I should have had the camera....flying to Nairobi the other day on the scheduled flight I had 4 people...and 2 goats. You know you're a missionary pilot when you start loading goats in the airplane. We stuffed them in gunney sacks and tied them up and then stuffed them in the baggage pod of the airplane. As Manai (the station foreman) quipped, "Jina lake ni 'lunch.'" Their name is lunch. They made it to Nairobi and the guys at the hangar promptly took them in hand for the next day's lunch.
We've also started building a fence around the runway here at Gatab. We're building it out of ano, a local plant that you take cuttings of and plant in a ditch. Lately there've been more and more animals and people on the airstrip, and the houses are getting closer and closer to the airstrip. Time to push back before there's an accident. The options were to either do a wire fence, or the ano fence. The wire fence would be very expensive, something like $2000 for the materials alone, and it would be likely to have sections stolen. The ano fence is much cheaper, (ano is free, we're just paying for labor), but it's not quite as goat and cow resistant as the wire. Still, it should work . Step one was going around the airfield with the assistant chief, one of the village elders, Pastor Job, Jeff Heidorn (the station manager) and Manai and laying out where the fence would go so that everyone was in agreement. Easily done. Now as we build the fence we're constantly having to explain to the people who live nearby what and why we're doing. It's going to take a while before they get the idea I'm serious....every day someone complains about restricting the path the cows take. Send the cows around.
Nairobi next week...inspection time for the airplane.
28 June 2008
23 June 2008
Back to work
Well, it's been back to work, back in the air. We've had the airplane back in Gatab for about 10 days now...and yes, I've been busy flying hither and yon. It's not been frantic, as it sometimes has been, but it's been good.
Two days after I got back with the airplane, I was at station devotions (every morning at 7:30, about 15 minutes worth for the Haven Home kids and the station workers)... Alex comes running into the church, tugs on my sleeve and whispers, "They need you in Loiyangalani, a policeman's been shot." I was in the air less than ten minutes later, and landed at Loi by 0750. Not to blow my own horn, but I'm pretty pleased with my response time.
The policeman was there as part of the security detail for the German ambassador, come with a bunch of other ambassadors to Loiyangalani to promote tourism. The officer was getting out of a truck when he managed to fire his rifle, which had been set to burst instead of safe. So, an accidental discharge...three rounds fired, which managed to put holes in both legs. He was lucky not to have hit the bones. So...I flew him and another officer to Wamba, arriving there about 9:45 in the morning. The officer was in surgery until 7pm that night. Pretty serious wounds. But the latest word is that the officer will recover just fine.
I was in Loi yesterday, (spent Saturday night there after taking the Teasdales back) and after church on Sunday had a chance to speak with the OCS at Loiyangalani (the police chief for the town). He was very grateful for the help AIM Air provided. I'm glad I was there to provide the help.
The British army has been in the area the last 2 weeks too. A medical support unit has been doing training pre-deployment to the mid-east. So they've been trooping about the desert here doing general health clinics, and dental clinics. Great folks in the unit. I flew the dental team to Gatab for a 2 day clinic, and then back to Loi. The Brits have some really excellent troops, and these folks are among the best.
As side note...it was great fun to be around the military again. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed the military, but it felt right to be around such folks again. Not that I plan to rejoin, but it was a good refresher.
Sunday was another flight to Wamba to take an old man from Loi to the hospital at Wamba. Today was no flying, tomorrow is Olturot, and Wednesday is Nairobi.
Back to work. A good thing, that.
Two days after I got back with the airplane, I was at station devotions (every morning at 7:30, about 15 minutes worth for the Haven Home kids and the station workers)... Alex comes running into the church, tugs on my sleeve and whispers, "They need you in Loiyangalani, a policeman's been shot." I was in the air less than ten minutes later, and landed at Loi by 0750. Not to blow my own horn, but I'm pretty pleased with my response time.
The policeman was there as part of the security detail for the German ambassador, come with a bunch of other ambassadors to Loiyangalani to promote tourism. The officer was getting out of a truck when he managed to fire his rifle, which had been set to burst instead of safe. So, an accidental discharge...three rounds fired, which managed to put holes in both legs. He was lucky not to have hit the bones. So...I flew him and another officer to Wamba, arriving there about 9:45 in the morning. The officer was in surgery until 7pm that night. Pretty serious wounds. But the latest word is that the officer will recover just fine.
I was in Loi yesterday, (spent Saturday night there after taking the Teasdales back) and after church on Sunday had a chance to speak with the OCS at Loiyangalani (the police chief for the town). He was very grateful for the help AIM Air provided. I'm glad I was there to provide the help.
The British army has been in the area the last 2 weeks too. A medical support unit has been doing training pre-deployment to the mid-east. So they've been trooping about the desert here doing general health clinics, and dental clinics. Great folks in the unit. I flew the dental team to Gatab for a 2 day clinic, and then back to Loi. The Brits have some really excellent troops, and these folks are among the best.
As side note...it was great fun to be around the military again. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed the military, but it felt right to be around such folks again. Not that I plan to rejoin, but it was a good refresher.
Sunday was another flight to Wamba to take an old man from Loi to the hospital at Wamba. Today was no flying, tomorrow is Olturot, and Wednesday is Nairobi.
Back to work. A good thing, that.
10 June 2008
A quiet week
It's amazing how much less hectic things are when the airplane isn't available. We drove up last week (1st and 2nd of June) with the Teasdales, as far as Kurungu, then they split off to go to Loiyangalani. The airplane is still in Nairobi. Anyway, no airplane = no flying, and it's amazing how quiet the place is. I was able to get some good work done, though, catching up on paper work and airstrip development. I was also able to recover about 50 meters of the Luai airstrip, hacking back thorn trees from it. So, a profitable week.
I flew down to Nairobi yesterday in the Caravan, and will fly back up to Gatab in the206 on Thursday. I expect I'll be swarmed by people as soon as I get back with the airplane. Ah well. It was a good break.
I flew down to Nairobi yesterday in the Caravan, and will fly back up to Gatab in the206 on Thursday. I expect I'll be swarmed by people as soon as I get back with the airplane. Ah well. It was a good break.
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