Growing up I always remember my mom saying weird words. I knew she was just inventing ideas and sicknesses just to get me to do something. At one time I thought she had invented the word "kooth" (sp?). She said I didn't have any, which didn't bother me, because with a word that stupid who would want some anyway.
The other was a medical invention on her part, or so I thought. She was always talking about impetigo. Supposedly, I was destined to get it if I didn't clean up my act, or take more showers etc. Well mom...Guess what I went to the doctor for today? Yep, I now have impetigo. It broke out a little on my chin and lower leg. It should be cleared up in a few days with the medicine I have. There are any number of places I could have got it, one of which is the people that I fly as passengers everyday, but I'll probably never know. Anyway, I just wonder what other words I am going to realize are real that my mom used to tell me as I grow older.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
The blues
Yesterday afternoon the clouds cleared and the sun came out really strong. What that left us were some beautiful views of the Andes. They are always so stunning to behold. They are so HUGE and the way they just drop into the Amazon Basin covering themselves with jungle is gorgeous. They are quite a bit different from a Pine or Aspen tree forest in the Rocky Mountains, but beautiful none the less.
These are just the foothills visible from our hangar. They looked so awesome with the clouds just wisping through them. You could sit there and just watch God's handiwork and how the wind was blowing the clouds into different shapes and directions.
Here is Sangay Volcano to the south. Sangay, Tungurahua, and Reventador Volcanoes are all very active right now. Sangay and Tungurahua are within a 30 mile radius of my house. Reventador is north about 50 miles. You can see the wind is out of the south in the picture above, blowing the small ash cloud our way towards the north in Shell.
I often post things about mountains, bugs, animals etc. I am facinated with nature. If you just stop for those small moments everyday, and observe what is around you, you cannot help but be in awe of what God created and continues to create. Everything from clouds, weather, waterfalls, etc is so awesome. God's creation is so dynamic. Even the apostle Paul talks of the power of God's creation in Romans. (1:18-20)
These are just the foothills visible from our hangar. They looked so awesome with the clouds just wisping through them. You could sit there and just watch God's handiwork and how the wind was blowing the clouds into different shapes and directions.
Here is Sangay Volcano to the south. Sangay, Tungurahua, and Reventador Volcanoes are all very active right now. Sangay and Tungurahua are within a 30 mile radius of my house. Reventador is north about 50 miles. You can see the wind is out of the south in the picture above, blowing the small ash cloud our way towards the north in Shell.
I often post things about mountains, bugs, animals etc. I am facinated with nature. If you just stop for those small moments everyday, and observe what is around you, you cannot help but be in awe of what God created and continues to create. Everything from clouds, weather, waterfalls, etc is so awesome. God's creation is so dynamic. Even the apostle Paul talks of the power of God's creation in Romans. (1:18-20)
Sunday, March 25, 2007
The root of all evil
I found a neat image in Wikepedia about corruption levels in the world. Click on the image below to see where Ecuador falls. Kind of interesting...
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Transitions
When we joined MAF several years ago they made it a point to prepare us for our future life overseas in more ways than just flight training. One of the seminars we had was all the transition in staff that we will see in our time in the mission field. We have almost lived in Ecuador for a year and this is definitely true. In a lot of ways, staff turnover in a mission might be the same as a secular stateside job. People come and people go. But I guess there is something different about it when you work side by side someone achieving a common goal and know their lives, their kids, their habits (good and bad), you have sweat and in some cases bled with them. It doesn't help that they usually leave the field of service and move back to the USA and reside in their home state thousands of miles away. You can't just sit down over lunch and catch up.
In our time here in Ecuador we have had 4 families leave our program for various reasons. In my opinion they all seemed good, and I think I would have done the same thing if I were in their shoes. Most recently, our chief mechanic and his family packed up and went stateside. We had the privilege of having them over for dinner one last time before they left yesterday. Perhaps we will see them again in the States, but for sure when we all cross over to the other side of eternity. This is probably one of the hardest things about being a missionary. Getting to know people, both national and expatriate, and knowing that a day might come, probably unexpectedly, in which either of you needs to leave for various reasons. I count it a privilege to work so intimately with some of the greatest people in the world, and to be able to share in their lives and work, if even for a short time. It is worth it.
In our time here in Ecuador we have had 4 families leave our program for various reasons. In my opinion they all seemed good, and I think I would have done the same thing if I were in their shoes. Most recently, our chief mechanic and his family packed up and went stateside. We had the privilege of having them over for dinner one last time before they left yesterday. Perhaps we will see them again in the States, but for sure when we all cross over to the other side of eternity. This is probably one of the hardest things about being a missionary. Getting to know people, both national and expatriate, and knowing that a day might come, probably unexpectedly, in which either of you needs to leave for various reasons. I count it a privilege to work so intimately with some of the greatest people in the world, and to be able to share in their lives and work, if even for a short time. It is worth it.
