Anne the kids and I are leaving Tyler and Michelle in Montego Bay and flying into Kingston to visit with family and friends. Monday (March 1st) I will drop off Anne and the kids in Montego Bay pick up Tyler and fly to Key West and hopefully on to Orlando.
Anyway, that's the plan... as long as the weather and bureaucracy permits...
Is anybody actually reading this?
Friday, February 26, 2010
Day 13 Negril
Today we went to Negril. On the way to Negril, we stopped at Silent Waters a beautiful resort that our friend Jean Manages.
After we left Silent Waters, we stopped for coconut water and Jelly.
We went to the craft market in Negril where I gave Samantha $10 U.S. to spend...
She negotiated hard and got this turtle for $4 and decided to keep $6 for later.
The beaches in Negril are probably some of the best in the world with nice white sand. Unfortunately, today it was rough and windy.
After we left Silent Waters, we stopped for coconut water and Jelly.
We went to the craft market in Negril where I gave Samantha $10 U.S. to spend...
She negotiated hard and got this turtle for $4 and decided to keep $6 for later.
The beaches in Negril are probably some of the best in the world with nice white sand. Unfortunately, today it was rough and windy.
Day 12 Montego Bay
With the exception of really people in the room below us being involved in excessively loud nocturnal activities, the resort was great, so today we just hung out and I got caught up on my sleep.
My Uncle Manny is working with my cousin Audrey are in the process of taking over a bakery in Montego Bay. I was able to stop in and say hi.
We then had dinner with George and Jean....
Just a nice quiet day in Jamaica.
My Uncle Manny is working with my cousin Audrey are in the process of taking over a bakery in Montego Bay. I was able to stop in and say hi.
We then had dinner with George and Jean....
Just a nice quiet day in Jamaica.
Day 11 Ocho Rios
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Day 10 Back to Jamaica
I really did not sleep well last night. On top of the noise, the stress of figuring out how I am going to make it back all the way to Alberta without blowing up the starter motor kept waking me up.
This morning (Monday Feb 22), Jean Pierre, the local aircraft mechanic is open an he is supposed to be in at 8:00AM. I get to the airport before 8. Carlos, (Jean Pierre's son) gets to the airport around 9:00AM. GKNT is a B*TCH to start but I have figured it out and it takes only takes me 2-3 minutes. I taxi right over to Jean Pierre's and Carlos gets right to work. He pulls the plugs and injectors and we change the oil while we are there. There is a little bit of dirt in the injectors but not enough to cause the troubles I have been having. The spark plugs are fine. Jean Pierre arrives and deduces that the problem is most likely in the electronic ignition control unit. He opens it up, hoping to find something obvious but does not find anything... I am really stressed thinking I am going to have to replace it somewhere during this trip. Finally... we notice a loose wire in the engine compartment. Tracing it down, it is a ground wire directly into the electronic ignition. The opposing pair goes to the starter solenoid. BINGO! that's it. This lose ground is responsible for telling the electronic ignition to advance the spark timing (actually release a shower of sparks) that will allow the engine to start with the (relatively) slow speed of the starter. No wonder GKNT was so hard to start. In fact, given this information, I'm surprised that I managed to get it started at all. PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!
I loaded up GKNT with 375 pounds of rice and as many crutches would fit and was on my way...
Back to Jacmel to drop the stuff off...
A King air had gone off the runway a few weeks earlier. I got a picture as I taxied out.
I was unable to file a flight plan in Jacmel and Port-Au-Prince control would most likely not answer (they didn't). I was concerned about leaving for Jamaica without a flight plan. Bobing around the ocean in a life raft when nobody is looking for you does not really appeal to me. I managed to borrow a cell phone and called Shane. I told him that if I did not arrive in Kingston in 3 hours I would likely be in the ocean. I felt much better when he told me that he had been tracking me with our SPOT receiver and I was on my way.
Over the ocean between Haiti and Jamaica. On top of the clouds... I could be anywhere.
Short final into Kingston.
Shane dropped of my stuff... a quick (on Island time anyway) stop and I was on my way to Montego Bay.
Somewhere between Kingston and Montego Bay
Coming up to the north coast of Jamaica (Montego Bay airport is just barely visible at the edge of the water).
Turning final in Montego Bay. Note the Air Canada flight on the ramp. I was desperately trying to arrive before Anne and the kids but considering the mechanical problems and "Island Time" issues, I did really well getting there just over an hour after they landed.
Fortunately, Anne was smart and just when to the hotel without me.
Although my trip into Haiti was only 3 days, I feel that I had an experience lasting several weeks. It was one of the most challenging and rewarding thing I have done so far in aviation.
