Ahhh the fragrance but it is what is inside that counts

Have you ever been to your local airport, on a hot summers day to watch the frenetic activity on the apron as aircraft after aircraft are unloaded and despatched or perhaps you've been jawing in a old hanger long past it's best, telling tales about 'there I was upside down', when you catch on the air a something, a hint, a fragrance, the scent that stops you mid sentence ..... the delightful and unique smell of hot turbine exhaust gas - burnt Jet A-1 or Kerosene to the uninitiated. There is nothing, absolutely nothing quite like it to throw your mind back to dreamy boy-hood days of Viscounts & Heralds engines whining nose twitching as they spool up, glass landings on the

Jamuna (aka Brahmaputra) River alongside the Jibon Tari Floating Hospital, turbine gases wafting in the open window in the shimmering tropical heat or the sweaty unloading of life saving plumpey nuts to the creaking of a cooling exhaust in Southern Sudan.



Have you wondered what it is though that makes this mind transporting 'drug'. Well it is a rather expensive piece of kit, called a PT-6, this is a turbine engine bolted behind the prop, as shown below.

It operates to the very scientific formula of
                                 Turbine + Fuel = Noise + More Noise + Aircraft Movement  + Fragrance
A remarkable piece of very reliable equipment not so dissimilar to Frank Whittles prototype of some 74 years ago.
Funnily most people like to board a nice shiny aircraft and don't give much thought to what goes on on the inside, tis true to say that generally speaking if you look after the outside then probably you are also looking after the inside but actually in aviation it is what is on the inside that truly counts. We love our engineers as they are very thorough, picky and do a great job - no one wants an engineer to rush or take short-cuts. Actually what is on the inside is really important to the pilot and not just mechanically but what we carry....

                     

You know though there was a man who was a great believer in the statement that it is, what goes on on the inside that really counts. 

I have recently just enjoyed a great book about this remarkable man written by Eugene Peterson and called The Message well worth a read.

So next time you catch the fragrance of those glorious exhaust fumes remember 

1.we cannot neglect what goes on inside of us either 

2.sometimes we need a spot of maintenance

3.we need to make sure that what we carry around with us on the inside is useful and perhaps jettison some of the junk!

.

Plumpey Nuts ......what a great name for a food - that truly saves lives

Plumpey Nuts what a great name for a food.....

"Ok I will take 9 boxes in pod B, 8 in Pod C and the other 45 in the cabin." Sweat tickles my nose as I do the 32nd twist and turn, great for the waste line but doubt I'll never be able to limbo dance again! Loading Plumpey Nuts in the Juba heat, the new Capitol of South Sudan is hard work but we soon have them on board and strapped down. 

The refuelling truck pulls up and I load on board 512 litres of Juba's best Jet A-1. Once the fuel is signed for I double check the weight and balance, as whilst the aircraft is full (not a kg more can it lift), it actually looks pretty empty with all the seats out, as the cargo I am transporting today is pretty dense. 

I am about to move about 5 tonnes of these boxes and other assorted medicines and supplies up to northern Southern Sudan for SCF over the next four days as well as pick up an AID Sudan team. The plumpey nuts (what a great name) in particular will save countless lives and make a real difference to many, particularly children in extremis.

I spot the airstrip 15 miles out, a khaki patch standing out as clear as a bell, against the sea of waving green, as despite the lack of rain, the grasslands look surprisingly lush from the air. First load in is to Waat over 200nm north of Juba, it is a new strip for me and as it is a freight flight, I bank hard over the black cotton soil airfield, getting a good look at the land below me. Boxes seldom complain about such manoevers, then line up on the centre of the airfield and pass very low over the somewhat rough surface in an effort to encourage the cattle wandering across it to 'push off.' Also gives me a chance to look out for any standing water or any other obvious hazards that might be there to trip me up but it has not rained for a few days so there is only one area about 200m long that I had best avoid.  The cattle amble off, noses in the air, somewhat irritated by this giant fly that has just zipped past their 'horn tops' at 110kts. Another couple of hard banks keeping the circuit really tight and I am lined up again on the field, to the right of where I guess the runways centre line should be, as best avoid the muddy areas that would definately ruin my day if I landed on them, a rattle of wheels as I apply reverse thrust and brake hard and my shoulders push against my harness. Scotty (5X-SCO) stops in no time and I taxi to the far end of where I think the runway ends!

