrupted. Port Au Prince is in a "slow burn" as the secondary crisis mounts. Rainy season will begin in weeks. Disease will become public enemy number one, but security will also decline as people get more desperate. I was impressed with how well-mannered the Haitian people were, considering what they've been through, but how far will their tolerance stretch?

We attended an English service church on Sunday. The pastor reflected the soul-searching that all Haitians are going through. And he called for a renewed commitment to obedience to God and a seeking of His will for Haiti in this catastrophe.

Next week Mark Wuerffel and I will be in Spokane, finishing off the training of our latest two Kodiak pilots from Papua New Guinea. Then Mark will take a turn in Haiti, and I will probably follow him for the last two or three weeks of March. Where is the end of all this? How will the city ever be rebuilt? Answers to those questions seem like a luxury right now as we work on the immediate goals of relieving the suffering and averting a secondary disaster, while in the process try to demonstrate God's love and His story of redemption.

Down to Business

2010-02-17T21:03:00.001-05:00

Friday, February 5

We began the task of fitting into the team already working in high gear. Below is a letter I wrote to friends not long after getting back home this week:

There I was again this morning, shoveling the cold white stuff off my driveway, not even one day after getting back home from Haiti. This time I didn’t need to speculate about how it would compare to the heat in Port Au Prince.

7:00 a.m. The pilots and mechanics would be gathering outside the residences of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) families to get into their Land Cruisers for the twenty minute ride to the airport where another day would begin.

Hundreds of personnel and tons of food and medical supplies have been pouring in via Missionary Flights International (“MFI”) of Ft. Pierce, FL. The material has to be sorted and stashed, then made into loads (about 1,800 lb.) that can be put into the Kodiaks for their quick flights to the outlying towns for delivery to relief workers, missionaries, orphanages, hospitals and “IDP” (internally displaces persons) camps that are growing as people flee Port Au Prince.

MAF has worked in Haiti for decades, and knows the country and people. The wives and kids have all been sent home, and in their place a team of about 30 pilots, mechanics, coordinators and logistics personnel (mostly men) have moved in, some sleeping at the airport in tents and in the hangar. The rest drive through town every night to “batch it” in the former residences of the MAF families. Electricity for the team is provided by solar power, batteries, and a few diesel generators. Water comes from rain cisterns. Internet comes via satellite. Phone service comes via a Voice-over Internet Protocol (VOIP) at the airport. The homes even have satellite TV which works on the available power.

In spite of all these essential logistical assets, the work is grueling and the hours long. Dust coats everything, including computers, airplanes (inside and out) and clothes. It creates a brown pall that hangs thousands of feet over the valley. But it will soon be replaced by mud as the rains begin, probably in a few weeks.

The staff from MAF, Samaritan’s Purse, JAARS, Missionary Flights International and others all work as one team. The two Kodiaks (one from MAF, the other from Samaritan’s Purse) sit on the ramp awaiting their next mission.

I was only there a week, and felt a little guilty leaving so soon, since the typical rotation is 3-4 weeks. But I accomplished the mission I was sent to do – fly down the Samaritan’s Purse Kodiak, and complete the training of the other JAARS pilot, Gerry Gardner, who will remain there another ten days.

My other responsibilities at JAARS remain. Bible translation goes on around the world, and requires our service. Two of our pilots from Papua new Guinea are at Spokane Turbine Center getting their Kodiak initial training. After a short week here, I will head up to Spokane with one of our fresh Kodiak instructors, Mark Wuerffel, and together we will finish the training of our pilots from PNG before they return to the field. Not only will we be finishing their training, but I will be using the process to polish Mark as a Kodiak instructor. That week will be followed by a week’s missions conference at our church here in Charlotte, and in early March I may be heading back to Haiti for a longer stint. Our next Kodiak is scheduled to be picked up at the factory the end of March.

This spring and summer suddenly got very complicated, but like I’ve said, the quake in Haiti wasn’t on anyone’s schedule.

Pray for the team there as they work to meet the overwhelming needs. Pray for good communication, extra measures of grace, and wisdom in evaluating the need. Pray for safety, good health and mechanical reliability of the equipment. Pray for workers and resources to continue coming. Pray for the people of Haiti as the medical needs change to disease control and treatment and as Port Au Prince’s squalor worsens and peoples’ living situation improves little. Pray for God to be manifestly glorified by what seems to be an impossible situation.

Thank you for your prayers to date.

MAF has served in Haiti for decades, and their hangar and the surrounding turf hosts the hub for processing and forwarding the material arriving from Ft. Pierce. Their office is a finished (and air conditioned) shipping container.

Every day began with a quick meeting with a short meditation followed by announcements and flight schedule information.

The aircraft from the US arrived continually, bringing tons of food and medical supplies to be carried out to the surrounding towns and villages by the two Kodiaks and the other smaller MAF Cessnas.

Into the Thick of It

2010-02-17T20:51:00.001-05:00

After a brief night in Ft. Pierce, Gerry and I took off for Port Au Prince in N466SP. While we were directly over water most of the way, the Bahamas and Turcs and Caicos Islands offered plenty of places to which to divert in case of trouble. Fuel was also available at a number of places along the way. However, the Kodiak carried enough for the four hour flight with plenty of reserve.

By mid-afternoon we were on the General Aviation ramp at the Port Au Prince airport, next to the MAF Kodiak that had arrived over a week earlier.

Ready to Launch

2010-02-04T21:23:00.004-05:00

Getting out ahead of the ice storm in North Carolina, we took off from JAARS in the Samaritan's Purse Kodiak for Ft. Pierce, Florida, home of Missionary Flights International. Three hours later we touched down, with Gerry Gardner on the controls. Gerry is an old hand with JAARS aircraft, just new to the Kodiak. JAARS and Samaritan's Purse are helping Mission Aviation Fellowship with the relief flight effort by adding one more Kodiak (MAF already has one there) and a pilot. Tomorrow morning we will head out along the Bahamas and make Port Au Prince in about four hours.

Meanwhile, we had some time to kill at the Missionary Flights hangar, watching the amazing mobilization of goods and people. Aircraft from several organizations are running between here and Haiti, making a round trip every day, and working into the night. Here are some views of the MFI hangar turned into a storage and processing facility, overseen by a stately DC-3 that had to miss out on the action because it is down for repairs.

Tomorrow we'll arrive in Port Au Prince and join our colleagues already hard at work.

Kodiak Activity Ramps Up Again

2010-01-31T10:19:00.005-05:00

Having had a short break from flying Kodiaks, Mark Wuerffel and I took advantage of Samaritan's Purse's airplane to brush up our flying/instructing skills in preparation for this year's activites. Samaritan's Purse owns one Kodiak and had it in Alaska this summer. They brought it down to their aviation base in North Carolina for the winter, and since we don't have one here at the moment, agreed to let us use it for a couple weeks.

Mark and I worked together to renew our proficiency in the airplane, and to finish his JAARS instructor standardization.

Then the world turned upside down in Haiti, and everyone's schedules changed.

Samaritan's Purse is asking JAARS to help them with crewing this Kodiak in Haiti, so we are planning to head that way late this week. Mark will not be able to go with this first trip, but I will be accompanied by another JAARS pilot. My first visit should only be a week or so, since we also have some our our pilots coming over from Papua New Guinea for training at STC in Spokane, and I need to go up there to finish that with them in late February.

It's looking very likely that Mark and I will find ourselves in Haiti for a good part of March.

Meanwhile, Mission Aviation Fellowship already has one of their Kodiaks in Haiti (this photo from their website). MAF has provided service in that country for decades, and has other smaller aircraft permanently based there. The Samaritan's Purse Kodiak will join MAF's Kodiak, and all the mission agencies involved will work together to operate and crew these aircraft.