I learned that I will never again fly without GPS terrain warning. The new GPS I got just before I left has it and most of my flights over the last 3 days would not have been possible without it.
I also discovered that my Spanish is horrible. Although languages have never been my strong point, Spanish sounds just don't have any meaning for me. I would hear and read back a name/location only to forget a few minutes later, hear it again and forget it just as quickly. I have landed in Higuero 3 times and still cannot pronounce it properly.
Next... 1 week of Vacation with Anne and the kids and much needed sleep.
This morning (Monday Feb 22), Jean Pierre, the local aircraft mechanic is open an he is supposed to be in at 8:00AM. I get to the airport before 8. Carlos, (Jean Pierre's son) gets to the airport around 9:00AM. GKNT is a B*TCH to start but I have figured it out and it takes only takes me 2-3 minutes. I taxi right over to Jean Pierre's and Carlos gets right to work. He pulls the plugs and injectors and we change the oil while we are there. There is a little bit of dirt in the injectors but not enough to cause the troubles I have been having. The spark plugs are fine. Jean Pierre arrives and deduces that the problem is most likely in the electronic ignition control unit. He opens it up, hoping to find something obvious but does not find anything... I am really stressed thinking I am going to have to replace it somewhere during this trip. Finally... we notice a loose wire in the engine compartment. Tracing it down, it is a ground wire directly into the electronic ignition. The opposing pair goes to the starter solenoid. BINGO! that's it. This lose ground is responsible for telling the electronic ignition to advance the spark timing (actually release a shower of sparks) that will allow the engine to start with the (relatively) slow speed of the starter. No wonder GKNT was so hard to start. In fact, given this information, I'm surprised that I managed to get it started at all. PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!
I loaded up GKNT with 375 pounds of rice and as many crutches would fit and was on my way...
Back to Jacmel to drop the stuff off...
A King air had gone off the runway a few weeks earlier. I got a picture as I taxied out.
I was unable to file a flight plan in Jacmel and Port-Au-Prince control would most likely not answer (they didn't). I was concerned about leaving for Jamaica without a flight plan. Bobing around the ocean in a life raft when nobody is looking for you does not really appeal to me. I managed to borrow a cell phone and called Shane. I told him that if I did not arrive in Kingston in 3 hours I would likely be in the ocean. I felt much better when he told me that he had been tracking me with our SPOT receiver and I was on my way.
Over the ocean between Haiti and Jamaica. On top of the clouds... I could be anywhere.
Short final into Kingston.
Shane dropped of my stuff... a quick (on Island time anyway) stop and I was on my way to Montego Bay.
Somewhere between Kingston and Montego Bay
Coming up to the north coast of Jamaica (Montego Bay airport is just barely visible at the edge of the water).
Turning final in Montego Bay. Note the Air Canada flight on the ramp. I was desperately trying to arrive before Anne and the kids but considering the mechanical problems and "Island Time" issues, I did really well getting there just over an hour after they landed.
Fortunately, Anne was smart and just when to the hotel without me.
Although my trip into Haiti was only 3 days, I feel that I had an experience lasting several weeks. It was one of the most challenging and rewarding thing I have done so far in aviation.
I learned that I will never again fly without GPS terrain warning. The new GPS I got just before I left has it and most of my flights over the last 3 days would not have been possible without it.
I also discovered that my Spanish is horrible. Although languages have never been my strong point, Spanish sounds just don't have any meaning for me. I would hear and read back a name/location only to forget a few minutes later, hear it again and forget it just as quickly. I have landed in Higuero 3 times and still cannot pronounce it properly.
Next... 1 week of Vacation with Anne and the kids and much needed sleep.
Day 9 Santiago to Haiti
After another night (Saturday Feb 20) of not nearly enough sleep. Jochen, Jordan, Tomoharu and I got together again at the Higuero (MDJB) airport and flew to Santiago about 30 minutes to the north. From there we would be flying the second half of our group of doctors and their supplies into Jacmel.
I flew in a surgeon and his assistant along with some of their supplies. This flight was one of the most challenging that I have ever made considering my unfamiliarity with the terrain, geography, language and procedures. There were mountain peaks up around the 8,700ft level along our route and the minimum IFR altitude was around 14,000ft, too high for us so we went around the peaks VFR. Even if we wanted to go IFR, it would not really have been possible due to the lack of proper air traffic control infrastructure in Haiti. 4 of us took off around the same time and we all passed near to Port-au-Prince. I checked in with Port-au-Prince as required. After I got a response, I asked her a simple question. My question in addition to our 4 aircraft totally overwhelmed the controller... she decided to deal with it by simply ignoring all of my future calls to her. I decided on future flights to monitor the frequency but not bother to call in unless I really had to.