From the logbook...Monkey business
I only had one flight today. After waiting half of the day for the weather to get better, I was finally on my way after lunch. My flight was only taking a visiting group of New Yorkers (I told you I haul interesting cargo!) into the village of Tiweano (TIW) for a quick visit/tour. All together, the NY group was 10 people, so we used 2 airplanes, Steve was the other pilot. These type of flights are usually pretty fun. I always see and learn something myself that I didn't know before.
Here is a top down view after I took off from TIW. Steve was airborne himself about 30 seconds later in Alas 12.
I have had my share of monkeys to see this week, each one different. It is fun seeing God's creation in it's natural setting. Sometimes you truely do feel like you are at the zoo.
This guy was just swinging through the trees as we were walking back to the airplanes to leave. Notice those huge cupped hands for swinging. He could sure swing from tree to tree. Tarzan would have had a run for his money today. He was the biggest monkey I have ever seen in the wild. He was probably as big as your average 5-6 year old child (not including his arms).
Here is a top down view after I took off from TIW. Steve was airborne himself about 30 seconds later in Alas 12.
I have had my share of monkeys to see this week, each one different. It is fun seeing God's creation in it's natural setting. Sometimes you truely do feel like you are at the zoo.
This guy was just swinging through the trees as we were walking back to the airplanes to leave. Notice those huge cupped hands for swinging. He could sure swing from tree to tree. Tarzan would have had a run for his money today. He was the biggest monkey I have ever seen in the wild. He was probably as big as your average 5-6 year old child (not including his arms).
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
From the logbook...stranded
In the flight plan today I had two long flights to get done...but you never know what a day may bring.
En-route to my first stop of Mashient (MSH) flying Alas 14, I began to feel an erratic thumping from my engine. I was almost to my destination, and everything seemed fine from the gauges, so I just kept going. After I landed in MSH, I tested some things with the engine still running before shutting down. Sure enough, I had problems with my left magneto. After unloading my over 900 pounds of sheet metal roofing (WEAR gloves!) and concrete, I took the cowling off and tried to figure out what was giving me problems.
Some may remember the problems we had with Alas 14 in out ferry flight from the USA. Long story short, it was the same problem today. So, after diagnosing that the problem I had could not be fixed with my simple tool kit, I was destined to wait in MSH until parts could be brought to me. The part I needed was a magneto harness. This is the thing that has all the wires that send the spark to the spark plugs. At about 3 in the afternoon, (6 hours after I got there) my boss Dan landed and helped me put the harness on, and sure enough after start up the problem was gone.
I was soon on my way back to Shell after a quick stop to pick up a passenger in Copataza. I didn't have enough daylight left to get my other stops or flights done. I guess that is why God invented tomorrow.
As with most big white pilot guys that have to spend unplanned time in a jungle community, you quickly develop a following. The people of MSH, including the adults, are great. I was shown around the whole community, and even sat in for about 30 minutes on a highly competitive game of high school soccer. For having to get stuck in the jungle with maintenance problems, I really had a great time. The weather was great (I am sunburned now), the people very welcoming, and the parts fixed my problem. Most important, I had my lunch with me. An older pilot told me once; "never get separated from your lunch!"
Here is Dan taking off after helping me get things up and running again.
It's always interesting the pets people pull out when I'm in their communities...literally. This monkey is the pet of the teacher in MSH, and he literally hangs out inside her shirt. He didn't like me too much.
En-route to my first stop of Mashient (MSH) flying Alas 14, I began to feel an erratic thumping from my engine. I was almost to my destination, and everything seemed fine from the gauges, so I just kept going. After I landed in MSH, I tested some things with the engine still running before shutting down. Sure enough, I had problems with my left magneto. After unloading my over 900 pounds of sheet metal roofing (WEAR gloves!) and concrete, I took the cowling off and tried to figure out what was giving me problems.
Some may remember the problems we had with Alas 14 in out ferry flight from the USA. Long story short, it was the same problem today. So, after diagnosing that the problem I had could not be fixed with my simple tool kit, I was destined to wait in MSH until parts could be brought to me. The part I needed was a magneto harness. This is the thing that has all the wires that send the spark to the spark plugs. At about 3 in the afternoon, (6 hours after I got there) my boss Dan landed and helped me put the harness on, and sure enough after start up the problem was gone.
I was soon on my way back to Shell after a quick stop to pick up a passenger in Copataza. I didn't have enough daylight left to get my other stops or flights done. I guess that is why God invented tomorrow.
As with most big white pilot guys that have to spend unplanned time in a jungle community, you quickly develop a following. The people of MSH, including the adults, are great. I was shown around the whole community, and even sat in for about 30 minutes on a highly competitive game of high school soccer. For having to get stuck in the jungle with maintenance problems, I really had a great time. The weather was great (I am sunburned now), the people very welcoming, and the parts fixed my problem. Most important, I had my lunch with me. An older pilot told me once; "never get separated from your lunch!"