Once on the deck, Save the Children's truck reverses up to the rear freight door and the straps securing the cargo are quickly whipped off as I have to do this again before the day is out, we get the cargo unloaded. I start passing the boxes out,  this beats any gym session. The Land Cruisers suspension groans under the load.

 Here I have Jim Le Huray my co-pilot resting for a while on the plumpey nuts on a later flight up to Akobo, now that is one 'rubbish' airstrip - not much fun when dryish, suspect it soon becomes unusable when wettish!

'
Plumpey nuts are  are in a distinctive red and white box each weighing 14.7kg, this is one load of 'peanut butter' that is going to a very good home .....

Wikapedia say  Plumpy’nut is frequently used as a treatment for emergency malnutrition cases. It helps with rapid weight gain, which can make the difference between life and death for a young child. The product is also easy for children to eat since they can feed themselves the soft paste. The fortified peanut butter-like paste contains a balance of fats, carbohydrates and proteins (macronutrients), and vitamins and minerals (micronutrients). Peanuts contain mono-unsaturated fats, which are easy to digest. They are also very high in calories, which means that a child will get a lot of energy from just small amounts, important because malnutrition shrinks the stomach. They are rich in zinc and protein — both good for the immune system and to aid long bone growth in reversing stunted height, while protein is also needed for muscle development. Peanuts are also a good source of vitamin E, an antioxidant that helps to convert food into energy.

ROSS - A visit to the newest nation in the world.

The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” 

Don Williams, Jr. (American Novelist and Poet, b.1968)

Well I agree really BUT I love going somewhere new and so I kinda' like getting to the destination and if one is honest, there are times the journey can be a real pain!

Bursting out of the rain covered hills it was a delight to find a huge amphitheatre of space before me and it only took a minute or so before I spotted my destination, a thin brown strip amongst bush, huts, fields and houses. 

Banking hard over the end of the airstrip, I looked down below me and it was hard to believe that somebody really had built a concrete house, shop or whatever it was to become, right at the end of the airstrip. Not a problem landing but it sure shortens the strip for take-off. Figured a little rudder at the end of the take-off run would get one round the obstruction but the two lorries parked up nearby would have to move.

The undercarriage clunk clunked as it hammered over the rough surface, kicking up a cloud of dust & sand into the warm Sudanese air, one felt the straps pull firmly on ones shoulders, as one stomped on the brakes along with a 'burst' of reverse thrust. In seconds the aircraft had slowed to a walking pace in less than half the 800m available and I parked up in a relatively scrub free area off the runways side. People seemed to tumble out of the bush, with a real festive air, as everyone and I think I mean everyone, came out to see the machine that had newly arrived. Does seem there are only a couple of arrivals - on a busy month!
I love this photo of the busyness of a typical bush strip!
I was picking up a delightful young couple working with AIM (African Inland Mission) who were off to the coast for a well deserved 3rd Wedding Anniversary break, they had been in Ikotos learning the language and getting to know the people for some 18 months  - I wondered could I do that? I also had two chaps on board - wearing their chaplaincy T shirts - they had been training godly soldiers to become Chaplains/Pastors in the army in Nimule.  Amazingly Bosco one of the first such graduates from this programme just happened to turn up at the field - wearing his somewhat older much but equally much loved Chaplaincy T-shirt!

Well taking off ... with a few interesting obstructions at the end of the runway, I thought it best they moved the trucks, easy, ummm well it would have been if the engine had still been in it. Still a bit of maths and with my weight (aircrafts, not mine personally!) and a few knots of breeze down the runway, taking off towards the obstruction was still best and it should be no problem - with an obstacle clearance departure. So it was full power, rattle bump judder as we hurtled over the ruts and despite the heat the Caravan left planet earth as per the book, much to the delight of the several hundred spectators, goats and dogs lining the strip. Banking left we head low over the countryside before we commence our climb and 250nm south.