Training, Next Phase

2009-11-04T19:50:00.002-05:00

Less than a week after getting back to the United States, I headed to Spokane, WA to join up with two of our pilots from PNG, David Barton and Christopher Clark. They were finishing two weeks of Kodiak training at the Spokane Turbine Center, and were our first two candidates to send through that course. (See my blog posting "A Week in August" for a description of our part in developing this course for mission pilots.)

David and Christopher are veteran pilots in PNG, and have prior turbine aircraft experience, so this course was more of a "transition" course than much of an "initial" for them. I showed up on Friday to fly with them in STC's airplane to put the JAARS finishing touches on their skills. Flying in the mountains of the Northwest is a lot like in PNG, except for the traces of snow on the peaks this time of year. And of course, the runways here are a lot more friendly!

Once back home they will begin their flying under supervision of Rick Nachtigal with whom I flew last month (see my preceding posts). In the coming year we hope to send more of our PNG program pilots through STC in their transition to flying the Kodiak. We also plan to have two more of these aircraft in PNG by the middle of next year, and eventually a total of four.

Once again I enjoyed flying in the beautiful Northwest. These pictures are from some of our activities in the Priest Lake and Lake Couer D'Alene, Idaho areas. These two guys soaked up the information on this new airplane, and did a great job learning the Kodiak's particular handling characteristics. Like Rick before them, they will easily adapt it to the context in PNG that they're so familiar with.

Final Look at 008

2009-10-27T17:29:00.002-04:00

I'm now back at home in North Carolina, but thought I would leave you with a few more images of 008 in its new environment. Besides some trial flights in to some local mountain airstrips, we were able to do several operational flights in the three weeks I was there. Currently the plane is in maintenance, and will emerge in several weeks with a new tail number -- "P2-SIB" of Papua New Guinean registration. So, a farewell to N498KQ!

008 In the Village

2009-10-16T07:51:00.003-04:00

On Wednesday we took 008 to some nearby villages (Obura, Gema and Owena) and got a preliminary look at how it will perform on the sloped, mountain airstrips. On this first time out, we kept the plane light – just three of us on board, and a light fuel load. Mark Wuerffel had joined us from JAARS a few days earlier, and he occupied the cockpit with Rick. I sat in a passenger seat behind and left the flying to them, since together they both have nearly thirty years of experience in PNG, and have flown into these three airstrips many times in other aircraft.

The village folk turned out as they usually do. Airplanes visit here frequently (it's a coffee producing area, and aircraft are the main mode of export). Their arrival is often a source of entertainment, but a new airplane is especially noteworthy for them. In the years to come, Kodiaks will become a normal sight here, providing service to these communities, transporting church people, missionaries, medical teams, educators and a myriad of other types of passengers and cargo.

As time passes, our aviation staff will develop a set of standards for each of the several hundred airstrips in PNG with the Kodiak, for things like takeoff and landing weights, surface conditions, wind and weather minima. These will vary from site to site, based on the surrounding terrain, runway slope, length and typical wind patterns at each place. What we are learning about the Kodiak’s specific characteristics will be applied to each airstrip. Of course, the goal is to safely carry as large a load as possible in and out of these sites.

008 Settles in to its New Surroundings

2009-10-15T07:13:00.002-04:00

It didn't take long for the PNG staff to get 008 up and running in the country. Having begun Rick Nachtigal's Kodiak training in North Caroling in July, we resumed with a review, then continued with his "Instructor Pilot Standardization," enabling him to be the first Kodiak instructor on our PNG staff. The nearby runway of Gusap, an old WWII air base located nearby in the Markham Valley at 1,500 feet above sea level, provided a nice long, level practice strip. The Markham Valley almost always enjoys better weather than around Aiyura at 5,100 feet above sea level where the planes are based.

We've also had a few opportunities to provide service to the Wycliffe/SIL missionaries at the larger airports. For example we gave one gal a lift down to Nadzab where she connected with our helicopter that took her back into her village in the hills where she is working on her Bible translation project.

Some training has focused on instrument procedures, such as this instrument approach into the coastal city of Madang. The Garmin G1000 Primary Flight Display shows the runway ahead as Rick approaches at the minimum descent altitude to runway 25.

Then, as we flew back to Aiyura, the view out the windshield showed little but clouds and rain, but the PFD's "synthetic vision" again gave us a picture of the terrain ahead. Note the inset map on the bottom left with the red and yellow blocks, indicating terrain ahead and to the left that is at the same altitude or even higher than our current altitude.

Back at Gusap on a later day, we did some testing of the Kodiak's takeoff and landing performance against the charts given by the manufacturer Quest Aircraft Company, and the performance charts we're working on for approval from the PNG Civil Aviation authorities. Of course, this needed to be done at various weights, so sandbags provided the necessary ballast.

008's Final Hop to its New Home

2009-10-04T02:47:00.009-04:00

Friday, Sept. 25: After a night at the Mapang mission guest house in Pt. Moresby it was time for our final leg of the journey to the Ukarumpa mission station in the highlands. Brian caught an airliner back to the States, unfortunately unable to go on to Ukarumpa, since he had pressing commitments back home.

Rick Nachtigal and I took 008 on the final hour and a quarter flight along the mountainous spine of the island.

A good number of the Wycliffe/SIL staff had come out to the airstrip at Aiyura to greet us. The Kodiak had been many years coming, and expectations ran high for this day.

Several leaders made some comments and led the group in thanksgiving to God for His bringing this first Kodiak to its place of service.

Most of our greeters were veteran passengers of our air service to the many airstrips in PNG, and were eager to take a close look at the new airplane and imagine what it would be like to finally be transported in it.

The mechanics at our facility wasted no time in taking a first close-up look at their new machine and getting the tanks out of the airplane.

Day 5: Majuro to Pt. Moresby

2009-10-01T23:41:00.002-04:00

The hotel restaurant was on “island time,” and the promised breakfast appeared to be still only a promise by 7:00 a.m., so we headed for the door to get our promised ride to the airport (a ways down and around the atoll from downtown Majuro). Our apparent determination to get to the airport on time finally got some results and the driver showed up only fifteen minutes late. We were met at the airport by our handler who gave us our flight plan and weather paperwork. Breakfast was going to have to be more of what we had been munching along the way – several types of trail mix and granola bars. We also broke out the loaf of bread, peanut butter and jam my wife had sent with us, and would fix our breakfast after getting airborne. We wanted nor more delays.

Amazingly, we were airborne almost on time for the shortest of our three over-water legs of this journey – only 1,745 nautical miles from Majuro to Pt. Moresby. The last third of the flight was also going to be close to multiple islands and alternate landing sites at Bougainville, New Ireland and New Britain Islands, all territories of Papua New Guinea.

The area of monsoon weather whipping the Pacific into whitecaps below had remained stationary around the Marshalls, and after a couple hours we had dodged our last thunderstorm and were breaking into the familiar calm and sunny skies that we had seen earlier on the trip.

We made our first landfall in PNG as we approached Buka on Bougainville Island.

But the “mainland” was still hours away, and our destination lay on the far side of a 12,000’ ridge of mountains.

These Garmin screen shots show the MFD and PFD views of the terrain as we approached the main island and crossed the ridge before our final descent into Pt. Moresby.

We were met by Rick Nachtigal, one of our pilots in PNG, and our student in the Kodiak back at JAARS in July. He ushered us through the Customs and Immigration process and we were officially in the country.

Day 4: Honolulu to Majuro

2009-09-30T07:58:00.000-04:00

The winds were forecast to be more in our favor for this day, and they proved to be so initially. Climbing up to 12,000 feet we picked up a good 14 knots. The weather was clear as Honolulu slipped out of sight behind us, and the Pacific looked pretty calm.

