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Avatar in a CH701
After my recent mention of Angelina Joli, now I can tell you about my other life, being a pilot in a real life Avatar movie... Zoe Saldana is not, however, present in our part of the planet 'Pandora' - but the Home Trees certainly are.
Today I flew into the newest aerodrome in Ghana, at Mim. It is nestled in a Cashew Plantation between belts of rain forest. The area is very beautiful, surrounded by endless Cashew trees with their unique hues. Flying in to 'officially' be the first plane to open the strip (and to collect the evidence for the authorities that the strip was in order with wind sock, etc) was wonderful.
Flying from Kpong Airfield to Mim can be done many ways, but there are two routes that strike as ply-able. The direct route is only valid if you are sure of a well behaved day and plane - because it is over the same terrain as the movie Avatar shows - that is Pandora-like. Endless rain forest - emergents, trees that you could settle a hundred people in, if we were truely on Pandora! Sometimes it feels as if the trees are stretching up to grab you as you fly past!
The 'safer route' we call the Northern Passage. It involves an extra twenty minutes of flying, but avoids the heavy forests, low lying clouds and turbulence associated with low level flying over such terrain.
As we set off from Kpong we knew that the Northern Passage was the only option - the clouds filled the valley separating the Savannah from the rain forest like a meringue topping. We flew a few minutes VFR on top, until over the lake - then the air smoothed and we could settle below the top of ridge that separates the Afram Plains from the rain forest and cocoa farms on Eastern and Ashanti region.
9G ZAF, the Medicine on the Move aircraft, was occupied with the plantation director from Mim and myself as we plied our way on the three hour trip across the country. It was never boring. Waterfalls passed by, field workers waved, and we progressed, watching the weather more intensity than a million watt floodlight.
The opportunity to cut south came as we passed abeam Kumasi and we slid under the layer of graying blankets. Crossing the ridge of virgin forest, emergents at more than one hundred feet, we had little clearance - but were safe in the knowledge that a 701 can be landed in under 25m on an upslope, if really pushed. (in fact my record is 18meters in a 15knot wind on grass). When flying the 701 over hostile terrain you know that there is an option somewhere within glide!
Landing for the first time on a new airstrip a long way from any medical care is a part of the job. This strip has been funded by a Cashew company, but is made available for Humanitarian Aviation operations. We expect to use it for a project next year.
The jubilation on the ground was evident as young men and women leaped into the air - trying to reach a Flight Level as far as I could tell on the first low pass to inspect. Once happy, the throttle was pulled back and we slid onto the grass with the unique grace of the 701. The crowd grew as workers in clothes that would be used for rags in many parts of the world filed out from the heavily wooded areas - another scene from Avatar!
Drawing upon my local language skills and enlisting a translator we kept the crowd from touching - and since each person was carrying a two foot long blade (machete or cutlass), we did not want them too close. Some words of advice were given - including encouragements to achieve more and be safe and it was time to get airborne again.
The surface sported a lot of loose long grass, so I opted for a very nose high run, extending the run, but reducing the risk of prop damage. Climbing out, there is no room for a mistake - the trees are really EVERYWHERE! We were soon on the way to Kumasi to drop off the pilot manager. It took less than an hour to cover a distance that by road is a minimum of three hours!
In Kumasi the tarmac runway is great - but the approach is heavily built upon. So we approached flaperon-less at about 70knots. Rounding out and holding off about fifty feet off the runway I waited for the magic fifty knots and pulled the flaperons, lowering the speed and entering the ground, effect we touched down next to the apron
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Greetings and pleasant exchanges that go with landing with a built in Ghana aircraft - built by Ghanaian girls - made for a pleasant breather. It is important to greet everybody - if you fail to greet the tower staff or manager or fire man, you can expect a complaint within a week!!! Everybody needs recognized, and thanked, for doing their part of the job that enables us to be in the air, so it is a pleasure. I think it is the first time that ZAF has felt concrete or tarmac under her wheels...
The next leg was solo, by now four hours of fuel burned. Still with plenty in the outboards and nearly full inboards, I opted to complete the next leg on the inboards. Lining up on tarmac is such a waste of time! I asked to take off across the apron, but was denied, as expected!
As I climbed away, a regional turbo-prop was on finals - it had failed to land the previous day due to strong cross winds - we would have landed across the runway into wind!
The cloud ceiling was now high enough to attempt the direct route. I was solo, all was well and I knew that it would be a rough, tough and tense ninety minutes - but with views that few have ever witnessed.
I looked for the Na'vi (the blue people in Avatar) but could not see them - I could see the scenery that exists for real in my world, but only in a computer animation for the film makers! The turbulence coming out from the forest at the ridge interfaces was VERY violent - but a small movement on the controls quickly fixed the problem.
I also got to benefit from the center stick a lot on the trip solo. I could hold my pop-bottle between my legs whilst I opened it, and still fly the plane. I could then store it behind my elbow on the seat center as I flew. I could also sit my camera on my lap without fear of blocking a control.
I crossed the last ridge to a sky of smoke - the bush fires are worse than ever this year. As I descended to land back 'home' I saw the dark black edge of an intense fire that had burned to within few meters of the hangars and damaged the reception hut at the airfield during my absence of less than seven hours.
My total elapsed time, meetings included was less than even driving only to the farthest point - and much more beautiful!!! Welcomed back, it was time for some Tilapia (fish) and rice - the perfect end to a day of flying over hostile terrain in the sweet little plane, built by hands of a darker hue, flown in skies of blue, under and around grey and white clouds, as it moves around to change lives, one flight at a time....
Comment
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Comment by Jonathan Porter on September 3, 2010 at 4:21pm
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You folks need to come out and enjoy it first hand - we would love to host you - we are also hoping to come to Oshkosh next year, funds permitting...
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Comment by Sebastien Heintz on September 3, 2010 at 9:42am
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Jonathan: Great post! Keep 'em coming!
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Comment by Clay E Hollenback on September 3, 2010 at 9:30am
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OK... THAT was an Awsome post... I bet more would like to read it ....
Randy ... he is writing a book.. :)
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Comment by ulis temos on September 3, 2010 at 6:12am
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love reading your blogs, keep them coming.
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Comment by Bob Pustell on September 2, 2010 at 9:09pm
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Poetic..........
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Comment by Randy Owen on September 2, 2010 at 8:08pm
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Jonathan, thank you for the terrific report. You should write a book. You rock!
Randy
701 almost finished in Colorado
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