Jungle Aviator

A Big Trip

2012-01-28T09:00:00.000+07:00

(flying float planes is FUN!)

As you're reading this, we should be on the first of five jet planes that will be taking us back to America. I will be attending a flight instructor seminar at our MAF HQ. Hopefully I can remember how to land an airplane with wheels! Stay tuned for pictures and news from the homeland...

From the Logbook...A Tight Fit

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000+07:00

Last week Jason and I both actually went to the same place and we were there at the same time. This isn't all that common at a small base like ours. It always makes things complicated too because there usually isn't enough room for two airplanes at the dock. I was flying MCB and it was a tight fit to dock it with my wing hanging only 12 inches above the little "waiting room" area. If a large wave came by, my wing would surely have impacted the roof. Due to this fact, I didn't stay around too long and quickly loaded my passengers and got out of there.

Another Chance

2012-01-23T09:00:00.000+07:00

Last week my colleague Jason went to a community upstream to pick up a sick baby. This 6 month old had been sick for while and continued to deteriorate. By bringing him to the local hospital he has another chance at getting healthy quicker.

Not a Bad Place to Work

2012-01-20T09:00:00.000+07:00

It's not uncommon to see any number of fish catching tools in use at our dock at any given time, night or day. All of our national staff grew up in interior villages and fishing is in their blood.

But it makes me laugh when I go to wash my hands at the sink and I am unable to because today's catch is floating in it. How many job environments can you get some fishing done while at the same time flying airplanes? There are some fun perks to working in an aquatic environment.

From the Logbook...Patient Flight

2012-01-19T09:00:00.000+07:00

Mid-last week we were called about the possibility of transporting a patient to the nearby coastal town of Banjarmasin, about 40 minutes away. Banjar is much larger than PalangkaRaya and supposedly the medical care is better.

This poor guy was already in the hospital in PalangkaRaya and then took a nasty fall, causing all kinds of new problems. He was too unstable to be taken overland, so air transport was really his only option.

Forty minutes after taking off we landed on one of the large rivers near Banjarmasin. On final approach you can see the Ocean and the river is big enough at that point that I can probably land and take off width-wise. But, despite the river's huge size, it throws at us a lot of challenges like tidal currents, river currents, strong wind, and a tough dock.

A Serene Night

2012-01-17T09:00:00.000+07:00

Due to my arrival just before sunset (see yesterdays post) I was at the office leaving my paper trail until after the sun went down. Being on or near the river at night is really peaceful. Usually we are done flying long before sunset but occasionally our days end up longer than planned. That's Aviation.

From the Logbook...Rain Delay

2012-01-16T09:00:00.000+07:00

Rainy season, it's a bittersweet relationship. It puts water in our "runways" but it can make it challenging to make it to all of our destinations in the course of the day. This was the view out of my window shortly after I landed about 40 minutes from home. The rain was coming down!

I didn't have much daylight to work with at that point, but worrying doesn't accomplish anything. So I made my way up to the dock and joined my passengers while drinking coffee and eating peanuts. Thankfully, the weather relented and I was able to take off and land in PalangkaRaya just before sunset.

From the Logbook...Tubang Senamang

2012-01-14T09:00:00.000+07:00

Continuing our exploratory flight as mentioned in the previous post, we continued to fly further upstream to our last village, Tubang Senamang. They were even more surprised to see us as they are a very isolated village and they rarely see any outsiders let alone two big white dudes in an airplane.

However, we were received favorably and it seemed that they were excited to know that we would love to help serve them and make their difficult living situation a little easier.

From the Logbook...Hiran

2012-01-13T09:00:00.000+07:00

Last week Jason and I topped off one of our C185's with fuel and left on an exploratory mission. Our purpose was to land at a few villages that we NEVER go to on a river system that we NEVER land on in order that we can look into the possibility of being able to serve them in the future. After we landed, all of the docks lining the river began to fill with people wondering what the airplane was doing in their village.

We finally found a "suitable" dock and had a small meeting with the community that met us there. We explained our reasons for visiting them and left information on how to contact us.

As we prepared to leave, the dock quickly swelled with people watching us get ready to take off. It was fun to see a new part of Central Borneo and learn about the needs there.

From the Logbook...Leaving Town

2012-01-12T09:00:00.000+07:00

As we depart the river in PalangkaRaya we see a number of things. One is the little settlement of homes seen above. Me and my family have driven through there and it was an experience. When the river is really high, most of the homes are under water. It was unlike anything I ever experienced driving through the settlement above.

On the edge of town, you can see one of the many gas stations in town. They almost ALWAYS have a line. Fuel, both unleaded and diesel, is hard to get in PalangkaRaya. The line above is only diesel. I'm assuming since there was no line for the unleaded pumps that they were already pumped dry. We waited an hour earlier this week to get gas in our MAF car. Things just take longer here in Central Borneo.

From the Logbook...Joyful Hearts

2012-01-11T09:00:00.000+07:00

One late afternoon last week I took an MAF employee and his whole family to their home village to spend the weekend there. As is typical is most villages, the children were easy to get a laugh from and they put a smile on my face. How can you not smile? Look at the kid in the red shirt. That's a funny face!

From the Logbook...A Tough Flight

2012-01-10T09:00:00.000+07:00

Just before my in-laws left to return to the USA, a flight came up that I could invite my mother-in-law as well. We were supposed to take a family back home. Just before we departed PalangkaRaya we received word that just 15 minutes flight time further upstream there was a patient who was burned. So, my mother-in-law would be able to see another stop with me...even better.

However, when we arrived in the patients village after dropping off our first passengers, I was informed that my burn patient was actually burn patents...3 of them. It turned out that a family of 4 experienced a home fire. Tragically their 8 month old died in the fire. Their 3 year old was burned over 90% of his body and you can see the mom in the picture above with severe burns on her whole right side.

The father is seen carrying his son above. The father was also badly burned on both legs from the knees down. My heart broke for this family as only hours before they were a happy family of four and now they were tragically a family of three. This particular patient flight really touched me deeply and it still does. Without the airplane these poor parents may have experienced even more tragedy that day. Now, their baby boy at least has a chance. My mother-in-law got to see a little more than she was anticipating that day. I was joyful she got to accompany me, but she got to see a very raw aspect of what we do. It's not always easy.

From the Logbook...A Special Passenger

2012-01-09T09:00:00.000+07:00

While my in-laws were here, I had the privilege of taking my father-in-law with me for a full day of flying. My father-in-law is also an accomplished fixed and rotor wing pilot as well as a brilliant aviation mechanic. I owe much of what I know to his mentoring and willingness to let me learn under his watch. It was a blessing to show him how his investment in me over the years is paying off with eternal dividends in the middle of Borneo. Thanks Ron!

A Unique Boat Ride

2012-01-08T08:03:00.001+07:00

Due to my lack of blogging activity one can assume that I have been really lazy or really busy. It has been the later. My beloved in-laws came and visited us for Christmas and New Years and we had a blast with them here. Now, I can show you a little bit of what we saw together while they were here.

One week ago, on New Years Day, we joined a small tour boat to go see wild orangutans living in their natural environment. It was really cool!

This particular group was enjoying their breakfast when we approached them from the river. They seemed to hardly care that they were being watched.

It was amazing seeing these ultra large mammals very high up in the trees. Watching them swing and sway effortlessly was a special thing to watch.