Evidence that I was there ... golly love this job.

It was only a little hole but it was a pleasing sight!

The heavy brooding clouds had lowered themselves to smother the mountain tops or perhaps the forest covered mountains had ascended into the grey rain laden cloud layer, either way flying low up the valley it was pretty obvious that getting over this small range of mountains was not going to be easy.
All three of our Caravans headed north yesterday, into the newest nation on earth; the Republic of Southern Sudan.  We had managed to pick up a satellite picture of the weather in the office at 0630 to see what we might expect and it looked decidedly damp over yonder border, the satellite image showed lots of green = wet, plenty of  yellow = very wet and several hefty dollops of red = who cares how wet they are, you don't want to go there.
Actually my area was pretty colour free and despite an update date saying it looks fine.... I was low over the trees looking for a way over the range. You do have to wonder if any one ever visits these densely forested areas very beautiful, rather nice to see them at almost 2 miles a minute. A couple of useful rules flying in mountains of any size & colour always have an escape route and if you are in a valley make sure it is big enough to do an about turn in. Decided to go north first as it looked lighter but the clouds came down as the valley went up - sounds like a song, am I thinking about Noah and a flood? Well time to do a u or valley turn, warn the passengers - ideally they need to be the right type of passengers, which these were - they had been training soldiers to be Pastors for a few weeks - they had some great stories about Jesus, God & the Father but another time. Watch your speed neither to fast nor to slow, put some flaps down and 60 degree bank and she turns on a sixpence and we head back down the valley.

Warned base that did not look great and I was wondering if I might need to skip Ikotos but then I saw it a hole - you can see the hill clearly on the other side. Now 20 miles further south, I could probably have got round with ease but remember I am using up fuel.
This little jolly round the mountains was no big deal and enjoyed by all but it made me think of all the times I have been in a tricky spot and with wisdom & faith God has turned up trumps, the inevitable coincidence - now who was it who said the more I pray the more coincidences occur (rhetorical qu)?
Conclusion. Nipped through the 'hole', rather nice on the other side. Landing at Ikotos one cannot help but notice the building being built right on the end of the airstrip guess that is also another story!

Farewell friend... Why do you have to go?

You wave good bye, excited at the adventures new that lay before you, as you look back your friends hands are perhaps only half raised, their smiles are saying 'thank you for coming' but their eyes are shouting, 'why do you have to go?'........

My wife and I have had many privileges in life and some of those have come about through working with some remarkable people in some amazing places. We spent 4 years in the Nilgiris Hills in South India before we eventually joined MAF which has taken us on other adventures and we have 'suffered' many farewells.

Today in Uganda .....  approx every 6th sunday Kampala International Church splits into geographic zones, rather than meeting in one of it's two regular sites. Zone sunday meetings are quite different, smaller more intimate, allows friendships to develop and more folk to be involved and use their gifts and there is always food. Here we are meeting under the shade of the Makindye and Lubowa zones marquee.

...twas a great morning talking and sharing about the pains/challenges of life and how God walks us through them. We worshipped together, shared communion, said some farewells then enjoyed each others company over a meal.


Ummm farewells.... one of the hardest parts of working overseas is letting people into your life then having to let them go again, whilst true for everyone in life, it is especially so when you work abroad. The temptation is perhaps, to close ranks to newcomers, not get so close, after all they will one day leave, as you will also one day. Jesus requires us not to travel alone but to join with and be joined by fellow travellers, be it perhaps only for a season. 
Funny first impressions aren't they, research says we sum people up in the first 27secs! perhaps you think in those early minutes, that  your going to be stuck carrying their burdens, then they surprise you, as they stoop down and carry yours!  True maybe on other days you may have to struggle with theirs, but so often it is not at all like that, it is days of chatting, eating, drinking, laughing and companionable silence. Perhaps they will journey a long way with you, yet you thought it would only be a day or two, whilst others will just travel a 'few miles'. Whatever you do enjoy each days journey.