So... on this flight and most others I ended up several thousand feet high less than 10 miles out. here is a great picture of GKNT's panel in one of the descents. Note the 1,800ft/min descent just below red-line on the airspeed indicator just coming through 7,000ft on my way down to 400ft. (Yes, the air was smooth and yes, I took my time slowing the engine down from cruise power). I still needed a 360 before joining downwind to make it to circuit altitude.
Back on the ground in Jacmel...
Jochen, Jordan and Tomo had raise donations to fund their trip and wanted to get to the hospital to get some pictures for their donors. Unfortunately, they needed to get back to the US and due to our delays (i.e. more bureaucracy) leaving Santiago, they did not have enough time. I offered to go and get some pictures for them
Here I am with some of the Medical crew on the way to the hospital hanging on in the back of an open truck...I definitely had one of those "What the H*ll am I doing here?" moments.
Here are some pictures of the hospital.
I was told that on the previous day, one of the surgeons did an emergency appendectomy minutes after arriving.
It took me almost 5 minutes to get the engine started on the ground in Jacmel. I had to flood it again to get it going. It's hard enough when nobody's watching but when the "tower" is right beside you and you have 2 passenger and it is 30C+ outside (and much hotter in the plane) AND you are in the middle of nowhere far from home...it's a REAL challenge.
On my return trip I carried a nurse and another aid who needed to catch a flight out of Santiago that evening. Back in Santiago, I hooked up with Go Ministries who are based there and have been working in Haiti for the past 10 years. Only recently, they have started using airplanes to move supplies. The nurse that I flew back told me that it took them almost 14 hours by road to get into Jacmel from Santiago (vs. just over an hour in GKNT).
Go Ministries "warehouse"
Go Ministries was extremely organized and had small apartments and dorms for their missionaries. They feed me and put me up in one of their dorms (THANKS!). That night, I was the only one there, although there is a room for 24... unfortunately that meant, I fed all of the mosquitoes as well.
While the dorm was greatly appreciated it was not on the quietest street. The day ended as it started...another night without enough sleep.
I flew in a surgeon and his assistant along with some of their supplies. This flight was one of the most challenging that I have ever made considering my unfamiliarity with the terrain, geography, language and procedures. There were mountain peaks up around the 8,700ft level along our route and the minimum IFR altitude was around 14,000ft, too high for us so we went around the peaks VFR. Even if we wanted to go IFR, it would not really have been possible due to the lack of proper air traffic control infrastructure in Haiti. 4 of us took off around the same time and we all passed near to Port-au-Prince. I checked in with Port-au-Prince as required. After I got a response, I asked her a simple question. My question in addition to our 4 aircraft totally overwhelmed the controller... she decided to deal with it by simply ignoring all of my future calls to her. I decided on future flights to monitor the frequency but not bother to call in unless I really had to.
So... on this flight and most others I ended up several thousand feet high less than 10 miles out. here is a great picture of GKNT's panel in one of the descents. Note the 1,800ft/min descent just below red-line on the airspeed indicator just coming through 7,000ft on my way down to 400ft. (Yes, the air was smooth and yes, I took my time slowing the engine down from cruise power). I still needed a 360 before joining downwind to make it to circuit altitude.
Back on the ground in Jacmel...
Jochen, Jordan and Tomo had raise donations to fund their trip and wanted to get to the hospital to get some pictures for their donors. Unfortunately, they needed to get back to the US and due to our delays (i.e. more bureaucracy) leaving Santiago, they did not have enough time. I offered to go and get some pictures for them
Here I am with some of the Medical crew on the way to the hospital hanging on in the back of an open truck...I definitely had one of those "What the H*ll am I doing here?" moments.
Here are some pictures of the hospital.
I was told that on the previous day, one of the surgeons did an emergency appendectomy minutes after arriving.
It took me almost 5 minutes to get the engine started on the ground in Jacmel. I had to flood it again to get it going. It's hard enough when nobody's watching but when the "tower" is right beside you and you have 2 passenger and it is 30C+ outside (and much hotter in the plane) AND you are in the middle of nowhere far from home...it's a REAL challenge.
On my return trip I carried a nurse and another aid who needed to catch a flight out of Santiago that evening. Back in Santiago, I hooked up with Go Ministries who are based there and have been working in Haiti for the past 10 years. Only recently, they have started using airplanes to move supplies. The nurse that I flew back told me that it took them almost 14 hours by road to get into Jacmel from Santiago (vs. just over an hour in GKNT).