This orangutan was named Bobo. He was the dominant male and was very large. We all felt very privileged to see these animals in their native environment. There are only a few places left on Earth that you can see wild orangutans and we just happen to live about 15 miles from them. Very cool!

From the Logbook...My Wingman

2011-12-23T09:00:00.000+07:00

It's not often that the stars align just right that two of our airplanes actually meet in the same space and time without planning. Last week while I was heading home, Jason was also flying and we realized that we were withing a few miles of each other. With some coordination over the radio, we teamed up and flew formation the remainder of the one hour flight home.

What added to the cool effect was that Jason didn't have any passengers. Therefore, he could "have a little fun" with the airplane without scaring anyone.

Finally, it was my turn to follow the leader, and we remained in this configuration until we broke away from each other for landing in PalangkaRaya. Flying float planes is COOL!

Checking the Tail Feathers

2011-12-21T09:00:00.000+07:00

Every 1000 flight hours we pull the tails off of our aircraft to give them a good looking over. We started this inspection last week.

In about 1 hour we had the vertical stabilizer and the horizontal stabilizer along with the rudder and elevator off. The beauty of our older airplanes is the simplicity of their design the the ability to inspect them well.

With all the tail feathers off, MCB looks kinda funny. Hopefully within the course of a week or so, we will have her back together ready to fly for another 1000 hours trouble free.

From the Logbook...Choices, Choices

2011-12-19T09:00:00.000+07:00

One of the benefits of flying float planes are all of the potential landing sites. While the majority of our flights take us over solid jungle and swamp, some of our routes will follow a suitable landing river for miles, making the options for landing many; just in case they are needed.

From the Logbook...Joloi Pt. 2

2011-12-17T09:00:00.000+07:00

One of the challenges we face flying float planes is finding a place to "park." Many of the places we fly to are "easy" in terms of the landing but finding a suitable dock can really be hard. Often we'll tie up to anything from a dock, a log, a boat, or any combination of some secure floating items.

Above is a group of three pastors that I was transporting around the jungles of Central Kalimantan. Their stories are amazing, and their resolve to see the Gospel shared unto the ends of the Earth will challenge us all...they are studs!

From the Logbook...Joloi Pt. 1

2011-12-16T09:00:00.000+07:00

Last week I returned to the village of Joloi to transport a team of pastors further downstream. Due to the Christmas season, they have been on a "tour" of sorts helping with many of the interior churches and their Christmas church services.

It didn't take long until a group of kids gathered to watch all of the happenings at the dock I was tied up to. I had to abort my first landing attempt into Joloi because I noticed a bunch of little heads bobbing in the water right where I was going to touch down. It turned out to be this group of kids enjoying a mid-day swim. I'm glad I saw their heads at the last moment. Sometimes due to the light on the water of the river, objects are hard to see, whether it is logs, people, or something else.

From the Logbook...Overnight in Goha

2011-12-14T09:00:00.000+07:00

Due to my decision to pick up the patient referred to in the previous two posts, I was "running late" the remainder of the day. I calculated numerous times throughout the day that if I didn't have anymore hiccups I would still be home before sunset...and then I experienced a hiccup in the form of a large thunderstorm right over PalangkaRaya. Me and my fellow MAF teammates that I had picked up made it 40 miles from home, about a 15 minute flight. But, we prudently decided to land and seek shelter. Thankfully, the village we decided to land at had people living there that we knew. Shortly after we landed I also began to pour rain for the rest of the night.

After sleeping like a log on the hard floor, we woke up at 5am to find the airplane still where we left it (always a good thing) and prepared to have a breakfast of rice, noodles, and some fried eggs. The picture above is all of us plus our host at the breakfast table. Shortly after breakfast we flew the remaining 40 miles to PLR where I geared up to complete that day's flight schedule. Never a dull moment.

From the Logbook...Lawang Kama Pt. 2

2011-12-13T09:00:00.000+07:00

The patient I referred to in the previous post was in bad shape. I later learned that she was unable to deliver the baby's placenta 3 days before. Her body was already experiencing toxic shock and she looked almost dead to me. Without the airplane bringing her to a hospital in PalangkaRaya, her chances of survival were almost nil. It's a pleasure to be able to be here and help those that live a VERY tough life and are daily confronted by challenges that we as Westerners see as almost routine...like childbirth.

From the Logbook...Lawang Kama Pt. 1

2011-12-12T09:00:00.000+07:00

Last week before leaving PalangkaRaya I already had a long day planned; full of moving some pastor teams, picking up our own MAF team that ministered interior over the weekend, and a few other "general" passengers. However, before I even got to my first stop, I received a call over the radio informing me about a woman that had given birth 3 days before and was still having some real trouble. If I could pick her up, it would change everything else I would accomplish that day...sounded like a typical day as a missionary pilot.

After I reversed course and dropped off my passengers at another village, telling them I would be back in about 2.5 hours, I set a new course for the patients village. I was on the patients river about 45 minutes later. Since the airplane had only been in their village many years ago, most of the village turned out to see the unique floating airplane driven by a man equally unique. The above photo is a common sight to us here as Westerners. We are always getting our picture taken with cell phones, with or without permission. The woman above thought she was being sneaky until I turned my own camera on her and "busted" her attempt of photographic covertness.

From the Logbook...Storm Clouds

2011-12-10T09:00:00.000+07:00

This seems to be a common problem right now...nasty, black, and beautiful storm clouds. It's rainy season. I was making a mad dash to my destination very near the wall of advancing blackness to pick up 3 passengers that had already spent an extra night in the jungle due to bad weather. After 5 minutes on the water, we were airborne again, barely beating the bad weather which would have surely made all of us spend an extra night in the jungle.

From the Logbook...A Cool Breeze

2011-12-09T09:00:00.000+07:00

Last week while making a mad dash trying to beat bad weather I had a flight leg without passengers. One of my favorite things to do when no one else is with me is to open both windows.

Leaving the bad weather in my six, the cool air coming into the cabin at 120MPH is great! Especially after enduring 90+ degree weather at ground level coupled with 80% humidity. It makes a Colorado boy sweaty!

All those little white wisps are signs that rain had just passed through the area. After 25 minutes of cruising with the windows open, my internal body temperature had cooled down, ready to finish the days flight schedule.

The Snake Charming Pastor

2011-12-08T09:00:00.000+07:00

Last week I was able to take a 3 person team from our office, plus a local pastor to an interior village for 3 days and 2 nights in order to help with some interior Christmas church services. While waiting at our dock, we all spotted a snake crawl up into a parked car.

I found it hidden under the hood in a small nook of the engine. Pastor Wilson was braver than me and just reached in and grabbed it out. It turned out to be non-venomous but no one knew that until we looked at it's mouth. The comfort and ease that the locals handle potentially deadly wildlife is always amazing to me.

From the Logbook...Float Repair

2011-12-07T09:00:00.000+07:00

This past Saturday I had a long flight day because I couldn't fly due to poor weather on Friday. Well, all that poor weather included lots of rain, which raises river levels and also brings down lots of debris like wood...big wood!

Knowing I had a two hard encounters with some semi-submerged logs, I wanted to give the floats a good looking over when I got back. Sure enough, I was missing a protective keel strip. The strip did it's job well and sacrificed itself so the float would remain unharmed.

