Proverbs 22:6

"Train up a child in the way he (she) should go, and when he (she) is old, he (she) will not depart from it." 

The propaganda has already begun, Paige thinks airplanes are "aasome" and she already runs outside to see the airplanes taking off and landing.  Ah, a girl after my own heart!  

From the Logbook...Another Ride Along

 After a long trip last week from Eastern Borneo to Central Borneo, I am gearing up to fly the floatplane again.  Before I just jump in the airplane after having not flown for about 3 months I rode along yesterday as a passenger.  The girls above kept jumping into the water as I tried to take their picture.  It was pretty funny.

 This is one of my favorite places, Naan.  Quite, clean, and still full of virgin rain forest   

Another shot of Naan.  After a little practice, I should be on my own again this week serving the people with a floatplane.  Should be fun!

MAF Tarakan pt.2

A few more pics from my ride along a few days ago...

While getting "the tour" of MAF ops in Eastern Kalimantan we visited a number of airstrips that the MAF team serves.  The airstrip pictured above is a "sporty" one with a maximum of 23% slope.  It made for a thrilling takeoff!

One of the fun things about flying around in a wheel airplane again was seeing all the people.  I still interact with plenty of people while flying float planes, but being able to walk around on the airstrip instead of being restricted to a river dock enabled me to see how some of the people in Eastern Kalimantan live a little better.

This weekend we will travel back to PalangkaRaya, Central Kalimantan.  I look forward to getting back in the floatplane and serving the people of Central Kalimantan...plus all this language school stuff has made me groundsick...I NEED to go flying.

MAF Tarakan pt.1

Last week we finished language school on the Indonesian island of Java and 2 days later we left for the island of Borneo, where we will be living.  But, instead of flying directly to our home base in the city of PalangkaRaya we flew instead to another MAF base in the city of Tarakan, Eastern Borneo.  We are here for a week to meet the rest of our MAF Kalimantan (Borneo) team and get familiar with how things are done here.  

One of my days here I got to ride along with a long time MAF friend who is based in Tarakan.  We spent the majority of the day flying all over Eastern Kalimantan in the hot rod Quest Kodiak pictured above.  It is an impressive aircraft!

As with most anywhere MAF flies, children soon arrive at the airstrip shortly after we do.  They are always a pleasure to joke around with and are almost always full of laughs and smiles.  

Dirt Diver and Friends

It's amazing watching our two oldest grow.  They are great friends (usually) and they love to strut their independence and walk as far ahead as possible, all the while talking non-stop.

And then there is poor little runt sister, aka Dirt Diver.  She is always trying to keep up and one day she will not only keep up but will presumably instill fear in her older sisters.  She's not afraid of a thing and she has a quick 2 year old temper that will set you straight.  

Again, while exploring with the girls a few days ago, we came across this scene of a cute little church, lined with palm trees, rice paddy in front and mountains in the background.  Central Java is really beautiful.

A Different Kind of Farm

While exploring with the girls (see previous post) we found rice paddies in various stages of growth.  The one above had certain sections all ready to harvest and others that were newly planted.

We have seen on numerous occasions now the above scene; a man herding a group of ducks while either running or riding a bike.  It's a comical seen for someone like me that had never seen this before moving to Indonesia.  All those webbed feet running for their lives looks really funny.

Exploring Partners

Since we have all had the past week off from school due to a big national holiday, me and the two oldest set off together to find some pretty landscapes complete with swamps, rice paddies, and volcanoes.  We had a good time exploring Central Java together.

Mt. Merbabu Evening

A few days ago I drove to nearby Mt. Merbabu to get some evening photos.  In my search of a new photo vantage point I found some small villages that likely have had few Westerners visit them.  It was funny to watch all the people come out of the woodwork just to watch the foreigner drive through their village.

Sun Dry

With dry season in full swing on the island of Java, on any given day you can see a number of things being dried in the sun like chilies, fish, rattan, and rice.  Indonesians do like to put a spicy twist on most of their food dishes and the little peppers above will light you up if eaten plain.

Idul Fitri Celebrations

Ramadan concluded today and because of the importance of Idul Fitri we have had the whole week off from school.  One of the local traditions on the morning of Idul Fitri is to ignite homemade fireworks.  

These homemade firecrackers are about the size of a roll of toilet paper and are filled with gunpowder.  The young man above is using his cigarette to light the fuse on his firecracker.

When the homemade device explodes it is VERY loud, louder in fact than anything I have ever heard in the USA.  Because they are made of paper, the street quickly becomes littered with paper shrapnel.

After all the fireworks are over, everyone walks home, having survived another year of loud, "hope you don't blow your hand off", entertainment.  

Back in Java

We arrived back on the island of Java this weekend and it feels like we are in a different country.  The smells, the temperature, the topography, the twist on food dishes...it all seems so foreign...and so familiar.  It was only 4 months ago that we left.

Becca and I went exploring today after we put the girls in school and found ourselves at a small lake.  Lots of fishing and harvesting of marsh plants going on.

After some coaxing, I convinced Becca that we needed to pay a few dollars to use a local man's boat and paddle around the lake a little bit.  We spend about 30 minutes looking like fools, but we had a great time.

