Day 4: Honolulu to Majuro

The winds were forecast to be more in our favor for this day, and they proved to be so initially. Climbing up to 12,000 feet we picked up a good 14 knots. The weather was clear as Honolulu slipped out of sight behind us, and the Pacific looked pretty calm.

The Garmin gave us a continuous picture of our progress. When we ranged the screen all the way out to 2,000 miles (its maximum), the effect was discouraging, as the little airplane symbol seemed to be not moving at all.

Roughly halfway to Majuro, Marshall Islands, our destination for the night, we slipped by Johnston Atoll, a former military base.

Off on the horizon to our south we began seeing the evidences of the tropics as we moved into an area of monsoon weather. By the time we were a few hours away, we were in and out of rain showers, and getting reports from Majuro – “ceiling and visibility OK.” Fifteen minutes out we were still in heavy cloud and rain, so I programmed the instrument approach to runway 25 at Majuro.

As we descended on our final approach, the town came and went from view through the rain and cloud. The Garmin’s synthetic vision gave a representation of where we could expect to see the runway when we broke out. Then when we were about a mile out, the runway came into view. Breaking out on an instrument approach is an everyday event for an instrument pilot, but with nothing but ocean on both sides, this was a new one for me. Had the weather proven too bad, we would have had an hour and a quarter flight to get to the next available landing site at Kwajalein.

On the ground well before sunset, we refueled the wing tanks and the ferry tank in the rain, in preparation for our final day into Port Moresby, PNG. The monsoon blew and fussed all night, but calmed down significantly by morning.

Day 3: Santa Maria to Honolulu

Sunday dawned foggy and overcast in Santa Maria, our jumping-off airport. Although we were completely capable of instrument flight, we didn’t want to take off at this unusually heavy weight (30% over the normal takeoff weight) without the ability to return quickly to the airport under visual conditions. Finally by around 9:30 a.m. we had a high enough cloud ceiling to take off. We got our clearance from Air Traffic Control, and climbed through the thin overcast. The cloud deck covered the Pacific for the first several hundred miles, but by mid day it had cleared beautifully. The calm Pacific was now completely visible below.

I’ll include a variety of screen shots from the G1000 as this diary progresses. The two screens are the Primary Flight Display (PFD) and the Multifunction Display (MFD). The PFD contains all the normal flight instrument indications superimposed over a full-width horizon, complete with “Synthetic Vision,” which gives a pilot’s–eye view of the topography ahead, all taken from the worldwide terrain database. Even when in the clouds, the pilot has a synthetic view of the terrain and obstacle features ahead.

The MFD gives a “look-down” view, much like a map, also with terrain coloring. The MFD also shares screen space with the engine and aircraft systems indications.

As we turned west, the Garmin G1000 showed nothing but blue ahead of us.

The Santa Maria to Honolulu leg was the longest of the entire trip, and we needed tailwinds to be able to do it with the limited fuel we had on board. As we progressed across the route, we kept a keen eye on the wind components that the G1000 continuously computed for us. “T” for tailwind, and “X” for crosswind. Every knot of tailwind spread over 13 hours meant significant savings of time and fuel.

If it began looking like we wouldn’t have the fuel to make Honolulu, we had an alternate on the nearer island of Maui. But Honolulu was our first choice, and we made it there with two hours’ reserve an hour after sunset.

Days 1 & 2: Getting to the West Coast

FAA approval and ferry permit in hand by Saturday noon, my partner Brian Stoltzfus and I arranged to meet in Oklahoma City a convenient point in the Midwest with good airline service. I would bring 008 from near JAARS at Lancaster, SC where the runway was long enough to accommodate my additional weight (under the special permit from the FAA).

Brian would airline it there from his home in Ohio where his family runs an aviation business, Priority Air Cargo. Brian has prior experience with this type of over-water flight, and also a long history of support and involvement in mission aviation. His family has been a good friend of JAARS and other mission groups for many years. After a night in Oklahoma City, we were ready to head for the California coast.

008 Arrives in PNG

After six days of flying, we arrived in Ukarumpa, the mission station in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. We were met by a crowd of missionaries and local people who have waited for years to see this airplane arrive. Check into this site in the next few days to get details of the flight across the Pacific.

008 All Tanked and Ready to Go

Expectations are high tonight as the FAA is coming out to the JAARS hangar tomorrow (Saturday) morning to sign the final approvals for the ferry permit to get 008 across the Pacific to Papua New Guinea. Provided that happens early enough in the day. I will depart immediately for the west coast, probably spending the night somewhere in the middle of the country.


Then on to the California coast from which we will jump off to Hawaii on our first 12-hour nonstop leg. The winds have been favorable for this hop, and we pray they will continue through Monday. If there is a change of wind, we will be forced to consider alternate routes with shorter legs, such as along the Aleutian Islands to Midway Island.





The 350 gallon "ferry tank" sits in the cabin of Kodiak 008, basically doubling the range of the airplane. The passenger seats have been removed, and we will be carrying the bare essentials with us for the five-day trip.


We will have a satellite phone on board, and hope to even be able to send information and images to JAARS that will be posted on the website at http://www.jaars.org/. I hope to be able to keep this blog going as well, provided I can get internet access at our ground stops, or even over the sat phone.


We will welcome your prayers every mile of the way as we bring this new aircraft to its intended place of work -- serving the people of Papua New Guinea, and bringing them the good news from God of reconciliation and salvation intended for every person on Earth.


After we get there, I am planning to spend another month, flying with our JAARS field pilots who will be putting this aircraft into service. My wife Debbie will be joining me the week after I arrive, and will spend the month with me there.