So, me and Abet, one of our VERY capable national workers, repaired the missing keel strip before heading home for the evening. With a mix of some super-duper glue mixed in a plastic cup, the keel strip went right into place, ready to take a beating on the rivers of Borneo.

Neighborhood Wedding

2011-12-06T09:00:00.000+07:00

A few weekends ago, true to Indonesian tradition, our family was invited to a wedding the following day for people we didn't even know. The groom is the son of our neighbor across the street and he made sure to invite the whole neighborhood. We went as a family but only Brooklyn and I made it through the whole thing. Weddings are VERY different here as compared to an American wedding, but then again, that's just par for the course here. Almost everything is different.

From the Logbook...Robyns Rock

2011-12-04T09:00:00.000+07:00

The majority of the area surrounding the town that I live in is FLAT...as in REALLY FLAT! However, about 80 miles north of here, in an area that we routinely fly, the terrain makes an abrupt change. Suddenly the flat swamp becomes transformed by rugged mountains, full of decaying limestone "fingers" like in the picture above. Because this particular rock lies on a route we often fly, it was always being generally referred to in conversation. In order to clarify those conversations, and to honor his wife so I'm told, my wing man Jason named it after his wife, Robyn. Now when we describe "that rock" we can attach a name to it...Robyn's Rock.

From the Logbook...Rain Delay 4

2011-12-03T09:00:00.000+07:00

When your life revolves around the river, when it comes time to install a new engine in the family station wagon, or canoe, you don't put on your greasy jeans or overalls. You strip down to your skivvies and wear only what is necessary because it will most likely be a greasy AND wet installation process. Just in case you are wondering, yes, the log-ladder in the background is as slippery as it looks. I have yet to fall going up and down them, but I have sure come close. I can't imagine doing it barefoot.

From the Logbook...Rain Delay 3

2011-12-02T09:00:00.000+07:00

I'm always amazed as some of the skills young children have interior. After my attempt to paddle a canoe unassisted a few weeks ago I realized how hard it is. This boy couldn't have been older than 10 or 11 years old and was just paddling away while it rained.

From the Logbook...Rain Delay 2

2011-12-01T09:00:00.000+07:00

While waiting for the weather to improve last week, it was fun to just watch interior life from the floats of my airplane. The man above is prepping his fishing net in order to throw it from his "porch" and see if he comes up with some dinner.

First he tried off of the back of the porch. After hauling his net in, it looked like he was unsuccessful.

After throwing his net from the back of his porch, he threw it off of the front. Once again, his net came up empty. Tough work!

From the Logbook...Rain Delay 1

2011-11-30T09:00:00.000+07:00

Last week I had a group of filmographers that wanted to go "way north" and film some of the most untouched, hard to get to places on Planet Earth. It even took us north of the Equator a few degrees. En-route, we encountered some unfavorable weather so I landed on a river and we waited an hour and a half for things to get better. I'm sure grateful for electricity and a washing machine after watching the above woman wash her laundry.

One of the distinct differences I have noticed in Indonesia as compared to our time in Latin America is the involvement of men of all ages in taking care of children. You are just as likely to see a man holding a baby as a woman here.

Patient

2011-11-29T09:00:00.000+07:00

Late last week we received a call to pick up a patient that interior medicine could do nothing more for. Our other pilot, Jason, picked him up.

We later found out that the man was potentially experiencing kidney failure from making his own moonshine. Sounds like it might have been a little too toxic and his body was shutting down due to homemade poison.

Canoe Traffic

2011-11-28T09:00:00.000+07:00

During the day, boats of all shapes and sizes are going by on the river in front our our airplane docks. This man above managed to wave without dropping his cigarette. Too bad a picture doesn't capture the volume of the engine noise, without a muffler, most boats are VERY loud. I imagine many people here have hearing loss due to life on their little canoes.

River Convoy

2011-11-27T09:00:00.000+07:00

While sitting in our MAF offices, you can see any number of floating vessels in all shapes and sizes on any given day passing by on the river. It's really interesting.

The guys in these pictures were involved in bringing down a bunch of lumber. There are so many different aspects of life here that I may never have a chance to understand deeper.

Hangar Kings

2011-11-26T09:00:00.000+07:00

From time to time, for various reason, we actually have both airplanes out of the water and on the hangar floor. They look pretty cool and it makes the little Cessna 185 look a lot bigger. I can even walk under the tail without hitting my head. Our floating hangar and airplane hoisting system are awesome. Flying float planes is awesome too!

From the Logbook...Complicated Childbirth

2011-11-24T09:00:00.000+07:00

One day last week, we received a late afternoon call asking if we could pick up a woman who had just delivered a baby but was unable to deliver the placenta. Toxic shock was due to set in and time was of the essence Thankfully, after a few small weather diversions, I was able to make it to her community and return her to PalangkaRaya to get to the hospital. Two days later we were informed that she was okay but now her newborn baby that she had left behind in the care of family was now in need of medical care. I returned to the same area except to a community further downstream. I quickly loaded the newborn baby and her caregivers and we soon made our way back to PalangkaRaya where they rushed the little baby to the hospital.

Bath Time

2011-11-23T09:00:00.000+07:00

When we aren't out flying, our national workers do a good job of keeping busy and this sometimes means cleaning the airplanes.

Due to their light weights, they can stand on the otherwise unreachable tail and give er' a good scrub. It also helped that light rain was also falling while they were washing, helping to rinse the suds away.

We are flying the two oldest airplanes in the MAF-US fleet. One with 22,000+ hours, and the other with 23,000+ hours. Despite the wear and tear that these airplanes have experienced over their long careers in Borneo, we do our best to still keep the looking and running nicely and they faithfully bring us home every day. The Cessna 185 is a great design and that is why they are still coveted in places like Borneo and Alaska. They are like Jeeps with wings.

From the Logbook...Goha and the Jumping Bean

2011-11-22T09:00:00.000+07:00

Last week I had the privilege of taking a national co-workers uncle and his family back to their home village of Goha. The uncle has become sick with something and couldn't make the overland trip. I climbed up on top of the airplane to snap this picture. It was a crazy docking situation and my feet ended up wet because once 4 or more people stood on the dock, it began to sink.

The man without as shirt and waving in the picture also gave me a new experience. While I tried to start my airplane in order to leave, he suddenly jumped from the dock onto my float and began to tie my pontoon ropes to my float steps. Due to the very challenging water and swirling eddies, I wasn't going to take him back to the dock. I quickly instructed him to leave my ropes alone and that he would have to jump from my airplane into the river and swim back to the dock. He didn't seem to mind and soon he jumped off and began swimming back to the dock. Life is definitively a box of chocolates when flying a float plane in Borneo, you truly never know what you're gunna get.

Palm Oil Plantation

2011-11-21T09:00:00.000+07:00

One of the main industries on the island of Kalimantan is the ever growing Palm Oil plantation (vegetable oil). The owners will clear the forest, burn it, and then plant the palm oil trees in order to harvest their fruit a few years later. The plantations are truly expansive and their smoke due to clear cutting can be repulsive, even stopping our flight ops like they did earlier this year. They do make for an interesting pattern on the ground though.

