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.