From the Logbook...Patient Pick Up

 A few weeks ago instead of watching my plane be loaded with a patient, I gave my camera to a woman standing next to me and said "let em rip."  Not really...but if I could say that in Indonesian that would be cool.  Regardless she still got some cool pics.

Loading a Cessna 185 with a person that has to be laying down is tricky and difficult.  It takes a lot of people and is one of the reasons why many MAF 185 pilots now have bad backs.  I usually try to be mindful of that but sometimes you just have to get in there and get er' done!

 The patient in these photos had suffered from a stroke 3 days prior and traveled to this location to be picked up by us and flown to PalangkaRaya where he went to the hospital.  (BTW - the stretcher is made from small logs and chicken feed sacks)

After getting the patient and his family on board, all that's left is to put their belongings into the float lockers, put the door back on the airplane, and blast off!  I love flying float planes!!!

From the Logbook...Coastal Flying

It's not often that we actually see the ocean in our flying, but a few weeks ago I took a group of three pastors from Java to a remote coastal village to perform some baptisms.  The village was extremely friendly and they all jumped at the chance to be in a photo.

As I was leaving the village of Pagatan in my six, I snapped a quick picture of the little coastal village.  It was neat to see the vast Java Sea as I flew my landing pattern.  Later that same day I returned to pick the same group of pastors up so they could return to Java the following day via the airlines.  Without our service these men would have spent DAYS traveling one way just to reach this little village.  I love my job!

From the Logbook...Fun and Games

A few weeks ago we hosted a group of 9 aviation students (7 from Canada and 2 from America) that are interested in pursuing a career in mission aviation.  They had already spent a week at our other MAF location in Eastern Borneo, then it was my turn to show them what real MAF pilots do! ("real MAF pilots" = float plane pilots.)

Being that we have a small boat at our location complete with water skis and a wake board, what's not to like.  Above one of our local staff, Abet Nego, is shredding the river showing these college kids how it's done...all while still wearing his jeans!  Yee Haw!

We played on the river in front of our dock for a while; basically until the boat was almost out of gas and the sun was setting.  I think most of the students at that point wanted to be missionary FLOAT PLANE pilots and they hadn't even flown with me yet!  They all jumped off of the hangar roof into the river numerous times also.  What most impressed our local staff was that of this group of 9 students, 2 were girls, and they too jumped off of the hangar roof.  It makes for some good ribbing now with our local staff, all of whom are guys, who are too scared to jump off.  

So, a few days later I flew three flights with all of them taking them to an interior village where they stayed the night.  Instead of coming home on the airplane, they chose to come back to PalangkaRaya via roads and rivers.  Needless to say, after cheating death countless times on the interior roads, they all knew without a doubt the power and convenience of flying to the many destinations we can serve with a float plane.

From the Logbook...Patient Flight

It seems like a lot of my flying this past month has been picking up patients with all forms of ailments.  I can't remember what happened to the man above, but I do remember he was barley alive.  As I monitored him while we flew to PalangkaRaya with two family members and a nurse on board, I saw his wife several times hold her hand over his mouth to confirm he was still breathing.  He was hanging on the edge of life and it was a pleasure to be able to serve him that day.

From the Logbook...Air to Air

Shortly before my teammate Jason unexpectedly went back to America, we found ourselves flying to the same destination.  So, why not fly in formation all of the way there?!  Formation flying is always fun and it's always amazing to see how little our airplanes really are compared to the HUGE jungles of Borneo below.  Plus, float planes look awesome in the air!!!

From the Logbook..."Billy Graham of the East"

(For those of you who read my blog...I'm still here.  Usually a lack of blogging means I am too busy to find the free time to dedicate to posting pictures of our ministry here.  That has been the case for the past few weeks as my teammate and his family suddenly went home to America due to a family emergency.  I've been "holding down the fort" by myself for the past few weeks which means lots of flying, and not much free time for blogging.  So, over the next few weeks, I have posted the last months worth of pictures.  Enjoy!)

One of my most recent flights had me transporting Stephen Tong and his entourage to a few large villages in Central Borneo.  According to Wikipedia, Stephen Tong is the "Billy Graham of the East" and it was a pleasure to fly him and his team over the course of 3 days to their evangelistic events.  His crew was top notch and very professional.  It was a joy to help in serving them as they shared the hope we have in Jesus with those I rub shoulders with every day.  His nightly events drew thousands of people culminating with his last event here in PalangkaRaya where we live.

Above I merged some pictures together of one of the places I took Reverend Tong and his team.  While to the untrained float pilot eye it may not look like much, let me just say that the docking and un-docking process of my airplane at this location was the hardest, most challenging docking I've had to this date.  As I retold the story to Becca around the dinner table that evening I was surprised to feel my heart begin to race again as I recounted the near misses of my wings almost hitting buildings, my floats being caught in reverse currents, and the people on the dock offering too much "help" and in the process almost leaving me in a pickle.  Thankfully, it all ended well, and the airplane is still unscathed although it's pilot grew a few more grew hairs!

From the Logbook...The Other Hat

A few weeks ago, I was really busy fixing airplanes instead of flying them.  Occasionally, we encounter bigger problems than we were hoping for while an airplane is undergoing a normal inspection.  The pictures above and below show me working some new exhaust valves into some cylinders due to low compression.  Our airplane was almost grounded for a month because we had to wait for our parts to come from America.  Thankfully now, both of our airplanes are fixed and I've been flying more than fixing.

Field Trip

A few weeks back we were visited by a local school for about 3 hours.  It was a fun time having all those kids at our location, and they all (mostly) enjoyed sitting in the cockpit.  I felt like one of the elves in "A Christmas Story" putting kids on Santa's lap.  Some kids loved it, others immediately started screaming and crying when they were in the pilots seat.

Somehow, shortly before we finished, all the teachers grouped all the kids together and we got a group picture.  All together, there was over 100 people at our dock; teachers, parents, and students combined.

Hangar Roof Jumping

After a long day in the office working on various projects, sometimes you just gotta do something a little different.  So, why not jump off of the roof of the hangar into the river below?!

I had so much fun and adrenaline from the first jump...I did it twice.  I'm pretty sure we are going to have to do it some more.

I wasn't breaking any Olympic records for my "small" splash, but it did help wake me up for the remainder of my day.  There are some cool perks to working next to a river!

From the Logbook...Supang2

Not many days after visiting the above village of Supang, I was called back to transport another woman having a difficult child labor.  Only this time, the patient was in much worse state.

Thankfully, after an uneventful 45 minute flight, we were able to get her to PalangkaRaya and then some of our national staff took her and her husband to the hospital.

Backyard Sunset

Due to the rapid nature in which the sun rises and sets when on the equator, spectacular sunsets rarely occur.  However, a recent sunset did stand out as being "better than normal" so I took a picture and converted it to a heat signature picture.  I thought the results, although unnatural to the human eye, were amazing to see all of the different light spectrums that were revealed that we cannot naturally see.  

From the Logbook...

Recently I have been working on a 50 hour maintenance inspection on one of our airplanes while our other pilot has been keeping up with the flying.  One day recently he returned with this older woman and her family.  Apparently she had been sick for almost 2 weeks, and only just now "cried uncle" and called to have the airplane pick her up and bring her to the hospital.  

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.