From the Logbook...It's Time to Celebrate

I'm BACK!!!  I've had a long hiatus from my blog...and for good reason.  Since arriving in Indonesia in late September 2014...I have not had a work permit that legally permitted me to fly.  I can thankfully report that this past Monday the 2nd of February, that finally changed and I was granted a work permit.  The details as to why I didn't have a work permit and why it took so long to acquire it are too long and complex to post here on the blog.  Myself and several other MAF pilots around Indonesia were affected by this.  Since I could not legally fly for the last 4.5 months, I didn't; which is why the blog and my digital life-print have been so sparse.  Now that I can legally man the cockpit again, things should return to "normal" on the blog again.  Thank you to those of you that follow a little bit here and most importantly pray for me and my family as we live and serve in Indonesia.

What a good way to celebrate being back than by writing a post about jumping off of the wing into the river.  There is actually a funny story that lead up to this...

While I was working with our airstrip agent at a village called Tumbang Naan, he handed me my flight manifest (passenger names, weights, tickets, money, etc.).  As I opened the manifest up, 10 - 100,000 Rupiah bills fell into the water.  This is roughly the equivalent to $100US.

As I watched the money land on the river and begin floating downstream, there was only one way to retrieve it from the fast river current...jump in after it of course.  Thankfully, I was able to recover 9 of the 10 money bills.  It makes for a funny story, and since I was already wet, I decided to jump off of the wing a few times and enjoy myself.

I handed my camera to a passenger to take a few pictures of my escapades as a float plane pilot.  Despite being soaked from head to toe...the refreshing that comes from jumping in the river after sweating through a long day flying is quite rewarding.  And, I must say...flying floatplanes is one of the most unique types of work I've ever done, so it is fun to enjoy those peculiarities to their fullest!!!  Flying floatplanes is FUN!!!  It is great to be back in the air again!