Here is Dan taking off after helping me get things up and running again. 
It's always interesting the pets people pull out when I'm in their communities...literally. This monkey is the pet of the teacher in MSH, and he literally hangs out inside her shirt. He didn't like me too much.
"The throat of fire"
Tungurahua Volcano has been at it again. In the Quichua language Tungurahua means throat of fire. When we woke up this morning, it was clear without much wind. After I got to work, I took a picture real quick of the ash plume raising before the clouds came in and covered it up, which they did about 20 minutes later. You still cannot see the actual volcano from Shell, just the ash plumes it sends up. 
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Little house in the jungle
A while back I talked of how I built Brooklyn a playhouse from our old shipping crates. I was done mostly with my part, and Becca wanted to add a little bit to it, to help make it "homey." We are finally done with it. It is no masterpiece by any means, but Brooklyn likes having it. All told I think I have spent less than $10 putting it together and making it "nice."
Friday, March 16, 2007
Dad...Look what mommy caught!!!
When I came home tonight, Becca was excited (and proud) of what she caught in the house today. Supposedly our dog Maya was chasing this lizard and it found the nearest escape, which was under our door and into the house. Good catch Becca! This particular species of lizard is VERY fast and they can jump a few feet. How she caught it I don't know. I have seen many of these and I haven't been able to get my hands on one. Guess you have to leave some things for the wife to get done.
From the logbook...
I always say this, but we were really busy today flying. Here are some of the things I did...
This is a pic of some of the villagers that came and hung out with me in QNO while a waited for the weather to clear up 50 miles away in Shell. We sure weren't worried about the weather or the rain in QNO. It was HOT!!!
- My first leg I flew a Compassion International team of 4 and their cargo into a village called Chinkianentza.
- Then I went and picked up 2 guys with HCJB World Radio that are working on some water projects in the jungle. I moved them from Taisha to Makuma
- In Makuma I loaded up a dead woman and 3 of her family members and flew them 10 minutes away to Ayuy. The customs they have of mourning the dead are very interesting. I wish I could think of a respectful way to record it and show everyone, but I can't think of it. I guess I'll just keep it saved in my mental hard drive.
- From Ayuy, I flew back to Shell and loaded up my next flight. I ate my lunch en-route. Best cafe I know of, and it always has a great view.
- I took 2 Compassion International workers to the village of Quewadiono (QWE). They took a ton of stuff. My airplane was literally full to the ceiling with their things.
- After landing and unloading in QWE, I flew 10 minutes to Damointaro to pick up another Compassion worker and I took him to QWE as well.
- I had some medicine on board as well for a patient in Quenahueno (QNO). From QWE I flew to QNO and dropped off the medicine. I had hoped to simply hand the medicine out the window and be on my way back to Shell, but I learned after landing in QNO that Shell was shut down with heavy rain. After waiting a while in QNO, things cleared up in Shell and I was back on my way.
- After 10 landings, over 4 hours of flying, and hauling everything from concrete, dead people, living people, dogs, chickens, backpacks, clothes, medicine, mail, money, food, propane, gasoline, foam pads, school materials, a stereo, 100's of lemons, a broken radio, and some fresh bread I am thankfully home. All in a day's work. Looks like it will be the same tomorrow.
- A missionary living in the jungle once told me that for every minute we fly, it would have taken him an hour on the ground hiking. Therefore, I flew roughly 252 minutes today. With more figuring, the same goods and services I flew today would have taken 21 days to accomplish, hiking 12 hours a day. That is impressive, and a good reminder of why we are here doing what we are doing. Praise God for this opportunity to serve, and thanks to all of you who support us in your prayers and with your pocketbooks. Together we are making an eternal difference.
This is a pic of some of the villagers that came and hung out with me in QNO while a waited for the weather to clear up 50 miles away in Shell. We sure weren't worried about the weather or the rain in QNO. It was HOT!!!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Another blogger
Just wanted everyone to know that Becca started her own blog. You can all go there and read why. For those of you who enjoy reading a well written article, then that is the place to go. I can be a good writer if I take my time, but I usually take 5-10 minutes and whatever comes out great. I don't have any college profs grading my writing, although we have some in our reading audience that occasionally give me a hard time as though they were grammar teachers. I don't need no stinkin' gramer and speling.
Click here for Becca's new blog.
Click here for Becca's new blog.
From the logbook...Maintenance
This morning I had one flight to get done. It only had 5 stops on it, although it took me about an hour from Shell at it's farthest point. I was mostly taking returning patients to their homes, and bringing a few folks out. It was pretty non-eventful, which was nice.
