From the Logbook...Maintenance

Yesterday was a different sort of day, as we had to stop operations and perform maintenance on the aircraft. Our "fleet" here in Mexico is only 2 airplanes. One is currently un-airworthy due to a paperwork issue. The aircraft itself is totally safe, but legally it's yearly paperwork isn't is order, therefore we aren't permitted to fly it until everything is resolved. We have done everything on our side of things, we are just waiting for a third party service to get their act together so we can get our airplane in the air again.

Therefore, our other aircraft has been taking the brunt of all the flight operations, and it was due a 50 hour inspection, or a very thorough oil change. To do this, we flew ten minutes to our old base in Mitla where we have a hangar and maintenance facilities. We were there the better part of a day taking care of various tasks. I have to say it will be fun to be involved in maintenance more here than I was used to previously.

Some of the other things I was involved in yesterday have to do with the motorcycle pictured above. It belongs to our mechanic, and he offered to let me ride it. Yeah baby! Just in front of the hangar is our very own dirt strip, which I turned into a race track. The little Honda 250 got along pretty good. In fact, maybe a little to well. While honing my donut making skills at the end of the airstrip, I gassed it a little to much and out she went. The bike went flying away, and I was left sitting on my blessed assurance, laughing and without a drop of pride. When I picked up the bike, I realized I had broken the clutch handle, and bent a few things on the left side. Nothing a little $ and torque cannot fix, it just would have been better it it was my bike, not a friends.

From the Logbook...La Maná

I am still continuing with my checkout into the mountain airstrips here in Oaxaca. It is as much fun as it is a challenge. Since my first flight, I have had to laugh with the change in cargo we have here in Mexico as compared to Ecuador. Whereas I hauled countless bananas and plantains in Ecuador, here the norm seems to be tortillas. It doesn't take long to see that the Mexicans are crazy about their tortillas. They come in all shapes and sizes, and in both corn and flour. A meal is not a meal with out tortillas.


On a licensing note, it looks like I still have some things to do. At the moment I am scheduled to go back to Mexico City the first part of May to to an altitude chamber test. I actually look forward to it, I just wish we had known about it a month ago so I could have already had my appointment. Also, I may have to take a check ride with an aviation authority here in Oaxaca. It shouldn't prove to hard, but nonetheless it is another step in the bureaucracy. I feel like they are inventing rules for me know, which isn't unexpected, just unnecessary.

From the Logbook...A Few Days in Pictures

Today we had a few flights, although I just went on one due to space available. It was an emergency flight back into Amoltepec to pick up an assortment of injured people. One lady had removed a bullet from her leg (I didn't ask), and another guy was knocked unconscious due to a rollover car accident. When we arrived the Red Cross was waiting and quickly took the patients to the hospital.

While shooting landings into Amoltepec yesterday (see below) we were advised of an emergency in a nearby village called La Laguna to pick up a woman having trouble during labor. WOW! I don't think my eyes have ever been so wide during a landing in my life. You land on a flat spot the size of a dime, and then the strip goes down sharply, levels for just a bit, and then goes right back up. It will keep you on your toes.

Yesterday we went back to Amoltepec. This is one of the three airstrips that I am working towards being checked out to fly into solo. It is a technical airstrip with 13% average slope and just under 1000ft. of length, but we go in there almost once a day. As I have stated before, slope is hard to see in pictures, but I could sure feel it as I walked back up to the plane.

On a licensing note, everything has been submitted to the aviation authority here in Mexico. We were told today that it would be 5 days until my license was issued. We'll see. Keep praying with us.

Overlook

While driving to and from the airport, Becca and I noticed a huge white cross on one of the nearby hills of Oaxaca. Curious like usuall, we drove around for a while until we figured out how to get there a few weeks ago. Since then, we have made it a habit to go up there about once a week and to enjoy the solace and the beauty of overlooking the city. Last night was the first time we had made it up for a sunset, and it didn't disappoint.

El Convento Pt.II

We made it to another destination yesterday, revisiting the Convent that we stumbled upon last Sunday. What a neat experience. It really made us feel like we were in the movie "Zorro" or something along those lines. We have had a hard time trying to dig up any info about the Convent. Click here to see what we found on Wiki. Le us know if you find anything else. I have been posting a lot of pictures from the site over at Flickr.

Tule Tree

As usual, we were off driving to see what there is here in the Oaxaca area. One of the places we went to this morning was the famous Tule Tree. Impressive is definitely an understatement. Click on this link to read more about it on Wiki.

What is This?

Anybody know what this plant is and what they make out of it? Make a comment and let's see who knows!

Close But No Cigar

Another one of my pictures made it to AvWeb's weekly contest again. I still haven't won the picture of the week, so I will keep submitting until they get sick of me. Click here if you are interested in seeing this weeks winners.