Canoe Trip

2011-11-20T09:00:00.000+07:00

While waiting for my passengers to complete their business, I saw a canoe tied up to the same dock as my airplane and asked if I could take it for a paddle. The owner quickly obliged, although he thought I was crazy since he didn't have his motor installed in it. Why would anyone want to paddle for fun?! The river current quickly took me downstream, and it took me a while to learn how to paddle the long canoe and I eventually fought my way upstream for about 30 minutes.

As I finally arrived on the side of my airplane I snapped a quick picture. I couldn't put the paddle down for too long because I was already going backwards.

On my way back downstream, trying to get back to my airplane before a torrent of rain began again, I took one more picture. It didn't take long to realize how hard it was to paddle a canoe against the current and why almost all canoes now have motors attached to them. Living interior is HARD! Once I arrived back at my airplane I laid down inside and took a nap. Nothing like a rain shower and the rocking waves to put you right to sleep. Shortly thereafter, my Javanese pastors arrived back at the airplane and we flew one hour back to PalangkaRaya. It sounds like their time was successful and we will potentially be seeing a lot more of each other as we, MAF, continue to serve the interior church.

Woman Black and White

2011-11-19T09:00:00.000+07:00

Just as with the older men, there were plenty of older women sitting around socializing. I'm sure most of their morning work was already done, and they were just catching up before finishing the rest of their chores. These women are tough and work really hard.

Men Black and White

2011-11-18T09:00:00.000+07:00

As I strolled through town, there were lots of older men just sitting on the front porch. All were very cordial towards me, and enjoyed seeing their picture on the back of my camera. I often feel like I am living in a different world and time when I visit the interior villages. Nothing seems to be moving very fast.

Black and White Kids

2011-11-17T09:00:00.000+07:00

Once again, kids at the border of their world, the front door. They rarely venture past it, unless accompanied by an adult or a friend.

This little tike was being held in by this home made rail. It helps to keep the babies in the house and the dogs out of the house.

Domestic Duties

2011-11-16T09:00:00.000+07:00

Life in third world countries is always a little harder than what we are used to compared to life in the USA. However, life interior is even harder. No body likes laundry, and no sooner was this put out to dry than it started to rain...HARD! I guess there is always tomorrow.

Most houses interior are built on stilts, ranging from a few feet off of the ground to over 10 feet. Most have a similar look to the house above. Depending on the income of the family you will also see windows, doors, and paint.

Flora

2011-11-15T09:00:00.000+07:00

One of the things I enjoy about walking around in a village or it's surrounding jungle are all of the pretty flowers you can see on any given day. I have to remind myself it is November. It feels like July.

Life Cycle

2011-11-14T09:00:00.000+07:00

I always feels sorry for all the little kids I see interior. They always look so bored. Many children seem to just lurk in the doorways of their houses as though there is an invisible barrier to venturing out any farther.

This girl was a little braver, and made it all the way out to the porch. She still had that mad/bored look about her.

I heard there was a young man that had died the day before. Sure enough, as I walked through Kunyi, his casket was being built. No sooner was it finished and his corpse put in it and he was taken to the cemetery to be buried. Just like in the Wild West. Usually in 24 hours or less, a corpse is buried. No such thing as a mortuary and embalming here.

Supporting the Church

2011-11-13T09:10:00.001+07:00

This past Friday I had the privilege of taking three Javanese pastors from the Assemblies of God to an interior village called Kunyi. Their purpose was to meet with the local pastor in Kunyi and talk about partnering to build a church together. While they met and toured the potential building sites, I also had a fun time walking around the village, paddling around in a canoe, eating at a village "diner" and taking a nap in my airplane. Over the next several days I'll show a little of what I saw through pictures. Stay tuned...

This is the current church building. It looked to be in an okay state to me, but I think they want to build something bigger in a new location. It's a good thing my passengers had a lot of "business" to conduct because those dark clouds in the background "let loose" about 45 minutes after I landed and kept me on the ground for almost 4 hours until they had rained themselves out.

A Favorite Passenger

2011-11-10T15:55:00.001+07:00

Yesterday since I had light loading, one of my favorite little people got to come along with me, Brooklyn. She seemed to have a good time, and said her favorite part was the takeoff...I have to agree (landings are pretty fun too!).

On the way home, she wouldn't stop talking. Asking me about all of my instruments and everything she saw out of the window made our 1 hour flight go by quickly. She was a joy to have along, and I look forward to showing the rest of my family where I "work" someday.

Poor Ogasto

2011-11-09T15:53:00.001+07:00

No sooner had I written a short post about how great our team of national employees are here in PalangkaRaya had 4 out of the 5 of them returned from a disastrous weekend. One has gout so bad he can barely walk. Another hit his hand so hard that it become too swollen to bend. Another's wife became so sick with apparent food poisoning that she spent the weekend in the ER. And last but not least, Ogasto, pictured above. He and his buddy were hunting monkeys in the jungle (yes to eat) and the last one he shot wouldn't fall from the tree. So, he scampered up there, some 30 feet, and tried to free the dead monkey and drop it to the ground. It turns out that the only one dropping to the ground was him. His friend said he was unconscious for a few minutes and then woke up. After only missing one day of work, Ogasto was back at the hangar, although he moved REALLY slow. I guess his left buttock is cut up as well, but I didn't care to see that, I just took his word for it. These dudes are tough!

MAF PalangkaRaya Team

2011-11-06T19:00:00.000+07:00

I have the privilege of serving in PalangkaRaya with a great group of men. All of us bring a different set of skills and assets to the team and when one is missing, we really feel it. Since I serve at a small base, it is critical to be surrounded by people that pull their weight, and contribute to the successful completion of flights, maintenance, and above all, showing the love of Jesus in all their everyday tasks. I look forward to serving with these guys as long as the Lord will allow it.

Proverbs 22:6

2011-11-05T19:32:00.000+07:00

"Train up a child in the way he (she) should go, and when he (she) is old, he (she) will not depart from it."

The propaganda has already begun, Paige thinks airplanes are "aasome" and she already runs outside to see the airplanes taking off and landing. Ah, a girl after my own heart!

From the Logbook...Another Ride Along

2011-10-25T15:16:00.001+07:00

After a long trip last week from Eastern Borneo to Central Borneo, I am gearing up to fly the floatplane again. Before I just jump in the airplane after having not flown for about 3 months I rode along yesterday as a passenger. The girls above kept jumping into the water as I tried to take their picture. It was pretty funny.

This is one of my favorite places, Naan. Quite, clean, and still full of virgin rain forest

Another shot of Naan. After a little practice, I should be on my own again this week serving the people with a floatplane. Should be fun!

MAF Tarakan pt.2

2011-10-21T15:11:00.000+07:00

A few more pics from my ride along a few days ago...

While getting "the tour" of MAF ops in Eastern Kalimantan we visited a number of airstrips that the MAF team serves. The airstrip pictured above is a "sporty" one with a maximum of 23% slope. It made for a thrilling takeoff!

One of the fun things about flying around in a wheel airplane again was seeing all the people. I still interact with plenty of people while flying float planes, but being able to walk around on the airstrip instead of being restricted to a river dock enabled me to see how some of the people in Eastern Kalimantan live a little better.

This weekend we will travel back to PalangkaRaya, Central Kalimantan. I look forward to getting back in the floatplane and serving the people of Central Kalimantan...plus all this language school stuff has made me groundsick...I NEED to go flying.

