Overdue newsletter is here! Always a victory to get this out. You can download it here.

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Last Friday MFU came in for a prop change, as the L/H prop was due for overhaul. Daniel and I were given the responsibility to carry out the work. I have removed a prop on a Twin Otter before, but not gone through the whole process before. We received the aircraft sometime after 0800 Friday morning. As it was my first time, it took a little longer than normal.

1. Raising the serviceable prop

2. Still going up

By morning smoko we had the propeller all disconnected and in it’s sling. After smoko we removed the prop and had the serviceable prop in before lunch. After lunch we torqued the bolts and reconnected the propeller to the engine. Prior to afternoon smoko was servicing the prop and getting the engine ready for engine runs. Following afternoon smoko we did engine runs and found the prop rigging required some adjusting. We stayed till the early evening carrying out the adjustments. Monday morning we carried out a n engine run to check my rigging adjustments and also did a prop balance. It was good to return to service.

3. Lining up the prop

4. Daniel & I back in November 2005, in our prime

It has been really good lately to have the opportunity to have more exposure to the PT6 and get work on engines frequently. I enjoy it more than working on the Airframe and I am building up more hours for my license. It was really good to work with Daniel again as I haven’t worked with him too much on a job together for a long time. When I first came to PNG in 2005 for a short term trip, I worked with Daniel a lot (He was the first guy to hold hands with culturally back in 2005, not by choice either, haha). So it is roughly five years since we worked together during that period. He is appreciated and a great friend.

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For a long time now, I have really wanted to get some sort of fellowship group going with other young adults in Mt Hagen. I am really grateful for the national friends I have and the friends I have within MAF, but it is still good to have fellowship with other young adult missionaries and really believe it is important to have friends in different mission organisations outside MAF. I have friends down at Ukarumpa with SIL and in Goroka with CRMF, but it can be hard to get down there. Back in 2005, social life for young adults in Hagen with MAF was quite vibrant. But for a long time  now it has been just Timon and myself, especially since Brandon left for furlough and to get married. The only mission group with young adults locally is the Nazarene Mission Hospital out at Kudjip, 45 minutes drive from Hagen.

1. Hagen Golf course (my first visit)

Brad and Nikolai (Pilot/Engineer family) with their two young girls returned to PNG earlier this year. They have been keen to restart such a group too. So after discussing and communication with the folk at Kudjip we planned a weekend in town for some doctor’s and staff out at Kudjip. So last weekend for the first time since I have been here, we had a gathering across the weekend. Three lady doctor’s came in on Saturday morning. Brad had to fly and Timon had to work for a few hours. So it was just myself with the all the girls. My Saturday mornings normally involve shopping at the market and in town. So to go out to the golf course for a walk and forget your in PNG was quite nice and I managed to survive being out numbered.

2. Pizza & a movie (L to R Nikolai, Mekelle, Steph, Missy, TImon, myself, Becky , Brad (taking photo) & Cherith)

Brad and Timon finished work and we all had lunch at Brad and Nikolai’s. Their place was the hub for hanging out over the weekend and meals. In the afternoon we went shopping at the market and in town. Something that is really nice when you are living out on a mission station and only get into town every six to eight weeks. After hanging out, that night we had a pizza and movie night at our place at Naz Cinema. Sunday morning we went to Hagen United church which which was a special service celebrating LMS day. The first missionaries coming to PNG with the London missionary society in the 1870′s (descendants of that tribe are part of the Hagen United family). Afterwards we had lunch at Brad and Nikolai’s. Later in the afternoon Timon and I drove the girls back out to Kudjip, we returned to town just as it was getting dark. It was a really good weekend of fellowship. It sort of hit me how something back in Australia is so common, but yet here in PNG have gone without for a long time and is normal. It is one of many things that I wish people back in Sydney would not take for granted. So it was a good weekend of fellowship and a good refreshing time for the Kudjip girl’s to get off station.