Even the wife of my youth dawned a traditional hat to help keep the sun's rays off of her.  Despite the nice sunshine, the overall temperature here is a LOT cooler than the middle of Borneo.  It feels like Fall to us...it is great!

From the Logbook...A View from the Floats

While waiting for my passengers to arrive earlier this week at an interior village,  I took the time to just watch what was happening around me while I was tied up to the dock.  This above shot is life on the other side of the river.  The river provides many things here, food for the table, water to wash clothes, body and dishes with, and the foundation of their floating house.

Looking immediately to the rear of the airplane, there was another house with "normal" life unfolding before my lens.  I have a hard time imagining what life is like to live on the river and never stop bobbing.  It will be a few more months now until I get some more pictures from the airplane floats.  This weekend we are returning to the island of Java to complete our language school curriculum.  We should be back in PalangkaRaya mid-October.  In the meantime, I'll keep my camera busy capturing life in Java until we return to Borneo.

From the Logbook...And the Winner is?

On Wednesday of this week we didn't schedule any flights so we could have a party instead.  Well, it wasn't really a party but a lot of people came to our location on PalangkaRaya.  We had invited almost every pastor and ministry leader in and around town.  About 50 people showed up.  Our purpose was to simply remind them that we are here to help and serve the Church in any way we can.  After we a short time together of worship and encouragement, we gave away a door prize...5 free seats on the airplane.  The above photo are my five passengers that I was able to fly for about 15 minutes around PalangkaRaya.  Four of them had never been on a small airplane.  It was a good time.

When we returned, we all gathered together and got a group picture.  It was a good time to bring so many denominations together and remember that we are all part of the same family.

A Few Sights from the River

Occasionally when flying high over a river, you see this LONG "train" of sorts pulling hundreds of logs.  As one of these "trains" came through PalangkaRaya the other day I stopped to get a picture while crossing the large bridge in town on my way home.  In the top of the picture you see the engine of the train pulling the load down the river.  The smaller boats are used to steer the logs and keep them in the middle of the river.  There was one more large boat tied to the end of the train actually driving backwards from the rest of the train in order to keep the line of log taut.

Another thing we often see coming out of the heart of Borneo are these smaller boats pushing loads of pure rubber.  They harvest it from rubber trees, make it into "bales" and them float it down river to be sold.  

From the logbook...

After flying over 4 hours in the middle of Borneo yesterday navigating low rivers, reverse currents, boaters, swimmers, logs, docks, and shooting 8 landings this is why we do it...for that one flight that makes all the others seem unimportant.  The above patient was an 18 year old girl whom I was told had heart problems.  Since we couldn't get an ambulance to come pick her up, she was driven to the hospital in the back or our MAF car accompanied by her mom and a nurse.

Since dry season seems to have taken up residence in Central Borneo at the moment, there are lots of big fires burning as farmers and loggers clear the land.  Each evening the smoke settles back to earth like fog and makes for some interesting sunsets.  This was the scene as I got on the Piglet ready to ride home after a long, satisfying day committing aviation.

From the Logbook...

Flying float planes in fun!!!  That's all I have to say.  

From the Logbook...Treasure Chest

For one of my flights today I was asked to take some money to an interior community so that the government workers could be paid. (see above picture with large, padlocked, metal box) I didn't think much of it.  My passengers carried two large trunks with them and when I looked at the trunk weights I realized it was over 300 pounds of cold, hard cash.  I speculated that it was a lot of money, thinking maybe around $150,000-200,000 US dollars.  I was blown out of the water to later learn that I was carrying the equivalent of $1.8 million dollars!  That's right...MILLION...$1.8 million.  I am still blown away.  WOW!

From the Logbook...A New Kind of Stuck

Shortly after I awoke today (Saturday, my time) I was informed there was a patient that needed picked up about 20 minutes north of PalangkaRaya.  Being that I am on call this weekend, I liked the idea of having a quick "out and back" flight while still helping someone that truly needed it.  

I had never been to this village before and  I was told to go two villages upstream from Goha, a village I do know the location of. That sounds easier than it was because I landed in the wrong village first.  I knew it was the wrong village but I decided to stop for directions.  As I slowly taxied in the middle of the river looking for a place to dock, my airplane slowly came to a stop.  I had run aground on a sandbar left by gold miners. (see this post and this post for some other times when I got an airplane stuck)   I thought I was in a deep part of the river because some people were swimming in front of me...and then they stood up...and then I stopped.  So, I shut the engine off and had a nice chat with the community in the middle of the river.  They told me the community I was looking for was one village downstream and then helped me push the airplane back into the deep part of the river.  Shortly after taking off, I found the correct village and landed uneventfully.  I'm glad I wore my shorts today!

I was happily received in the village and ended up waiting about 30 minutes while they prepped the patient to be brought to the airplane.  These kids had just finished school for the day.  School is Monday thru Saturday in Indonesia.  Poor kids.

This is one of the women that was gathered around watching all the activity this morning.    She couldn't speak Indonesian...only a local language called Dayak. 

Another village woman seen just watching the sights.  Having an airplane land in your village can be exciting.

