2006 Travels
by Chuck Daly, JAARS Director of Aviation
B
etween February and April 2006 The flight program in Cameroon
I had the privilege of traveling supports the work of a wide variety of
to Yaoundé in Cameroon and mission organizations in six central
Cuiabá and Porto Velho in Brazil to speak African countries. The travel needs have
with our aviation personnel on their own escalated, and the efforts to adequately
turf. I also made two other stops in Brazil staff the program had met with little
which proved beneficial, one to the Asas success. Only about one-third of the
de Socorro operations base in Manaus and travel requests are being handled—with
then on to their headquarters and training two aircraft more than 30 years old.
school in Anápolis. These planes are too slow for the vastness
of Central Africa, and avgas for them must
Cameroon in February be imported from the United States.
Sitting across the table from the avia-
How do we meet these needs?
tion staff and their families in Cameroon,
the message came through loud and I left Cameroon with a determination
clear—these guys needed help. The to obtain the aircraft and personnel
challenges were overwhelming: 14-hour needed to support the advance of the
flying days; exhausting heat; health prob- Gospel in Central Africa. JAARS’ goal in
lems; pressures of wanting to meet needs the next five years is to replace the two
but without the necessary resources; the aging airplanes with a helicopter, a tur- Chuck Daly accompanied Ray Kapteyn
uncertainty of the future; the frustration bine Cessna 210, and two Quest Kodiak to the village of Deni, Brazil, in April 2006.
of not having the right equipment or airplanes, all of which burn readily
enough people. The weight of respon- available jet fuel. the country, but many of those ideas
sibility hung heavily on this team: flight Will personnel increase soon? were changed on the trip. I learned that
scheduling; flying; maintaining the air the Cuiabá center is nestled close to
Currently, pilot-mechanic Dennis
planes; overseeing employees; billing a major city with many skyscrapers.
Freeland and John Tangko, a mechanic,
customers; maintaining government And the terrain is not all flat—a plateau
are in Yaoundé. David Carman, pilot-
relations. It was too demanding for two abruptly rises about 2,000 feet just north
mechanic, is in charge of the flight pro-
pilots—one in the capital of Yaoundé of Cuiabá. The Porto Velho center fits
gram in Banso. They continue to carry
and the other in Banso located in the nicely with many of my preconceptions,
an extremely heavy load, but help is on
northwest. but I was surprised by the size of the city
the way. Daryl and Sun Young will re-
and by the sophisticated Internet and
turn from furlough the end of July. Ray
phone system on the center. The mild,
and Ann Kapteyn are scheduled to arrive
relatively dry climate of Anápolis, was
in September after a brush-up on their
also not what I had expected.
French in France. Ray, who has flown in
Brazil for five years, will add experience Cuiabá and Porto Velho
to the program. Rob Peterson, who has I enjoyed numerous conversations
been in French study in Switzerland for with aviation department members, espe-
the past year, is slated to arrive in cially with BJ Diggins as he escorted me
Cameroon in August. He will be attend- around the country. I had the occasion
ing AOC in September and October and to ride along on two flights, one from
then returning to the States for recurrent Cuiabá and the other from Porto Velho.
training. By January 2007 Rob hopes to My journey allowed me to catch a
Pilot-mechanic Dennis Freeland in Cameroon.
begin flying in Cameroon. The third glimpse of the unique ways in which
family expected in Cameroon is Eric and some things are done in other parts
Susan Wolf. (See page 4, “2006 Aviation of the world: a little convex mirror
Orientees.”) Eric is both a helicopter and mounted on the right wing so the right
fixed-wing pilot with 22 years of experi- side of the aircraft is visible; a bathroom
ence and 6,700 hours of flight time. All scale carried in the airplane to weigh
of these newcomers are excited about passengers and cargo; a garage door
their upcoming roles in the Cameroon opener in the glove box for the hangar
aviation program. gate; a siphon hose filled with fuel from
the gascolator to make siphoning easier
Brazil in April (Why didn’t I ever think of that when I
Ray Kapteyn, pilot-mechanic, shown in Brazil I have always held some preconceived struggled to get the flow started?); food
in April 2006 but now reassigned to Cameroon. notions about the Brazil operation and sold by the kilo in restaurants. (You have
2006 Travels to Cameroon and Brazil, continued
to try that some time—Brazilians really was left when SIL pulled out
know how to cook.) several years ago.
Asas de Socorro
Was it worth the time it
took traveling to Brazil and
BJ’s and my visits with Asas personnel
Cameroon? Absolutely. I
were a valuable chance to reaffirm and
hope our dedicated colleagues
strengthen the relationship that has made
agree and were encouraged to
parts and aircraft importation, pilot and
know that JAARS is commit-
mechanic licensing, and maintenance
ted to supporting their pro-
authorizations all possible. We discussed
grams and endeavors—and
potential contributions that SIL can
that we want to be on the
make toward the success of their flight
cutting edge of their vision in
and maintenance school. We also discov-
meeting transportation needs At Asas de Socorro, Anápolis: (l-r) BJ Diggins, Brazil’s aviation
ered that Asas has established a floatplane manager, an Asas student, an Asas flight instructor,
in their areas of the world.
operation in Belém, filling the gap that and Chuck Daly.
The Connecting Rod, June 2006