Countdown Begins

008 has entered the final preparation stages for the ferry to Papua New Guinea. Here it is having all its fuel removed in preparation for some maintenance on its fuel tanks, part of the major inspection it is about to undergo.

Meanwhile, another Kodiak sits nearby -- Serial number 001, owned by Spokane Turbine Center, "STC." You will recall that this is the airplane I helped fly on a tour last summer -- only then it was painted orange. STC brought it down to JAARS after the big airshow at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, rather than taking it back to Washington State. Its next stop will be the mission aviation event in Smoketown (Lancaster), PA later this month.

Getting 008 Ready for the Big Time

Tomorrow morning Rick and Mark will take off from JAARS in 8KQ and head for Oshkosh, Wisconsin, site of the world's premier aviation aficionado air-show. Cleaned up and shiny, it will join the JAARS team of 30-some people. It will be one of at least five other Kodiaks showing up.

Meanwhile, back in the welding shop, preparations are underway for a more serious venture -- giving 8KQ the range to fly halfway around the globe to Papua New Guinea. This 300-gallon "ferry tank" will be installed in the cabin, effectively doubling the range of 8KQ, and making the long legs of that trip possible. More to come on the route that we are planning to take.

It's Been Quite a Month

We trained our first pilot from a field program in the Kodiak this month. Rick Nachtigal from Papua New Guinea, on a short leave in the U.S., spent most of July at JAARS. Mark Wuerffel and I tried out our developing curriculum on Rick -- not that it was that challenging a job. Rick has 15+ years of flying experience in that Pacific island country, piloting Cessna 206's, a turbine-powered Islander, and our King Air 200. Rick will be the lead Kodiak pilot and the first Kodiak training pilot in PNG when we get N498KQ there in September.

The course included the usual ground-school classes, and about 25 hours of flight time culminating in the same unimproved mountain airstrips that Mark and I have been testing.

Next stop for Rick and Mark will be the EAA's AirVenture airshow next week, where they will display the Kodiak at the JAARS pavilion. This year EAA is highlighting "Public Benefit" and Mission Aviation with their "Fly4Life" slogan. Am I going too? Sorry, Charlie. I've got a cabin in the montains in Montana with my name on it (where my brother-in-law runs a great camp, Clydehurst Christian Ranch). After a badly-needed bit of R&R, we hit the next big challenge -- getting N498KQ over the pond to PNG. Stay tuned.

Why Jet Fuel (and Turbine Engines?)

Every three months we go through this routine -- pumping avgas into 77 drums that get shipped in a container to Cameroon. We have two airplanes and one helicopter there serving a mission hospital and various mission groups, besides our own Wycliffe Bible Translator workers, in a seven country area. All three aircraft burn aviation gasoline -- "avgas" -- which is not easily available in the country. Believe it or not, this is the most economical way to get fuel to our program there, and keep service going to many self-sacrificing workers. Soon we hope we can send our first turbine-powered aircraft and begin the transition to an all-turbine fleet in Cameroon.
Since everyone has airline service around the world, jet fuel is plentiful and relatively cheap.

More Mountain Pics

Got a few more pictures of 8KQ in the mountains last week, thought I would share them with you.

Good Samaritan Kodiak

Wednesday I had the pleasure of helping out some friends with their new Kodiak - Samaritan's Purse took delivery of Serial No. 15 just last week, and needed help flying it from their aviation headquarters at Wilkes County Airport, NC to Smyrna, TN for avionics work. We brought it down to JAARS for a few hours for their mechanics to get some interaction with ours, and to compare notes. (Both airplanes pictured here in front of our hangar). Thursday we took the plane out to Smyrna where it is getting some additional electronic equipment.

008 Visits the Mountains

Last week was "Mountain Week" for our flight orientation staff and trainees. It is the culmination of three and a half months' specialized training in the Cessna 206 and Helio Courier, in preparation for field assignment. Host for the project is Avery County Airport near Spruce, Pine, NC. We joined the Training staff for two days with the Kodiak and let local people take rides in it. One side project on Saturday was checking out one of the mountain airstrips we use for training, Friendship airport, owned by the Jim Huff family. You can see the airstrip in the upper left part of this photo from the Kodiak turning on to final approach.

This beautiful little landing site, located just a few miles from Asheville, NC, sits on a hillside at between 6 and 8% slope, and is a mere 1,000 feet long (not including some useable over-runs). Mark and I took 8KQ into Friendship and shut down to spend a little time with the Huff family.

We then each did three landings and takeoffs before returning to Avery County. Just a few more lessons learned on what the Kodiak can handle, and what techniques work best in such a situation. Now this was starting to look something like what we will be seeing on the field in September! For a reminder, take a look at "What it's All About" on this blog.