Later in the afternoon I was asked to do another flight. I quickly prepared the airplane and myself, and I was quickly on my way. But I didn't make it to far. I noticed in my taxi to the runway that my starter was still on. I quickly taxied back to the hangar and shut everything down. By the time I had the motor off, it was too late. The starter was fried, and smelled like it too. So, I canceled my flight until tomorrow, and put a new starter on the engine. I thought the reason my starter never went off was because the ignition key stayed in the start position, instead of returning to the run position. We have had problems with this ignition switch ever since I flew Alas 14 down from the States. So, I threw on a new ignition switch for good measure also.
It was a good thing things didn't work out to go flying anyway. While I was in the middle of fixing things, it started to rain. And when I say rain, I mean POURRRR!!! It was the hardest rain I have ever seen in my whole life. That is saying a lot after living in the tropics the past few years where rain can get really serious. After things settled down a bit, people were discovering that parts of their roofs were missing, trees were blown down, etc. It really rained hard. I probably wouldn't have made it home had I gone flying. So, I just chalk up another one to Providence, and gave God thanks that all things work out to the good of those who love Him.
Later in the afternoon I was asked to do another flight. I quickly prepared the airplane and myself, and I was quickly on my way. But I didn't make it to far. I noticed in my taxi to the runway that my starter was still on. I quickly taxied back to the hangar and shut everything down. By the time I had the motor off, it was too late. The starter was fried, and smelled like it too. So, I canceled my flight until tomorrow, and put a new starter on the engine. I thought the reason my starter never went off was because the ignition key stayed in the start position, instead of returning to the run position. We have had problems with this ignition switch ever since I flew Alas 14 down from the States. So, I threw on a new ignition switch for good measure also.
It was a good thing things didn't work out to go flying anyway. While I was in the middle of fixing things, it started to rain. And when I say rain, I mean POURRRR!!! It was the hardest rain I have ever seen in my whole life. That is saying a lot after living in the tropics the past few years where rain can get really serious. After things settled down a bit, people were discovering that parts of their roofs were missing, trees were blown down, etc. It really rained hard. I probably wouldn't have made it home had I gone flying. So, I just chalk up another one to Providence, and gave God thanks that all things work out to the good of those who love Him.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
An unexpected day...
When I got to the hangar today, Steve and I were looking at our flight schedule and determined that maybe I could take the day off due to a "light" number of flights. Usually when you are on call like I was this past weekend you take off Friday for sure, and then the following Monday if you ended up flying on Sunday. Well, due to the large amount of flight to get done last Friday, and the fact that it is just me and Steve as pilots at the time being, I couldn't take Friday off. So, without much convincing I ended up coming back home today with the whole day ahead of us to do something fun!
Becca and I hadn't had a good day to just goof off and just see where the day takes us for a while. After we ran a few errands, we jumped in the Bronco and headed for the mountains. Becca doesn't usually know what she is in for when she gets in the car with me on my "let the car take you where it wants to" expeditions. We ended up covering a lot of country today, and seeing some awesome things. We only had to put the Bronco into 4 wheel drive once. We didn't see much pavement, and we saw a lot of country roads, Ecuadorian style.
I have been eyeing a bunch of side roads on the road to Quito for some time. Today was our chance to start taking some of those that started about an hours drive from our house. We saw some of the most stunning scenery and people that we have encountered thus far living here in Ecuador. We got to drive across a few streams, a few bridges the width of my Bronco, and even stopped once and got our feet wet.
I was able to get some more ideas for some great photo locales for some great shots of volcanoes when the weather is good. We even gave one woman and her two girls a ride up one of the mountains as the girls were getting out of school. It was the steepest road I have even driven on, and these girls walk it to and from school everyday. The mom told us that it is 1 hour to school, and 2 hours home walking uphill. Needless to say they were skinny. There is a reason America is fat and unhealthy, and it is because we don't walk anywhere anymore. That is the one thing that continues to amaze me living overseas. We have two legs, and the people I live around actually use them to walk from point A to B. Novel concept!
The fun thing about exporing like this, is that it just continues to open up your curiousity. So, rather that be satisfied now that I know where all these road lead, and to what, I have seen even more roads and pueblos that I want to explore and drive to. Good thing I have this coming weekend off too. Maybe another spur of the moment road trip will be in order.
Here are a few shots from today's wanderings....a great day off work indeed...
Mommy took a picture of Brooklyn and me as we were goofing off in one of the mountain streams. It was some pretty cold water, and Brooklyn wasn't to thrilled about getting n too deep.
This is the road that we gave the mom and her two girls a ride up. Pictures always do a bad job of showing steepness, but we were in STEEP country! Although it was in the clouds, Tungurahua volcano is also directly in the center of this pic. Hopefully one evening I will go back up on a clear night and get some cool lava shots. Once again, the volcano is getting very active, with large plumes of smoke and ash burping out. Although this latest stint of activity hasn't produced any lava flows, they could begin again without warning.