MAF Tarakan pt.1

2011-10-20T15:26:00.000+07:00

Last week we finished language school on the Indonesian island of Java and 2 days later we left for the island of Borneo, where we will be living. But, instead of flying directly to our home base in the city of PalangkaRaya we flew instead to another MAF base in the city of Tarakan, Eastern Borneo. We are here for a week to meet the rest of our MAF Kalimantan (Borneo) team and get familiar with how things are done here.

One of my days here I got to ride along with a long time MAF friend who is based in Tarakan. We spent the majority of the day flying all over Eastern Kalimantan in the hot rod Quest Kodiak pictured above. It is an impressive aircraft!

As with most anywhere MAF flies, children soon arrive at the airstrip shortly after we do. They are always a pleasure to joke around with and are almost always full of laughs and smiles.

Dirt Diver and Friends

2011-09-06T23:30:00.000+07:00

It's amazing watching our two oldest grow. They are great friends (usually) and they love to strut their independence and walk as far ahead as possible, all the while talking non-stop.

And then there is poor little runt sister, aka Dirt Diver. She is always trying to keep up and one day she will not only keep up but will presumably instill fear in her older sisters. She's not afraid of a thing and she has a quick 2 year old temper that will set you straight.

2011-09-04T23:30:00.000+07:00

Again, while exploring with the girls a few days ago, we came across this scene of a cute little church, lined with palm trees, rice paddy in front and mountains in the background. Central Java is really beautiful.

A Different Kind of Farm

2011-09-04T21:44:00.000+07:00

While exploring with the girls (see previous post) we found rice paddies in various stages of growth. The one above had certain sections all ready to harvest and others that were newly planted.

We have seen on numerous occasions now the above scene; a man herding a group of ducks while either running or riding a bike. It's a comical seen for someone like me that had never seen this before moving to Indonesia. All those webbed feet running for their lives looks really funny.

Exploring Partners

2011-09-03T21:40:00.000+07:00

Since we have all had the past week off from school due to a big national holiday, me and the two oldest set off together to find some pretty landscapes complete with swamps, rice paddies, and volcanoes. We had a good time exploring Central Java together.

Mt. Merbabu Evening

2011-09-02T21:36:00.000+07:00

A few days ago I drove to nearby Mt. Merbabu to get some evening photos. In my search of a new photo vantage point I found some small villages that likely have had few Westerners visit them. It was funny to watch all the people come out of the woodwork just to watch the foreigner drive through their village.

Sun Dry

2011-09-02T11:34:00.000+07:00

With dry season in full swing on the island of Java, on any given day you can see a number of things being dried in the sun like chilies, fish, rattan, and rice. Indonesians do like to put a spicy twist on most of their food dishes and the little peppers above will light you up if eaten plain.

Idul Fitri Celebrations

2011-08-31T19:33:00.000+07:00

Ramadan concluded today and because of the importance of Idul Fitri we have had the whole week off from school. One of the local traditions on the morning of Idul Fitri is to ignite homemade fireworks.

These homemade firecrackers are about the size of a roll of toilet paper and are filled with gunpowder. The young man above is using his cigarette to light the fuse on his firecracker.

When the homemade device explodes it is VERY loud, louder in fact than anything I have ever heard in the USA. Because they are made of paper, the street quickly becomes littered with paper shrapnel.

After all the fireworks are over, everyone walks home, having survived another year of loud, "hope you don't blow your hand off", entertainment.

Back in Java

2011-08-10T17:09:00.000+07:00

We arrived back on the island of Java this weekend and it feels like we are in a different country. The smells, the temperature, the topography, the twist on food dishes...it all seems so foreign...and so familiar. It was only 4 months ago that we left.

Becca and I went exploring today after we put the girls in school and found ourselves at a small lake. Lots of fishing and harvesting of marsh plants going on.

After some coaxing, I convinced Becca that we needed to pay a few dollars to use a local man's boat and paddle around the lake a little bit. We spend about 30 minutes looking like fools, but we had a great time.

Even the wife of my youth dawned a traditional hat to help keep the sun's rays off of her. Despite the nice sunshine, the overall temperature here is a LOT cooler than the middle of Borneo. It feels like Fall to us...it is great!

From the Logbook...A View from the Floats

2011-08-06T08:37:00.001+07:00

While waiting for my passengers to arrive earlier this week at an interior village, I took the time to just watch what was happening around me while I was tied up to the dock. This above shot is life on the other side of the river. The river provides many things here, food for the table, water to wash clothes, body and dishes with, and the foundation of their floating house.

Looking immediately to the rear of the airplane, there was another house with "normal" life unfolding before my lens. I have a hard time imagining what life is like to live on the river and never stop bobbing. It will be a few more months now until I get some more pictures from the airplane floats. This weekend we are returning to the island of Java to complete our language school curriculum. We should be back in PalangkaRaya mid-October. In the meantime, I'll keep my camera busy capturing life in Java until we return to Borneo.

From the Logbook...And the Winner is?

2011-08-05T13:29:00.000+07:00

On Wednesday of this week we didn't schedule any flights so we could have a party instead. Well, it wasn't really a party but a lot of people came to our location on PalangkaRaya. We had invited almost every pastor and ministry leader in and around town. About 50 people showed up. Our purpose was to simply remind them that we are here to help and serve the Church in any way we can. After we a short time together of worship and encouragement, we gave away a door prize...5 free seats on the airplane. The above photo are my five passengers that I was able to fly for about 15 minutes around PalangkaRaya. Four of them had never been on a small airplane. It was a good time.

When we returned, we all gathered together and got a group picture. It was a good time to bring so many denominations together and remember that we are all part of the same family.

A Few Sights from the River

2011-07-31T07:00:00.000+07:00

Occasionally when flying high over a river, you see this LONG "train" of sorts pulling hundreds of logs. As one of these "trains" came through PalangkaRaya the other day I stopped to get a picture while crossing the large bridge in town on my way home. In the top of the picture you see the engine of the train pulling the load down the river. The smaller boats are used to steer the logs and keep them in the middle of the river. There was one more large boat tied to the end of the train actually driving backwards from the rest of the train in order to keep the line of log taut.

Another thing we often see coming out of the heart of Borneo are these smaller boats pushing loads of pure rubber. They harvest it from rubber trees, make it into "bales" and them float it down river to be sold.

From the logbook...

2011-07-30T07:04:00.000+07:00

After flying over 4 hours in the middle of Borneo yesterday navigating low rivers, reverse currents, boaters, swimmers, logs, docks, and shooting 8 landings this is why we do it...for that one flight that makes all the others seem unimportant. The above patient was an 18 year old girl whom I was told had heart problems. Since we couldn't get an ambulance to come pick her up, she was driven to the hospital in the back or our MAF car accompanied by her mom and a nurse.

Since dry season seems to have taken up residence in Central Borneo at the moment, there are lots of big fires burning as farmers and loggers clear the land. Each evening the smoke settles back to earth like fog and makes for some interesting sunsets. This was the scene as I got on the Piglet ready to ride home after a long, satisfying day committing aviation.

From the Logbook...

2011-07-28T11:29:00.000+07:00

Flying float planes in fun!!! That's all I have to say.

