From the Logbook...checkout into Tumbang Naan

Last week I had the opportunity to "check out" our newest pilot into Tumbang Naan.  Naan has it's own set of challenges, so it was fun to finally have a chance to get Aaron checked out into this very remote place.  Above, Aaron is taking off for the first time in Naan by himself after we had already done several takeoffs and landings together.

Naan isn't a straight stretch of river.  Instead, it make an "S" shape and Aaron can be seen just lifting off of the water in the second curve of the "S."  So cool!!!

Of course, you have to navigate the "S" turn for landing as well.  Aaron did a great job in Naan and it's great to have another pilot ready to serve this extremely remote village.

Unusual Cargo...Snake Skins

A few weeks ago while working on an airplane, my colleague returned from a flight and said "come check this out."  His passenger was bringing python snake skins to sell at the market for use in making boots, gloves, etc.  The one being held above was over twelve feet long!

I'm not a huge fan of snakes, but I'm still in awe of their beauty and design.  As the sunlight shone through the snake skins, all kinds of deeper yellows and blacks revealed themselves, much more so than this picture indicates.  For those of you with snake skin boots, now you know where they come from!

Two Wheeled Road Trip

A few weeks ago, we had a long holiday weekend and a few of us decided to take a spontaneous motorcycle trip, overnight. to one of the villages that we serve with the airplane.  I was able to borrow a motorcycle (my scooter wouldn't do) and at 6am we were off.  Above, we are stopped in the town of Kuala Kurun to eat lunch and take a break.  We also fly the airplane here, it is a 38 minute flight or a 4 hour motorcycle ride.  We had a wonderful lunch at a friends "cafe" and continued upriver.  Up to this point, the road was decent, and completely paved.

As we broke in the motorcycles for the first 4 hours, a few gremlins appeared.  My friends chain had become loose so we stopped at a repair shop to have a link taken out of the chain.  $2 later it was fixed and we were away.

The mechanics toolbox.  Not as much as I'm used to having available to me, but they can do everything they need to with what's in the box.

After our lunch stop and quick roadside repair, the roads quickly became worse.  Gone was the asphalt and abundant were the slippery packed mud, deep mud puddles, and questionable bridges.  They slowed our progress...but we were having fun!!!

Just before sunset, we arrived at our destination of Tumbang Marikoi.  We were going to stay they night with some friends that live there, a pair of German nurses that have lived and worked in Central Borneo for over 30 years!!!

We had a great time hanging out with Anne and Lydia, and we enjoyed a downpour of rain on the sheetmetal roof all night.  Good food. good friends,...good sleep.

The heavy rains the night before made bad roads worse.  We went through countless mud puddles.  Eventually, we just gave up trying to stay dry and clean.  It was more fun anyway to go fast through the puddles.

On our way home, we took a different, unknown way.  We stopped in a village along the way for a rest and to get some drinks.  They had a traditional long house available for use as a hotel and tours.  It was neat to see the traditional construction of the huge stilt house.

Why use the purposely built wood-plank path when a perfectly good path full of mud and water lay right next to it?!  By this time in the journey, Aaron made it his priority to take the path less traveled and see what he and his motorcycle (with street tires I might add) could do!

As I expected, this trip was a lot of fun, and completely exhausting.  On our return trip home the second day, it took us 13 hours of hard motorcycle riding over almost impassable sections of road to arrive at my doorstep.  That same trip in the airplane takes 45 minutes.  Granted, infrastructure is slowly getting better and better, and farther and farther into the depths of Borneo, but the airplane is still a wonderful tool to quickly and efficiently go places that are hard or still impossible to reach otherwise.

From the Logbook...A Memorable Passenger

Yesterday, I had the privilege and opportunity to meet, and fly with Harrison Ford.  He was in Central Borneo doing some filming for a documentary that will come out next year some time.  My purpose was to fly him and his crew in three separate flights to the village of Tarantang, 35 minutes from PalangkaRaya.

If you didn't know, Mr. Ford is an accomplished pilot.  When I offered the chance for him to fly our Cessna 185 float plane, he eagerly accepted.  In the photo above, we are getting the engine started, just leaving the dock in PalangkaRaya.

Harrison flew the airplane very well, a testament to his experience, which is almost double mine by the way!  While he flew with me, I just basically ran the radio and made sure everything stayed safe, but Harrison did almost all of the flying.

When we got to the village of Tarantang 35 minutes after taking off from PalangkaRaya, the whole village turned out not only to see a famous movie actor, but the airplane as well.  I had never been to this village before, and having the airplane there drew a lot of attention...not to mention the airplane's world famous passenger!

 On our return home at the end of the day, Harrison was all wet from being rained on during his filming shoot.  However, he still had "mojo" to fly, and he once again took the opportunity and flew us back home.  Above you can see him just inches away from touching down on the water.

 Once we were on the water, Harrison still "drove" the airplane and took us right into the airplane slip.  With some coaching, he did a great job!

It was a lot of fun to fly with Mr. Ford, and be able to just chat with him about life, fame, airplanes, and numerous other topics while we flew back and forth to the village of Tarantang.  Harrison was an extremely personable man, and one from which I actually learned a lot during our short time together.

Upon arriving at the dock, my girls were waiting to meet "Han Solo."   I had told them at dinner the night before who was coming, so they convinced mom to bring them to the dock to introduce themselves.  He took the time to shake every one of their hands, and engaged them in conversation like a pro.  I was grateful to see that Harrison was using his worldwide influence in a positive way...it will be something that will stick with my girls for a long time.

And of course, the obligatory family/group picture.  It was a long day of flying, but it is going to go down as a very memorable flight.  I was proud of our MAF team for demonstrating to Harrison and his crew what we have become known for as a tight knit unit that works well together.  It never ceases to amaze me, the people I am able to rub shoulders with in this life, from high level government officials and celebrities, to the poorest of the poor...all in the same day. It's a pleasure to serve in the capacity that we do.  Thanks to everyone that co-labors with us to make it possible!