Becca and I hadn't had a good day to just goof off and just see where the day takes us for a while. After we ran a few errands, we jumped in the Bronco and headed for the mountains. Becca doesn't usually know what she is in for when she gets in the car with me on my "let the car take you where it wants to" expeditions. We ended up covering a lot of country today, and seeing some awesome things. We only had to put the Bronco into 4 wheel drive once. We didn't see much pavement, and we saw a lot of country roads, Ecuadorian style.
I have been eyeing a bunch of side roads on the road to Quito for some time. Today was our chance to start taking some of those that started about an hours drive from our house. We saw some of the most stunning scenery and people that we have encountered thus far living here in Ecuador. We got to drive across a few streams, a few bridges the width of my Bronco, and even stopped once and got our feet wet.
I was able to get some more ideas for some great photo locales for some great shots of volcanoes when the weather is good. We even gave one woman and her two girls a ride up one of the mountains as the girls were getting out of school. It was the steepest road I have even driven on, and these girls walk it to and from school everyday. The mom told us that it is 1 hour to school, and 2 hours home walking uphill. Needless to say they were skinny. There is a reason America is fat and unhealthy, and it is because we don't walk anywhere anymore. That is the one thing that continues to amaze me living overseas. We have two legs, and the people I live around actually use them to walk from point A to B. Novel concept!
The fun thing about exporing like this, is that it just continues to open up your curiousity. So, rather that be satisfied now that I know where all these road lead, and to what, I have seen even more roads and pueblos that I want to explore and drive to. Good thing I have this coming weekend off too. Maybe another spur of the moment road trip will be in order.
Here are a few shots from today's wanderings....a great day off work indeed...
Mommy took a picture of Brooklyn and me as we were goofing off in one of the mountain streams. It was some pretty cold water, and Brooklyn wasn't to thrilled about getting n too deep.
This is the road that we gave the mom and her two girls a ride up. Pictures always do a bad job of showing steepness, but we were in STEEP country! Although it was in the clouds, Tungurahua volcano is also directly in the center of this pic. Hopefully one evening I will go back up on a clear night and get some cool lava shots. Once again, the volcano is getting very active, with large plumes of smoke and ash burping out. Although this latest stint of activity hasn't produced any lava flows, they could begin again without warning.
Monday, March 12, 2007
The legacy lives on...
Yesterday as planned I had a lot of flying to do. Most of my flying had to do with bringing an American work team out of Makuma. It took me three flights to get them and all their gear out. They were in Makuma since last Tuesday putting a roof on the village church. It sounds like they all had a great time, and they all got sunburned. My loads going into the jungle entailed returning patients to their villages, and also hauling two full 55 gallon barrels of fuel on my last flight. As anticipated, I was pooped when I got home.
Below you will see the newest airplane in Shell. As with most communities in Latin America, everything in the town is centered around a town plaza, or square. Shell is no different, and ever since we got here last year they have been sprucing up the plaza, and really making it nice. The centerpiece for the plaza just arrived this past week. It represents the two things that have developed the province of Pastaza and made it known, perhaps around the world. The two things are oil and aviation. It was pretty neat when the truck pulled into town with the little yellow Piper Cruiser replica on it's flatbed. It is a 1:1 scale model of the airplane that Nate Saint was flying when he served here. Surprisingly, many locals do not know the history of the little yellow airplane, but word is spreading fast. They even equipped the airplane with functioning nav lights and strobe lights on the wingtips. It's pretty cool.
I mentioned earlier that I was to lead worship today. I didn't have any emergency flying to do today, so thankfully I was able to make church, and help out. It was my first time leading worship on this scale since we left Costa Rica almost a year ago. It was also my first time leading in Spanish. It went pretty well, although the English wanted to come out a few times. I had a great time leading worship again, and I'm sure I will be helping more in the future.
Below you will see the newest airplane in Shell. As with most communities in Latin America, everything in the town is centered around a town plaza, or square. Shell is no different, and ever since we got here last year they have been sprucing up the plaza, and really making it nice. The centerpiece for the plaza just arrived this past week. It represents the two things that have developed the province of Pastaza and made it known, perhaps around the world. The two things are oil and aviation. It was pretty neat when the truck pulled into town with the little yellow Piper Cruiser replica on it's flatbed. It is a 1:1 scale model of the airplane that Nate Saint was flying when he served here. Surprisingly, many locals do not know the history of the little yellow airplane, but word is spreading fast. They even equipped the airplane with functioning nav lights and strobe lights on the wingtips. It's pretty cool.