Go Ministries "warehouse"
Go Ministries was extremely organized and had small apartments and dorms for their missionaries. They feed me and put me up in one of their dorms (THANKS!). That night, I was the only one there, although there is a room for 24... unfortunately that meant, I fed all of the mosquitoes as well.
While the dorm was greatly appreciated it was not on the quietest street. The day ended as it started...another night without enough sleep.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Day 8 Haiti
How did I end up going to Haiti?
Well, the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) website had listed some contacts who needed help in Haiti. One of the people who was listed was Jim from "Caribbean Flying Adventures" who incidentally arranged my Cuba over flight permits. I spent a few days trying to track down Jim (who was busy flying in supplies from Florida) and finally got a hold of him on Thursday night. He told me that a group of pilots from New Jersey were flying a group of 12-18 doctors/staff and all of their equipment from the Dominican Republic into Haiti and that they were a few aircraft short. I thought that the useful load of my Mooney would be too small he responded...."No load is too small".
A VERY quick reshuffling of my schedule and some very supportive friends allowed me to make the trip.... it sort of went like this.
1) dump Tyler off in Grand Cayman (thanks again buddy!) where he would later catch a commercial flight into Montego Bay.
2) try to get to Kingston before night fall where I had arranged with cousin Shane to pick me up and empty my airplane of all unnecessary items which I would pickup on my return trip (thanks Shane!)
3) Sleep and get back to the Kingston airport first thing Saturday morning and fly to the Dominican Republic.
With the exception of not getting enough sleep, it all went remarkably well...until I tried to leave Kingston.
I wanted to leave first thing in the morning so I arrived at the Norman Manley (Kingston International) at 6:00AM when I was told they would open. Of course, being on Island time, nobody showed up until 7:00AM. Then the real problems started.
When I filed my flight plan to the Dominican Republic, I was told that I was not allowed to fly through Haiti's airspace. They wanted me instead to fly about 150 miles further over the ocean and go around. Absolutely not my first choice in a single engine airplane.
After the earthquake, the US took over control of Haiti's airspace. Miami Center had recently issued a NOTAM which prohibited aircraft from flying though Haiti's airspace. Further, VFR flights through Haiti were also forbidden.
As I was going to assist with Humanitarian aids, I asked if Kingston Control would negotiate with Haiti for me...the answer was a simple NO.
Well, those of you who know me, know that I DO NOT GIVE UP easily... here's the short version of what happened.
1) I called Miami Center who inform me that in fact they never controlled the airspace (even though the NOTAM which prevented me from flying through Haiti was issued by them). The airspace was in fact controlled by the US military.
2) I tracked down somebody at Kendall AFB (in Miami) who told me that yes, they did in fact control the airspace but that the control was now covered by another military unit.
3) who I then contacted who told me... no they no longer controlled the airspace. AAARRRRGGGHHH!!!!!
4) I explained my story to a Capt. Rich Gough on detachment in the U.S. from the Canadian Military. He understood my situation and started trying to negotiate a clearance for me.
5) After a few calls back to Rich who was still working on a solution, I made the suggestion that I file a flight plan to Port-au-Prince which would allow me to fly into Haiti's airspace as I was actually "planning" to land there. As I got close, I would "re-file" to the Dominican as previously planned. Rich agreed that this would work and would probably be the fastest solution....
6) However, this would require a landing slot in Port-au-Prince, which they (where Rich was based) controlled only for large jets, smaller aircraft landing slots were now controlled by somebody else.
7) Rich put me on hold once more and returned with... a landing slot (probably meant for something much larger like a 737) for GKNT.
So.... 4 hours later... the equivalent of a few minutes in Island time, I was on my way....
My first look at Haiti.
The irony is that for the 60+ minutes that I was in Haiti's airspace, with many repeated attempts, I NEVER talked to anybody at Port-au-Prince control. I highly doubt that they even cared whether I was there or not.
I finally made it into Higuero, Dominican Republic (MDJB) by mid-afternoon where Jochen, Jordan, and Tomoharu 3 pilots from New Jersey had been flying doctors and supplies into Jacmel, Haiti (MTJA) all day.
The UN also based some of their activities there...
I took a 20 minute nap in the terminal building, loaded up GKNT with luggage and supplies for the doctors and left for my first trip into Jacmel, a small strip on the south shore of Haiti straight south of Port-au-Prince
Final approach into RWY 18 Jacmel...
Nice strip, a few dangerous humps, high terrain on the approach end and palm trees.
Here's a few pictures of the "control tower"
The airport was in fact, controlled by the Canadian military... When I mentioned that they were the first controllers that I was able to understand in the last 10 days, I got the response "...we get that a lot".
