From the logbook...Slip and Slide

With all the rain we have had lately it made a precarious situation even worse...landing and taking off. I had almost 4 hours of flight time today, and 10 landings, all of which were made to short, slippery, and muddy airstrips. There is skill and technique involved in bringing an airplane into these places, but after you hit your landing spot, it is basically just a battle to keep the brakes on and keep the airplane straight. I guess you could think of it as jungle ice.


Here in Acado I sent mud flying everywhere upon touchdown. This is one of our worse airstrips that we serve on a dry day, and it was made very sporty with all the rain we have had. There was still about an inch of standing water everywhere. I brought in a load of food to a North American work team that has been waiting since Wednesday for their groceries. It's a good thing they didn't pay for next day air.


After landing in Quiwado all the mud from my previous landing was basically washed off after all the water I went through as I landed and brought the airplane to a stop. Water was going everywhere, even up through the door "seals."

Once I had finished up my day and was just walking out the door, we received an emergency call to pick up an 11 month old baby with severe pneumonia. I am on call this weekend, so I could have done it today, or waited until the morning. I am glad I went today. The baby was extremely sick. So sick in fact I am surprised it made the 25 minute flight back to Shell. Hopefully it will be taken care of in the hospital, and in a few more days we will be taking him and mom back home. Finally, just before sunset, I made my last landing. It was a complete day indeed.