Training, Next Phase

Less than a week after getting back to the United States, I headed to Spokane, WA to join up with two of our pilots from PNG, David Barton and Christopher Clark.  They were finishing two weeks of Kodiak training at the Spokane Turbine Center, and were our first two candidates to send through that course.  (See my blog posting "A Week in August" for a description of our part in developing this course for mission pilots.)

David and Christopher are veteran pilots in PNG, and have prior turbine aircraft experience, so this course was more of a "transition" course than much of an "initial" for them.  I showed up on Friday to fly with them in STC's airplane to put the JAARS finishing touches on their skills.  Flying in the mountains of the Northwest is a lot like in PNG, except for the traces of snow on the peaks this time of year.  And of course, the runways here are a lot more friendly!

Once back home they will begin their flying under supervision of Rick Nachtigal with whom I flew last month (see my preceding posts).  In the coming year we hope to send more of our PNG program pilots through STC in their transition to flying the Kodiak.  We also plan to have two more of these aircraft in PNG by the middle of next year, and eventually a total of four.

Once again I enjoyed flying in the beautiful Northwest.  These pictures are from some of our activities in the Priest Lake and Lake Couer D'Alene, Idaho areas.  These two guys soaked up the information on this new airplane, and did a great job learning the Kodiak's particular handling characteristics.  Like Rick before them, they will easily adapt it to the context in PNG that they're so familiar with.

Final Look at 008

I'm now back at home in North Carolina, but thought I would leave you with a few more images of 008 in its new environment.  Besides some trial flights in to some local mountain airstrips, we were able to do several operational flights in the three weeks I was there.  Currently the plane is in maintenance, and will emerge in several weeks with a new tail number -- "P2-SIB" of Papua New Guinean registration.  So, a farewell to N498KQ!

008 In the Village

On Wednesday we took 008 to some nearby villages (Obura, Gema and Owena) and got a preliminary look at how it will perform on the sloped, mountain airstrips. On this first time out, we kept the plane light – just three of us on board, and a light fuel load. Mark Wuerffel had joined us from JAARS a few days earlier, and he occupied the cockpit with Rick. I sat in a passenger seat behind and left the flying to them, since together they both have nearly thirty years of experience in PNG, and have flown into these three airstrips many times in other aircraft.

The village folk turned out as they usually do. Airplanes visit here frequently (it's a coffee producing area, and aircraft are the main mode of export).  Their arrival is often a source of entertainment, but a new airplane is especially noteworthy for them. In the years to come, Kodiaks will become a normal sight here, providing service to these communities, transporting church people, missionaries, medical teams, educators and a myriad of other types of passengers and cargo.

As time passes, our aviation staff will develop a set of standards for each of the several hundred airstrips in PNG with the Kodiak, for things like takeoff and landing weights, surface conditions, wind and weather minima. These will vary from site to site, based on the surrounding terrain, runway slope, length and typical wind patterns at each place. What we are learning about the Kodiak’s specific characteristics will be applied to each airstrip. Of course, the goal is to safely carry as large a load as possible in and out of these sites.

008 Settles in to its New Surroundings

It didn't take long for the PNG staff to get 008 up and running in the country.   Having begun Rick Nachtigal's Kodiak training in North Caroling in July, we resumed with a review, then continued with his "Instructor Pilot Standardization," enabling him to be the first Kodiak instructor on our PNG staff.  The nearby runway of Gusap, an old WWII air base located nearby in the Markham Valley at 1,500 feet above sea level, provided a nice long, level practice strip.  The Markham Valley almost always enjoys better weather than around Aiyura at 5,100 feet above sea level where the planes are based.

We've also had a few opportunities to provide service to the Wycliffe/SIL missionaries at the larger airports.  For example we gave one gal a lift down to Nadzab where she connected with our helicopter that took her back into her village in the hills where she is working on her Bible translation project.

Some training has focused on instrument procedures, such as this instrument approach into the coastal city of Madang.  The Garmin G1000 Primary Flight Display shows the runway ahead as Rick approaches at the minimum descent altitude to runway 25.

Then, as we flew back to Aiyura, the view out the windshield showed little but clouds and rain, but the PFD's "synthetic vision" again gave us a picture of the terrain ahead.  Note the inset map on the bottom left with the red and yellow blocks, indicating terrain ahead and to the left that is at the same altitude or even higher than our current altitude.

Back at Gusap on a later day, we did some testing of the Kodiak's takeoff and landing performance against the charts given by the manufacturer Quest Aircraft Company, and the performance charts we're working on for approval from the PNG Civil Aviation authorities.  Of course, this needed to be done at various weights, so sandbags provided the necessary ballast.

008's Final Hop to its New Home

Friday, Sept. 25: After a night at the Mapang mission guest house in Pt. Moresby it was time for our final leg of the journey to the Ukarumpa mission station in the highlands. Brian caught an airliner back to the States, unfortunately unable to go on to Ukarumpa, since he had pressing commitments back home.

Rick Nachtigal and I took 008 on the final hour and a quarter flight along the mountainous spine of the island.

A good number of the Wycliffe/SIL staff had come out to the airstrip at Aiyura to greet us. The Kodiak had been many years coming, and expectations ran high for this day.

Several leaders made some comments and led the group in thanksgiving to God for His bringing this first Kodiak to its place of service.

Most of our greeters were veteran passengers of our air service to the many airstrips in PNG, and were eager to take a close look at the new airplane and imagine what it would be like to finally be transported in it.

The mechanics at our facility wasted no time in  taking a first close-up look at their new machine and getting the tanks out of the airplane.