The next picture is departing Jacmel to return to the Dominican. Note the sun slowly setting... night VFR is prohibited in the Dominican....Oh well.
Well, the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) website had listed some contacts who needed help in Haiti. One of the people who was listed was Jim from "Caribbean Flying Adventures" who incidentally arranged my Cuba over flight permits. I spent a few days trying to track down Jim (who was busy flying in supplies from Florida) and finally got a hold of him on Thursday night. He told me that a group of pilots from New Jersey were flying a group of 12-18 doctors/staff and all of their equipment from the Dominican Republic into Haiti and that they were a few aircraft short. I thought that the useful load of my Mooney would be too small he responded...."No load is too small".
A VERY quick reshuffling of my schedule and some very supportive friends allowed me to make the trip.... it sort of went like this.
1) dump Tyler off in Grand Cayman (thanks again buddy!) where he would later catch a commercial flight into Montego Bay.
2) try to get to Kingston before night fall where I had arranged with cousin Shane to pick me up and empty my airplane of all unnecessary items which I would pickup on my return trip (thanks Shane!)
3) Sleep and get back to the Kingston airport first thing Saturday morning and fly to the Dominican Republic.
With the exception of not getting enough sleep, it all went remarkably well...until I tried to leave Kingston.
I wanted to leave first thing in the morning so I arrived at the Norman Manley (Kingston International) at 6:00AM when I was told they would open. Of course, being on Island time, nobody showed up until 7:00AM. Then the real problems started.
When I filed my flight plan to the Dominican Republic, I was told that I was not allowed to fly through Haiti's airspace. They wanted me instead to fly about 150 miles further over the ocean and go around. Absolutely not my first choice in a single engine airplane.
After the earthquake, the US took over control of Haiti's airspace. Miami Center had recently issued a NOTAM which prohibited aircraft from flying though Haiti's airspace. Further, VFR flights through Haiti were also forbidden.
As I was going to assist with Humanitarian aids, I asked if Kingston Control would negotiate with Haiti for me...the answer was a simple NO.
Well, those of you who know me, know that I DO NOT GIVE UP easily... here's the short version of what happened.
1) I called Miami Center who inform me that in fact they never controlled the airspace (even though the NOTAM which prevented me from flying through Haiti was issued by them). The airspace was in fact controlled by the US military.
2) I tracked down somebody at Kendall AFB (in Miami) who told me that yes, they did in fact control the airspace but that the control was now covered by another military unit.
3) who I then contacted who told me... no they no longer controlled the airspace. AAARRRRGGGHHH!!!!!
4) I explained my story to a Capt. Rich Gough on detachment in the U.S. from the Canadian Military. He understood my situation and started trying to negotiate a clearance for me.
5) After a few calls back to Rich who was still working on a solution, I made the suggestion that I file a flight plan to Port-au-Prince which would allow me to fly into Haiti's airspace as I was actually "planning" to land there. As I got close, I would "re-file" to the Dominican as previously planned. Rich agreed that this would work and would probably be the fastest solution....
6) However, this would require a landing slot in Port-au-Prince, which they (where Rich was based) controlled only for large jets, smaller aircraft landing slots were now controlled by somebody else.
7) Rich put me on hold once more and returned with... a landing slot (probably meant for something much larger like a 737) for GKNT.
So.... 4 hours later... the equivalent of a few minutes in Island time, I was on my way....
My first look at Haiti.
The irony is that for the 60+ minutes that I was in Haiti's airspace, with many repeated attempts, I NEVER talked to anybody at Port-au-Prince control. I highly doubt that they even cared whether I was there or not.
I finally made it into Higuero, Dominican Republic (MDJB) by mid-afternoon where Jochen, Jordan, and Tomoharu 3 pilots from New Jersey had been flying doctors and supplies into Jacmel, Haiti (MTJA) all day.
The UN also based some of their activities there...
I took a 20 minute nap in the terminal building, loaded up GKNT with luggage and supplies for the doctors and left for my first trip into Jacmel, a small strip on the south shore of Haiti straight south of Port-au-Prince
Final approach into RWY 18 Jacmel...
Nice strip, a few dangerous humps, high terrain on the approach end and palm trees.
Here's a few pictures of the "control tower"
The airport was in fact, controlled by the Canadian military... When I mentioned that they were the first controllers that I was able to understand in the last 10 days, I got the response "...we get that a lot".
The next picture is departing Jacmel to return to the Dominican. Note the sun slowly setting... night VFR is prohibited in the Dominican....Oh well.
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