I mentioned earlier that I was to lead worship today. I didn't have any emergency flying to do today, so thankfully I was able to make church, and help out. It was my first time leading worship on this scale since we left Costa Rica almost a year ago. It was also my first time leading in Spanish. It went pretty well, although the English wanted to come out a few times. I had a great time leading worship again, and I'm sure I will be helping more in the future.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Life in the fast lane
These past few days, the whole week in fact, seem like a blur. The past two nights we have had guests over for dinner. Since Wednesday, we have been only 2 pilots at work, myself included. Two of our pilots are in Costa Rica at some MAF regional meetings. Yesterday, we were rained out ALL day, as well as Monday. Therefore, today we had a lot to get done between Steve and I. We didn't get it all done, but the most important flights were done. I am also on call this weekend. Usually when you are on call you show up at the hangar on Saturday morning and see if there are any flights to do. I already know I have at least 3 flights for tomorrow, perhaps more if we get our usual emergency calls. Then, tomorrow evening I have worship practice at church. I am leading worship at church this Sunday. Hopefully I won't have any emergencies Sunday morning to go fly and pick up, or I will have to miss church, and I don't know what will happen. I do know life will go on. Amidst all the craziness lately, we are taking it easy tonight. Brooklyn is watching one of her new Barbie movies, which she loves. I will probably try to watch with her, but I might have to use it as an excuse to fall asleep early.
This morning I caught a good sunrise when I woke up. Living on the equator we don't see many "good" sunrises or sunsets. The sun comes right up, and goes right down. It isn't like in the lower or higher latitudes where the light lingers for "X" amount of minutes before the sunrise or sunset. But this morning with the way the clouds were, it looked pretty neat. The antenna in the middle of the picture is from our other pilot Chad's house. We actually share internet with his family, and the square thing on the antenna beams our signals back and forth.
This morning I caught a good sunrise when I woke up. Living on the equator we don't see many "good" sunrises or sunsets. The sun comes right up, and goes right down. It isn't like in the lower or higher latitudes where the light lingers for "X" amount of minutes before the sunrise or sunset. But this morning with the way the clouds were, it looked pretty neat. The antenna in the middle of the picture is from our other pilot Chad's house. We actually share internet with his family, and the square thing on the antenna beams our signals back and forth.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
From the logbook...first experiences
When you begin to fly on whatever kind of level, personal, military, airline, bush, etc, you begin to hear of certain encounters or experiences that you know some day will be yours as well. These can be good things, and bad things. This week, I have had the "opportunity" to cut out a few more notches on my experience tree.
The first one happened as I was leaving the hangar in Shell. You have all no dought seen the funny looking pod on the belly of our airplanes. We use these to carry a lot of different things. On our pre-engine start checklist, one of the items requires that that the pod door is closed. Well, you guessed it, I begin to taxi away for takeoff with my pod door open. Luckily I was stopped before I did anything real stupid like trying to go flying with it open. Leaving the pod door open is maybe the equivalent to leaving your zipper down. It's not the end of the world, but it sure is embarrassing.
My second experience that I can now "chalk up," has to do with the pictures below. While not a common problem to the ordinary pilot, ALL of our pilots have been stuck at one point or another. This is usually due to mud, lots of grass, whatever. My case was a little different today.
I was turning around preparing for takeoff when all of a sudden my left main landing gear sunk into the dirt big time, and I immediately shut everything down including the engine. After my passengers and I climbed out, we began to dig out my wheel and try and figure out why a seemingly smooth surface would suddenly swallow my wheel. It turns out that the end of the airstrip that I was using for takeoff is new, that's to say less than two years old. When we were digging, we found bits of burned tree stump, indicating the presence of a tree in that exact spot. The stump was covered over, and over time rotted, leaving a void in the earth, which I happened to taxi over today, and sink into. Praise the Lord it wasn't my nose wheel that went into that hole. I still might be in the jungle if that happened. That propeller likely would have contacted the ground, which opens up a whole new can of worms. Needless to say, after a little digging, my passengers helping by pushing the airplane, and myself inside giving it full throttle, we were out of the hole 5 minutes later and shortly thereafter airborne.
This is at another airstrip that I went to to bring out a patient. I was about 5 minute flight from the Peruvian border at this strip called Wachirpas. I just always think it is neat to see what the villagers use as pets.
The first one happened as I was leaving the hangar in Shell. You have all no dought seen the funny looking pod on the belly of our airplanes. We use these to carry a lot of different things. On our pre-engine start checklist, one of the items requires that that the pod door is closed. Well, you guessed it, I begin to taxi away for takeoff with my pod door open. Luckily I was stopped before I did anything real stupid like trying to go flying with it open. Leaving the pod door open is maybe the equivalent to leaving your zipper down. It's not the end of the world, but it sure is embarrassing.
My second experience that I can now "chalk up," has to do with the pictures below. While not a common problem to the ordinary pilot, ALL of our pilots have been stuck at one point or another. This is usually due to mud, lots of grass, whatever. My case was a little different today.