From the Logbook...Treasure Chest

2011-07-26T20:50:00.000+07:00

For one of my flights today I was asked to take some money to an interior community so that the government workers could be paid. (see above picture with large, padlocked, metal box) I didn't think much of it. My passengers carried two large trunks with them and when I looked at the trunk weights I realized it was over 300 pounds of cold, hard cash. I speculated that it was a lot of money, thinking maybe around $150,000-200,000 US dollars. I was blown out of the water to later learn that I was carrying the equivalent of $1.8 million dollars! That's right...MILLION...$1.8 million. I am still blown away. WOW!

From the Logbook...A New Kind of Stuck

2011-07-23T20:08:00.002+07:00

Shortly after I awoke today (Saturday, my time) I was informed there was a patient that needed picked up about 20 minutes north of PalangkaRaya. Being that I am on call this weekend, I liked the idea of having a quick "out and back" flight while still helping someone that truly needed it.

I had never been to this village before and I was told to go two villages upstream from Goha, a village I do know the location of. That sounds easier than it was because I landed in the wrong village first. I knew it was the wrong village but I decided to stop for directions. As I slowly taxied in the middle of the river looking for a place to dock, my airplane slowly came to a stop. I had run aground on a sandbar left by gold miners. (see this post and this post for some other times when I got an airplane stuck) I thought I was in a deep part of the river because some people were swimming in front of me...and then they stood up...and then I stopped. So, I shut the engine off and had a nice chat with the community in the middle of the river. They told me the community I was looking for was one village downstream and then helped me push the airplane back into the deep part of the river. Shortly after taking off, I found the correct village and landed uneventfully. I'm glad I wore my shorts today!

I was happily received in the village and ended up waiting about 30 minutes while they prepped the patient to be brought to the airplane. These kids had just finished school for the day. School is Monday thru Saturday in Indonesia. Poor kids.

This is one of the women that was gathered around watching all the activity this morning. She couldn't speak Indonesian...only a local language called Dayak.

Another village woman seen just watching the sights. Having an airplane land in your village can be exciting.

I left "Charlie Brown" for a little bit while I went to see if I could help out at the patient's house. There wasn't much I could do but just chat with the villagers and wait for the patient to be brought to the airplane.

About 30 minutes after I arrived she was finally carried to the airplane. Supposedly she hadn't been able to eat in days and was complaining of her head really hurting. It really appeared she was in agony and I was grateful to be able to help her. Twenty minutes after taking off we landed in PalangkaRaya and she was driven straight to the hospital.

From the Logbook...A Time to Die

2011-07-19T13:20:00.000+07:00

People always ask me what we fly in our airplanes. Yesterday, I found myself flying two different men and their families back to their home villages so that the men could be home to die. Both were old and modern medicine had done all that is could on their limited incomes. It was time to accept the inevitable.

On any given day as a missionary pilot, you can see lots of grief, tears, heartache and sadness. These two flights were full of those. But, despite the sadness in the cockpit yesterday, I am grateful to be able to help these families face a tough situation from the comfort of their homes.

From the Logbook...Baptism

2011-07-15T18:43:00.000+07:00

Yesterday, I had the privilege of taking some pastors and their families back home to one of the most remote and isolated places we fly to, Naan. (see videos from this post) They were in PalangkaRaya last week for a church conference. Talking a little bit with the guys reveals how even they have culture shock when they come to the big city. Their community is literally on the equator and in the middle of nowhere. Some day I want to fly into their community and spend some time as a family with these dedicated men who are truly sacrificing for the Gospel.

Aviation is stooped in tradition and we do our best to keep that alive in MAF. Usually, after a pilot solos an airplane for the first time, he is surprised to find that upon returning from his first solo flight, a group of people is waiting to soak him with water. Usually this entails using buckets, hoses, water guns, etc. However, here in PalangkaRaya we have a whole river to use. So, yesterday after returning from my flight I was pushed into the river at an opportune time and baptized into the elite club of float plane pilots.

Since it didn't work out to baptize me on my actual day of solo flight, I thought I had dodged a bullet and wasn't going to be riding my scooter home wet. I later learned this was part of the plan so I would let my guard down and not take my attackers into the river with me. This was good planning on their part, because I would have taken them down with me had they attempted it only one day before. Good times, fun memories! (Becca has some more pictures on her blog)

From the Logbook...First Solo Ops Flight!

2011-07-14T10:12:00.000+07:00

After freshly receiving my permission to legally fly in Indonesia earlier this week, I have been busy doing just that. Yesterday, it happened that myself and our other PLR pilot actually ended up in the same community at the same time. I circled overhead while he floated his airplane downstream by hand so I could use the dock he is parked at in the picture above.

After a long day of flying interior, the storm clouds were trying to generate something other than bumpy air. Due to all the moisture in the air, I was greeted by a rainbow for almost 40 continuous miles while flying home. It is always cool to see rainbows from the air because they make a complete circle, not just an arc. However, I would need a different camera lens to capture the whole thing.

From the Logbook...Finally!

2011-07-12T12:16:00.004+07:00

(Children at the community of Miri waiting on the dock in front of 300 lbs of freshly delivered medicine.)

I am VERY happy to report that yesterday I finally "passed" a "test" and was issued an Indonesian float plane license. What that means is I can now fly the airplane legally by myself and start carrying passengers. I'm pumped!!!

From the Logbook...Red Tape

2011-06-24T16:01:00.000+07:00

The photo above is a diction of what we have been up to the last several days...not much. Our only other flying pilot has been laid out flat with some type of bacterial infection and hasn't been able to leave his house. I am still waiting for a checkride from a government examiner in order to get an Indonesian pilot's license and fly solo. So, our airplanes have been resting on the hangar floor until somebody is either healthy enough, or certified enough, to fly them.

I have been very busy with little projects and things around the hangar. There is always something to do. Please join us in prayer that some of the red tape that seems to be slowing down my licensing process can be removed soon and I can start flying as well as for the health of our other pilot here.

Hangar Happenings

2011-06-05T19:46:00.000+07:00

Life continues to be really busy due to the inspection of MCB (see post below). We have removed the floats and their attaching components, cleaned up lots of corrosion, replaced both landing gear brackets, etched and alodined all aluminum parts and applied lots of fresh paint. This type of major inspection happens every 1000 hours and poor ol' MCB has over 22,000 hours on her. She needed this inspection bad. This coming week we should be able to complete the inspection barring we don't find anything else that slows us down. This inspection has turned out to be heavier than we thought and we have called "all hands on deck" to assist. Thankfully we have great national employees. Due to the fact that our hands are so full with this inspection, we have cancelled all flights except emergencies in order to get it done.

I am still not flying due to some "new" laws here in Indonesia. It seems like my licensing reputation has followed me to Borneo. Long story short, within the next week or so I will travel to the other MAF base in Borneo so I can get certified first in a land plane, a Cessna 206; then I will return and take another test to fly the Cessna 185 floatplane. It looks like it will be the end of June now before all of this happens and I will be legal to fly solo in Indonesia.

We were visited by another MAF airplane last week; a Cessna 208 Caravan. Our 208 is based at the other location I will be visiting soon. One of our pilots from that base flew 400 nautical miles to pick up my instructor pilot and his family since they are moving there to take up a leadership role.

