Air Ambulance

No plan survives contact with the enemy. Or something like that. Originally the flight was scheduled for Nairobi to Gatab (lower), and back to Nairobi. It got changed later to add a trip to Wamba to drop a man who'd been shot at the Catholic hospital there for surgery. The plan was to overnight at Gatab, since we'd be leaving Nairobi in the afternoon...the people going to Gatab were coming into Jomo Kenyatta airport (the big international airport in Nairobi) from Mombasa at 1130, so a bit of time to get luggage, and get a cab over to Wilson airport. Then we found out the surgeon was leaving Wamba today, so if he was going to do the surgery, the patient would have to be at Wamba on the 26th.

But where to stay at Wamba? (Single engine airplanes aren't allowed to fly at night in Kenya).

Plus there was confusion over which airstrip at Gatab, upper or lower. The people meeting us at Gatab somehow didn't get the word we'd be using the lower airstrip. So we had to wait on them for about an hour while they organized transport for the patient to the lower airstrip, and so on and so on.

Up shot? I stayed in Wamba last night. The Catholic mission there was very very hospitable, and the guest house the nicest I've stayed in. Wamba was great! Many thanks to the people there at Wamba . Also, the man from Gatab got his surgery, probably saving his life.

I sweated over details. God had it all under control and everything worked out fine.

The GPS is possibly the most important piece of kit in the airplane. Certainly it's the piece of gear most simplifies the flight.













We had some visitors at Gatab while we were waiting for the truck to come with my passenger, and the patient for the Wamba hospital, and to pick up the 2 people I'd brought to Gatab.











Unloading the patient at Wamba. I removed the middle and rear seats on one side of the plane so he could lay down, and then rigged a safety harness for him using the cargo tie downs on the floor. Not very comfortable, but given his injuries better than trying to sit in a seat.