From the Logbook...Sierra Checkout

Yesterday I began my checkout into some of the mountain airstrips we have here. WOW! Things are a lot different here than in Ecuador. To compare the type of flying that happens here compared to what I was used to in Ecuador would be close to apples and oranges. That said, these airstrips are a lot more challenging than a typical day back in the jungle. We only have one airstrip that is a two way strip, one in which you can land and take off both ways. Even then, the conditions have to be just about perfect for it to be usable both ways. The rest are only one way in and one way out.

After running some errands this morning in regards to my pilot's license, I went to the airport to make another training flight to some more airstrips. Needless to say, I am all sweaty and worn out when we finally get back to Oaxaca.

This is a picture of Barranca Honda. It is one of our more challenging strips, and one that is at the bottom of the list for me to solo into because of it's difficulty. As with all 2 dimensional pictures trying to depict a 3 dimensional world, this picture doesn't do Barranca Honda justice. It is extremely steep, thus we have to park the airplane sideways for fear that it will start rolling downhill while we are out and about. Between the wind, weather, and slope of the strips here, I have my work cut out for me for a while until I gain experience.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Upon arriving here in Oaxaca, we were told that it could take 4 months minimum to get a phone line put in our house. With that in mind, we went and got cell phones thinking it might be a long time until we have "conventional" communication. Well...guess what? We now have a working phone line on our home. A friend from church, who works for the phone company told us this past Saturday that he could install a phone line some afternoon if we went to the main office and talked to another friend from church. I jumped on this offer!

Monday morning I went to the phone office, paid for the install, and Tuesday afternoon we have a phone line! WOW! I have NEVER had such service! We are continually blown away by the kindness of friends, and the service of strangers here. We decided that we are having culture shock simply from the kindness of the Mexicans. We aren't used to people going out of their way to get to know us, help us, and even just talk to us.

Previously whenever someone has wanted to offer us something, our internal flags went off wondering what they might really want. Usually it was money. But this is not the case that we have encountered here. Granted, I know there are times that we have been charged more or taken advantage of here in Mexico simply because of the color of my skin or the origin of my passport. But this is not the norm. The warmness and openheartedness of the Mexicans is really blowing us away!

From the Logbook...Left Seat

The last time I flew an aircraft was the first day of March. Yesterday I had my first flight in which I was the one flying. Granted, it was just a local flight to work through some maneuvers, stalls, and a few landings but I think it went well overall. Even after just a month and a half, there is some rust creaping in to some of the finer points of my flying, but that should be knocked off soon. Regardless of the reason for yesterday's flight, it was FUN! That is what it is supposed to be...right? Hopefully as my training flights progress we will actually start working into the airstrips in the Sierra on the road to letting my fly solo.

On a licensing note...I still don't have it. Things are still getting closer and I should have everything they are asking me for submitted today. Then it may just be a waiting game. Best case scenario would be that I have my license next week. Pray with us about that. As far as visas go...same deal. Everything is submitted to immigration, we are just waiting now.

Overall, things have gone really well in our setup here in Mexico. In fact, because we have accomplished so much here at home, at "work," and all other areas of our life, it feels like we have been here a LOT longer than 3.5 weeks. This is simply a praise to God! He has accomplished more than we ever could have with our best efforts, just as we have been praying. PTL!

Sunday Driving

One of Becca and my favorite things to do is take drives. Through our marriage, we have found some very neat places, and made some great memories doing this. Now that we have so much daylight in the eavenings, we set out around dinner time to explore some roads we had been talking about. Most of them proved to be fruitless, but we did make it to an old convent from the 1500's. I still don't know enough of the story, but supposedly it was begun with high hopes, but never finished. With the scaffolding in the front, it makes me wonder what they are up to. Our little ones were becoming quite fussy when we finally found this place, so we didn't linger to take a lot of pictures or walk around. We will have to come back some other day.

From the logbook...Teachers and Fires

There was a lot of flying going on today. I am still in the observation stage for a few more flights, so that means I am still in the right seat. My first flight was picking up teachers and a doctor from the Sierra. Our flight profiles here are very similar to that of Ecuador, meaning that we fly about 30 minutes out from Oaxaca, fly a few very short legs to all the nearby airstrips, and then return home.

My second flight was hauling around a few guys from the Mexican Forest Service. In the past we have done a lot of flying for them, and it looks like that will continue. They called us this morning wondering if we could take them to verify a forest fire report.

Here we are circling the fire. It was a small one, and it was mostly just burning the underbrush. While flying in the area, the smell of the smoke in the cockpit reminded me of an old mountain cabin with a wood stove. We have had some recent afternoon thundershowers, which is probably what started this fire yesterday due to it's lightning.

A lot of the views from the cockpit remind me of flights over Northern Arizona or western New Mexico. The only difference is the amount of communities. There seems to be a numerous amount of pueblos in these very isolated mountains, which is one of the reasons we are here. If the mountainside isn't populated with little towns, it is usually covered with Ponderosa Pine. The mountains here are very beautiful.