The Garmin gave us a continuous picture of our progress. When we ranged the screen all the way out to 2,000 miles (its maximum), the effect was discouraging, as the little airplane symbol seemed to be not moving at all.

Roughly halfway to Majuro, Marshall Islands, our destination for the night, we slipped by Johnston Atoll, a former military base.

Off on the horizon to our south we began seeing the evidences of the tropics as we moved into an area of monsoon weather. By the time we were a few hours away, we were in and out of rain showers, and getting reports from Majuro – “ceiling and visibility OK.” Fifteen minutes out we were still in heavy cloud and rain, so I programmed the instrument approach to runway 25 at Majuro.

As we descended on our final approach, the town came and went from view through the rain and cloud. The Garmin’s synthetic vision gave a representation of where we could expect to see the runway when we broke out. Then when we were about a mile out, the runway came into view. Breaking out on an instrument approach is an everyday event for an instrument pilot, but with nothing but ocean on both sides, this was a new one for me. Had the weather proven too bad, we would have had an hour and a quarter flight to get to the next available landing site at Kwajalein.

On the ground well before sunset, we refueled the wing tanks and the ferry tank in the rain, in preparation for our final day into Port Moresby, PNG. The monsoon blew and fussed all night, but calmed down significantly by morning.

Day 3: Santa Maria to Honolulu

2009-09-27T05:33:00.009-04:00

Sunday dawned foggy and overcast in Santa Maria, our jumping-off airport. Although we were completely capable of instrument flight, we didn’t want to take off at this unusually heavy weight (30% over the normal takeoff weight) without the ability to return quickly to the airport under visual conditions. Finally by around 9:30 a.m. we had a high enough cloud ceiling to take off. We got our clearance from Air Traffic Control, and climbed through the thin overcast. The cloud deck covered the Pacific for the first several hundred miles, but by mid day it had cleared beautifully. The calm Pacific was now completely visible below.

I’ll include a variety of screen shots from the G1000 as this diary progresses. The two screens are the Primary Flight Display (PFD) and the Multifunction Display (MFD). The PFD contains all the normal flight instrument indications superimposed over a full-width horizon, complete with “Synthetic Vision,” which gives a pilot’s–eye view of the topography ahead, all taken from the worldwide terrain database. Even when in the clouds, the pilot has a synthetic view of the terrain and obstacle features ahead.

The MFD gives a “look-down” view, much like a map, also with terrain coloring. The MFD also shares screen space with the engine and aircraft systems indications.

As we turned west, the Garmin G1000 showed nothing but blue ahead of us.

The Santa Maria to Honolulu leg was the longest of the entire trip, and we needed tailwinds to be able to do it with the limited fuel we had on board. As we progressed across the route, we kept a keen eye on the wind components that the G1000 continuously computed for us. “T” for tailwind, and “X” for crosswind. Every knot of tailwind spread over 13 hours meant significant savings of time and fuel.

If it began looking like we wouldn’t have the fuel to make Honolulu, we had an alternate on the nearer island of Maui. But Honolulu was our first choice, and we made it there with two hours’ reserve an hour after sunset.

Days 1 & 2: Getting to the West Coast

2009-09-27T05:27:00.002-04:00

FAA approval and ferry permit in hand by Saturday noon, my partner Brian Stoltzfus and I arranged to meet in Oklahoma City a convenient point in the Midwest with good airline service. I would bring 008 from near JAARS at Lancaster, SC where the runway was long enough to accommodate my additional weight (under the special permit from the FAA).

Brian would airline it there from his home in Ohio where his family runs an aviation business, Priority Air Cargo. Brian has prior experience with this type of over-water flight, and also a long history of support and involvement in mission aviation. His family has been a good friend of JAARS and other mission groups for many years. After a night in Oklahoma City, we were ready to head for the California coast.

008 Arrives in PNG

2009-09-26T19:16:00.001-04:00

After six days of flying, we arrived in Ukarumpa, the mission station in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. We were met by a crowd of missionaries and local people who have waited for years to see this airplane arrive. Check into this site in the next few days to get details of the flight across the Pacific.

008 All Tanked and Ready to Go

2009-09-18T22:02:00.004-04:00

Expectations are high tonight as the FAA is coming out to the JAARS hangar tomorrow (Saturday) morning to sign the final approvals for the ferry permit to get 008 across the Pacific to Papua New Guinea. Provided that happens early enough in the day. I will depart immediately for the west coast, probably spending the night somewhere in the middle of the country.

Then on to the California coast from which we will jump off to Hawaii on our first 12-hour nonstop leg. The winds have been favorable for this hop, and we pray they will continue through Monday. If there is a change of wind, we will be forced to consider alternate routes with shorter legs, such as along the Aleutian Islands to Midway Island.

The 350 gallon "ferry tank" sits in the cabin of Kodiak 008, basically doubling the range of the airplane. The passenger seats have been removed, and we will be carrying the bare essentials with us for the five-day trip.

We will have a satellite phone on board, and hope to even be able to send information and images to JAARS that will be posted on the website at http://www.jaars.org/. I hope to be able to keep this blog going as well, provided I can get internet access at our ground stops, or even over the sat phone.

We will welcome your prayers every mile of the way as we bring this new aircraft to its intended place of work -- serving the people of Papua New Guinea, and bringing them the good news from God of reconciliation and salvation intended for every person on Earth.

After we get there, I am planning to spend another month, flying with our JAARS field pilots who will be putting this aircraft into service. My wife Debbie will be joining me the week after I arrive, and will spend the month with me there.

008 Nears Readiness

2009-08-29T12:15:00.002-04:00

The JAARS mechanics are putting the finishing touches on the major inspection of 008, in preparation for the flight across the "pond." Next is the FAA "Export Certificate of Airworthiness," followed by the installation of the ferry fuel system that will double the Kodiak's range.

Next week we should be testing this system in flight, then getting FAA approval for this modification. We already have FAA approval to fly the airplane, for a few limited flights, at 130% of its certificated takeoff weight, for the purpose of being able to carry enough fuel for the long legs across the Pacific.

Upside-Down in the Water

2009-08-29T11:41:00.008-04:00

I looked across the cockpit at the door beyond the empty co-pilot’s seat, and that door’s lever became the center of my world. Within seconds my aircraft was going to strike the water, and all would be turmoil as the cockpit flooded and the aircraft rolled inverted. The door on my side was jammed and impossible to open, and after unfastening my shoulder harness I would need to cross over the cockpit to open the far door and swim to safety. Although this sounds like a simple maneuver, I knew that upside-down, with my sense of direction completely scrambled by the inversion and my body’s buoyancy, my vision 80% impaired, and nose filled with water, I would need to use the instrument panel as a physical reference to guide me across those four feet to my objective on the other side.

Then, suddenly my concentration was broken by a loud voice announcing “Ditching! Ditching! Ditching!” and I knew, just like the riders of a roller-coaster that has started moving, that there was no way to avoid what was rapidly coming toward me. The cabin plunged into the water and immediately began to fill. As the water reached my chest, I sucked in my last breath, and the whole world became a dismaying, gurgling chaos. I waited until the motion stopped, unbuckled my harness, and grabbed the instrument panel and slid my hands along it to the right, maintaining my body in a constant attitude. When I got to the other side, I groped for where I knew the handle was. For a few panicked seconds I couldn’t find it, but using the instrument panel again as a physical reference, I located the latch, pulled it back, and pushed the door open. Only then did I open my eyes as the light from the surface guided me out and up, and my sense of direction was restored.