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1. Ben & I in the Twin Otter cockpit after engine adjustments & engine runs, maybe for the last time

Last Friday was our Engineering Manager’s last day with MAF after seventeen years of service. Ben started work with MAF back in 1993. Since then he has done almost every job there is in Engineering, from working on the floor, being a team leader, Chief Engineer and Engineering Manager. I have a lot of respect for Ben and he will be missed. I have learnt a lot from him during my time here and in some ways has been a mentor  to me in an unofficial way in Engineering. Mainly learning from him on the Twin Otters and PT6 engines.  While doing engine runs Friday evening, it did sort of hit me it might be the last time for Ben to run a MAF Twin Otter (we ran it again this morning) and was privileged to share that with him. We had a big farewell for him & family, plus a Canadian couple finishing the previous Friday. But Friday afternoon smoko we had a last gathering of the Engineering department with Ben, celebrated with Lamingtons and Pies (I forfeited my pie).

2. Ben giving his last words of encouragement & advice to the Engineering department on Friday afternoon

Besides being a Godly man and a good/experienced Engineer, he is also pretty wise. He has an insight into PNG culture that I have never come across before with any other Papua New Guinean. I will miss having meaningful and deep conversations with him, but especially his friendship. Please pray for Ben, Theresa (Ben’s wife) and children as they relocate to Goroka and for God’s leading and provision for the future. I and many others are grateful for Ben’s long service with MAF and his leadership in recent times.

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This past week has been one of mixed emotions and several victories. Friday is a good example, early Friday morning my Church Elder’s (a MAF employee) wife lost her battle with cancer, I briefly dropped in at the haus krai (a gathering to mourn), we farewelled two MAF families and attempted to celebrate their service with MAF PNG and I received my latest exam result (I passed!).

1. Hot section assembly – CT disc and CT stator housing installed, Combustion liner and power section to come

One of those victories was MFT’s C check being completed. Friday the previous week was quite a nightmare of a day. I busted myself the Wednesday and Thursday to get back to Hagen from Sydney in one day with the repaired engine parts to gain an extra day to finish the engine. But in the end a complication arouse which I chased up most of the day and was able to resolve in the end, but most of the day was lost. Monday morning we were able to start assembling the hot section back together and by the end of the day we had the engine all back together, which involved overtime.

2. Engine finished!

On Tuesday we spent the morning doing engine compressor and turbine washes, followed by engine leak checks and engine runs. There were a few setbacks with neither generators coming online and both engines requiring engine rigging adjustments. But this was a good time of troubleshooting and adjustments to learn from, especially as we had one of our Senior Engineers back in Hagen with many years of Twin Otter experience running the job. It has been really good working with him and to learn from. Tuesday we worked overtime again. Wednesday morning engine runs were carried out to check the last of the generator problems were rectified. Later in the day a check flight (return to service) was carried out, which went well and the aircraft returned to operations Thursday morning.

3. MFT ready for service

I am a fan of the Twin Otter even though it can be a love/hate relationship with it’s maintenance. I really enjoy working on gas turbine engines. Now passing this latest exam and completing the engine type course in Australia, I just need remaining hours of experience to gain my PT6 license. I always feel pressure during a C check, even when it is going well (more pressure than working at the terminal with Qantas with a few hundred people on a plane, that is when the check is not going well). After all the work involved, traveling to Sydney and back, the nightmare the previous Friday, it was a relief to see the aircraft serviceable and flying again.

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When I left Sydney in June I never expected to return to Sydney until sometime in 2012. So when I was approached the other week about the possibility of traveling to Sydney for Engineering, it was quite a surprise. The work would involve transporting some engine parts off a PT6 engine off one of our Twin Otters in for a C check. The parts included some of the hot section, the compressor turbine disc (CT disc) and the compressor turbine stator housing. The CT disc blades were due for a stretch inspection which we can not do in country. To stock spares of these parts, to make a quicker turn around would cost $150,000 US to purchase. This would allow us to install the spare set during the C check and having the removed set sent away for inspection. But a cheaper option is for someone to hand carry the parts down to Sydney during the C check. This way they should not be held up in customs at either end and return in time before the end of the C check. So MFT’s C check started on the Tuesday the following week. By the end of Wednesday we had split the right hand engine and the hot section disassembled. I had a little mishap with some lockwire through a finger on the Thursday. I was able to depart Mt Hagen on the Friday morning flight to Port Moresby.