A really warm thankyou to all those through-out the world who have let my wife and I into their lives and allowed us to share in each others loads.

Click...

'Click,' the last clip of my 5 point safety harness slots into place as I strap into the left seat of my old friend Bill.

Bill - 5X-BIL a 20 year old Cessna 208 Caravan, a 600shp Turbine powered single engined air machine with attitude - room for 1 pilot and 9 passengers - rather like this shot of Bil in Pagak, Southern Sudan. We have had a lot of fun together, having travelled many thousands of miles, shifted hundreds of passengers and many, many tonnes of sweat inducing freight, from dogs to wellington boots, Kitchen sinks to chocolate.

Running through the checklist ...starter on and the turbine spools up, love that whine, if your lucky you might catch the delicious smell of the exhaust gas - burnt turbine fuel - wonderful.
Taxing out we are soon lined up, gentle breeze from the right, Bil vibrates with eagerness, as we leap down Kajjansi's grass and murram runway, first we're off to Entebbe International Airport only 12 miles away to refuel, clear Customs and sort out Immigration paperwork. I have Joey Lincoln and his wife and three small children on board, Joey is a pilot with MAF Congo in Bunia and is also an aircraft engineer - his father is Chief Engineer for MAF Congo based in Kajjansi! They had been working on one of MAF Congo's aircraft that had been parked in our hanger. We also have a couple of other NGO passengers  along with us as well, all seem very happy to be heading home.

It is only 160 miles on a 304 heading to Bunia, 1hr 10 min by Caravan but a long drive to this town in nestled just over the border in Eastern DRC. Climbing out to 10,500ft, it is a glorious day .just need to doge the odd cloud  Soon Lake Albert is in sight and once we are half way across - at the border, not a red dotted line in site despite looking hard for it over blue water's below. We descend into Bunia, crossing the ridge is beautiful, as we slide low over the high ground. The photo below shows a typical congolese town red rusted corrugated iron and dusty roads.  The airfield is easy to spot as it has a tarmac runway that today is easy to spot against the green background. Many UN helicopters squat half asleep like giant bumble bees, guarded by Bangladeshi UN troops, a pleasant and friendly bunch.

Paperwork is fairly speedy today and we only have 4 people to pick up. So we are quite light and all are ready and waiting. My clearance from the Bangladeshi controller is turn north from runway 28, which gives me a different view of town as every-time before it has always a southerly turn. Smoke billows out from a number of fires in the fields, in a few months their smoke will really help reduce visibility, as I am climb back over the ridge, turn on course heading back over Lake Albert, Entebbe bound... thinking what a great job I have.

Down Town Movie Time

Wednesday evening we entered the arena of downtown Kampala traffic - cars to the left of us, lorries to the right, cycles all over, we dodged our way through numerous close encounters emerging unscathed from our short battle, at our destination a somewhat battered old cinema. Not the talkie theatre of yester-year with faded velvet seats and usherets with torches.  But a somewhat down at mouth structure, seating for 50 in plastic seats on a bare concrete floor (or 150 in oxygen free, total discomfort) and a screen which was a white washed patch of wall. However it was home to a new church and a great place to show a movie!

I had gone out with Sam to show a Jesus film. Sam works with the Jesus Film Ministries, he travels all over Uganda at invitation, to show a variety of films about Jesus.
What a delight it was to meet some of these men and women whose lives had truly been turned upside down by an encounter with Jesus.
One of the guys who came, produces perhaps some of the best Chappati's in town, to get my order in, a lovely older lady called Anne who just loves these people as her own, acted as my guide, as it was not exactly on a main thoroughfare. You enter a 'lorry park', trashed lorries abound, duck under a trailer attached to a huge articulated behemoth (watch your head), squeeze alongside a wall and the trailers side, at the back is his little stall, uncooked chappati balls stand ready to be rolled and fried on a slightly rocky table, his home is a nearby wrecked truck. Greeted by a huge, a very real smile, order is placed, 'I'll bring them around when I come to the film.'

