Wednesday the other week was MFU’s return to service flight after a C check which lasted more than five weeks. An aircraft requires a check flight after any maintenance that affects the flight characteristics of the aircraft. One is normally done after a C check, especially as a large amount of work is done. One or two Engineer’s go along to observe the flight. The Pilot’s put the aircraft through it’s operational limits, sometimes causing those on board to be sick as they pull positive 2G’s and negative 1G. Following the check flight the Pilot’s give feedback to the Engineer’s on it’s performance and anything that might need adjusting.

I was unable to make a video of the C check, so spur of the moment I filmed the RTS from the outside. Next time I will try and film one from the inside. One annoying thing is my still camera doesn’t capture the prop rotation correctly and gives a strobe affect. I made this video seriously, but as it came more together in the end it made me laugh a bit. If someone can guess the music in the video, they may win a prize. It is always good to see an aircraft back flying after large amounts of maintenance carried out.

PS the Twin Otter Captain in this video, Mike Davis, has 22 years of experience flying Twin Otters. He is also Canadian and the Twin Otter is from Canada, just to help explain some of the video.

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Since returning in July, maintenance at the hangar has been pretty busy. I arrived back on a Monday afternoon in July and started work on the Tuesday. That week was not too busy and allowed me to catch up on somethings that needed attention before returning to work on aircraft. We also saw the formation of three teams for working in the Hangar. One team for single engine aircraft and two teams for Twin Otter maintenance when needed. From these three teams would make up a team for the Cessna Caravan too. I am in a Twin Otter and Cessna Caravan team, but down as a utility Engineer. Come the next week we started a C check on MFU, one of our Twin Otters. But that Monday MFB came in for unscheduled maintenance with a NLG (Nose Landing Gear) problem. So two of us removed MFU’s NLG and rectified any problems with it and installed it onto MFB. It was intense, involved most of the day and was able to get the aircraft serviceable by 1730 just in time for last light to return to Goroka. It was also my first sign off release to service since becoming licensed. It was called my baptism of fire.

1. A few aircraft in for maintenance

The C check is always a big task on our Twin Otters. As an average for our three Twin Otters, for every one hour of flying, the aircraft is in for 3.75 hours of maintenance. So very maintenance intensive and MFU is our oldest Twin Otter being 43 years old. We had five aircraft in for maintenance during the first week. I ended up working on ex MFB NLG for most of the C check. Which was rather new for me, I had done some work on one before. The job started off as a mess and turned out to be a nightmare in the end. Some of us were working overtime every week of the check, except for the second week where we had exams to study for. I battled sickness during the check at times, but the thing that made me hit the wall and fatigued,  was working just over sixty hours one week following several weeks of overtime. I would have to say that C check was the most stressful period I have experienced here at MAF. It was not only the pressure at work, but also all the things at home I was not getting done. So it was a big relief to see the C check completed. It was a good  time of stretching to grow as an Engineer and I learnt alot during the check. I only got through by God’s strength and I am still recovering from those five weeks.

2. MFU after it’s return to service flight on completion of the C check

Last week we had a B check on MFB, another Twin Otter. It was nice to get on engines this time around. Being three months since doing the PT6 course, I had forgotten so much from the course. But refreshed myself a little since my last time on engines back in February. There continues to be maintenance in the hangar, but is a little easier going at the moment. I want to continue to grow in Engineering, especially  as I now focus on Twin Otters and the Cessna Caravan. Please pray for the Engineering team here, for strength, wisdom, to grow and God’s provision of experienced Engineers.

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MAF US operate a program in Haiti and since the disaster in January have continued to serve the people of Haiti. Please find below a seven minute segment video from an Emmy award winning TV show in the US called All Over the World. This segment covers MAF’s program and relief work in Haiti. You can watch the full feature of 28:32 mins at the link below. My internet is too slow and expensive to check these out, so please let me know what you think.

All Over the World Television show documents MAF relief efforts in Haiti

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Earlier this month one of our C206’s P2-MFN, was having one of its wings repaired (a big job) after it’s wing was used for a another C206 that was damaged last year. The aircraft had been in the hangar for a while. The completion of the maintenance had been delayed by more priority maintenance, by staff or parts not being available. Flight Ops were constantly asking for the aircraft.

