Trust

For those of you who do not know, I have been back in the USA for the past month an a short two month furlough. Basically enough time to have some vacation and touch base with supporting churches and individuals in the West Michigan area.

While back in the USA I have been taking care of some things that I can only do while here in the states, like changing the address on my drivers license. I went down to the DMV in Hudsonville, MI and the whole operation took 8 minutes.

When I was getting my drivers license in Peru, the whole process took 6 months! Having gone through both systems, in the USA and in Peru, I notice that the USA system is based on trust.

For example, I did not have to show proof of my changed address. I did not have to prove that I was who I said I was by having a 2nd piece of identification. The sticker that went on the back of my license is a simple affair, and if i wanted to I am sure I could peal it off and put something else on in its place. But the whole system is based on trust.

In Peru, I had to prove that I was a Peruvian Resident before applying for my license. I had to make 2 copies of my resident card, go to a Notary and have them stamp is saying that my copies were legitimate. I had to prove that I was medically fit to drive a car by going to the hospital and taking a vision, hearing, and psychological test. Legalized copies of those test results also had to be made. All of these things are in place because there is not a basis of trust within the government.

So the next time you are stuck in line at the DMV, just be thankful, it could be taking a whole lot longer... trust me!

Transformers

I have this desk lamp that was given to me by a missionary leaving the field. Unfortunately it was not working. In the USA I imagine this would just be thrown out and you could pick up another one at Meijer or Ditto (its a Michigan thing). But in Peru, they fix things like this! Upon taking it apart, I discovered that the transformers was bad. No problem, I'll just go to the electronics store and buy another one. But I found out they don't sell transformers. However, they do REWIND them! This is a very slow process and something we would NEVER do in the USA, but in Peru labor is cheap. So I had a shop rewind the transformer for me. A couple solder joints later and now I have a working desk lamp!

10,000 KM report

In November of 2008, due to numberious gifts and the support of my home Church (Park CRC) in Holland, Michgan, I was able to purchase a vehicle. Just yesterday I turned over 10'000 kilometers, roughly 6,250 miles, so I thought would give a report about my impressions and maintenance history over the past year and a half of my 2003 Kia Sorento ownership.

The diesel engine does not have the immediate response of a gas engine, however for a 2.5 liter engine, is has really good low end torque. Gas mileage is about 18-20 MPG which is about half highway (50 mph) and half city driving. Gas continues to hover around $3.50 for diesel. Interior comfort is pretty high and I find that all 5 seats are usually full when I offer to drive to Orlando's (restaurant) for a weekly dose of the best grilled chicken this side of the equator.

I installed a 2 inch lift kit from Daystar, that helped a bit more with some of the pot holes and gives a little more aggresive stance. Also put on All Terrain tires which I purchased in Lima and had "shipped" on a bus to Pucallpa. The tires are GREAT in the mud and in 4 wheel drive I have never been stuck yet!

For as few miles as I put on the car, I have fixed a number of things. Parking brake, rear differential, air conditioning system (twice), power steering line, brake pads all around, ground 2 rotors, fixed leaky radiator (twice), and induction air box. Although I try to do most everything myself, but I did have to punt when it came to the air conditioning system. The rear differential was actually kind of fun to fix, I replaced two very large bearings what were starting to fail (loud humming coming from the rear of the vehicle).

I have done all the routine maintenance such as oil and air filter changes. It takes 8 quarts to fill the engine up! Most cars take just 4. Also have been changing the fuel filter on a yearly basis, important to do on a diesel. Some ongoing items that still need to be addressed are a slow leak from the real main seal. I am loosing about a quart every 4 months... so its not serious but I just have not had the desire to drop the transmission to get at the seal. I do have the parts though along with a new clutch to go in at the same time. One of those "while your in there you may as well..." type deals.

Overall, the Sorento has been a little bit heavy on the maintenance side, but the comfortable interior, Air Conditioning, and 4 wheel drive have made up for that. Thanks again to those who gave towards the vehicle, it has been a blessing to me... if not an occasional trial helping along the process of sanctification!

Fuel Tanker

The average leg length for our flights here in Peru is 1 hour. That means we average one takeoff and one landing per hour, however the average flight is longer than 1 hour as all of our flights are round trip, and roughly 30% of the time they are multiple stop as well. Since here are no airports in the whole Peruvian jungle that sell aviation fuel, we have two options. Carry round trip fuel for our flights (plus 1 hour of reserve) or store fuel in strategic locations for refueling. We take advantage of both these options as dictated by the total flight time and needs of our users. Carrying more fuel on board equates to less weight available for people and cargo. For example, 3 hours of fuel (48 gallons) in the wheel plane gives you 500 kilos or 1100 pounds or useful load. Full fuel (116 gallons) only leaves 315 kilos or 700 pounds of useful load. In the float plane, it is even less because the floats weight almost 300 pounds!