One of the mysteries of faith is that it is likely you would not have wanted anything to do with many of these folk a few years ago, certainly some would have been branded as dangerous, actually the sort of guys and gals Jesus kind of liked hanging around. Yet they had been transformed, are being transformed  - polished up, so God's image shines through such they are now truly our brothers and sisters.
The delight of the evening for me, was at the end, praying for queues of folk, as much wanting the pleasure of being prayed for, as much as their desire for God to meet their need be it for wisdom, healing or their marriage. Praying for folk really can be addictive ........

Seeing is Believing?

Breath taking new evidence has just emerged that an exciting new Tarzan film may well be released soon - this unique photo was captured of our hero swinging effortlessly through the trees in an area of forest in the Entebbe Botanical gardens last used in the 1930's Tarzan production. This remarkable actor was heard to cry 'Yahoooo' as he swung from liana vine to liana vine - so this film is obviously made with British backing! 

I have photographic evidence and it is recorded in black and white yet some people doubt the veracity of what I have written.  Truth is worth looking for...

24 hours ...

There was a beautiful 80 year old 4 masted Barque the Sea Cloud moored in the Little Russel a few days ago and I wondered how long it would take me to sail to East Africa. 

 Departing home always leaves me with an peculiar feeling, saying good bye, sadness and excitement.  My journey would have taken 10 days to complete by air in 1931 - I know as I have a first flight, dated air mail cover, or weeks & weeks by sea. 

 Bags in the car at 0920, only about 6 minutes to check-in at Guernsey airport, good ol Aurigny's ATR72 started up on time, by 1020 I was heading north into the mid morning sunshine. Coach to Heathrow - ipods are wonderful things, then a 5 hour wait before they would let me into departures for a decent cup of coffee!

 

Always wonder where every one is going at Heathrow,  after all I had a perfectly good reason to travel, as I was Uganda bound for work.  Every one shopping shopping shopping, so many looked board, impatient, tired, sad and some just lonely......

 The views from my bedroom are quite remarkable as the sun rose. I'd received a rather nice up-grade which meant the morning looked splendid over Niger at 540kts. Arguably breakfast was some of the fastest food  I've ever eaten.

Just 24 hours later I arrived at the MAF Guest House and some of the shops around the corner seemed so much quieter...

One thing I love about my job is enables me to be part of other peoples journeys, being a purveyor of hope.

Trust for sale only US$7,945

... was doing another Flight review a couple of days ago and it got me thinking.

Did you know you can buy piece of mind and absolute trust for just US$ $7, 945, it is available to everyone regardless of race and nationality. Perhaps I should explain, but first have you ever wondered when it is cold and grey outside, why many birds prefer to point beak into wind and hunker down staying nice and ‘comfortable’ on terra firma?
Cold and grey means lots of cloud... tests show that a pilot untrained in instrument flying (flying in cloud), will on entering this ‘solid’ fluffy stuff, so they can no longer see the ground or sky, will loose control of their aircraft within approx 90 -120 seconds with alarming results!

To survive they must switch their attention from their senses - which will almost certainly be saying, ‘all is well’, as they watch greyness flashing past their windscreen, to the aircraft instrument called the artificial horizon. This piece of kit is found right in front of the pilot at the centre of the aircraft ‘dashboard’, it is exactly what the name says it is, as it shows you where the horizon would be if there was no cloud i.e which way is up.  The trained pilot is taught to trust what it says with his life. The information it provides you see, is honest and true, it tells you if the aircraft is flying straight and level and shows you what to do if it is not. So even when your body and mind tell you otherwise, follow its advice, as trust it you must.  

They are very reliable instruments yet... I had one go very sick whilst flying way up in Sudan just before Christmas but no problem for the trained (training training training) aviator.

I always think your trust is one of the greatest gifts you can give to anyone and one we need to learn to give freely but wisely, however when receiving someone else’s trust, boy do we need to treat it with care, as if we break it, spending another US$7, 945US  will not guarantee a replacement. 
For that I am afraid you are going to have to receive forgiveness and another consequence can be that which is broken in a minute, can take many years to repair.