1. The damaged wing - it had to be in a wing jig to be repaired

The wing repair was finished and the wing installed onto the aircraft. The aircraft was out of the hangar and was ready for a return to service flight. One MAF pilot, Mike Bottrell, carried out the return to service flight which went well, but a few adjustments required. As the guys completed their work and were packing up for the day at 1630, a call came through the programming office. A radio call had just come in for a medivac (medical evacuation) from Mengamanau, a new airstrip built for SIL missionaries. A young girl had been attacked by a wild pig while she had been working in the garden. She had been severely bitten and gored by the wild pig. The question was would MAF be able to get her to hospital in time. It was late and daylight would start fading soon. The girls father had only just arrived at the airstrip with his daughter. He had carried her for more than a day from his remote village.

2. The repaired wing installed on MFN

There were no aircraft available to travel to this short and rough airstrip, except for the one just completed in maintenance. The daily inspection had already been done prior to the RTS flight and the fuel tanks were full of fuel after the fuel tank calibration. Mike’s headset was still in the aircraft, as it had not been taxied down to the base for operations the next day. So the aircraft could not of been more ready for an immediate departure. Mike took off from Mt Hagen and was able to be at Mengamanau an hour after the girl had been carried in. She was placed on the floor of the aircraft accompanied by her father and uncle. They were able to arrive back to Mt Hagen before last light, otherwise they would of spent another night in the bush.

Diana, her father and uncle made it to Mt Hagen General Hospital that evening. She was in shock after losing a lot of blood, but was stabilized at the hospital. She was able to have surgery two days later. Some MAF families have been able to visit her in hospital and assist with her stay there. In most hospital’s in PNG you need someone to take care of you, from cooking to cleaning your sheets. They were able to take food, clean sheets and some toys. Even some distant relatives were able to visit her to assist the hospital staff, as she and her father only speak their Tok Ples (local dialect).

3. Diana and her Dad, photo taken recently (I’ll spare you the photo’s of her injuries)

It will most likely be months before Diana can go home again. She must get through more surgery (including skin grafts) and infections, but is not well enough at present for surgery. There was concern how long the aircraft had been in for maintenance, but God had His perfect timing. So that the aircraft would be ready at exactly when the aircraft was needed. It is a privilege for the Engineers here and other MAF staff to see God’s hand move like this so often. Without the support and prayers from people all over the world, MAF would not be able to operate here and respond to the greatest needs. Diana and her family are subsistence farmers, they would have no hope of paying for a medivac. But because of supporters in other countries providing funds, the costs of this flight is paid for. For me I am reminded that MAF is the Lord’s  organisation and we can’t allow circumstances or pressure to overwhelm us. He has sustained MAF PNG for almost sixty years now and continues to do so and use MAF with what resources He has provided. In this example saving Diana’s life. Please pray for Diana and for healing.

Original story from Mike Bottrell. Rewritten and added to by Matt. Photos by Frank Higham.

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New newsletter is finally completed! Covering March to June 2010. You can download it here.

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Coming back to PNG, I have had a list of people I would like to visit. On top of that list was to visit my wantoks at Goroka serving with CRMF, Dan & Shannon and family. I had the privilege of doing POC with them back in 2008. Due to the amount of overtime built up in past weeks, my work completed on the C check. I was able to take a few hours off to travel last Friday and Monday. The last time I visited them in Goroka was October 2008. Since then Ella was born early last year in Australia and I have not had an opportunity to visit.

1. Some of the view from our hike

I flew down to Goroka late Friday afternoon. I needed time away from Hagen just to recover a bit from the five weeks of the C check, so the timing of it all worked out really well. The weekend would be a busy one. Friday afternoon there was a MAF and CRMF BBQ gathering for staff and families. Saturday included second hand clothes shopping with Shannon and Lucy, I picked up a few bargains including an Australia Lonely Planet book for 1 kina. Followed by the girls swimming at a local hotel called the Bird. Later in the afternoon Dan and I headed out to the New Tribes compound out of town and went for a walk along a ridge line. Our destination was an abandoned power line tower, but took a few alternate routes to find the right route. One way involved scaling a ridge on hands and feet only to find a barb wire fence up top marking off a property, so we had to go around the fenced off area. But it was so nice to get in the open outdoors, catch up and walk without anyone hassling us. Sunday morning we had church and went out for lunch afterwards. In the afternoon Dan and I got to check out Adventist Aviation’s new PAX 750 at the airport. Later in the afternoon/evening was a combined dinner night for the families from Shannon’s ladies bible study, it was an Italian theme night.

2. Tired at the end of the weekend - Dan, Lucy, Shannon, Ella, Emily & myself

So there was plenty on over the weekend, but a real blessing to spend time with Dan, Shannon and the girls. To catch up with them was my highlight, to see how the girls have grown and meet Ella for the first time, she is quite adorable. I look forward to more visits in the future and will have to be in shorter intervals than my last visit. It was really nice to spend the weekend with a family.