I left "Charlie Brown" for a little bit while I went to see if I could help out at the patient's house.  There wasn't much I could do but just chat with the villagers and wait for the patient to be brought to the airplane.

About 30 minutes after I arrived she was finally carried to the airplane.  Supposedly she hadn't been able to eat in days and was complaining of her head really hurting.  It really appeared she was in agony and I was grateful to be able to help her.  Twenty minutes after taking off we landed in PalangkaRaya and she was driven straight to the hospital.

From the Logbook...A Time to Die

People always ask me what we fly in our airplanes.  Yesterday, I found myself flying two different men and their families back to their home villages so that the men could be home to die.  Both were old and modern medicine had done all that is could on their limited incomes.  It was time to accept the inevitable.    

On any given day as a missionary pilot, you can see lots of grief, tears, heartache and sadness.  These two flights were full of those.  But, despite the sadness in the cockpit yesterday, I am grateful to be able to help these families face a tough situation from the comfort of their homes.

From the Logbook...Baptism

Yesterday, I had the privilege of taking some pastors and their families back home to one of the most remote and isolated places we fly to, Naan.  (see videos from this post)  They were in PalangkaRaya last week for a church conference.  Talking a little bit with the guys reveals how even they have culture shock when they come to the big city.  Their community is literally on the equator and in the middle of nowhere.  Some day I want to fly into their community and spend some time as a family with these dedicated men who are truly sacrificing for the Gospel.

Aviation is stooped in tradition and we do our best to keep that alive in MAF.  Usually, after a pilot solos an airplane for the first time, he is surprised to find that upon returning from his first solo flight, a group of people is waiting to soak him with water.  Usually this entails using buckets, hoses, water guns, etc.  However, here in PalangkaRaya we have a whole river to use.  So, yesterday after returning from my flight I was pushed into the river at an opportune time and baptized into the elite club of float plane pilots.  

Since it didn't work out to baptize me on my actual day of solo flight, I thought I had dodged a bullet and wasn't going to be riding my scooter home wet.  I later learned this was part of the plan so I would let my guard down and not take my attackers into the river with me.  This was good planning on their part, because I would have taken them down with me had they attempted it only one day before.  Good times, fun memories!  (Becca has some more pictures on her blog)  

From the Logbook...First Solo Ops Flight!

After freshly receiving my permission to legally fly in Indonesia earlier this week, I have been busy doing just that.  Yesterday, it happened that myself and our other PLR pilot actually ended up in the same community at the same time.  I circled overhead while he floated his airplane downstream by hand so I could use the dock he is parked at in the picture above. 

After a long day of flying interior, the storm clouds were trying to generate something other than bumpy air.  Due to all the moisture in the air, I was greeted by a rainbow for almost 40 continuous miles while flying home.  It is always cool to see rainbows from the air because they make a complete circle, not just an arc.  However, I would need a different camera lens to capture the whole thing.

From the Logbook...Finally!

(Children at the community of Miri waiting on the dock in front of 300 lbs of freshly delivered medicine.)

I am VERY happy to report that yesterday I finally "passed" a "test" and was issued an Indonesian float plane license.  What that means is I can now fly the airplane legally by myself and start carrying passengers.  I'm pumped!!! 

From the Logbook...Red Tape

The photo above is a diction of what we have been up to the last several days...not much.  Our only other flying pilot has been laid out flat with some type of bacterial infection and hasn't been able to leave his house.  I am still waiting for a checkride from a government examiner in order to get an Indonesian pilot's license and fly solo.  So, our airplanes have been resting on the hangar floor until somebody is either healthy enough, or certified enough, to fly them.

I have been very busy with little projects and things around the hangar.  There is always something to do.  Please join us in prayer that some of the red tape that seems to be slowing down my licensing process can be removed soon and I can start flying as well as for the health of our other pilot here.

Hangar Happenings

Life continues to be really busy due to the inspection of MCB (see post below).  We have removed the floats and their attaching components, cleaned up lots of corrosion, replaced both landing gear brackets, etched and alodined all aluminum parts and applied lots of fresh paint.  This type of major inspection happens every 1000 hours and poor ol' MCB has over 22,000 hours on her.  She needed this inspection bad.  This coming week we should be able to complete the inspection barring we don't find anything else that slows us down.  This inspection has turned out to be heavier than we thought and we have called "all hands on deck" to assist.  Thankfully we have great national employees.  Due to the fact that our hands are so full with this inspection, we have cancelled all flights except emergencies in order to get it done.  

I am still not flying due to some "new" laws here in Indonesia.  It seems like my licensing reputation has followed me to Borneo.  Long story short, within the next week or so I will travel to the other MAF base in Borneo so I can get certified first in a land plane, a Cessna 206; then I will return and take another test to fly the Cessna 185 floatplane.  It looks like it will be the end of June now before all of this happens and I will be legal to fly solo in Indonesia.  

We were visited by another MAF airplane last week; a Cessna 208 Caravan.  Our 208 is based at the other location I will be visiting soon.  One of our pilots from that base flew 400 nautical miles to pick up my instructor pilot and his family since they are moving there to take up a leadership role.