When we do flights over 4 hours in the float plane, we are almost always refueling, some times twice during the same trip. At the remote fuel storage areas, we syphon fuel from 55 gallons drums into 5 gallon plastic containers. These are then carried to the plane and poured through a filter. The 55 gallon drums are usually transported to various locations by boat or by road. The cost to transport fuel like this and stock it in remote locations adds roughly $2-3 dollars more to the price per gallon. When we have the opportunity, we transport the 55 gallons drums inside the airplane. However this is never done when there are passengers onboard. We also have the option of carrying extra fuel in the wings and shyphoning fuel out when we land at the remote location for use at a later time. I have done this a couple of times now, but it is not very common.

For syphoning, we usually use a 1 1/2 inch hose as the flow rate is very quick. Getting the flow started is the hard part, this done by sucking on the hose to get the flow of gas going. It works pretty good most of the time, but once and a while not so much. The worst is getting gas in your mouth. I have had this happen twice, and let me tell you, that was two times to many! We have found some little rattle syphons that use a 1/2 inch hose, they work great and don't require any sucking at all! The only down side is that it takes 3 times as long to fill up the tanks with the smaller hose.

Photo courtesy of Aircraft Spruce.

Convertable

When I was in high school, I had a job washing corporate cars for a large auto design business in Holland, Michigan. We used to reposition cars between the local airport and many industrial plants. Occasionally we would reposition a REALLY NICE car that belonged to a company executive or vice president. One particular time I remember driving a green BMW M3 convertible. With the top down, the roar of the straight 6 engine, and wind in my (very short) hair, I thought I had the world by the tail!

Just a few weeks ago, I turned the trusty SAMAIR float plane in a convertible as well! Some of our passengers wanted to do a short 15 minute flight taking pictures and shooting video. Since the 206 is approved for flight with the rear cargo doors off, it was a simple matter of pulling 4 pins and installing the "deflector". The deflector attached to the front door hinges and deflects the wind from the propeller and slip stream so that it does not enter the cabin area.

The video shots turned out great and nobody fell out of the airplane so it was a success all the way around. For a brief moment, I was back in high school... only this time the doors were off, the roar was from a flat 6 cylinder engine, and I could feel the wind through my still very short hair.

Aerial Casualties

While doing a preflight inspection this week I came across an aerial casualty! Stuck to the oil cooler of our IO-550 engine was a butterfly. While flying I occasionally see buzzards and white egrets. By the way, there is just something about flying at 3000 feet and looking down at a group of 10 white egrets flying over the jungle! AMAZING!

Anyways, I carefully removed it and brought it back to my toolbox for photographing. There are some places that I fly to where I see many butterflies, Tsoroja being one of those places. I would love to get a picture of the blue morpho butterfly that I sometimes see in Cashibo. Anybody know what type this one is?

Cooking

From time to time people will ask me if I can or if I do cook. The answer is usually something along the lines of, "Sort of, but not usually". I think the main reason I don't cook very much is that it just takes so much time and does not seem like its worth it just for one person to eat. One of the missionaries down here, Minori, taught me how to make Granola. She maybe did not realize it but that has taken care of 33% of my meals right there!

However, not wanting to subsist on fruit and macaroni for the remaining 66%, I decided to try my hand at the Peruvian classic Salchi-Papa (sausage and French fries). I was quickly reminded why I don't cook very often but here is how my latest cooking experience went.

- Went to corner store on motorcycle and purchased potatoes and of course more fruit. (15 min)

- Peeled and cut potatoes (5 min)

- Went back to the store to buy hotdogs to use as Sausage substitutes (10 min)

- Heated up oil to fry potato strips (10 min)

- Cut up sausage and fried it while waiting to oil to heat up. (10 min)

- Tested oil hotness by dropping some water in the pan (a hint or more likely practical joke I had heard about somewhere). Spent next 5 minutes cleaning up oil splatter on floor and stove, decided the oil indeed was hot enough. Fried potato strips. (20 min)

- Mixed equal parts Ketchup and Mayonnaise for French fry dipping sauce. (3 min)

Finally, an hour after starting, ate meal. (15 min)

- Washed dishes (10 min)

- Considered if it were worth the effort to cook something or if just fruit and macaroni were a less time involved process. (10 min)

- Decided that Orlando's Restaurant was the best alternative for the same about of time and money. Celebrated decision by eating a Popsicle. (5 min)

More checkout flying

Seems as though the only time I get some good pictures of flying is when there are two pilots in the airplane. A few weeks ago that was the case as I got checked out and approved to go into 4 new airstrips.

We also gave a rides to a few people as we did takeoffs and landings at each location. For the kids I am sure it was a thrill of a lifetime!