Brian and Bailey Pruett Serving in the Philippines with Aviation A couple weeks ago I went to Luzon to get our Cessna 180 ready to sell. I flew with our chief pilot, Garry, to Manila and we took a taxi from the airport terminal straight to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) headquarters with high hopes of getting a pile of paperwork processed before closing time. Included in that pile was getting my temporary Philippine pilot’s license. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Shop Talk’ Category
Brian Can Fly Again
Posted by Brian and Bailey Pruett on Sunday, February 28th, 2010
PDF A Big Push. A Big Reward
Posted by Brian and Bailey Pruett on Sunday, February 28th, 2010
We were able to do our flight on Friday as it was scheduled. It was a big push to get the plane ready, and it was rewarding to see it come out with a load full of cargo.
We are finding that we are part of a life that comes in cycles. We go through slower times and then we go through crazy times. This is the tail end (we think) of one of the crazy times. Thanks for praying for us over these past two weeks. There was an 8 day stretch where Brian put in 113 hours before getting a day to work at home! Brian was on another island for 6 of those 8 days traveling with some of our other teammates here to get an airplane ready to sell. It needs to sell soon so we can get some money to ship our helicopter here. (more…)
Cessna for Sale
Posted by Brian and Bailey Pruett on Monday, February 15th, 2010
This Isnag woman was flown to the hospital from their jungle airstrip. Without the airplane it would be nearly impossible for the missionaries to work here.
In January our first helicopter pilot arrived here in the Philippines to set up shop on Luzon and to get the helicopter program started. It was also last month that we learned that the SIL flight program on Luzon, which has been covering for us until we get a helicopter program started, will be leaving the country even earlier than we thought. March 12 is their last day of flying for us.
This means that if we can’t have a flight program by that time there will be several missionaries who will be unable to continue working in their current capacity in their tribes. They rely heavily on the airplane for transportation and emergency flights. Without the option of a flight in and out of their tribe it would be unwise for them to attempt to continue working there. This concerns us a great deal and we would like to ask for your prayers in a couple of specific areas as we work hard at meeting this deadline. (more…)
Brian is Soon to Fly Again
Posted by Brian and Bailey Pruett on Thursday, January 14th, 2010
Brian setting up the GPS with our airstrip locations for the first time on Mindanao.
This week we have been in Manila so that Brian can begin the process of getting his Philippine pilot’s license and begin his checkout process on Mindanao. It is a long, drawn-out process and we would appreciate your prayers as we work through the paperwork, travel and flying required for him to get his license.
It requires that Brian fly 10 hours in the country on a “temporary pilot’s license” and then he can take a check-ride with an examiner here in the Philippines who will approve his new license based on a successful check ride. (more…)
Our First Kodiak Delivered!
Posted by Brian and Bailey Pruett on Thursday, January 14th, 2010
NTMA's first Kodiak Taxis to runway enroute to Arizona where it will be used for training purposes before being sent to Indonesia.
It’s not really about a plane … by Ian Fallis
The Kodiak is really just a big hunk of metal.
As cool as the Quest Kodiak airplane is – and it really is a cool plane – it’s little more than a bunch of aluminum with an engine stuck on the end.
What’s really great about the Kodiak is the lives it will help save. And I’m not just talking about physical lives. (more…)
Flying to Set Up a New Program
Posted by Brian and Bailey Pruett on Thursday, November 12th, 2009
We are tracking the plane as Garry flies it across the Visayas region to its new home in the South Eastern Philippines.
For the last few weeks Brian and the other NTMA guys here have been working hard to get one of our Cessna 185s, “405″, ready for service in a new flight program in the Southern Philippines. As I write this, 405 is enroute to its new home where it will once again carry New Tribes Missionaries to and from their tribal works. It has not flown in a missionary capacity since 2003 so this is an exciting day for us. Many pilot/mechanic teams have had a hand in getting the plane ready for this flight, and it was great to join that effort. (more…)
Philippine Mechanic License
Posted by Brian and Bailey Pruett on Sunday, November 1st, 2009
We do all the maintenance on our aircraft here because there isn't a better option, and because we want it done right.
Last week I went with our chief pilot, Garry, to the CAAP (Philippine version of the FAA) to file some paperwork and attempt to apply for my Philippine mechanic’s license. We were praying for a few things to work out on that visit. First and foremost, to get the papers to the right people and have things processed expeditiously. The other was to meet the people Garry has befriended in that office so that I could become familiar with the folks in the departments we will need to work with. I will be doing a lot of government paperwork in the days and years to come so it is good to start those relationships now. (more…)
Pig Traps and People, Continued…
Posted by Brian and Bailey Pruett on Friday, October 16th, 2009
The airplane was in pieces when we received the call, but the Lord led us earlier in the day to limit how much we took the airplane apart.
Thank you so much for your prayers for the emergency flight yesterday. Ben and Garry were able to take off early in the morning and encountered only minor rain showers along the way. They said the airstrip was quite slippery, but still well within our minimum requirements. They took Isol out of the tribe and got him to a nearby town where he was taken to the hospital. The missionary team did a fantastic job of cleaning him up and preparing him for the flight out. He did continue to pass out periodically but had stabilized and should be in good hands now.
Thank you for all your prayers surrounding this flight. When we received the call I was reassembling the airplane after the inspection while Ben and Garry worked on the paperwork. Ben came over to the plane with a sheepish smile on his face and said, “How soon can this plane be flying again? A man in the tribe has stepped on a pig trap and…” (more…)
Pig Traps and People Don’t Mix
Posted by Brian and Bailey Pruett on Thursday, October 15th, 2009
Isol's friends carrying him to the clinic
We were hard at work today on the second of two annual inspections on the aircraft here in Palawan when we received a call at quitting time from some of our tribal missionaries on the island. They had a seriously injured man in their clinic and needed an emergency flight first thing in the morning. Below is the prayer request from the missionary team:
“About 4pm, we got word that some guys were carrying Isol to us, a young man, who had stepped into a pig trap in the jungle. The traps have a spring-loaded bamboo blade, which had gone right through one of his calves, and into the other calf. This happened in the morning, and it was 3pm before he was able to crawl to the nearest people for help. They carried him here. We think he probably lost a fair bit of blood, but praise the Lord, the bleeding had stopped by the time he reached us, though he was in terrible pain and kept passing out. (more…)
Just Plane Hard Work
Posted by Brian and Bailey Pruett on Sunday, October 11th, 2009
Our first annual inspection is finished and Ben and Garry are getting in for the test flight.
A few months ago it became apparent that we were going to have a serious barrage of work coming our way as we attempt to set up two new flight programs here in the Philippines. We finished language school early and packed up our apartment, moved to a temporary housing facility run by New Tribes and got organized for the coming months. Once some of our business was taken care of in Manila, we moved to Palawan and have been here for just over a month. Brian has been working everyday in the hangar on the airplanes, and Bailey has been taking care of Maycie and learning many of the administrative responsibilities she’ll be taking on. Among her new responsibilities will be flight following, bookkeeping and flight scheduling. It is a lot to deal with especially with Maycie at her side.