I broke the surface of the water and took a gasp of sweet air. From the time of impact, maybe 15 seconds had passed. Instead of sunshine and seagulls, I was greeted by the overhead lights and pool-side ladder of the University of Louisiana’s Lafayette Marine Survival Training Center where I was undergoing a day of “Underwater Egress Training.” The cockpit-crossover drill had been my fourth underwater exit (and third inverted) from the simulated aircraft cabin dubbed “The Unit” by the university team. The voice announcing the impending “Ditching” had been that of our instructor who remained perched just behind the mockup of the instrument panel to make sure I followed their technique and exited safely. Furthermore, divers had remained poised just outside the Unit to aid any of the other passengers (it holds a dozen at a time) that might encounter problems getting out.

I climbed the ladder with a big smile. “Final exam over” I thought. The other trainees were preparing to go to the locker room to change out of their wet coveralls. The instructor then looked at me and said, “Did you want to try it with the life raft?” My mind froze for a second as I contemplated taking a pass. After all, four times in one afternoon seemed like enough for me. My sinuses burned from the chlorine, and I more than anything wanted to call it a day. But I remembered that earlier I had asked them if they tailored their normal helicopter course for fixed-wing pilots like me who would be needing to grab the bundled four-man raft and take it out of the cockpit with them. Apparently they took me seriously. They had located a bundled raft, and devised a way to strap it to the floor behind the pilots’ seats, much like we will when we take the Kodiak across to Papua New Guinea. I realized I was trapped by my prior inquiry, and in fact really “wanted” to do this final underwater egress.

I re-entered the now-hoisted Unit, alone this time, except for the instructor who strapped the raft to the floor. I rehearsed the exact location of the strap’s buckle, and how to pinch it open. We then drilled the recommended sequence: 1) Open the door and push it away, 2) Reach back and unlatch the raft from its restraint, 3) Pull the raft forward into the cockpit, 4) Only THEN, unbuckle my harness and exit with the raft through the already-opened door. Locating, unfastening, and pulling the raft added a complicating and troublesome task to something that had already taxed my underwater tolerance. But I knew that training and preparation were essential to minimizing the risks of taking a single-engine wheel plane across the Pacific. I needed to take advantage of this training opportunity. “If you don’t find it in time,” the instructor said, “just leave it behind and get out. That’s the main objective.”

“Ditching, Ditching, Ditching!” Once again upside-down, with churning water burning my sinuses, I found myself groping for the new objective. And once again, it eluded my first reach. In the upset, the raft had probably shifted just enough to move it from the exact location I had reviewed. I felt around more and located it. Now I had a decision to make – did I have enough air and tolerance to try to release the raft, or should I just call it quits? One final effort, and I found the latch and released the raft. One sweep of my arm, and the near-weightless bundle swung around into my lap. My lungs were telling me that this was taking longer than any of the previous drills, but I still needed to get my harness undone. My hand found the now-familiar buckle, and I was free, heading out the door and back to the surface.

A Week in August

2009-08-12T21:03:00.004-04:00

Remember my April, 2008 post, "Two and a Half Weeks in April?" Well we're back at it this week in Spokane, helping the Spokane Turbine Center ("STC") polish off their curriculum for training new and old mission pilots in the Kodiak. This year STC is thankful for some amazing developments. The 1930's-era Air National Guard facility renovation is coming along, and the old truck garage now houses the new Kodiak simulator. This is the machine I described in my May 11, 2009 post, "Kodiak Simulations FAT," when we went to Pittsburg to give input in its final development.
Once again representatives from different mission aviation groups have come together to give Jeff Turcotte, the STC Director, their input into the curriculum, and try out some of the lesson plans in the new machine. From JAARS we sent three -- Gerry Gardner, Mark Wuerffel, and myself. You'd think these guys were a bunch of boys with a new toy today! Well, maybe that description isn't too far off. But seriously, this device will enable STC to give training in areas that are not feasible or safe in an actual airplane, and at far less cost!
If you get in trouble, just hit the "STOP" button and start over! This workshop ends on Friday, and it will be intense, but well worth it.

Countdown Begins

2009-08-12T20:40:00.010-04:00

008 has entered the final preparation stages for the ferry to Papua New Guinea. Here it is having all its fuel removed in preparation for some maintenance on its fuel tanks, part of the major inspection it is about to undergo.

Meanwhile, another Kodiak sits nearby -- Serial number 001, owned by Spokane Turbine Center, "STC." You will recall that this is the airplane I helped fly on a tour last summer -- only then it was painted orange. STC brought it down to JAARS after the big airshow at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, rather than taking it back to Washington State. Its next stop will be the mission aviation event in Smoketown (Lancaster), PA later this month.

Getting 008 Ready for the Big Time

2009-07-23T18:04:00.009-04:00

Tomorrow morning Rick and Mark will take off from JAARS in 8KQ and head for Oshkosh, Wisconsin, site of the world's premier aviation aficionado air-show. Cleaned up and shiny, it will join the JAARS team of 30-some people. It will be one of at least five other Kodiaks showing up.

Meanwhile, back in the welding shop, preparations are underway for a more serious venture -- giving 8KQ the range to fly halfway around the globe to Papua New Guinea. This 300-gallon "ferry tank" will be installed in the cabin, effectively doubling the range of 8KQ, and making the long legs of that trip possible. More to come on the route that we are planning to take.

It's Been Quite a Month

2009-07-22T22:05:00.006-04:00

We trained our first pilot from a field program in the Kodiak this month. Rick Nachtigal from Papua New Guinea, on a short leave in the U.S., spent most of July at JAARS. Mark Wuerffel and I tried out our developing curriculum on Rick -- not that it was that challenging a job. Rick has 15+ years of flying experience in that Pacific island country, piloting Cessna 206's, a turbine-powered Islander, and our King Air 200. Rick will be the lead Kodiak pilot and the first Kodiak training pilot in PNG when we get N498KQ there in September.

The course included the usual ground-school classes, and about 25 hours of flight time culminating in the same unimproved mountain airstrips that Mark and I have been testing.

Next stop for Rick and Mark will be the EAA's AirVenture airshow next week, where they will display the Kodiak at the JAARS pavilion. This year EAA is highlighting "Public Benefit" and Mission Aviation with their "Fly4Life" slogan. Am I going too? Sorry, Charlie. I've got a cabin in the montains in Montana with my name on it (where my brother-in-law runs a great camp, Clydehurst Christian Ranch). After a badly-needed bit of R&R, we hit the next big challenge -- getting N498KQ over the pond to PNG. Stay tuned.

Why Jet Fuel (and Turbine Engines?)

2009-06-23T17:47:00.006-04:00

Every three months we go through this routine -- pumping avgas into 77 drums that get shipped in a container to Cameroon. We have two airplanes and one helicopter there serving a mission hospital and various mission groups, besides our own Wycliffe Bible Translator workers, in a seven country area. All three aircraft burn aviation gasoline -- "avgas" -- which is not easily available in the country. Believe it or not, this is the most economical way to get fuel to our program there, and keep service going to many self-sacrificing workers. Soon we hope we can send our first turbine-powered aircraft and begin the transition to an all-turbine fleet in Cameroon.
Since everyone has airline service around the world, jet fuel is plentiful and relatively cheap.

More Mountain Pics

2009-06-23T17:36:00.004-04:00

Got a few more pictures of 8KQ in the mountains last week, thought I would share them with you.

Good Samaritan Kodiak

2009-06-19T14:17:00.003-04:00

Wednesday I had the pleasure of helping out some friends with their new Kodiak - Samaritan's Purse took delivery of Serial No. 15 just last week, and needed help flying it from their aviation headquarters at Wilkes County Airport, NC to Smyrna, TN for avionics work. We brought it down to JAARS for a few hours for their mechanics to get some interaction with ours, and to compare notes. (Both airplanes pictured here in front of our hangar). Thursday we took the plane out to Smyrna where it is getting some additional electronic equipment.