Crazy Enough to Fly

Yesterday, I was able to get my flight physical done after 6 hours of tests. It entailed the typical stuff; blood and urine work, psychoanalysis, general exam, eyes and hearing, etc. It is a huge praise that I was able to get it done, because I didn't have an appointment. Because we are strapped for time in trying to get me licensed, we were told the quickest way to get in would be to come first thing in the morning, and wait to see if someone didn't show up for their appointment. Sure enough, someone didn't show up, and they put me in. Otherwise it would have been the first of May. So, being able to get my exam done, on my first attempt, is a huge praise.

Today much of the day was spent hustling paperwork. I sent my medical work to Mexico City, talked with the lawyer a bit about our visas, and caught up on general bookkeeping items. Hopefully I will be in the cockpit soon. Keep praying with us...

Electroencefolowhat?

This past Friday...after getting lost for a bit, I began the process of obtaining my flight physical. It sounds like I will be able to get all of it done here in Oaxaca. Once I finally found the doctor's office, I began the 30 minute test for the electroencefolografia (say that 5 times fast with a Spanish accent!). For those who don't know what this is...it is a brain wave test. Imagine the pictures of people you have seen with numerous wires stuck to their head as they lay down and a doctor prints out page after page of results. After the doctor was done, he seemed pleased and determined that I am sufficiently crazy to want to fly small airplanes.

Next, I walked about 3 blocks to a small hospital to take a chest X-ray. This was basically a non-event, except they had to do it three times. The first time, they didn't adjust the image big enough. In their words, I had "stinkin' huge lungs." The second time they still didn't make it big enough, and the third time was the charm.

This morning I am hoping to complete the whole process. Soon I will be out the door to get the remainder of my tests done at the local transportation authority.

Also, it appears that all of our visa paperwork has been completed and submitted to immigration. Join us in prayer that those involved with approvals, stamps, signatures, etc., will push us on through quickly. We'll keep you updated.

Las Ruinas

This past Saturday we went to the town of Mitla, some 30 miles from Oaxaca. Mitla is where we have our maintenance hangar, but it is also an important town because of it's Mixtec ruins. We had a great time exploring the grounds. As with most things of this nature, we continually found ourselves amazed that actual people built these structures, and a long time ago with "primitive" technology.

Here is the main ball court of the ruins. Up the steps and through the entryways on the platform lead to what was the rulers mansion. The intricacy of the designs is stunning. Even some of the red plaster is still intact. In the background, you can just see the red domes of the Catholic church.
Like with most things reminiscent of the Spanish Conquest, this church is actually built on top of some of the ruins. A sort of king of the hill, except with religions I guess. Soon I will update my Flickr album with more pictures.

We're Not In the Jungle Anymore Pedro

While driving to Mitla today, I was very impressed by the numerous types of cactus on the side of the road. I bet I saw at least 15 different types, some huge and probably thirty feet tall. I will no doubt be taking some pictures of the surrounding countryside as time allows.

Much of the day I spent working on things for my Mexican Pilot's License. Right now, I am working on things for my medical exam. Hopefully next week I will have my medical done, and then, supposedly, things will happen faster to finalize my actual license. Keep joining us in prayer for the paperwork processes of licenses and visas. It's kinda like fun...only different...and in Spanish.

Burrito

A very typical and stereotypical Mexican sight in and around Oaxaca are the numerous burros...or donkeys.

Road Trip

Today one of the things I did was travel (by car) the 40 minutes east to the town of Mitla. In Mitla we have our maintenance hangar and a property with two homes on it. In years past, we operated out of Mitla exclusively. Due to Mexico's crackdown on the drug trade, we were made to operate out of the international airport of Oaxaca, so that the Ivory Tower could keep a better eye on all of the small plane operations going into and out of the very remote mountain areas.

The plane landing above is actually one of our pilots flying an airplane of his friend. It is having some minor maintenance done for him, before heading back to it's homebase of Oaxaca. I was driving the truck to come and pick him up.

From the logbook...First Flight!

Well...kind of. Yesterday afternoon I was able to go on an "observation" flight. Within the MAF world, whether rookie pilot or veteran, when starting on a new flight program, there is always a time of observation. This is so you can see the communication procedures, the routes, the airstrips, etc, etc. I assume that we will make a few more of these with me before they start letting me take control of the aircraft.

In a very untypical move yesterday, I left my camera at home, so I didn't get any pictures of my flight. Suffice it to say that it is a lot different from the lush green jungles of Ecuador. At the moment, March-April are the hottest and driest months here in Oaxaca. Therefore, we flew over a lot of arid farmland, accompanied by ponderosa pine covered mountains. There is a lot more turbulence here due to thermal heating and wind as well.

In the morning, I ran errands trying to get our visa process started. Sounds a lot simpler than it was in Ecuador, but only time will tell. We still have numerous paperwork issues to work on for which we would still appreciate your prayers.