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We made it home! Thank you so much for your support and prayers. Please feel free to send us an email with any questions if you would like. As for now, it is back to work and school. To follow along on my continued flight training, visit the other blog at www.pilotsprogress.blogspot.com.

Folopa Video

Islander landing Mt. Tawa video

This is a short quicktime video of the islander landing at Mt. Tawa for the Folopa dedication.

Over Japan on the way home

Ukarumpa to Moresby

Goodbye

Most of the Aviation staff showed up to wave goodbye. It was sad to leave.

on board

After all of the goodbyes we were loaded up in the Islander for the flight to Port Moresby.

Kite

As we were packing up to leave, we took a short break to go for a walk and have one last look at Ukarumpa. On our walk we saw more of these amazing kites. They were neat birds and it was amazing to see them soaring around the center.

Rain

This picture captured the rain pretty well. It was pretty wet before we left so we were happy that it dried up enough for us to make it out.

Orange

It's an Orange only green. Just one of the many things that are backwards in PNG. (I suppose that the opposite of orange would be blue)

Campbells

We can not thank the Campbell family enough. They held a big goodbye party for us and many of the friends we had made during our stay came out to bid us farewell. Craig and Stephanie were so hospitable and made us feel right at home in Ukarumpa.

Speaking

The day before we left I had the opportunity to speak to the Junior high and High school group Soul Purpose. They were a very gracious audience and I wish that I had more time to get to know them.

Into the wild blue yonder

Then the Caribou sailed into the wild blue yonder. Which reminded me of how short our time is here. Tomorrow, we start our final week here in PNG before we too depart. We have a very busy week and I am sure that it will go by to quickly. We will keep you posted on the final days and thank you in advance for your interest and support for our time here.

Caribou

Nothing like the sound of those two big radials roaring past you.

Caribou

We had the distinct honour of hosting the Australian military at our airstrip last week. They rode in on a Caribou. Which for those of you that don't know, bares any resemblance to any hoved animal. It is a large ugly airplane, that looks a little better in camo. However, it's takeoff and landing performance is superb. It can land most anywhere a Cessna 206 can while hauling at least 5 times the payload. The Aussies come by to practice landing in small jungle stips offten in PNG. We enjoyed a short chat and watching their airplane perform.

The Next Level

The upper level barrels get special treatment and get to skip the second drop and the mud bath. They get to do a high wire act as they are rolled along a couple boards precariously not fastened to the edge of the truck and into the container. This would all be hard work and mundane if they were filled with say, milk. It just seemed so much more exciting with the explosive warnings on each drum. Nevertheless, 80 some drums later, we finished just in time for a coke back in the hangar. Don't tell OSHA. :)

Rollin rollin rollin

Over the bumps and through the mud, we made our way to the container. Once inside, they are packed in tight. The ground level ones are usually pretty muddy by the time they get inside. But they are a little easier to work with than the second level bunch.

Next up...

Then you make the plummet to the ground. With another strategically placed tire and just the right amount of roll off the truck, it makes a nice landing on terra firma without too many dents or punctures. You learn to put a lot of trust in whoever made than drum. When you have recovered from your cringe, you grab onto it and start rolling.

Unloading

After the truck backs into position, you take the top drums down and cushion the blow onto the truck bed with a few strategically placed tires. You sort of cringe the first few times as this fifty gallon drum of explosives crashes onto the bed of a truck holding 80 other explosive drums. That's over 4000 gallons of explosive stuff you standing next to. It was intense.

Fuel Truck

It was another exciting day at work. The fuel truck arrived delivering our highland supply of avgas and jet fuel up from the coast. After it arrives we unload the truck into containers and store it until it can be distributed to various airfields around the country our pumped into the plans here. It was an exciting and labor intensive task to say the least. They just don't prepare you for this kind of OSHA approved technique back home. Here is the play by play.