008 Visits the Mountains

2009-06-16T19:29:00.011-04:00

Last week was "Mountain Week" for our flight orientation staff and trainees. It is the culmination of three and a half months' specialized training in the Cessna 206 and Helio Courier, in preparation for field assignment. Host for the project is Avery County Airport near Spruce, Pine, NC. We joined the Training staff for two days with the Kodiak and let local people take rides in it. One side project on Saturday was checking out one of the mountain airstrips we use for training, Friendship airport, owned by the Jim Huff family. You can see the airstrip in the upper left part of this photo from the Kodiak turning on to final approach.

This beautiful little landing site, located just a few miles from Asheville, NC, sits on a hillside at between 6 and 8% slope, and is a mere 1,000 feet long (not including some useable over-runs). Mark and I took 8KQ into Friendship and shut down to spend a little time with the Huff family.

We then each did three landings and takeoffs before returning to Avery County. Just a few more lessons learned on what the Kodiak can handle, and what techniques work best in such a situation. Now this was starting to look something like what we will be seeing on the field in September! For a reminder, take a look at "What it's All About" on this blog.

Kodiak Simulations FAT

2009-05-11T20:40:00.010-04:00

What is that big box? Well, if you look at it from the other side, you will see something rather more sophisticated than a box. Complete Kodiak cockpit, video visual displays, and electric servo motion.

Today Mark and I came to Pittsburgh, home of Fidelity Flight Simulations to help our friend Jeff Turcotte from Spokane Turbine Center (see Kodiak on Tour and Two and a Half Weeks in April for more info on "STC") in the process of testing the Kodiak simulator (actually an "Advanced Airplane Training Device") that is being developed by Fidelity. Technically this event is called Flight Acceptance Testing ("FAT"), where pilots who have flown the actual airplane run the simulator through maneuvers and critique its "fidelity" to the real thing. After all, if we're trying to simulate a Kodiak, we want it to look, sound and feel as much like a Kodiak as possible!

After the first couple flights we had some suggestions, and after some adjustments of the software by the Fidelity technicians, a final flight for the day revealed marked improvement. Amazing how that works - type in some computer code, and the box behaves differently! Two more days of this "work" (some people would pay to get to do this) and our contribution will be finished.

Hopefully this simulator will be in its bay at STC's facilty on Felts Field in Spokane, WA this summer, and the first mission pilots will be able to fly it as part of their introduction to the Kodiak.

The Navajo Comes Home

2009-05-09T09:34:00.006-04:00

On Friday around 4:30 p.m., after ten years of service in the Philippines, and a stint before that in Colombia, RP-C2748 showd up in the sky over JAARS' runway and touched down. Now it is being retired from our fleet as we seek to upgrade to turbine aircraft.

Ken and Roger were elated, for obvious reasons, to see all the familiar faces that came out to welcome them.

The Navajo Makes the Mainland

2009-05-08T08:03:00.007-04:00

Finally on Tuesday Ken and Roger made landfall and landed at Santa Maria, CA after an instrument approach to minimums. Last night they made it to Abilene, TX, and today we hope to see them in Waxhaw, NC. Below, some pictures of Tarawa, Christmas Island and Hawaii.

The Navajo Takes on the Pacific

2009-04-30T20:12:00.012-04:00

With all these new aircraft getting ready to go overseas, we have some older ones that we are disposing of. In some cases, that means bringing them back to the U.S. Such is the case for our Piper Navajo RP-C2748, after many years of service to our work in the Philippines.

Today it embarks on the next leg of its flight across the Pacific after several days of delay in Guam, waiting for a replacement part for a failed High Frequency radio.

Just last week our pilots and mechanics were putting the finishing touches on the airplane, including a "ferry tank" to extend its range. Then the team gathered around RP-C2748 and commended it and the two pilots, Roger and Ken, to God's protection on their trip across the Pond.

Now, re-equipped with a High Frequency Radio, they are departing on their next leg, Guam-Tarawa, followed by Christmas Island, and finally American soil, Hilo, Hawaii. After the final and longest jump to California, they will complete the journey to North Carolina. Stay tuned for updates over the next few days.

008 Visits Dallas

2009-04-26T23:08:00.009-04:00

The JAARS team took 008 to Dallas this weekend to honor partners who have helped fund this airplane, and to give our co-workers at the International Linguistics Center their first look at this new airplane. Many thanks to the folks at Jet Center of Dallas at the Dallas Executive Airport (old Redbird Airport) for the use of their facilities, and their excellent support. All day Saturday, and Sunday afternoon, we gave rides in the Kodiak, and did several high-performance flight demonstrations.

008 Goes Down for a While

2009-04-06T16:59:00.004-04:00

Mark and I have gotten to a good place in our flight training for the Maintenance guys to have some concentrated time with 008. On the agenda: Design of an engine fire detection system, and installation of the High Frequency radio and antenna.

They'll have two uninterrupted weeks to get these projects started, as well as begin the paperwork on the FAA certification of these modifications that will be needed in Papua New Guinea.

Meanwhile, Mark and I will be looking over our notes from 50 hours of flying, examine our Standard Operating Procedure, and training curriculum.

But first I'll be heading out tomorrow to Sandpoint, ID for Quest Mission Team meetings on Wednesday.

JAARS Dedicates 008

2009-04-06T16:50:00.003-04:00

We love ceremonies! And the dedication to God's service of our very first Kodiak was a great opportunity for one. This Saturday the JAARS family and other friends came to celebrate this airplane's beginning of service, and to dedicate it to God's work.

Many missionaries that have ridden in just about every kind of bush plane, in every region of the world, crowded around 008 and imagined what it would be like to travel to their ministries in this fine machine.

8KQ Challenges Liberty Students

2009-03-29T21:25:00.007-04:00

This weekend we took 8KQ to Medley, West Virginia where we participated in the Liberty University mission aviation retreat. The venue was Heaven's Landing Retreat, the home and brainchild of Mitch and Teresa Pennington. They were gracious hosts to about 30 Liberty students (most of whom are Aviation majors), and representatives from several mission aviaton groups.

Great fellowship, great challenges from the Bible, and great opportunity to share our experiences as mission aviators. Of course, 8KQ was a hit with the students, and though the weather was pretty wet and miserable, it didn't keep them from exploring every nook of the new airplane.

8KQ Hits the Road

2009-03-29T21:14:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since an update. Mostly the time has been spent in training Mark, as well as taking the JAARS Kodiak out and seeing what it can do. We've also designed a simple flight demonstration to show folks its capabilities. The JAARS publicity people have also taken the Kodiak on the road to thank donors and supporters that made possible the purchase of N498KQ and the others that follow. Last week we were in Atlanta and Orlando.

We're getting to know this airplane, and developing our operating philosophy as well as our training curriculum for future JAARS pilots of Kodiaks. It's a beautiful, capable airplane - but like I tell everyone who asks about it, "it's only an airplane."

I promise to post some pics about some of our recent flying.

MEANWHILE, the Porter Makes its Destination

2009-01-17T12:02:00.004-05:00

After months on the high seast and in various ports, the container with the Porter in it (see "The Porter Goes in the Box," a September blog here) made it to its Southeast Asia destination. Here it will join two others just like it serving missionaries, development organizations and church groups.

Last Day, Finally Home

2009-01-10T20:30:00.026-05:00

After a night in Goodland, Kansas, a McDonald's Number 1 breakfast (and two more egg sandwiches for the road), we took off (Mark at the controls) over the fertile fields and section-lines of our country's breadbasket.

After angling southeast for several hours to get into warmer air, Mark turned directly east to cross a long cold front and a line of tall clouds to finish our five and a half hour flight.

The Garmin 1000 Multifunction display showed us that we would have over two hours of fuel on board at our destination.