I was turning around preparing for takeoff when all of a sudden my left main landing gear sunk into the dirt big time, and I immediately shut everything down including the engine. After my passengers and I climbed out, we began to dig out my wheel and try and figure out why a seemingly smooth surface would suddenly swallow my wheel. It turns out that the end of the airstrip that I was using for takeoff is new, that's to say less than two years old. When we were digging, we found bits of burned tree stump, indicating the presence of a tree in that exact spot. The stump was covered over, and over time rotted, leaving a void in the earth, which I happened to taxi over today, and sink into. Praise the Lord it wasn't my nose wheel that went into that hole. I still might be in the jungle if that happened. That propeller likely would have contacted the ground, which opens up a whole new can of worms. Needless to say, after a little digging, my passengers helping by pushing the airplane, and myself inside giving it full throttle, we were out of the hole 5 minutes later and shortly thereafter airborne.
This is at another airstrip that I went to to bring out a patient. I was about 5 minute flight from the Peruvian border at this strip called Wachirpas. I just always think it is neat to see what the villagers use as pets.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Las parasitas
I have been having some weird gut problems for about 2 months. When you live in a tropical third world country like us, you expect that eventually the little critters are going to find a way into your digestive system, no matter what lengths you go to in order to prevent it.
The doctors here recommend that every 6 months you take a de-wormer and anti-amoeba medicine, regardless of how you feel. We have lived here 11 months now and we haven't done anything...until now. Yesterday I started on my intestinal Drano medicine, and finished it today at lunch. Time will tell if it is effective, which I am sure it will be. I am just glad that we have medicine for such things. Parasites can really reek havoc in the long term, and can even cause death if not taken seriously. Luckily at my stage, they are more of a discomfort and inconvenience than anything. Hopefully after all this medicine takes effect, they won't be anything but dead and eliminated!
The doctors here recommend that every 6 months you take a de-wormer and anti-amoeba medicine, regardless of how you feel. We have lived here 11 months now and we haven't done anything...until now. Yesterday I started on my intestinal Drano medicine, and finished it today at lunch. Time will tell if it is effective, which I am sure it will be. I am just glad that we have medicine for such things. Parasites can really reek havoc in the long term, and can even cause death if not taken seriously. Luckily at my stage, they are more of a discomfort and inconvenience than anything. Hopefully after all this medicine takes effect, they won't be anything but dead and eliminated!
Playhouse
While my girls were gone in the States, I wanted to build Brooklyn a playhouse to surprise her for when she got back. When we moved down here we used 4 big crates to ship our big things. Since unpacking them, they have just been sitting around waiting for the termites to find them. Rather than wait for that day, I thought I could put something simple together with the wood and make a simple playhouse. I got most of it done while the girls were away, but I ran out of time to complete it. This weekend we went ahead and finished it. We put hinges on the door and shutters, put a roof on it, and painted it. At first it looked pretty awful. Brooklyn thought it was our dog's house when she first saw it. I'll be the first to admit that is isn't a wooden marvel, but it will work for who it's for. And after we got done painting it, it looked so much better. Just like someone told me once, "paint can cover a multitude of sins." We moved a plastic table and chairs inside, and Brooklyn was really happy with it. She even told me thanks for working so hard and making her a house. How cool! 
Here is my little helper painting. She really pitched in, and she helped me paint the whole thing until we were finished. Usually she does something for a while like any 3 year old, and then looses interest. But, she stayed the course with me until it was all done. I think Mommy is going to make it even a little more personal with some other painted pictures and maybe some real flowers. After it is all done we will put a picture of the final result.
Here is my little helper painting. She really pitched in, and she helped me paint the whole thing until we were finished. Usually she does something for a while like any 3 year old, and then looses interest. But, she stayed the course with me until it was all done. I think Mommy is going to make it even a little more personal with some other painted pictures and maybe some real flowers. After it is all done we will put a picture of the final result.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
From the logbook...fish anyone?
VERY early this morning my previous lunch from yesterday came a calling. I was out of commission if you know what I mean for quite a while, and didn't even think I would make it into work today. I did eventually go to work, albeit a little late. When I got there I had two short flights bringing out Compassion International teams, and I was done flying at around 1 pm, or so I thought.
At around 4 pm we got a radio call saying that there was an emergency in a village called San Juan, where a 7 month old boy had eaten a lot of caustic dish soap. So, we pulled the airplane back out, and about 15 minutes later I was airborne. The flight was thankfully a non-event, and a little over an hour later I was back in Shell, and the little boy and his mom were on their way to the hospital.
Steve was the only other pilot flying with me today. He brought back some interesting cargo on his last flight...
This is called a "Bagre" or jungle catfish. They can get huge, even bigger than this one. There are actually two fish on the hand truck. The bigger fish was put on our scales and topped out at 120 pounds. That's a lot of fish! The woman standing next to the fish for scale perception is our secretary Elsa.
