Back in the saddle

Greetings once again from the hot and humid jungles of Peru. Since being back over the last three weeks I have been flying quite a bit. After a brief few days in Lima getting my pilot license squared away, I was able to do some recurrency training in the SAMAIR floatplane. The following week I already had three flights.
One of the flights was the pick up two missionaries that were preparing for a visit by a medical team in late September. Since there was extra room on the flight, I took along another SAM missionary who works in Pucallpa. He was surprised at how smooth the air was and at how cool and refeshing it was up at 6500 feet. 65 degrees and 140 miles per hour for one hour sure is nice compared to 95 degrees at 15 miles per hour for a whole day in a small boat!


Special thanks to Tim for the use of his pictures.

Oshkosh

One of the highlights of this past summer for me was the annual EAA (Experimental Aviation Association) fly-in and airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconson. When I am in the states, I usually try to go and the last few times have spent the whole week there. For an airplane nut there is plenty to see and do.

I had the chance to go to some aviation forums and learn about different topics that ranged from GPS units to fabric covering of airplanes. Some of my favorite things were walking the grounds talking with all the vendors, looking at airplanes, and sitting on the edge of a runway with my dad watching airplanes takeoff and land.

When I am in Peru, where there are only 50 airplanes in the whole country, I think about Oshkosh and how for one week every year over 10,000 airplanes are on location at Oshkosh. I think the only bad part of the whole week is that it ends all to quickly. But, there is always next year!

P.S. Sorry Uncle Mike, I will try better next time in my T-shirt selection.

Podcast

When I am down in Peru, riding the tractor cutting our grass runway, I usually listen to some Podcasts. For those of you who are not familiar, a Podcast is an audio program that can be downloaded from the internet or through other pod catchers such as iTunes. Anyways, I thought I would share some of the podcasts that I listen to from time to time. The first is my favorite. It is called Uncontrolled Airspace, and is about aviation. I also listen to Airspeed, Airplane Geeks, and The Pilot Flight Podlog. As you can guess, all of these are also about aviation.

However, I and a little more cultured than that so I also listen to, High Speed Stuff, 60 Minutes, This American Life, Truth For Life, Car Talk, and NPR's Technology Podcast. This is a great way to pass long hours on the tractor and keeps me reasonably up to date with things that are happening back in the USA.

If you find yourself with time to listen while you work, try some of these Podcast. You might enjoy them just like I do.

Finding Money

Today I became 20 dollars richer! Well, I guess I was already that rich but I just did not know where the money was... Two years ago, when I first left for Peru, I had a fair amount of clothing, namely long pants and coats, that I left in Michigan. I knew I would not need any of that in Peru as where I live and fly, it is always hot and humid! This morning when I was getting ready for Church I found a 20 dollar bill in my pant pocket. I also found a note that I had writting to myself over two years ago!
Later on in the afternoon, I put on some shorts that I brought with me from Peru, and I found 20 soles (Peruvian money) in the front pocket of those as well! Not really sure what I am going to do with that for the next few months, but I did think about trying on the rest of my cloths to see what other "economic stimulus" I could find. Now if I could just figure out who took in the waist on all my pants that I left here two years ago...

Trip to California

This past week I took an 8 day trip to California to see some friends and supporters. I was in the Los Angeles basin for 5 days and spend the rest of my time in San Diego.

Two of my friends are fellow pilots and I was able to visit both of them and see that type of flying that they do day to day. One friend works as a pilot and mechanic for a company that sprays for fruit flies. Since fruit flies can damage crops, my friends job is to fly over the LA basin "spraying" sterile fruit flies that have been exposed to radiation. When the sterile flies mate with the normal flies, the result is no offspring and a decreased fruit fly population. I thought it was a pretty neat to see how aviation was used to do a needed task.

My other friend is a flight instructor and flies everything from small single engine airplanes, up to helicopters! I had the opportunity to fly with him in a helicopter and he even let me try my hand at flying! Although some things are similar to airplanes, it was still very challenging although I was able to manage a drunken looking ten foot hover all by myself. A third friend, living is San Diego, has know me since first grade! Needless to say, there was plenty of reminiscing. I also showed everyone pictures of video of my work in Peru with SAM AIR.

Other highlights included flying to Catalina Island for lunch, going to an Air Force Museum, watching the Red Bull Air Races, and of course spending lots of time getting caught up on over two years worth of experiences. Overall, I enjoyed my time very much and better understand why so many people live in Southern California. There certainly is much to do an see.

Legal!

I received an e-mail from our secretary at SAMAIR in Peru and she told me that I am legal to fly in Peru again! That is a big answer to prayer and I am very thankful for all of you who were praying about.

Looks like the Peruvian Aviation Authorities (DGAC) will not be fining me for flying with an illegal certificate. Thankfully SAMAIR has a very good relationship with the DGAC. Once return to Peru I will have to present some more paper work that documents any flying that I have done here in the USA, but I have learned that papers are something all 3rd world governments love!

In other news, it has been confirmed that once I move back to Peru in August, I will be living in a new (to me) house. The good news is that it is only 100 yards away from my old house so moving will be a snap! Also, while I am gone, high speed internet is supposedly being installed! This would be a HUGE impovement over dial-up and I would even get to post pictures on the blog with our having to go to an Internet Cafe every time I wanted to do that. As they say in Peru, vamos a ver... (we shall see)

Furlough

I never have understood the word furlough. In the airline industry, being "furloughed" means you are laid off until business picks up again and you can start flying at your old job. In missions, nobody gets laid off and there is never a shortage of people but I guess you do leave your work for a while. All that is to say, for the next 4 months I will be on "furlough" in the USA!
Having been in Peru for 2 years, it was coming close to the time when I would be going back to the USA to reconnect and visit supporting churches, individuals, family and friends. Due to the fact that there is only a limited number of pilots at SAMAIR, we always have to coordinate our coming and going with each other. For me, it worked out that mid April though the first week of August would be best. I had less that 3 weeks to buy my tickets, pack my bags, and box up all my household items (I will be living in yet ANOTHER house when I return to Peru) before coming to the USA.
I will be stationed out of Michigan for the next 4 months visiting and getting reacquainted with friends and family. I will also be traveling out to California, North Carolina, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Please do not hesitate to send me an e-mail regarding getting together this summer! It could be another two years before we have the change again!
dspeyers"at"southamericamission.org

Maybe Legal?

Yes, that is right, I might not be illegal with my pilot certificate anymore... but I am still not sure!

I presented all the paperwork that the Aviation Authorities said I needed present, however a week later they came back and said I was STILL lacking proper documentation! So this past week I was in Lima and went down to the Licenseing Department and talked with them directly. They in turn gave me a new list of paperwork they needed and I set about once again to comply with their instructions. Interestingly enough, one of the things they wanted was a simple cover letter from the mission say that I wanted to renew my pilot certificate and was presenting the following documents to do that. I ended up sending legalized copies of my Pilot Log Book, Annual checkride from SAM AIR, my Resident Visa, and my Pilot Medical certificate. So hopefully in a week I will hear back and see if my Pilot Certificate is valid once again.