Our little Garmin portable served as a backup, and gave us an image of the Nexrad radar.

We set 8KQ down between the Carolina pines at 4:30 p.m. The JAARS family turned out at the airstrip to welcome their first Kodiak to its new home.

Today was the culmination of years of work and high expectations, but this is really only the beginning. Now, with an airplane to work with, we will develop our understanding of this new tool, how we will operate it, and how we will teach our pilots and mechanics. Then in August, Lord willing, we will see 8KQ to its new and final home in Papua New Guinea where it will truly begin its life of service.

Halfway Home Tonight

2009-01-09T22:54:00.010-05:00

After a late morning start from the Quest factory, we've made it as far as Goodland, Kansas for the night. Five hours of flight, lots of good tailwinds, and we're halfway home to North Carolina. Sailing over Missoula and Bozeman, Montana, we landed in Powell, Wyoming for fuel and a visit with some friends and family from there and Billings. The Absaroka Mountain range in Montana gave way to the high plains of southern Wyoming, and finally the prairies of western Kansas.

Who's "we?" Let me introduce my partner, Mark Wuerffel, from Minnesota. Mark and his family lived in Papua New Guinea ("PNG") for 14 years where they served the Wycliffe Bible translators all over that mountainous country. Now a seasoned mission pilot, Mark is a flight instructor at JAARS, and he will be my partner as we learn all we can about the Kodiak before taking it to PNG later this year.

A little more than a thousand miles to go tomorrow, and we'll have 8KQ in its new home. The JAARS family will be anxious to see this first one. Our biggest concern is the cold front that sits between here and there, with its forecast heavy storms and rain.

Time to Celebrate

2009-01-09T01:08:00.006-05:00

This afternoon the Quest factory workers took a scheduled break to celebrate the handing over of N498KQ to JAARS. A few videos, a few short speeches, lots of cheers and applause, then handshakes and handing over of keys. After little bit of cookies and coffee, it was time to get back to the assembly line. Tonight we finished up some of the "acceptance" flying, giving me a bit of proficiency and night flying with the Quest instructor.

Tomorrow Mark and I hope to leave for our two-day flight to Waxhaw, NC and the JAARS team that is eager to see their first Kodiak. The prognosis charts look pretty good for the "south" route we've layed out, over Salt Lake City, angling over to Four Corners area, then east from New Mexico. Or, if the North route looks good, we could head over Montana, then down over Wyoming and across Kansas and the Midwest. These NOAA charts show that the high pressure systems are moving in just as we have been asking for.

Flew 8KQ Today

2009-01-08T00:42:00.005-05:00

Well, the weather hasn't been cooperating very willingly here in northern Idaho. There's been plenty to do on the ground, but sooner or later we need to fly the plane to confirm all its systems are operating properly. Today we got airborne for about 45 mintues and N498KQ performed true to the Kodiaks I've known. Tomorrow will be a small celebration at Quest, in which our JAARS President will thank the employees for their dedication.

It would be great if we could leave for North Carolina on Friday. The National Weather Service shows that there are some pretty strong high pressure systems moving in, and this may provide the perfect window for us to depart. We may head straight south where the warmer weather is, or if the clear skies are east, we'll head over Montana and southeast.

Got Skis?

2008-12-31T08:20:00.004-05:00

Between snow storms, the Quest pilots were able to get 8KQ back to Sandpoint yesterday. This could be the last snow this airplane sees for a long time!

N498KQ in Fresh Paint

2008-12-30T08:50:00.005-05:00

This image of 8KQ was captured on the ramp in Seattle by a Kodiak watcher who lives near the paint shop. I like the blue sky. Maybe that means it will be back in Sandpoint by the end of today.

8KQ Sports its New Colors

2008-12-23T19:42:00.003-05:00

In spite of record bad weather in Seattle, the paint shop has been making great progress. At the first break in the weather it will be flown back to Sandpoint, ready for delivery celebrations on January 8!

N498KQ Off to the Paint Shop

2008-12-11T19:12:00.007-05:00

N498KQ is the US registration number of Kodiak 008, and the "name" it will have until it gets its registration overseas. It will become known around JAARS as "Eight Kilo Quebec," or simply "Kilo Quebec." The weather broke in Sandpoint today in time for the Quest pilot to get the "green" 8KQ to the paint shop in Seattle (FlightAware snapshot here as it descends into Snohomish County / Paine field at Everett, WA). Plans are now on track for a January 7 or 8 delivery of a finished, shiny airplane. Standing by....

008 Flies, Pushing Headwinds

2008-12-03T14:16:00.002-05:00

Bad weather in Sandpoint last week caused delays in the production test flying of 008. That flying finally took place on Monday (sorry, no pictures available at this time), and 008 is about to get its Certificate of Airworthiness. However, with 2-3 weeks needed for its paint job, we're no longer hoping to see the airplane here by Christmas. The current prediction is for delivery of 008 the week of January 5.

Stay tuned, I will keep you updated as I get information.

008 Gets a Blessing

2008-11-25T08:38:00.005-05:00

How many manufacturing companies do you know of that would add a blessing of this sort to their product?

008 Under Power

2008-11-20T12:05:00.006-05:00

Signs of life as the Kodiak's 750 horsepower Pratt and Whitney

PT6A-34 turboprop engine comes out of hibernation, earlier this week.

008 as it Looked on Thursday

2008-11-14T20:31:00.002-05:00

008 Comes to Life

2008-11-10T09:21:00.008-05:00

The reports from Quest keep coming in, with more and more of 008 going together. Last week the first switch was "thrown," meaning power was sent to the Garmin G1000 integrated flight display system. The propeller is now hung in place, but there's no rubber on those landing gear yet!

008 Is Really Taking Shape!

2008-11-02T17:01:00.002-05:00

Recent photos just sent by friends at work on our Kodiak show that it is beginning to really take shape. Wings, landing gear, engine, and wiring harness have gone in place. The first electrical switch could be thrown this week, and first flight later this month!

Kodiak 008 Moves Down the Line

2008-10-18T17:07:00.015-04:00

Our first Q-100 Kodiak is taking shape on the Quest assembly line, on its long journey to a village on a South Pacific island. It's about to get its wings, wiring harness and engine.

The big question: will 008 come with a Christmas bow stuck to it? We're told to expect that!

The cargo pod should arrive for assembly in a few weeks (below is a shot of a test pod being fitted to the prototype/flight test airplane).

The Porter Goes in the Box

2008-09-30T20:11:00.004-04:00

Finally, using the cradles and fixtures supplied by Pilatus, the PC-6 Porter got snugly packed yesterday in the container for its long ride accross the Pond. Rough seas, salt air and bureaucracies are all that stand in the way of seeing it begin service.

Dedication and Disassembly of the Porter

2008-09-24T16:44:00.006-04:00

The PC-6 Porter was dedicated by JAARS staff for service overseas. All the new systems are installed and working properly, and the export papers are in order!
The Aviation team that invested their time and effort stood in front of the airplane.

The Porter is only a day or two from being slid into a container for its trip to southeastern Asia. We're using special frames and slings from Pilatus already designed for this operation -- one that's been done many times before.

The Porter is Back...

2008-08-29T11:33:00.007-04:00

... and now looks like the two it will join in southeast Asia. Great to have it home and on schedule -- pictured here as it looked when we took delivery on Wednesday in San Angelo , TX, and then as we pulled up to the JAARS hangar on Thursday evening, after over eight hours of flight. After a bit more maintenance and avionics work, we'll begin disassembling it to put in the container a month from now, for the trip halfway around the globe.

The Porter Sports its New Look!

2008-08-26T11:40:00.004-04:00

Latest shots from the paint shop reveal the outcome of four weeks of work. I'll be heading out to Texas tomorrow to bring it back to JAARS.