1. The repaired merchandise safely back in Mt Hagen (CT disc assembly on the left, CT stator vane assembly on the right)

Flying down to Sydney from Port Moresby on the Friday involved some drama. I managed to get myself checked in and through customs slowly, and to the departure lounge twenty minutes before boarding. It was a slow boarding process and almost an hour later we pushed back. During start up I notice a strong smell in the air conditioning, whether it was exhaust or oil I wasn’t sure, but it isn’t normal. We sat on the apron for a while and then heard over the PA that there was fluid leaking from the right hand engine and we would have to return to the terminal. While taxiing back, I saw the puddle of engine oil on the tarmac, it was descent puddle and knew we weren’t going anywhere. We sat on the plane for quite a while waiting for them to investigate and fix the problem, but in the end they disembarked us. Then there was a long process of getting our baggage and waiting in the terminal for news of the next flight and getting ourselves served at the customer service desk for a hotel coupon. The next flight would be 330 the next morning and I was put up in the Crown Plaza Hotel in town, arriving at 1800. I didn’t get to bed too early, was asleep around 1030 and got up at 1220 to depart the hotel at 0100. Made it to Sydney okay in the end, and was one of the last to clear customs, as my expensive merchandise in it’s suit case took a little time to locate at baggage claim, had me concerned for a little while.

2. Family Christmas Dinner (Dad, Mum, Me, Alex & Katie)

Besides delivering the engine parts to the engine overhaul facility in Sydney. I had the opportunity to observe the work carried out on the parts. On the second day it was looking not too good, as some parts had to be scrapped, the CT blades (as they were worn beyond limits). This meant a delay as new blades and other parts had to be sent from Canada. This delay allowed me to catch up with people during that week, most of whom are my supporters. So I was able to connect with family and friends during that time. It was quite intense to start with, but with the delay slowed it down a bit. A mistake I made last time during furlough was trying to see as many people as possible and making a lot of effort to see them, going to where ever they are. But this time round I just tried to see a few, the people who wanted to see me the most and not over do it. I was able to get medical stuff sorted out too, mainly getting my left wrist looked at which is still recovering from falling off my mountain bike over a month ago. A few highlights were having family Christmas dinner with my family one weeknight out at a restaurant and last dinner together before departing. I also got to do the Bondi to Coogee walk one afternoon and go swimming at Coogee with Liz. I was able to attend the PNG Kumuls playing the Australian Kangeroos in the Four Nations Rugby League comp with JJ and Soona. Also had a special last night dinner with close friends which was special.

3. AUS vs PNG Kumuls game with JJ & Soona (cold and raining)

The new parts arrived late Monday afternoon last week and work commenced again on Tuesday morning. I was able to observe again on the Tuesday and Wednesday, with the work completed Wednesday afternoon. It was a rush getting some things sorted out late Wednesday afternoon and packing that night. I was able to travel all day Thursday, getting up 330 (230 PNG time) catching three flights and making it to Mt Hagen late afternoon, getting home around 1700. I had a close call in Port Moresby as the flight was a little late and I got held up in customs with the repaired engine parts. I was able to check in last minute just before the call for boarding and got into the departure lounge as they commenced boarding. I had ten days in Sydney, which I am really grateful for God’s provision in, something I never expected. I learnt a lot while at the engine overhaul place and was able to develop some good working relationships there.  It is not always easy returning to Australia, as you change being in PNG and those back home change as well. But this trip was good, connecting with family and friends was my highlight of course. Despite being reminded how simpler life is in Australia and how much more challenging it is in PNG, I am grateful to be back home.

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