From the Logbook...Supang

A few weekends ago I was the on call pilot.  Sure enough, I was called to pick up a woman having trouble while in child labor.  Due to the difficult stretch of river that she lived on, she actually took a boat downstream to meet me at another community.  40 minutes after leaving PalangkaRaya, I landed in the village of Supang and docked up next to the boat that transported her.  The above photo is three pictures stitched together.

It never ceases to amaze me how tough interior women are!  When we arrived in PalangkaRaya, the woman walked off of the airplane and into an awaiting car where she was driven to the hospital.  

Wind Sock Replacement

Recently, our windsock was needing replacement.  We currently have it installed in a tall tree, which is about 50+ feet tall.  You can see the battered windsock in the top-middle of the above photo and two of our national staff climbing the tree.

Thankfully we have great Indonesian staff that are not fearful of climbing trees.  We did make sure they used ropes, harnesses, and a third person at the bottom to belay them safely.  When they were all done, the new windsock looked great and did just want it is supposed to do.  

Local Pastors Gathering

Recently, we invited a large group of local pastors from nearby churches to our river location for a time of fellowship and lunch.  It seemed like a good turnout of about 60+ pastors and I got the impression they were honored to be invited to our location and learn a little more about MAF.

From the Logbook...An MAF Passenger

A few weeks back, I had the privilege of bringing MAF pilot Dave Forney along with me for a full day of flying.  He was visiting us in PalangkaRaya for a few days, since he serves at our other base in Borneo called Tarakan.  He is a talented photographer in his own right and it was fun to see my world through his lens.  Above, I am trying to make sense of all the different flight requests and put it together in a logical manner.  Sometimes it takes a while.

Unloading cargo...thankfully, as a floatplane pilot, we don't deal with a lot of cargo simply due the the nature of our landing environment.  But, when there is cargo, it usually fits into the float lockers just fine.

Nothing like taking a few minutes on one of the cool rivers to refresh myself with some water on the face after sweating profusely as I fly around Central Borneo.  Have I mentioned it is hot here?!

One of the things that makes me sweat a lot is the refueling we do while interior.  We have fuel "stashed" at about 4 villages that we regularly use.  In the course of a full day, I might put 10-12 jerry cans of fuel on board like in the photo above.  That's about a full drum...one jerry can at a time.  Thankfully we have really good dock help at the locations where we store fuel.  

From the Logbook...Ade Rai

Every once in a while, someone of high social status or political importance comes to us at MAF for transportation.  A  few weeks ago, Ade Rai and his crew showed up for a ride to a river about 50 minutes from PalangkaRaya.  Ade Rai is the Indonesian equivelent of Arnold Shwartzeneger in the body building world.  He was going to be filming a commercial at the river destination for one of his main sponsors, Kuku Bima.  One of the nicest surprises of having such an Indonesian Mega Star at our facility was getting to know Ade Rai a little bit and realizing he was one of the most humble and friendly people I have met in a LONG time!   

Backyard Animals

My girls are always keen on alerting me to the natural happenings going on right outside of our door.  The above spider was smaller than a shirt button but that didn't stop him from claiming a nice lunch.  God's design in all of Creation never ceases to amaze me.  

From the Logbook...Melak

A few weeks ago I took a long flight to Eastern Borneo to transport two Dutch gentleman that have been funding and helping to develop some schools in the community of Melak.  I always enjoy going to new destinations and seeing the differences in the way the people look and even speak Indonesian.  The following day I picked the two men back up after they completed the survey of the school project and we flew 1 hour and 40 minutes back to PalangkaRaya.  It would have taken them a week to get to their destination without the MAF airplane.  I love my job!

From the Logbook...Coal Mining

As we fly over the vast stretches of Borneo jungle, some people have discovered that there are vast natural resources under all that green.

A few times a week, we fly near this huge coal mine.  The coal is sent to the nearby river by trucks and then put on barges where it makes it's way to fuel power plants making the majority of all electricity for Borneo.

From the Logbook...Chased by Rain pt.2

Due to the fact that we live in the jungle, rain cannot stop all aspects of life.  While the downpour fed the surrounding jungle with it's life giving moisture, this woman was dicing up the trunk of a banana plant in order to feed it to her cows.

About an hour after landing in the community, the rain cleared and the clear skies beckoned us home again.  We quickly prepared our two aircraft to continue to our destination of PalangkaRaya...only 9 minutes away!

Thankfully, when we landed there were lots of docking options to choose from.  That is not always the case.

Nine minutes after taking off, we were safely docked at home base, just as the sun was setting.  Flying float planes is fun!!!

From the Logbook...Chased by Rain pt.1

A few weeks ago while trying to make it home in the late afternoon a huge thunderstorm was drenching PalangkaRaya and all parts north...just where I wanted to go.  I tried to find a way around, but it didn't work.  Eventually I gave up and landed at a new village, just as the heavens cut loose.  Our other program aircraft was already there, waiting the storm out as well.

Thankfully, me and my passengers were invited into a nearby home right on the bank of the river.  We enjoyed getting to know the people and they served us some awesome vanilla tea...an Indonesian specialty!

Life moved a lot slower in the community that we weathered the storm out in.  The local economy is driven by rubber production, and when its raining cats and dogs, everyone seeks shelter.

See my next post in a few days for more pictures of the day the rain chased me around Borneo...

From the Logbook...

In the photo above, the two boxes are full or bottled battery acid.  I had just flown in about 300 pounds of batteries, battery acid, food, medicine, and other items to aid a pair of German Nurses that we serve interior.  After my load of cargo was unloaded, one of the nurses, her guest, and a sick man flew back with me to PalangkaRaya to take care of some business in the city and visit the hospital.  

From the Logbook...Dock Help

Because of the unique challenges of flying a float plane on rivers, any help we can get to safely approach and depart a dock is greatly appreciated...usually.  In the photo above, the gentleman from the community of Miri is holding on to my float rope until I am ready to start the engine and pull away. Miri is a challenging landing/docking river and I was grateful for his help

Dock Life

The river level has been really high lately at our office/hangar location.  Our local staff are really excited about it because of the good fishing opportunities literally out of the front door.  In their free time, they even bring their families to the office to enjoy all the fishing.  It's fun to watch.