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Returning to PNG, there were many events that had taken place while away and to catch up on. One surprise I came back to, was learning that my good friend Daniel and his wife Sandra were expecting their third child. Daniel is a Licensed Engineer with MAF and Sandra works in the accounts department at MAF. I wanted to visit Daniel, Sandra and the boys at home before the baby came. But due to the workload the last month and the overtime worked, I just didn’t get to, even after he was born.

1. The Wan family - Daniel, Gregory, Timothy, Jermiah & Sandra

Last Wednesday after work I finally got to visit them, to quickly see them and the new baby. Plus Daniel showed me their new house where they are living, as they moved house as I was leaving for furlough.

2. Jeremiah - he likes feeding and sleeping (he is already a big boy)

He was recently named Jeremiah. There is a bit of a story behind chosing a name and getting to the hospital. Sandra’s labour started late one evening, but continued to stay at home. The next day in the afternoon she was ready to go to the hospital to give birth. Daniel keeps their van at the MAF HQ’s compound as they now live close to work. He went to get the van, only to find it had a flat tyre. He rushed to fix the flat tyre, while Sandra was asking why it was taking so long to get the vehicle. Fortunaley our Aircraft Painter, Nevan was at the hangar and helped Daniel with the flat tyre. Twenty minutes later they were on their way to Mt Hagen General Hospital. Ten minutes at the hospital and Jeremiah was born on the 20/7/10. We give praise and thanks for this little one’s life.

3. Jeremiah & Uncle Matt

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The other Friday was my first MAF ministry program since being back in PNG. We headed out to a village called Andakapla, a community on the outskirts of Mt Hagen past Newtown. It is a known place for rascals (criminals) to live or hide and a place that police and others fear to go.

This would be the third visit to the community since November last year. It was my last program before furlough back in February where I shared my testimony. God has been at work in this community especially amongst the rascals. They have been really impacted by what we have shared and shown them. Some of these rascals had even stolen MAF vehicle’s at gun point in the past. At the end of the first program the rascal leader got up and thanked us for coming and showing us who MAF is and how big God is, I have not seen many people impacted like he was. Now they are attending church and are involved in the church.

We finished work normal time on Friday for the first time that week. After being home for thirty minutes or so we left our compound. With the MAF Hilux loaded up with the ministry team gear we headed out to pick up team members around town. We arrived at Andakapla around six o’clock and was met by Pastor Jack and a few men and boys. We decided to setup the gear outside, as we were always limited with how many people could fit into the lotu haus (church building). It was a clear night, but cold and I forgot to bring a jumper, plus I was getting over a sinus infection.

1. Setup outside, in front of Pastor Jack’s house which is elevated. The crowd would be on a slight incline, which worked well for an outside cinema.

We setup the sound gear outside, some of the local guys assisted Maipson, Nevan and I setting up the screen. Fortunately they had two long homemade poles, which we could hang our projector screen up on. I wanted to get the screen much bigger, but that’s all we could manage. We do have a bigger screen recently donated to the team, but it was in the process of being washed. We continued to setup in the dark and get the system running. We had a one issue with the sound gear, but ended up only being a faulty lead.

We had done many different things on our other visits. Pastor Jack had requested they we show the Jesus film in Tok Pisin this time round. It is a long movie, so it limited how much we would fit into the program. I would introduce the movie and Timon would do a challenge and encouragement at the end. It was my first time planning to speak all in Tok Pisin during a program. Normally I would use a mix of English and Tok Pisin. I didn’t make time to prepare what I would say, due to the workload at the hangar. If I had it would of made a big difference. If it was in English it would have been okay. But as I was thinking of what to say on the spot, I had to try and translate it into Tok Pisin. It worked out okay, but should and could have been better. But it is a start in trying to use Tok Pisin more in speaking about spiritual things in front of a big crowd.

Following the introduction the movie started, with more people coming in. We had a large area outside for the surrounding community to come and watch the movie. One of team members guessed we had a few hundred people in attendance. This included people sitting up by the road and even vehicles stopping as they drive by on the road. The system worked really well with the screen and sound system pumping (it was loud). It was quite cold, Maipson lent me his jumper, he refused to take it back. During the last thirty minutes of the movie, we had mist rolling in through the grounds, but the screen still visible.