Training ...Training ...Training

The powerful growl of the Cirrus's 310HP engine was a delight to the ears, as we climbed through 1500 feet out of Guernsey Airport, we were cleared just below the clouds to 3000ft, ...... "OK," I said, "I want you to imagine, wisps of white smoke in the cockpit, that seems to be coming from behind the radio stack, definitely an electrical fire, you can smell the burning plastic." What do you do? Easy perhaps sitting at your desk but hurtling through the sky doing 140kts, having to conform to Air Traffic Control and carry on climbing on track and answer the question ummmmm..........
Last week I had the chance of flying with an experienced private pilot and putting him though his paces for his American Flight Review, a flight which he has to do every 2 years with a Flight Instructor, to be successful Barry had to show/demonstrate to me competency at the level of his licence. The flights are usually good fun, well for me as the instructor but hot, hard and intense work for the pilot under check, as the pressure is on for him to show me what he knows and to demonstrate what he can do. I give him various scenarios, for example..... "now I want you to land at Cherbourg, there is an obstruction on the runway, so land in the minimum distance possible, imagine the airfield is now short and starts at the first runway markings or perhaps the air speed indicator failed on take-off ( I shall cover it up - helps the imagination part, so you cannot see it but I can), now fly the pattern safely? Guess the airspeed when I ask you and land the aircraft normally."  Demonstration of a skill successfully, especially under a tad of duress shows you have reached the required standard and it will mean they will get my signature in their log-book. What I love about flight reviews is the chance to add in personal experiences, look at ways perhaps a task could be could be done differently and/or better. To-gether we work at not only demonstrating to a standard - to tick a box but encouraging greater skills acquisition.  One of the saddest things I sometimes meet especially outside of the cockpit is folk who feel they know it all and/or are not prepared to listen and learn.  I remember being a new flying instructor, ink on the licence barely dry and the 'student assigned to me for teaching was the Chief Instructor - who trained military Flight Instructors, he flew the impressive Apache attack helicopters - of 101st airborne.  My job was to teach him how to fly a fixed wing aircraft to commercial standards. He was way above me in experience and flying hours but I knew how to fly a light aircraft to commercial standards and he did not but he wanted to learn how to do it. He listened and learnt and so did I. It was two way experience and it was fun.
So one of the things we need to do till the day we die is regularly go and take 'flight reviews' in all areas of our lives, demonstrate competency but also listen, learn & perhaps teach, as well as be taught.
I believe you can teach an old dog new tricks......

Changes happen...

This is a bit of a test to see if I can convert my simple MAF blogg into something a little more creative...

Have you ever said to yourself 'I think it is it time for a change?' 
I was flying out of Entebbe a couple of weeks ago heading 160 miles west, to Bunia. This little Congolese town, in eastern DRC aka Congo, is dead easy to find, just keep the equator line on your left, that is the red dashed line - you cannot miss it and when you reach a Lake nip across it, then pop over the ridge and there it is.  Well I was in my Cessna Caravan and I do use 'my' somewhat loosely, a rather nice red and white 10 seater, powered by a single engine, a nice PT-6 turbine, the registration letters are 5X-BIL, so for obvious reasons the aircraft is affectionately known as Bill.

Bill & I were at 10,500ft and after some overnight rain the air was beautifully smooth and clear, such that one could almost see for ever. Dropping under some clouds of the white fluffy friendly variety, the thought crossed my mind that perhaps in the evening they might develop into a spot of rain.

Passengers and freight delivered, and new pax tightly strapped in and I head for home. It was only 90 minutes earlier that I had passed this way before but the sight to greet me was somewhat different, gone were soft friendly cumulus...  I was greeted by a black wall of ground to ceiling greyness, dark & sombre, heavy and dank, almost black in parts the ominous water laden clouds provided an impenatrable forest like barrier. Banked sharp right, for some 25 miles until further south the sky lightened and I could slip around the storms edge, yet it was still another 20 miles before I could head back on course.

Always amazed at the speed at which circumstances can change ... Baden Powell's motto 'Be prepared' are truly words of wisdom.