A Big Trip

(flying float planes is FUN!)

As you're reading this, we should be on the first of five jet planes that will be taking us back to America.  I will be attending a flight instructor seminar at our MAF HQ.  Hopefully I can remember how to land an airplane with wheels! Stay tuned for pictures and news from the homeland...

From the Logbook...A Tight Fit

Last week Jason and I both actually went to the same place and we were there at the same time.  This isn't all that common at a small base like ours.  It always makes things complicated too because there usually isn't enough room for two airplanes at the dock.  I was flying MCB and it was a tight fit to dock it with my wing hanging only 12 inches above the little "waiting room" area.  If a large wave came by, my wing would surely have impacted the roof.  Due to this fact, I didn't stay around too long and quickly loaded my passengers and got out of there.

Another Chance

Last week my colleague Jason went to a community upstream to pick up a sick baby.  This 6 month old had been sick for while and continued to deteriorate.  By bringing him to the local hospital he has another chance at getting healthy quicker.

Not a Bad Place to Work

It's not uncommon to see any number of fish catching tools in use at our dock at any given time, night or day.  All of our national staff grew up in interior villages and fishing is in their blood.

But it makes me laugh when I go to wash my hands at the sink and I am unable to because today's catch is floating in it.  How many job environments can you get some fishing done while at the same time flying airplanes?  There are some fun perks to working in an aquatic environment.

From the Logbook...Patient Flight

Mid-last week we were called about the possibility of transporting a patient to the nearby coastal town of Banjarmasin, about 40 minutes away.  Banjar is much larger than PalangkaRaya and supposedly the medical care is better.

This poor guy was already in the hospital in PalangkaRaya and then took a nasty fall, causing all kinds of new problems.  He was too unstable to be taken overland, so air transport was really his only option.

Forty minutes after taking off we landed on one of the large rivers near Banjarmasin.  On final approach you can see the Ocean and the river is big enough at that point that I can probably land and take off width-wise. But, despite the river's huge size, it throws at us a lot of challenges like tidal currents, river currents, strong wind, and a tough dock.

A Serene Night

Due to my arrival just  before sunset (see yesterdays post) I was at the office leaving my paper trail until after the sun went down.  Being on or near the river at night is really peaceful.  Usually we are done flying long before sunset but occasionally our days end up longer than planned.  That's Aviation.

From the Logbook...Rain Delay

Rainy season, it's a bittersweet relationship.  It puts water in our "runways" but it can make it challenging to make it to all of our destinations in the course of the day.  This was the view out of my window shortly after I landed about 40 minutes from home.  The rain was coming down!

I didn't have much daylight to work with at that point, but worrying doesn't accomplish anything.  So I made my way up to the dock and joined my passengers while drinking coffee and eating peanuts.  Thankfully, the weather relented and I was able to take off and land in PalangkaRaya just before sunset.

From the Logbook...Tubang Senamang

Continuing our exploratory flight as mentioned in the previous post, we continued to fly further upstream to our last village, Tubang Senamang.  They were even more surprised to see us as they are a very isolated village and they rarely see any outsiders let alone two big white dudes in an airplane.

However, we were received favorably and it seemed that they were excited to know that we would love to help serve them and make their difficult living situation a little easier.

From the Logbook...Hiran

Last week Jason and I topped off one of our C185's with fuel and left on an exploratory mission.  Our purpose was to land at a few villages that we NEVER go to on a river system that we NEVER land on in order that we can look into the possibility of being able to serve them in the future.  After we landed, all of the docks lining the river began to fill with people wondering what the airplane was doing in their village.

We finally found a "suitable" dock and had a small meeting with the community that met us there.  We explained our reasons for visiting them and left information on how to contact us.

As we prepared to leave, the dock quickly swelled with people watching us get ready to take off.  It was fun to see a new part of Central Borneo and learn about the needs there.

From the Logbook...Leaving Town

As we depart the river in PalangkaRaya we see a number of things.  One is the little settlement of homes seen above.  Me and my family have driven through there and it was an experience.  When the river is really high, most of the homes are under water.  It was unlike anything I ever experienced driving through the settlement above.

On the edge of town, you can see one of the many gas stations in town.  They almost ALWAYS have a line.  Fuel, both unleaded and diesel, is hard to get in PalangkaRaya.  The line above is only diesel.  I'm assuming since there was no line for the unleaded pumps that they were already pumped dry.  We waited an hour earlier this week to get gas in our MAF car.  Things just take longer here in Central Borneo.

From the Logbook...Joyful Hearts

One late afternoon last week I took an MAF employee and his whole family to their home village to spend the weekend there.  As is typical is most villages, the children were easy to get a laugh from and they put a smile on my face.  How can you not smile?  Look at the kid in the red shirt.  That's a funny face!

From the Logbook...A Tough Flight

Just before my in-laws left to return to the USA, a flight came up that I could invite my mother-in-law as well.  We were supposed to take a family back home.  Just before we departed PalangkaRaya we received word that just 15 minutes flight time further upstream there was a patient who was burned.  So, my mother-in-law would be able to see another stop with me...even better.

However, when we arrived in the patients village after dropping off our first passengers, I was informed that my burn patient was actually burn patents...3 of them.  It turned out that a family of 4 experienced a home fire.  Tragically their 8 month old died in the fire.  Their 3 year old was burned over 90% of his body and you can see the mom in the picture above with severe burns on her whole right side.

The father is seen carrying his son above.  The father was also badly burned on both legs from the knees down.  My heart broke for this family as only hours before they were a happy family of four and now they were tragically a family of three.  This particular patient flight really touched me deeply and it still does.  Without the airplane these poor parents may have experienced even more tragedy that day.  Now, their baby boy at least has a chance.  My mother-in-law got to see a little more than she was anticipating that day.  I was joyful she got to accompany me, but she got to see a very raw aspect of what we do.  It's not always easy.

From the Logbook...A Special Passenger

While my in-laws were here, I had the privilege of taking my father-in-law with me for a full day of flying.  My father-in-law is also an accomplished fixed and rotor wing pilot as well as a brilliant aviation mechanic.  I owe much of what I know to his mentoring and willingness to let me learn under his watch.  It was a blessing to show him how his investment in me over the years is paying off with eternal dividends in the middle of Borneo.  Thanks Ron!

A Unique Boat Ride

Due to my lack of blogging activity one can assume that I have been really lazy or really busy.  It has been the later.  My beloved in-laws came and visited us for Christmas and New Years and we had a blast with them here.  Now, I can show you a little bit of what we saw together while they were here.  

One week ago, on New Years Day, we joined a small tour boat to go see wild orangutans living in their natural environment.  It was really cool!

This particular group was enjoying their breakfast when we approached them from the river.  They seemed to hardly care that they were being watched.

It was amazing seeing these ultra large mammals very high up in the trees.  Watching them swing and sway effortlessly was a special thing to watch.

This orangutan was named Bobo.  He was the dominant male and was very large.  We all felt very privileged to see these animals in their native environment.  There are only a few places left on Earth that you can see wild orangutans and we just happen to live about 15 miles from them.  Very cool!