Man, what a crazy past few days! I was flying a lot earlier this week, but on Wednesday, I had to be the flight coordinator, which means dispatching all the airplanes with their appropriate loads and people, with the right amount of gas, and with flight plans, ect. It also means taking radio calls from the jungle in case emergencies come up, dealing with new passengers and cargo as they come in, and generally just being around the hangar being available to help anybody for anything. It had me tired. Flying is a lot easier than coordinating.
Yesterday, I was on the flight schedule again. I had to wait until about 11am until rain in my sector of the jungle had lightened a little bit. Finally I was off again for Makuma taking some more missionaries that live their home as well as their cargo. I also had some FM radio equipment. We are in the process of a massive jungle radio upgrade, which means we are putting numerous radios into villages throughout the jungle. I did find the book I mentioned earlier called "Mission to the headhunters." I will let you know how it goes. Yesterday in Makuma, I did recieve some interesting "cargo" to bring back to Shell. I was handed a mustard jar full of urine, so that I could take it to the hospital when I got back and have it tested. It is from one of the Shuar bible translators who is in Makuma right now, who has turned very sick lately. When I got back to Shell, I had the test done at the hospital, and everything came back ok. This doesn't mean the fellow isn't sick, it just means that he has something else than previously thought. I used our old HF radio system to relay the test results back out to the jungle once I got the tests done.
Before I could start helping with testing urine, I still had another stop. From Makuma I made the 8 minute flight to a village called Copataza. By far it is the shortest strip I have been turned loose into as of yet. It has about 380 meters of usable landing length, which made for a fun approach. I wish I had a video of it. On final approach you are flying over the Pastaza River, and actually descend below the cliffs on the north side. Suddenly, you are over the river, below the cliffs, and the airstrip appears like an aircraft carrier and you either stick it on right there, or you pour on the coals and give er' another try if things aren't looking right. I went into Copataza to pick up a Compassion International team of 3 that had been there since Monday.
Last night we had a guest over for dinner. He is a volunteer from England. He seemed like a fun guy, and VERY intelligent. Afterwards, Becca took him "home" on her way to bible study. I thought I would blog a bit this morning before heading off to work. I don't know what we have planned today as far as flying goes, but I will know soon enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment