MEANWHILE, the Porter Makes its Destination

After months on the high seast and in various ports, the container with the Porter in it (see "The Porter Goes in the Box," a September blog here) made it to its Southeast Asia destination. Here it will join two others just like it serving missionaries, development organizations and church groups.

Last Day, Finally Home

After a night in Goodland, Kansas, a McDonald's Number 1 breakfast (and two more egg sandwiches for the road), we took off (Mark at the controls) over the fertile fields and section-lines of our country's breadbasket.

After angling southeast for several hours to get into warmer air, Mark turned directly east to cross a long cold front and a line of tall clouds to finish our five and a half hour flight.

The Garmin 1000 Multifunction display showed us that we would have over two hours of fuel on board at our destination.

Our little Garmin portable served as a backup, and gave us an image of the Nexrad radar.

We set 8KQ down between the Carolina pines at 4:30 p.m. The JAARS family turned out at the airstrip to welcome their first Kodiak to its new home.

Today was the culmination of years of work and high expectations, but this is really only the beginning. Now, with an airplane to work with, we will develop our understanding of this new tool, how we will operate it, and how we will teach our pilots and mechanics. Then in August, Lord willing, we will see 8KQ to its new and final home in Papua New Guinea where it will truly begin its life of service.

Halfway Home Tonight

After a late morning start from the Quest factory, we've made it as far as Goodland, Kansas for the night. Five hours of flight, lots of good tailwinds, and we're halfway home to North Carolina. Sailing over Missoula and Bozeman, Montana, we landed in Powell, Wyoming for fuel and a visit with some friends and family from there and Billings. The Absaroka Mountain range in Montana gave way to the high plains of southern Wyoming, and finally the prairies of western Kansas.

Who's "we?" Let me introduce my partner, Mark Wuerffel, from Minnesota. Mark and his family lived in Papua New Guinea ("PNG") for 14 years where they served the Wycliffe Bible translators all over that mountainous country. Now a seasoned mission pilot, Mark is a flight instructor at JAARS, and he will be my partner as we learn all we can about the Kodiak before taking it to PNG later this year.

A little more than a thousand miles to go tomorrow, and we'll have 8KQ in its new home. The JAARS family will be anxious to see this first one. Our biggest concern is the cold front that sits between here and there, with its forecast heavy storms and rain.

Time to Celebrate

This afternoon the Quest factory workers took a scheduled break to celebrate the handing over of N498KQ to JAARS. A few videos, a few short speeches, lots of cheers and applause, then handshakes and handing over of keys. After little bit of cookies and coffee, it was time to get back to the assembly line. Tonight we finished up some of the "acceptance" flying, giving me a bit of proficiency and night flying with the Quest instructor.

Tomorrow Mark and I hope to leave for our two-day flight to Waxhaw, NC and the JAARS team that is eager to see their first Kodiak. The prognosis charts look pretty good for the "south" route we've layed out, over Salt Lake City, angling over to Four Corners area, then east from New Mexico. Or, if the North route looks good, we could head over Montana, then down over Wyoming and across Kansas and the Midwest. These NOAA charts show that the high pressure systems are moving in just as we have been asking for.

Flew 8KQ Today

Well, the weather hasn't been cooperating very willingly here in northern Idaho. There's been plenty to do on the ground, but sooner or later we need to fly the plane to confirm all its systems are operating properly. Today we got airborne for about 45 mintues and N498KQ performed true to the Kodiaks I've known. Tomorrow will be a small celebration at Quest, in which our JAARS President will thank the employees for their dedication.

It would be great if we could leave for North Carolina on Friday. The National Weather Service shows that there are some pretty strong high pressure systems moving in, and this may provide the perfect window for us to depart. We may head straight south where the warmer weather is, or if the clear skies are east, we'll head over Montana and southeast.