From the Logbook...Inspection Time

2011-05-26T18:00:00.004+07:00

After a short training flight yesterday, MCB (aka, Charlie Brown) was hoisted onto the hangar floor in order to begin a big landing gear inspection. In short order, we had the floats removed to give all landing gear components a very thorough looking over. If all goes well, we hope to be done with this big inspection in about a week and a half.

One of the fun things about working on a floating hangar is all the interesting things to see literally happening in front of us. This man was fishing the area around our hangar for a while and is seen here starting his little engine to work his way back upstream to try again some more.

From the Logbook...Doing Your Doodie

2011-05-25T19:59:00.001+07:00

(Disclamer: this post if a real world, life as a missionary bush pilot documentary about naturally occurring events. They don't teach you about this stuff in flight school.)

Because of the tropical heat I encounter here in Borneo, on an average flight day I will easily drink between 2 to 4 liters of water by the time the day is up, sometimes more. So, what goes in must come out. But, the WC's (bathrooms) we find on our docks leave a little to be desired by a 6 foot 3 inch tall Westerner. Above is a common WC, complete with removable door. At least it didn't smell bad!

If you find yourself having to do your doodie, this is the view out of the WC. And yes, everyone knows what you are "dooing." Thankfully, I haven't had to do this part yet.

But, after a nice visit to the WC, you will feel refreshed and ready to continue flying after you finish chatting with the guys on the dock that just saw/heard everything while you were doing your doodie. Ah, the joys of being a missionary bush pilot.

My Favorite Author on the MAF Blog

2011-05-18T09:03:00.000+07:00

Click here to see Rebecca's most recent post on the MAF Blog.

From the Logbook...Working on the Beach

2011-05-17T19:54:00.000+07:00

Yesterday, I was able to fly to Naan (see the videos in the previous post) and we were able to get in a lot of training. After numerous takeoffs and landings, I was able to spend about an hour and a half sitting and chatting with some folks that lived on the river bank. We were operating almost literally on the Equator and I found myself once again amazed trying to imagine the life that the people of Naan live compared to mine.

Thankfully I wasn't offered any dog while in Naan, but I was given a lesson on pig farming in the jungle. Like most piglets I've seen, these were very cute.

Today the training continued and we found a community that had an appropriate beach in order to practice "beaching," or running the airplane aground. Once again it offered a lot of new challenges and brought a lot of new considerations to my mind. Usually we use docks to load and offload people and their belongings. But on the rare occasion we will beach the aircraft if the location is suitable. Pretty Sweet!!!

From the Logbook...A Few Videos

2011-05-15T16:04:00.000+07:00

A few weeks ago I rode along with a fellow PalangkaRaya pilot and we landed at the community of Naan. This past Friday it was planned for me to fly in there with my instructor to get "checked out" into that "airstrip." But, due to poor weather we never made it. So tomorrow, Monday, we are planning to head to Naan to begin the checkout process there. Below are the takeoff and landing videos I made from a few weeks back to give you an idea of what some of the smaller rivers we fly to look like.

From the Logbook...Dog...It's What's for Lunch

2011-05-11T20:19:00.000+07:00

That's right. I succumbed to the peer pressure. I. Ate. Dog. Meat. No, it didn't taste like chicken. In fact, if I didn't know it was Man's Best Friend I probably would have eaten more. It was actually pretty good; or at least all the spices were tasty. But take heart, I don't plan on eating Fido anymore. In certain parts of Indonesia, dog meat is a common source of protein, and it is regularly eaten.

On a much lighter note, flight training seems to be progressing well. I continue to have a blast learning the new challenges associated with float flying on top of knocking off rust that has crept in from several months of not committing aviation. At the community pictured above a group of kids gathered to see all the action and as always they were entertaining and amused.

From the Logbook...

2011-05-04T20:19:00.000+07:00

It looks like at the end of this week I will resume my flight training in earnest. Since I haven't been busy in the cockpit, I have sure been busy doing other things while my instructor pilot attended some meetings. Early this morning, our shipping container arrived from language school. It was almost three weeks of living out of suitcases again for the umpteenth time. (Thanks to the Persenaire family for putting up with our large and loud family!) So, we are spending the night for the first time in our "new to us" house. We are stoked! I think I have one more day to get some water heaters installed (3), fix various things around the house, and anything else that will inevitably come up before I'm back in the cockpit enjoying the best that boating and aviation can dish out all in one package.

From the Logbook...Workin' Hard

2011-04-26T18:55:00.000+07:00

MAF is known for it's high standards and great safety record, especially considering where we take airplanes on a daily basis, landing every 8 minutes around the clock. But we do have a lot of fun too. The guys I will be working alongside are a lot of fun to be around, and everyone is usually up for a good laugh or two; VERY important to maintain your sanity in this lifestyle.

I will be "off" from flight training for the next week because my instructor pilot is going to Jakarta to attend some meetings. When he gets back, we will hit the training schedule hard again. Now we hope to get our future home up and running, and we're praying our container from Java will arrive at the end of the week.

From the Logbook...Preacher Flight Con't...

2011-04-23T21:36:00.002+07:00

In my last post I talked about some of the different animals I saw while in the village of Marokoi. The two German nurses there have many birds they keep as pets, including the horn bill in the photo above.

In addition to the horn bill and this red parrot, there were a few other birds that I couldn't get a decent picture of. All were very exotic and extremely colorful. As we taxied the airplane out preparing for departure, I saw what looked like a python, around 8-10 feet long, swimming across the river as well. The jungle is definitely very alive and active.

From the Logbook...Preacher Flight

2011-04-22T21:19:00.000+07:00

Today, Good Friday, I rode along as a passenger instead of as a POI (pilot under instruction). Technically, MAF was closed today due to the holiday but we still had one flight to fulfill. We flew into a village about 100 miles from PLR where two German nurses live and have ministered for over 30 years. We dropped off 3 board members of their organization so they could preach and participate in Easter festivities in the middle of Borneo. Despite the picturesque scene above, the approach and takeoff are very challenging. I look forward to the day when I have the experience to safely operate in and out of the village of Marikoi.

The village we visited was full of all kinds of Flora and Fauna that only a jungle can support. This big butterfly wouldn't stay still, thus the picture is a little fuzzy. In the next few days I'll post some more pictures of some of the other animals I saw during my short time in Marikoi.

From the Logbook...Training Continued...

2011-04-21T06:30:00.000+07:00

On Tuesday we got off to a slow start due to mechanical reasons and then a gusher of a thunderstorm. You would never know from looking at the clear skies above that just a few hours before the heavens opened up and let forth their power. We were able to accomplish some flying in the late afternoon however, which was a lot of fun.

Yesterday our objective was lots of takeoff and landing practice as well as emergency procedures. We were practicing an a VERY large river near PLR so when lunch time came around we just taxied to the middle of the river, shut off the engine, and floated lazily downstream for about 25 minutes while my instructor and I enjoyed our PB&J's while sitting on the float. Fun times!

From the Logbook...Training has Begun

2011-04-19T05:57:00.001+07:00

We arrived in PalangkaRaya over the weekend and today I dove right into training to fly the Cessna 185 float-plane. While I was being shown the specifics on how to preflight the aircraft, we found a severely worn water rudder cable. That was a "no go" item, so we postponed our planned flight and got out the toolboxes instead. The aircraft was already up on the hangar floor, out of the water, so it was ready to be fixed right away. I did learn one of the benefits of being such a big guy today. The cable we replaced passes from the rudder of the airplane, under the tail, then into the float which then turns the water rudders. Being that the cable and it's pulley are located in a teeny little spot inside the float, one of our national employees squeezed inside to help remove the cable and pulley.