2. Pastor Jack addressing the people and community following the program. The mist made it impossible to get a photo of the crowd all the way back to the road. (Sorry photo’s are not the best for this post)

The movie finished and some people started to leave. Timon got up and did a talk which included a challenge and also an encouragement to the Christians in the community. We had a strong appreciation of our time there by some of the community leaders. Following packing up and saying goodbye to those who were still there. I dropped off the other team members, which included dropping off the ministry gear back out at the Hangar. In trying to leave MAF HQ’s the gate would not operate and lock correctly. So we had to force it to lock itself, which was done from the inside. This involved Maipson and Timon having to climb over the fence in thongs which included scaling barb wire on top.

Timon and I got home just before midnight, I started cooking dinner at 2350. We were tired from a big week, but again was a real privilege to be able to go out and minister the Gospel to the community of Andakapla. Please pray for pastor Jack and for the community of Andakapla.

To see the previous Andakapla reports see links below:

Lusim rong

MAF Ministry Team update

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I have a back log of photo’s to upload. Here are some from a GA8 dedication service last year. Our first Turbo charged GA8, we now have three in our fleet with a fourth one on it’s way. It has been awesome to see God’s provision of renewing some of MAF PNG’s aging fleet with much needed new aircraft.

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Friday the 23 of July is a public holiday in PNG celebrating Remembrance Day, Many countries in the Commonwealth celebrate remembrance day at some point of the year to commemorate the sacrifices of the armed forces and civilians in times of war. PNG celebrates it on the 23rd of July, as on that day in 1942 marks the first engagement between the PNG and Australian forces against the invading Japanese in WW2.

1. Great Grandad Preece

There is some Preece family history in regards to defending PNG in war time. My Great Grandfather, William Edward Preece, came to PNG in 1914 as part of the Australian military expedition force to take PNG from the occupying German force. He then went on to France in 1916 with the 5th Field Ambulance to be at almost every major battle there as a stretcher bearer up to 1918 and returned to Australia in 1919.

2. Grandad before leaving Sydney at 19

My Grandfather, Alfred George Preece [preferred to be called George], joind the AIF 2/3 Infrantry Battalion during WW2 in 1941. He left Sydney when he was 19 for the Middle East, Palestine. Followed by Syria and Lebanon, then when the Japanese threat became evident. Returned to Australia in 1942 for the 2/3rd’s first PNG campaign as part of the advancement on the Kokoda Trial. Following the Kokokda campaign they returned to Northern Queensland for training [Atherton tablelands, close to Mareeba] before returning to PNG for their second PNG campaign, clearing the Japanese forces in the Aitape and Wewak region. Grandad returned to Australia in 1946.

3. Grandad’s map - 1945 Japanese positions in Wewak

My Grandfather when promoted to a Corporal became an Intelligence Officer for Battalion Intelligence. There is quite a few documentation of his service during WW2 from his war diary, photos, maps he drew and his military record. Back in April a lost Battlefield was rediscovered at Eora Creek on the Kokoda Trial where the 2/3rd had a major engagement with the Japanese. My Grandfather’s Company leader led the flanking attack which saw Australian forces advance along the Kokoda trial. The first time in WW2 that Japanese forces had been pushed back in battle (I will include more info on the battle in a future post). During recent research by my Dad on that battle, as there was little known about what involvement my Grandfather had in that engagement, he came across a military report which gives explanations of name places during the campaign. One of the items refers to a Spur named after my Grandfather in the Tortecelli Mountains behind Aitap - Wewak.

4. Preece Spur - you can view the full report here

My Dad’s uncle, Edward (Ted) John Preece, served in Milne Bay during WW2 with the 9th Australian Light Anti-Aircraft Battery defending an airfield. He also returned to PNG post WW2 to be involved in building projects, including the building of Mt Hagen General Hospital.

5. Edward John Preece at Milne Bay [with the binoculars]

Despite yesterday being a public holiday, I elected to work due to the workload at the Hangar. I have had an interest in history for sometime now. Especially about war since I was older enough to understand it. It fascinates me, despite how horrible, pointless and endless it is. I have known a little about my family heritage in war and PNG but after yesterday and quickly looking through records, I am even more interested than before in learning more. But time has always limited me investing into it. I thank God that both my Great Grandfather and Grandfather survived both World Wars. That there could be four generations.

6. Great Grandad & Grandad 1946 Anzac Day

I am hoping to get down to Wom beach at Wewak on the 13th September, where my Grandfather was for the Japanese surrender in 1945, 65 years ago. I visited it for the first time last May. Hopefully hike Kokoda next year as this year has not worked out with my extended stay in Australia. I am amazed the opportunities God has given my family to serve in PNG. Most of all I am grateful for the freedom PNG enjoys today.

Learn more about the 2/3rd Battalion here

The Lost Battlefield website here

Story on the Lost Battlefield here

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