Smoketown was Smokin' !

2008-08-26T11:20:00.009-04:00

The new Missions Fest at Smoketown airport on Saturday and Sunday afternoon was a great success, with at least 3,000 visitors on Saturday alone. Four aircraft, including the Kodiak, were kept busy the entire time giving rides. Steve Saint demonstrated his father's "bucket drop" technique. The Kodiak nearly reached the mark of 1,100 people given rides for the summer tour. The weather was beautiful, but the sun was also intense.

Gettin' Ready for the Big One

2008-08-22T21:47:00.005-04:00

Rochester, Schenectady, Ft. Washington (Philadelphia) -- all pleasant preludes to the Saturday-Sunday event at Smoketown Airport near Lancaster, PA. The International Association of Mission Aviation "Missions Fest" is expecting around 3,000 attendees. JAARS is here with two smaller airplanes and the helicopter. We'll all be very busy giving rides and telling the story. The Kodiak will be of particular interest to folks who have prayed for and supported the project for years.

Steve Saint is here, and will displaying and demonstrating his little Piper Family Cruiser, identical to the one his father, Nate Saint, flew in Ecuador before that fateful encounter with the Waorani tribesmen in 1956 (read Through Gates of Splendor, or see the recent movie, End of the Spear). Steve will demonstrate the "bucket drop" procedure that his father developed to lower gifts to the Waorani via a long line from his circling Piper.

Meanwhile, back in San Angelo, TX again....

2008-08-19T18:31:00.005-04:00

The Pilatus Porter has gotten its white paint, and is taped off for the blue. Plans are on track to pick the plane up in San Angelo on Thursday August 28 and bring it back to JAARS for preparation to ship to southeast Asia.

Come Take a Look

2008-08-19T15:30:00.007-04:00

Not everybody is taking rides in the airplane. Many are very happy to take a close look from inside and out, especially the new high-tech instrument panel. Zoom in on the Multifunction Display (center screen) and you'll see that the Kodiak is sitting near Philadelphia (actually Ft. Washington, PA), facing southwest.

More Tour Stops

2008-08-18T21:47:00.017-04:00

Leesburg, VA, Lock Haven, PA, Reedsville, PA, Rochester, NY, and today in Schenectady, NY. People from all walks of life come out to see this new airplane, and many take rides -- so far over 900 people have ridden in the airplane on this tour.

Landing on the grass where the Kodiak loves it, in Lock Haven, PA -- original home of Piper Aircraft Company.

Ben briefs the next eight passengers before boarding them on the Kodiak.

A new graduate of Moody Aviation, Ben went on the tour to get more experience in the airplane, and did most of the flying between cities, with Ed in the Captain's seat. In case you think he's flying straight and level here, take a look at the Garmin Primary Flight Display in front of him -- it's showing a turn to the left which is why Ben is looking in that direction.

More people take in the Kodiak

2008-08-13T20:41:00.007-04:00

Liberty University aeronautics students get a good look at Kodiak 001.

Employees at Dynamic Aviation at the Bridgewater, VA airport.

The Spokane Turbine Center display, Ben Rauk attending. Would you like a ride in the Kodiak?

Kodiak at Lynchburg

2008-08-12T10:27:00.002-04:00

Home of Liberty University, and their relatively new aviation program, this school is gearing up to be a signficant source of mission pilots in the coming years.

Kodiak on Tour

2008-08-11T10:37:00.006-04:00

I joined the Kodiak in Elizabethton, Tennessee on Saturday morning. Ed Robinson has been flying it with the help of one of the recent Moody Aviation graduates Ben Rauk. Saturday and Sunday were busy giving rides, along with a JAARS airplane and helicopter. Today we're in Mocksville, NC at the Missionary Aviation Institute (MAI), associated with the Piedmont Baptist College. Tonight we will camp in Lynchbug, VA for a couple days.

The Porter is Primed

2008-08-08T21:38:00.002-04:00

Got these in just today -- the primer coat is on, ready for the color topcoats. It's coming along!

Kodiak makes a Bee-line

2008-08-08T10:39:00.006-04:00

Caught N491KQ on this flight from Sanford, FL to Knoxville, TN. Saturday it will be in Elizabethton, TN, at Moody's old location, for a JAARS Missions at the Airport event. I'm looking forward to meeting up with it there on Saturday, and helping Ed Robinson out for the next two weeks with the Spokane Turbine Center's promotional tour. Check out the tour at http://www.spokaneturbinecenter.com/.

Thanks to http://www.flightaware.com/ for this great shot. You can track the Kodiak at any time by going to this website and typing "N491KQ" in the "FLIGHT TRACKER -- Flight/Tail #:" box.

The Porter Stripped

2008-08-08T09:49:00.004-04:00

Not a pretty sight at the moment, but a very important step in the process of changing colors. The metal skins will be inspected for damage and corrosion, and treated before the primer coat and color are sprayed on. This job is on target for the end of the month when we will go back to fly it home.

Porter Arrives at Paint Shop

2008-07-23T17:17:00.012-04:00

After about eight hours of flight time spread over two days, we arrived in San Angelo, TX where the PC-6 Porter will get its new coat of paint. We spent a good night in Longview, TX with friends from LeTourneau University and the family of one of our mechanics from southeast Asia where this Porter is headed.

Miles and miles of Texas!

Ranger Aviation, aircraft painting specialists

Nate gets all the details right with the paint pros

More Grins

2008-07-16T12:33:00.009-04:00

Just proof that I was here, too. Comparing this airplane to the Kodiak is like speaking two different languages. Like I've said before, I never met an airplane I didn't like. But there's always the initial learning curve, and right now, after three flights with Nate, the curve's pretty steep!

PC-6 Porter Takes Off

2008-07-15T15:25:00.014-04:00

Last Tuesday the Porter took its first flight under a JAARS pilot's control here in Waxhaw. Nate Gordon, one of our staff from southeast Asia, had come to conduct a training course for some of our pilots here (including me), and to give the airplane its initial flight tests. As with any job like this, there have been a few loose ends to resolve, but it's a lot farther along than it was when I took this picture below.

The panel now sports new Garmin and Honeywell equipment, configured just like its two sister ships already on the field.

Meanwhile, Nate began teaching us the finer points about the Porter in class and in flight. From this picture, it appears that Nate (left) and Pete Lawry (right) are having a little too much fun.

Pilatus Porter Readies for Flight

2008-06-28T15:28:00.008-04:00

This Pilatus PC-6 "Porter," like the ones currently in use in our program in Southeast Asia has been in the JAARS shop undergoing equipment installation. Our mechanics and avionics technicians have stripped out the original radio and instrument equipment and are nearly completed with putting the instrument panel into a configuration that is standardized with the two Porters we have on the field. I have to say that at the early stages I wondered if this was going to go back together right! What these guys can do always amazes me.

In about a week this plane will be ready for its first test flight. Then for three weeks we will be conducting a course here at JAARS for some of our Training pilots with this airplane before we get it ready to send to the Pacific. First it will get a coat of blue paint to match the other two (pictured here on the field), then it'll head accross the Big Pond in a container. I'll keep you updated on the progress of this machine.

Who It's All About

2008-06-23T05:40:00.023-04:00

I can't resist taking a moment to share some pix of those beautiful people I had the privilege of meeting in our eight years in Peru and six years in eastern Africa. OK, I'm showing off my pictures. But I think you'll agree that mankind is the jewel of God's creation -- and why not -- we're made in his image!

What It's All About

2008-06-21T15:34:00.041-04:00

Access.