Thankfully, we were able to install a new cable and after lunch we went flying. Today's lesson was just to get me warmed up in the airplane and work out some of the rust that has worked in over the last several months of not flying. Despite the evident rustiness, it was still a blast! Hopefully, I'll be up in the air again tomorrow morning.

An Update

2011-04-15T20:54:00.000+07:00

There is a reason that I haven't been able to keep friends and family updated here for the last month...life. I will try to sum up some of the main things that have happened in the last month(s).

After a lot of discussion, we were asked to leave language school early because my future flight instructor and his family in PalangkaRaya, Kalimantan will be moving to a different MAF base. Before he leaves, he has to check me out because he is the only float plane instructor on the island of Borneo.
We were still going to language school up until yesterday. I just finished unit 7 of 9. We still have two more units to finish the whole language school curriculum. We will return to Java later this year to wrap things up in language school.
We decided to buy a lot of our household furnishings here on the island of Java due to availability, quality, and price. After purchasing many things, going through the hoops of shipping them to Kalimantan has been a large task. I'm happy to report that it all left in a 20' shipping container this morning.
Tomorrow we leave for PLR and I should be back in the cockpit next week. As I'm able, I will be posting stories and pictures from our life and ministry in PLR. My camera misses me!

My Backyardigans part 2

2011-03-14T20:31:00.002+07:00

While the butterfly we found couldn't fly very well, it could still flutter a little bit. When it flew from Paige's arm to her hair, she decided quickly she wasn't so fond of the pretty butterfly.

The butterfly also made a little jaunt from Brooklyn's arm to her face. She was really brave with this and didn't freak out at all. I did have to remind to to breath though. She was a great sport.

My Backyardigans

2011-03-12T22:01:00.000+07:00

A few days ago while the girls were playing outside they found a butterfly that had just emerged from it's cocoon. Since it's wings we still drying it was having a hard time flying away, so we had fun with it and let it walk on the girls arms.

Brooklyn is always the most interested at this point with all things nature. She loves to understand the in's and out's of why things work and how they live. It is always a joy to explain to her what I know. Stay tuned for more pictures from our butterfly encounter...they are pretty funny.

Borobudur Part 2

2011-03-03T16:24:00.006+07:00

Here are a few of the thousands of chiseled stories carved onto the walls at Borodudur. Certainly they all tell a story or history that I don't know. I suppose we could have hired a tour guide, but that would have went over like a box of rocks with our 3 busy girls running all over the place.

It always makes me wonder what scenes like this would really look like if brought back to life today. I am ignorant to most of the ceremonies and rituals that occurred there hundreds of years ago. Maybe it is better that I don't know.

Supposedly the above carving is a princess on her way to give birth to the future prince of the area. Some of the pictures ironically showed things that we still see in one way or another on a daily basis; horse drawn carts, large gatherings paying homage to someone, or just monkeys, elephants, and other wild animals.

While we were at Borodudur there was a large group of Spaniards all gathered around this man. It was a bizarre thing to watch them all chanting something while bowing, dancing, and kneeling around him. I couldn't tell if this man was happy to be there or just annoyed. Borobudur holds a "Mecca like" importance to Buddhists and Hindus alike. Yearly they gather by the thousands, usually in May, to pray and celebrate together.

Borobudur Part 1

2011-03-01T19:26:00.000+07:00

Yesterday, Becca and I took the family to nearby Borobudur because Brooklyn had the day off from school. It was a great trip and it was a fascinating place. Trying to contemplate it's almost 1300 years of history was hard.

At the very top are numerous stupas, each with it's own Buddha idol in the middle. Knowing this complex was all made by hand over 1200 years ago without modern machinery and tooling was hard to fathom. Due to this fact it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Later this week I will post some more pictures from a closer scale showing some of the innate carvings that line most of the walls at the temple site.

An Arachnid Viewing...

2011-02-20T20:00:00.005+07:00

Last week I headed out with the girls to see what there was to see...and mostly just get them out of the house before mommy blew a fuse. (4-6pm seems to bring the worst out in our girls) The above spider looks and moves a lot like a crab. It is about the size of small paper clip.

This isn't the best picture because my shooting light was fading. But, it still shows a very bizarre specimen of spider; about the size of a half dollar coin.

I wonder if the spider above and the spider below are a similar species, or perhaps male and female of the same species. The had very similar shapes, yet very different colorations. They are about as big as a man's hand.

You might think that I like spiders since I posted a few pictures. This couldn't be farther from the truth. They give me the willies, and I don't particularly like them. However, I am always astonished at how our Maker put so much detail and purpose into something so small.

The Guitar

2011-02-19T20:00:00.002+07:00

I have seen that most males in Indonesia can play the guitar. Upon asking our teachers about this, they said that it is an unspoken rule of sorts that all men are expected to try to learn to play guitar. Even if you don't like it or possess any talent, you can say you tried. Because most males try to play the guitar, many are very good at it. It isn't uncommon the walk down the street to hear some youth trying to pick his way through a rhythm from one of the latest songs from America.

Bath Time

2011-02-18T20:00:00.002+07:00

Most Indonesians take two baths a day. The first one in the morning at about 4:30am and a second around twelve hours later. How they keep their kids clean after their second bath when there is still daylight is a mystery to me, yet their kids stay clean. Most do NOT have hot water, and even in the tropics a cold bath is still very much cold. This little girl was bathing in her front yard, for all that passed by on the street to see.

The Squat

2011-02-17T20:00:00.002+07:00

You are not a real Indonesian unless you can squat on your haunches for hours at a time. I can't even bend one of my knees that far due to a knee surgery from high school. The last time the heals of my feet touched my butt was 15 years ago. Both men and women alike, young and old, can sit like this forever. They talk like this, work like this, eat like this, and a few other things as well.

To Smoke Or Not To Smoke

2011-02-16T20:00:00.001+07:00

An interesting subject here on the island of Java is the local mindset in regards to smoking. Women DO NOT smoke, unless they are willing to endure enormous social ridicule. I have seen ZERO women smoking here. Men on the other hand is a totally different story. Most high school boys I see are already addicted to the tobacco/clove cigarettes. The one benefit to having cloves mixed with the tobacco is it releases a slightly more pleasant smell than just tobacco alone. I know very few men who are non-smokers. The rest are hopelessly addicted to the stuff.

Watching Life Pass By

2011-02-15T20:00:00.002+07:00

On an afternoon walk through the neighborhood, you will find many people out on their porches watching life walk or drive by. Most are VERY cordial and happy to chat for a while.

Just Around the Corner

2011-02-14T20:00:00.001+07:00

Just around the corner from our house you will see this one, and many others just like it. It is almost as though the neighborhood grew around them and their farms of yesteryear. As we learn the dynamics of the different families in our neighborhood, it is interesting to learn that usually the "founding fathers" live in the old, wooden homes while their children live right next door in nicer, newer, brick or concrete homes. The home above presumably has dirt floors and a fire pit in the middle of the house for cooking. There is no chimney either...the smoke just wafts up through the ceiling and through the tile roof. They say it helps keep the bugs down.