At around 4 pm we got a radio call saying that there was an emergency in a village called San Juan, where a 7 month old boy had eaten a lot of caustic dish soap. So, we pulled the airplane back out, and about 15 minutes later I was airborne. The flight was thankfully a non-event, and a little over an hour later I was back in Shell, and the little boy and his mom were on their way to the hospital.
Steve was the only other pilot flying with me today. He brought back some interesting cargo on his last flight...
This is called a "Bagre" or jungle catfish. They can get huge, even bigger than this one. There are actually two fish on the hand truck. The bigger fish was put on our scales and topped out at 120 pounds. That's a lot of fish! The woman standing next to the fish for scale perception is our secretary Elsa.
Friday, March 02, 2007
From the logbook
Today I was once again moving around a lot of Compassion International people throughout the jungle. At my last stop on my first flight, I landed in Copataza around lunch time and had an invite to join one of the villagers for lunch. I always try to accept these kinds of invitations, and today I had no reason why I could not. As I sat down with the village leader to eat lunch his wife soon put a bowl of "soup" in front of me along with a plate full of boiled eggs and jungle potatoes. The soup was good and had some meat in it. After asking what kind of meat it was I deduced that it was none other than the world's largest rodent. Click here for more info. The food was good, and so was the company. Earlier in the week I was in Copataza dropping off a dental team and I was able to get a fun picture of my host in front of our airplane. 
Later in the day I was basically the flying ambulance again. I had a few returning patients to take home, and them I made the rounds and filled up my airplane with patients to take back to Shell. We fought weather most of the day, and finally I landed back in Shell just before the airport closed at sunset.
Here is the view from the cockpit on the way back towards Shell. The Pastaza River is on the right.
Later in the day I was basically the flying ambulance again. I had a few returning patients to take home, and them I made the rounds and filled up my airplane with patients to take back to Shell. We fought weather most of the day, and finally I landed back in Shell just before the airport closed at sunset.
Here is the view from the cockpit on the way back towards Shell. The Pastaza River is on the right.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
New pics
This past weekend when I went to pick up my girls at the airport, of course I goofed off the whole way up to Quito taking pictures and doing some light off road exploring. I ended up at our hangar at the Quito International airport trying to get some fun shots. I did get some neat shots of departing and arriving aircraft from our hangar apron, before security came by and told me I couldn't be there. Oh well, I guess next time...Here are a few that I took on my drive. Be sure to check the web album every once in a while for new "exclusive" photos of more than just airplanes.
An American registered Boeing 747 prepares for takeoff. If you have never seen one of these, regardless of the model, up close and personal, you will never understand it's size, and marvel at the power of aerodynamics that enable thousands of pounds of metal to cheat gravity and soar skyward. I assume this "freight-dog" is carrying roses for export.
Here is the nose of the big boy as he taxied by our ramp. Ginormous!!
Here is another freight-dog coming in for landing. Another impressive aircraft, the MD-11.
An American registered Boeing 747 prepares for takeoff. If you have never seen one of these, regardless of the model, up close and personal, you will never understand it's size, and marvel at the power of aerodynamics that enable thousands of pounds of metal to cheat gravity and soar skyward. I assume this "freight-dog" is carrying roses for export.
Here is the nose of the big boy as he taxied by our ramp. Ginormous!!
Here is another freight-dog coming in for landing. Another impressive aircraft, the MD-11.
From the logbook
I have been at it again flying a lot. I haven't written much because I have been too tired. I can't believe tomorrow is already Thursday, and the first day of March. Today I flew with our instructor pilot Chad to begin my instrument checkout. We have this process to enable our pilots to fly when the weather might be bad. What it enables us to do is safely fly within clouds and be able to navigate to our destination safely and also land the airplane. I have legally had this capability for years in the USA, and from the day I received my license in Ecuador as well. MAF had put a "restriction" on my instrument flying until I flew "X" amount of hours, while learning the weather patterns, terrain, communications in Spanish, etc. I am grateful for this "restriction," because at times the workload has been high enough. Now, I do feel ready to take the next training challenge and begin the checkout to fly in instrument conditions. This process doesn't take as long as the airstrip checkout, of which I am probably %80 done. The remaining %20 of our over 200 airstrips will take some time due to varying factors like location, use, and of course...more experience.
Of my flights today, I pulled many missionaries working in the jungle out so they could attend a conference. Along with these missionaries, I did some more airstrip checkout with Chad, and flew out some critically ill patients totaling 3.5 hours of flight time and 10 landings. The rain and challenges of flying are beginning to return after 4 weeks of dry weather. Good thing I am beginning my instrument checkout!
Of my flights today, I pulled many missionaries working in the jungle out so they could attend a conference. Along with these missionaries, I did some more airstrip checkout with Chad, and flew out some critically ill patients totaling 3.5 hours of flight time and 10 landings. The rain and challenges of flying are beginning to return after 4 weeks of dry weather. Good thing I am beginning my instrument checkout!
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