Aviation has always been about access. In our case, we're talking about reaching some of the most remote, forgotten people on the face of the earth. Forgotten by society, maybe, but not forgotten by God, and the thousands of self-sacrificing men and women who every day put their lives in His hands serving others, bringing them medical help, food relief, education, social validation. And above all they bring the liberating news about the One true God that loves them and is seeking to redeem them through the gift of salvation by his Son Jesus.

The focus of the Bible translation movement is providing the translated, printed Word of God. JAARS staff serve to enable the work of Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics. We believe strongly that the Bible carries the deliberate expression of God's thoughts to Mankind. It is relevant to every culture, and transforms lives and societies everywhere it is read. On the field we also get to serve many different outreaches and ministries besides the work of Wycliffe.

My own father and mother dedicated their lives to bringing a translation to the Tacana people of Bolivia. Years of language study, grammar and dictionary development, then finally translation of a "vernacular" Bible that spoke God's message clearly in Tacana. All the while, they were served by a committed, professional team of JAARS technicians. Aircraft, radios, computers, were all tools that gave John and Ida Ottaviano access to the Tacana heartland, and gave the Tacanas access to God's Word.

The environment has changed in many ways, but the need still remains. Today, forty years later, there are still over 1,500 languages worldwide that have no translation of Scriptures in their "heart language." And where it is needed, aviation is still giving that access in Africa, Asia and the Americas.

It's also about Multiplication.

The old way of doing things has changed. It used to presume that the Westerner was going to do the job. Indeed, for decades, Western education and church support made this the reality. But today the Church in the develping world is addressing the challenge with resources and people. The role of the Western missionary is moving to one of training and building capacity. Transportation and communication services multiply the effect of workers as they engage in training and workshops. Bible translation is now conducted by committees of vernacular speakers, encouraged by consultants.

Many different creative aviation ministries work around the world, part of a tight-knit community of service to God's dedicated workers. JAARS is only one of many. As we move into a new technology of aircraft, we are amazed at how God is providing us the tools to continue to serve, machines like the Kodiak that we could only dream about years ago.

Two and a Half Weeks in April

2008-06-02T15:20:00.052-04:00

Felts Field, Spokane, WA was the site of a new sort of inter-mission effort. In the Moody Aviation hangar (as in Moody Bible Institute - Spokane) we ensconced ourselves in a classroom and attacked several issues. The actual host was the new Spokane Turbine Center ("STC"), brainchild of some Christian and mission aviation entrepreneurs. STC's purpose is to provide quality, affordable training to mission aviation students, as well as veteran mission pilots transitioning into turbine and high-tech aircraft.

Jeff Turcotte, the STC Director, had asked us to come and help him through the early development of his curriculum. Our other objective was to work together on a Standard Operating Procedure ("SOP") for the Kodiak that would be generically useful for the different mission operators of the Kodiak.

The participants were Jeff Turcotte and Ed Robinson (from STC), Brian Shepson (Mission Aviation Fellowship), Bart Haines (New Tribes Mission Aviation), Jim Conrad (Moody Aviation) and myself. Jeff presented his courses in the Pratt & Whitney PT6 "turbine transition" course, the Garmin G1000 course, and conducted several flights in the STC Kodiak (serial no. 001, pictured here in orange) with the participants.

After roughing-out these courses, we spent three days on the beginnings of an SOP and cockpit checklist. The two weeks went by quickly. As an added bonus, Brian invited us down to MAF headquarters in Nampa, ID to do some flying in the airplane at a dry lakebed (Coyote Lake) they use for R&D work, plus one of the upsloped ranch airstsrips they use for candidate flight training. We gave the Kodiak a full two days of trials, testing the performance and our newly-created SOP and checklists. In spite of our relative inexperience in the Kodiak, we were able to take off and land the airplane in less than "book" distances.

April 11, 12

2008-05-31T14:16:00.016-04:00

Friday’s a big day with three consecutive flight scenarios, including some landings on federal airstrips down in the Snake River canyon, a fuel endurance “problem” thrown in, and a night/instrument return to Sandpoint via Spokane. All along the way Steve Z gets perverse pleasure by throwing in an assortment of simulated emergencies: engine failures, Garmin failures, autopilot failures, etc. etc. I’m not back at the hotel until nearly midnight, plenty worn out!

Saturday dawns a beautiful, calm day. This is the “name your scenario” day, where I get to plan a route of my own choice. With Steve Z’s suggestion, we agree on a route of Bonner’s Ferry, ID - Troy, MT -Kalispell, MT – over Glacier Park through Logan Pass, back east to Coeur d’Alene, ID, and back to Sandpoint. This is an unforgettable flight, with the peaks buried in deep new snow. Going-to-the-Sun road over Logan Pass is barely visible under the snow. These pictures speak for themselves: Glacier Park from 10,000 feet, and landing at Troy, Montana.

April 8, 9, 10

2008-05-30T20:51:00.012-04:00

The weather's been pretty foul, typical northern Idaho fare for April. Winter just won't give up. No problem, there's plenty to do on the ground yet -- playing with the G1000 simulator, studying the airplane flight manual, and checking up on Number 008 that is beginning to take shape on the assembly line.

Finally on Thursday there's a break in the weather, and we fuel up and take off on our first scenario. The Kodiak is not a difficult airplane to fly, but it can be a handful with all that performance, and ALL the functions of the Garmin distracting your attention. The training scenario calls for a search for a Girl Scout party stranded on a mountain, with GPS coordinates as the only available information. The successful location of the lost party is followed with some landings at Deer Park, and a couple instrument approaches, including one that ends back in Sandpoint.

April 7, 2008 - Factory Flight Training in the Kodiak Begins

2008-05-30T20:12:00.011-04:00

April 7, Sandpoint Idaho. After years of anticipation, I'm actually going to get a chance to fly the Kodiak. Not just "play" with it, but for one week get the whole attention of Steve Zaat, Quest Aircraft Company's Customer Service manager, and main flight instructor. Steve O. meets Steve Z. The exercise: "factory training." Not a stranger to this type of airplane (1,000 hours of Cessna Caravan flight time, 1,700 hours of Beechcraft King Air time), I still feel excited. I've been working as JAARS' representative to Quest for several years and watched the Kodiak develop from just a concept. Not least in the curriculum is getting functional knowledge of the Garmin G1000 integrated flight system, their state-of-the art navigation and flight display (http://www.questaircraft.com/index.php?filename=avionics.php). Hopefully by the end of the week I will be flying the Kodiak and handling the Garmin to such a level that I can earn the Quest certificate of completion, earning me qualification to be in command of a Kodiak on my own.

Steve Z has done a good job with the FITS (FAA Industry Training Standard) curriculum, though there are a few areas where I strain to understand this new training philosophy. Each flight lesson involves a complete scenario of numerous landing sites, an instrument flight plan, and selected emergency drills. As acting Pilot in Command, I am responsible to look at the flight's scenario description, calculate the fuel needed, airplane loading, and all the expected performance. My name goes on the flight plan and dispatch form for every flight.

JAARS Kodiak Project Approaches D-day

2008-05-26T18:03:00.004-04:00

After years of expectation and planning, we're on our countdown to receiving our first Quest Aircraft Company Kodiak Q100. When people ask me if I like the Kodiak, I have to say that's not a fair question. I never met an airplane I didn't like. But I have to admit, this one's special. It's the culmination of years of design and planning of a unique company in northern Idaho, dedicated to mission and humanitarian service. The Kodiak 100 is the result of the input of experienced mission aviation people and some pretty ingenious engineers and designers.

We're scheduled to get serial number 008 in September. In the meantime, there's lots of work to be done. I hope we can keep you informed and inspired on this site as we make this journey. We'll give you a glimpse of our team at JAARS and post major events as they happen, including photos and video clips. But first, we'll have to give you some background. Please be patient as we get these elements posted.